The Cowboys aim to shock the league, aggressively climbing the draft board for top defensive talent, according to two bold ESPN predictions.
This stretch of weeks, where mock drafts of rising NFL prospects runs rampant, are mostly rooted in as much speculation as they are fit and probability.
That's why sometimes it's fun to indulge in "thought exercises," where the likelihood of a draft choice or trade outcome are interpreted with that understanding of unpredictability. Because when it comes to the NFL Draft, usually that phrase "anything can happen" mostly holds true after the first overall pick.
In Bill Barnwell's annual Mock Draft Trade Extravaganza, the Dallas Cowboys are included in two firsr-round swaps, and they both see Jerry Jones upping the aggressiveness and rising up in the draft order.
Dallas carries two first-round selections - No. 12 and 20 - with the former coming from the Cowboys' 7-9-1 in Year 1 of the Brian Schottenheimer era, and the latter coming by way of the Green Bay Packers, whom the Cowboys traded Micah Parsons to in exchange for draft capital and defensive tackle Kenny Clark last August.
That loss of an elite pass rusher contributed to Dallas poor performance - arguably the worst defensive showing in franchise history. That's where one prediction trade leads us to the Cowboys landing on whoever they think is the best prospect available and chasing him down.
As a result? Barnwell pins Dallas to trade No. 12, a fourth-rounder (No. 112), next year's first and next year's third-rounder to the New York Jets to move all the way up to No. 2 overall, just behind the Las Vegas Raiders, who are expected to take Indiana's Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza.
That's essentially disbanded next year's top draft capital entirely as Dallas would be trading the second of its two first-rounders next year (their own after already dealing one of the Packers picks to the Jets at the deadline for Quinnen Williams).
But...
"What if the Cowboys absolutely, positively love one of the defensive players in this draft and want to make sure they get that guy on their roster immediately?" Barnwell wonders, with just a quarterback gone at this spot in the order.
"Does Jones want [Arvell] Reese? [David] Bailey? [Rueben] Bain? [Sonny] Styles? Doesn't matter. He can get whoever he wants to make an immediate impact for the Cowboys at No. 2.
Bain is an interesting prospect to name considering ESPN's more logical mock draft has him falling to Dallas' original 12 spot, but if Bailey or Reese are the true targets, this is the type of jump that'd be needed.
"With this trade, the Cowboys also hold on to the 20th pick, which would allow them to address the secondary, either by selecting a player or by moving down for extra draft capital. Suddenly, Jones can feel like his team is actually ... stacked on defense?"
We'll pump the brakes on stacked, but this does go a long way, especially at the Parsons-sized void on the edge.
Another option is to move up only slightly, to No. 6, swapping with the Cleveland Browns.
Barnwell suggests Dallas would give up this year's No. 12 and 20, but receive No. 6 and 24 to retain two selections in Day 2.