Dallas Cowboys' Will McClay makes very telling comment about how a first round trade could happen during 2025 NFL Draft
Though the Dallas Cowboys are largely expected to take a wide receiver with the 12th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, it's no secret the front office would strongly consider making a trade in the first round. Of course, that would mean trading down, not up. If there's one thing we know about the front office […]
Though the Dallas Cowboys are largely expected to take a wide receiver with the 12th pick of the 2025 NFL Draft, it's no secret the front office would strongly consider making a trade in the first round.
Of course, that would mean trading down, not up. If there's one thing we know about the front office is they value their draft picks. Moving up from No. 12 would mean giving up valuable assets. But what if they could recoup the fourth rounder—they'd probably land even better compensation depending on the trade back—they gave up for WR Jonathan Mingo last year? They did something similar in 2024 when they acquired a third rounder by moving down from 24th overall to 29th.
I have no doubts they'd consider a similar move this year. The only problem is, how much are you willing to move down in a draft class where first-round grades appear to be less than in previous editions?
Cowboys VP of player personnel Will McClay might've given us an answer for the range they could consider moving down to.
"We haven't gotten to the number yet but it typically every year it's somewhere around 15-18," McClay said. "We'll see where that falls at this year."
This will be the first time the Cowboys pick in the Top 15 of the Draft since 2021, when they moved back and drafted Micah Parsons. If they have 15-18 prospects graded as first rounders, they likely would prefer to stay within the Top 20 picks, maybe to 21th if the Steelers want to move up for a quarterback, which they have been rumored to consider. Anything later than that would probably be territory where they'd rather stay put and make a pick at 12.
Now granted, every NFL team has a different board and there's a high likelihood the Cowboys have a first-round grade on players other teams wouldn't consider in Day 1. That's the beauty of the Draft. It's subjective and far from a science.
With that being said, it's likely the Cowboys are feeling comfortable with their chances of picking an impact maker on Thursday. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones was asked about it on Tuesday's press conference and he had a two-word answer:
"Yes. Period."
