Believe Jerry at your own risk when it comes to draft

IRVING -- Owner Jerry Jones delivered his annual peek at the Cowboys' draft Tuesday, and what a rabbit hole it appears to be.

Two No. 1 draft picks. Only two rounds to trade into and/or out of on the first day. And Bill Parcells, safely anchored 1,350 miles away.

Jones is going to be in Wonderland.

"I come from a background of trading," Jones reminded at his noon news conference. "It's very tempting for me to take where we are strategically and make more value of it."

Maybe. But on the other hand, knowing Jerry, don't dare trust everything he says.

The trading teaser, for example. Jones has made more than 40 draft-day trades since he bought the club, 20 NFL drafts ago. But the prospect of packaging the club's two No. 1 picks to move into the round's top 10 doesn't seem to interest Jones -- not, at least, as of Tuesday afternoon.

"I don't want to totally dismiss it," Jones said after a lengthy pause. "Let's kinda leave it at that."

A few minutes earlier, Jones had alluded to the "skewed" price of college players taken with the first 10 picks in the draft. Back-loaded contracts, a recent trend amongst that top 10, leave the teams with a rude salary cap hit in the deals' later years.

"If you're going to take the risk," the owner said, "you have to weigh whether the guy can come in and be the player you're expecting there."

Jerry added that it would take a "perfect storm" of draft-day conditions for him to deal into the top 10.

There's probably only one "perfect storm" player on the Cowboys' draft board: Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.

Jones didn't mention him Tuesday. Or Monday. Or last week, as far as I can tell.

Many Cowboys fans clearly love the incumbent at running back, Marion Barber. And you're all fooling yourselves. McFadden would be a much-needed, Emmitt Smith-level upgrade to Jason Garrett's offense.

Anybody think opposing defenses spend one minute of practice time wondering how to stop Marion Barber? They'd worry about McFadden.

Unless he's bluffing, however -- always a possibility with wildcatter Jones, of course -- McFadden isn't in the Cowboys' picture. Nor is any other running back in Saturday's first round, for that matter.

That includes McFadden's Arkansas understudy, Felix Jones, the darling of the Cowboys' mock drafts.

Don't be so sure after what Jerry said Tuesday.

"There's no gun to our heads at all," Jones said, about the possibility of using one of the high picks on a running back.

Jones also didn't sound sold on the idea of selecting a wide receiver with one of the No. 1 picks.

"If you're looking for an immediate impact receiver, that's not there," he said.

What he does have at receiver, Jerry said -- with a straight face -- is Terry Glenn, the walking insurance claim.

"We may have the best thing since ice cream right here in house," Jones said.

He couldn't have been serious. But Jones knows how to play the draft game.

There was a room full of notepads and cameras Tuesday eager to quote him. The other NFL teams were going to have to read between Jerry's lines.

For prompt help at receiver, the Cowboys likely will look to a draft-day trade for somebody's veteran. Detroit's Roy Williams still remains an attractive target.

Jones didn't say that Tuesday, but a lot of Jerry's run-on sentences and semicolons seemed to drop hints at a lot.

Just an educated hunch, for example, but expect the Cowboys to spend one of their first-round picks on an offensive lineman. Having tried to do it the non-first-round way (See: Jacob Rogers, Stephen Peterman), Jones seems to finally see the value of selecting an offensive lineman in the first round. When Peterman and Rogers busted, Jones had to spend free agent mega-bucks to fill the line holes.

With their other pick in the first round?

Reading between Jones' lines, I'll guess that it will be a cornerback. Jones even conceded Tuesday that a good No. 3 cornerback is as valuable in today's NFL as a starter.

Jones is ready to trade. Jones, if we read him correctly Tuesday, also seems ready to stand pat.

"I like our spot," he said of the Nos. 22 and 28 positions. "I can't think of a time where I have ever liked it better."

Down the draft rabbit hole, of course, anything is possible.

Jones will be tempted. He always is.

2008 NFL Draft

Saturday-Sunday

Radio City Music Hall, New York

TV: Saturday (Rounds 1-2), NFL Network, 2-10 p.m.; ESPN 2-7 p.m.; ESPN2 7-10 p.m.

Sunday (Rounds 3-7), NFL Network, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; ESPN 9 a.m.-5 p.m..

Notable: Only the first two rounds Saturday with 10 minutes to make a selection in Round 1 and 7 minutes to make a selection in Round 2. On Sunday, Rounds 3-7 will be held with 5 minutes to make a selection.

Cowboys picks