Will Dallas Cowboys trade up in 2022 NFL Draft? Here’s what Jerry Jones says
The Dallas Cowboys have finished their scheduled pre-draft visits, and owner Jerry Jones personally talked to all of the players who came through the team’s headquarters at the Star in Frisco.
As the team continued to ramp up for the 2022 NFL Draft, which begins April 28 and runs through April 30, Jones gave some insight Wednesday into the Cowboys’ draft philosophy.
With nine picks in the draft, including 24th pick in the first round and 56th pick in the second round, Jones said the Cowboys would trade up for the right player.
“Just going in as much as you could say about it until you see what’s there or who’s on the other line but I would trade up since we’re down as low as we are in those first two, three rounds if we had a chance to and someone we really coveted was sitting at the bottom and we were able to trade up there and get them,” he said.
After making no major moves in free agency, the Cowboys are using the draft as the foundation for major talent improvements in 2022.
But with the 24th pick, it will be hard for them to zero in on one specific player, as they are at the mercy of the teams who pick in front of them.
The list of players who visited the Cowboys included Arkansas receiver Treylon Burks, Southern California receiver Drake London, Ohio State receiver Chris Olave, Mississippi State tackle Charles Cross, Central Michigan tackle Bernhard Raimann, Boston College guard Zion Johnson, Texas A&M guard Kenyon Green, Georgia defensive tackle Georgia Davis and Utah linebacker Devin Lloyd.
The team’s biggest needs are at guard, tackle and receiver.
The last time the Cowboys traded up in the first round was in 2012, when they took Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick to fill a desperate need at cornerback.
The Cowboys moved up eight spots after a trade with the St. Louis Rams, who got the No. 14 pick and the Cowboys’ second-round selection, 45th overall.
Claiborne, who won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation’s top defensive back at LSU, didn’t live up to expectations, largely due to injuries.
Claiborne spent just five seasons in Dallas. He played two seasons with New York Jets and one with the Kansas City Chiefs before he retired.
This story was originally published April 13, 2022 at 1:29 PM.
