NFL Draft: How the Cowboys Could Draft Myles Garrett
Myles Garrett could be the Cowboys missing piece, but can they get him in the NFL Draft? Never say never…
Myles Garrett, the projected number one overall pick in this years NFL Draft, made headlines when he begged Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to make a draft day move to unite the two in Dallas. Garrett proclaimed he would “love to play in Dallas” and for Jones to “make it happen” with the Browns.
If the Cowboys entered the NFL Draft with a top-five pick like last year, moving up to the number one overall pick to draft the Texas A&M pass rusher would be practically painless for Dallas. But after a season where the Cowboys made the playoffs, Jones has a bit steeper of a jump to make.
Dallas owns the 28th overall pick in this years draft and is expected to look heavily into pass rushers. Late first-round picks who could go to Dallas include Taco Charlton, DeMarcus Walker, or Charles Harris.
Dallas Cowboys
All three of those players possess the potential to have a successful NFL career, but neither’s talent is comparable to Garrett.
So what would it take for the Cowboys to make the biggest draft pick leap in NFL history?
There is some precedent regarding how one moves from the tail end of the NFL Draft to the top. Atlanta moved from 26 to 6 to draft Julio Jones, costing them two firsts, a second, and two fourth-round picks. The deal paid off in the long-run with the wide receiver helping lead the Falcons to an NFC title.
That move was the biggest jump in the history of the NFL Draft’s first round. Dallas moving from 28 to number one would trump the Jones trade.
Coincidentally, Atlanta made the deal with Cleveland in 2011 for the opportunity to draft Jones. This time around it could be the Cowboys making a deal with the struggling Browns.
Dallas would have to, at the very least, match what Atlanta paid to move 20 spots in 2011. More likely though is the movement of even more first round picks, and possibly quarterback Tony Romo.
With no clear franchise quarterback in this years NFL Draft the Browns may be best suited to take on a veteran such as Romo or play their second-year starter, Cody Kessler.
Dallas would most likely need to move their next three first round picks for a jump this monumental. Their third or fourth round picks in 2017 and beyond may also be in danger of being traded.
I would project any such trade involving Dallas and the first-overall pick to be as follows:
Three firsts, a second, and two thirds paired with Tony Romo is the estimated value for Dallas to move from the late-first to early-first round. Romo has very little value in my eyes, and is the equivalent of a conditional future sixth-round draft pick.
You could think, “why would Dallas make that kind of move for one player?” The theory is that the Cowboys are very, very close to being legitimate Super Bowl contenders if they are not ones already.
They look to have found their next franchise quarterback and have paired him with two dynamic weapons on offense. Defensively they surprised many but proved to still need more consistency from their pass rush. If Jerry Jones looks at his team and sees a winner needing one final piece to push them over the top, he would make this deal in a heartbeat. If he had the intentions to draft Johnny Manziel, he would make this deal.
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The price would be heavy but the Cowboys could come out on top at the end, similarly to Atlanta when they moved up for Julio Jones.