{"id":851593,"date":"2026-04-03T17:02:21","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851593\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T17:02:21","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T17:02:21","slug":"it-sounds-like-theres-a-realistic-chance-the-dallas-cowboys-make-the-biggest-trade-of-the-2026-nfl-draft","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/851593\/","title":{"rendered":"It sounds like there’s a realistic chance the Dallas Cowboys make the biggest trade of the 2026 NFL Draft"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least two NFL Draft insiders are teasing a potential Dallas Cowboys trade that could shake up their strategy later this month while landing them one of the best defenders in this year\u2019s class. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Jan
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tJan 27, 2025; Frisco, TX, USA; (L to R) Dallas Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones, head coach Brian Schottenheimer and owner Jerry Jones speak to the media at a press conference at the Star.
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTim Heitman-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

The biggest decision the Dallas Cowboys have to make in the 2026 NFL Draft is simple: Should they leverage their two first-round picks to trade up or should they stay put at No. 12 and No. 20 overall? <\/p>\n

Recently, some buzz from a couple insiders has people talking about the Cowboys wishing to move up. And it\u2019s starting to sound like there\u2019s a legit chance they wind up picking at No. 3 overall. Let\u2019s dive in. <\/p>\n

Cowboys and No. 3 overall buzz<\/p>\n

It started with a Bruce Feldman mock draft over at The Athletic<\/a> that, to me, seemed laughable at first. In it, Feldman had the Cowboys moving up to No. 3 overall to select Texas Tech EDGE David Bailey by giving up picks No. 12 and No. 92. <\/p>\n

That\u2019s crazy low compensation to move up that much. According to the Rich Hill trade value chart<\/a>, the Cowboys would win the trade by 124 points, which is equivalent to a second-round pick. <\/p>\n

However, The Ringer\u2019s draft insider Todd McShay made it clear there is some smoke to the idea of the Cowboys moving up to No. 3. <\/p>\n

\u201cTrading out of No. 3 remains one of the priorities [for the Cardinals],\u201d McShay said on his podcast<\/a>. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of buzz about Dallas trading up from 12 to 3 to get Bailey.\u201d <\/p>\n

While McShay isn\u2019t dropping a crystal clear report, the fact that he and Feldman alike are acknowledging the buzz on such a potential move for the Cowboys is very telling. McShay also alluded to a third-round pick being what it takes for Dallas to move up that high. <\/p>\n

Why it adds up on the Cowboys\u2019 side<\/p>\n

On the Cowboys\u2019 side, such a move would make sense. Yes, knowing how the front office operates, a trade up sounds unlikely at first\u2014the Cowboys haven\u2019t trade up in the first round since 2012. <\/p>\n

But this year\u2019s circumstances are much different. <\/p>\n

For starters, the Cowboys have two first-round picks, which gives them leeway to make an aggressive move. Additionally, the front office believes the team is close to being a contender and it was close to making a bold move for an edge rusher. <\/p>\n

Last month, they offered the Las Vegas Raiders as much as a first-round pick and a second-round pick for Maxx Crosby<\/a>. For much less, they could get a quality pass rusher in Bailey. Especially if it takes a third-round pick (which they got for DT Osa Odighizuwa), it\u2019s worth it. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s tough to bet on this happening, but I can see the logic behind it. <\/p>\n

AJ Schulte: \u201cBailey is a toolsy, high effort pass rusher with impressive production who absolutely dominated the competition in his final season of college football. Bailey\u2019s athleticism allows him to threaten OTs right away with impressive speed, but his lack of readily-available counters at this stage could limit his initial impact. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile his effort and athleticism allowed him to make several splash plays against the run, his marginal leg strength, pad level, and timidity at the point of attack will make him a complete non-factor in the run game early in his career. With further technical development, he could be a high-volitilty EDGE1 or elite EDGE2.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\"Nov\t\t<\/p>\n

Dallas Cowboys News<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve got a new mock draft simulator at A to Z Sports and we\u2019re making the most of it with a seven-round Cowboys mock draft. And yes, it features a first-round trade. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"At least two NFL Draft insiders are teasing a potential Dallas Cowboys trade that could shake up their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851594,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,4155,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-851593","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-david-bailey","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851593","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851593"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851593\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851594"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851593"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851593"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851593"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}