A day before the 2025 NFL Draft, the leadership – and we mean, the top leadership – of the Dallas Cowboys organization has made it clear they’re open for business.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones on Tuesday told members of the media that the franchise is working on some “pretty substantive” trades, but obviously didn’t elaborate beyond that.
Jones said his team was one of the best in the league at the selection process.
“We’re one of the best drafting teams in the NFL. I’ll say that,” Jones said Tuesday. “We are.”
The Cowboys went 7-10 in 2024, and missed the playoffs under what would be the final season for Mike McCarthy as head coach, as McCarthy’s contract was allowed to expire. The franchise eventually Brian Schottenheimer, the son of longtime and now late former NFL head coach Marty Schottenheimer, already on the Cowboys’ staff as the offensive coordinator, to replace McCarthy.
The draft, which was for many, many years held exclusively in New York City, now rotates to different cities with league involvement. It will be held at Lambeau Field this week, beginning with the first round on Thursday night at 7 p.m. Central time, and can be seen in various ways, including ABC, ESPN, the NFL Network, and ESPN Deportes. Streaming coverage will be live on NFL+, the ABC App, the ESPN App, and NFL.com.
And the draft will resume on Friday night with rounds two and three, then on Saturday with what’s left, which is rounds four through seven.
The Cowboys’ first pick is No. 12 overall, and then they’re not scheduled to pick again until the second round, No. 44 overall, although if you believe Jones, that could change.
Prior to any trades, Dallas picks 76th overall (in round three), doesn’t have a pick in round four, has two in round five (149 and 174), two in round six (204 and 211), and two in the last round, round seven (217, 239).
Baltimore and San Francisco, each with 11, have the most picks in this year’s draft.
The last time the Cowboys had No. 12 worked out pretty well: it was in 2021, and they drafted edge rusher Micah Parsons, considered one of the best current players in the league, with 52 ½ career sacks in four seasons.
According to ESPN draft expert Mel Kiper, who has been with the network for over 40 years and is likely the most widely-known NFL Draft analyst in the world, the Cowboys’ biggest needs headed into the draft are running back, wide receiver, and cornerback.
If Vice President Stephen Jones was telling the truth on Tuesday, Cowboys fans might expect more of a best-player-available strategy, though, and not necessarily drafting for need.
The younger Jones said the Cowboys are “committed to avoiding forcing a player who ‘scratches an itch’ or fills a team need.”
The Cowboys sit at $37 million under the NFL’s salary cap.
