Cowboys Trade Up, Snag Defensive Talents

On April 25th, the Dallas Cowboys been on the move in the 2026 NFL Draft, pulling off

three trades in the first three rounds to shake up their board.

They snagged safety Caleb Downs from Ohio State at pick number 11 and round 1, Edge

Russia Malachi Lawrence from UCF at pick number 23, still in round 1, and Edge Linebacker

Jaishan Barham from Michigan at pick number 92 in round 3.

They started by trading up from pick number 12 to 11 for Downs, giving away two fifth

round picks, numbers 177 and 180.

Then they slid back from 20 to 23 for Lawrence, picking up two fourth rounders, numbers 114

and 137 but sent out, a 2027 seventh rounder.

On day 2, they flipped the fifth round pick, number 152 to the San Francisco 49ers for

Linebacker D Winters.

Fans are buzzing about how this fills some gaps on defense, but the Cowboys still need

depth after these moves.

Adding Winters helps the Linebacker room, yet they're eyeing more help there, plus corner

backs to bolster the secondary and offensive tackle since.

Their current guys have hit some rough patches.

Heading into day 3, they've got three picks in round 4 numbers, 112, 114 and the comp

pick 137 plus around 7.

At number 218, with those knees lingering, expect them to target linebackers, corners

or tackles to round out this class strong.