The Dallas Cowboys could potentially be in a quality position to trade out of their eventual draft slot come April’s first round. Nothing is set in stone and with five games to play there are numerous possibilities to how the remainder of the season will play out. Heck, the Cowboys may end up winning the division and not picking until No. 19 or later. All things being considered though, based on their inability to pass or run block with so many injuries along the offensive line, the Cowboys seem a solid bet to end up with a top-5 selection.
They will not catch the New York Jets or Jacksonville Jaguars. Those two organizations are almost assured to finish 1-2 in draft order and be in position to draft or trade the rights to select Trevor Lawrence and QB2. Who QB2 is, may be up to the eye of the beholder. Most feel that will be Ohio State’s Justin Fields, but there are some who think Zack Wilson of BYU is the second-best available. There are others who believe North Dakota State’s Trey Lance is the league’s next superstar and may be willing to rank him as QB2 or QB3. There’s also a case to be made for Florida’s Kyle Trask as a top guy. Yes, as many as five QBs are in consideration for top-10 picks. That makes the situation Dallas finds themselves in pretty tasty from a trade-back perspective.
Because costs of QBs are so high, and because the salary cap is expected to drop, it will be very appealing for teams to seek a draft solution to their QB needs. Teams that focus on a certain player being the answer may be willing to put together a package to move up, and the Cowboys may be the team best suited to be in that position.
The two teams closet to the Cowboys in the race for slot No. 3 (again, five weeks to go and things can and will change) are Cincinnati and the Los Angeles Chargers. Both teams drafted their franchise QBs in the top 6 last year in Joe Burrow and Justin Herbert. Both teams have a massive need for OL help and if either landed ahead of Dallas, it’s feasible they would rather select Oregon’s Penei Sewell (or another OT) instead of trading back.
For now, we’ll work with that premise. Dallas could theoretically be the first team willing to bail from a top 4 pick so another team could move up to select their QB of the future.
Who would be willing to make that move? Well, there are a lot of QB thirsty teams out there in 2020.