The Dallas Cowboys have several strategic options heading into the draft—trading up, trading down, or staying put. However, trading up is typically not an efficient move unless the price is significantly lower than the market value, making it a fair deal.
I miss the days when the Cowboys were aggressive & fun. Spice it up. Trade up for Travis Hunter.
— Daniel Jeremiah (@MoveTheSticks) March 25, 2025
When a team gets close to a fair price for moving up, other factors come into play to justify the decision. For example, if there’s a massive talent drop-off at a key position after the targeted player or if a highly valued player unexpectedly falls a few spots, a trade-up could be considered.
The Cowboys are among the few NFL teams that seem to understand this principle well. Their last significant first-round trade-up happened in 2012 when they moved from the 14th pick to the 6th to draft Morris Claiborne. The most recent trade-up within the first three rounds occurred in 2014 when they moved up 13 spots in the second round to select DeMarcus Lawrence.
That 2014 draft was also the first in which Will McClay played a major role in the Cowboys’ draft strategy. McClay famously advised against selecting Johnny Manziel in the first round, steering the team toward future Hall of Famer Zack Martin instead. Since McClay’s influence has grown, the Cowboys have largely avoided early trade-ups and have instead embraced trading down.
In 2021, they traded back in the first round and still secured Micah Parsons, using the extra pick gained to draft Chauncey Golston. More recently, in 2024, the Cowboys moved back slightly before drafting Tyler Guyton—who was reportedly their target anyway—and gained an additional third-round pick, which they used to select starting center Cooper Beebe.
Given their success in drafting talent through a patient and calculated approach, the Cowboys cannot afford to trade up in this draft, whether for a player like Travis Hunter or anyone else. Trading up for a position that isn’t the most valuable or comes with significant risk—especially one where no player has accomplished what Hunter aims to in the modern NFL—would go against the sound drafting process that has kept the Cowboys competitive.
McClay’s disciplined drafting strategy has played a crucial role in the team’s long-term success. Now is not the time for Dallas to abandon that approach just to make a flashy move.