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These 3 Dallas Cowboys draft picks must be traded

Originally posted on Inside The Star | By Mark Heaney | Last updated Apr 20, 2025 9:31 AM ET

The 2025 Cowboys draft picks will be complete this time next week, and they can’t afford mistakes in their haul. Dallas’s roster has too many holes, and their late-round draft capital is too strong to misuse.

After holding just three picks in the first 148 of the draft, the Cowboys have seven selections in the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds.

With compensatory picks adding up from their 2024 departures, Dallas has more than enough capital to make some magic happen.

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If they play their cards right, they could even gain a fourth-rounder with these late picks.

Naturally, it is much harder to hit on late-round flyers than it is early in the draft, and the front office has to acknowledge their recent history in the deep rounds. If we look at their draft history, Dallas hits on one 5th, 6th, or 7th rounder every other draft.

This season is too critical to take those kinds of odds, and that is why three of these late Cowboys draft picks must get moved.

The Three That Must Go: 174, 204, 217

If you take a look at the full list of the Cowboys’ selections, you can easily find the ones that have to get traded. The first is their second 5th rounder and first compensatory pick, sitting at 174th overall.

Dallas is going to get their top-late round option with the 149th pick, but this second fifth could help bridge the huge divide between their 3rd rounder and 149.

It should not take all that much to get into the 4th round, where the Cowboys are currently empty-handed, if they start a trade package off with the 174th selection.

On the trade value chart, a tool often used as a barometer for these moves, Dallas could reach the value of a late-4th with 174, 204 (their first of three sixth-rounders), and 217, the team’s highest seventh-round pick.

That kind of move should be a no-brainer for a team desperate to acquire higher-end young talent, especially at positions like running back, which hold significant depth in this class.

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It could also be parlayed with earlier trades to slide down the board in the first round, given the interest from other teams to get to 12, and the way the Cowboys’ needs are shaping up against who could be available.

Essentially, trading these three picks for one earlier selection could give Dallas another starting-caliber player, and could be one of many selections there if they move back initially.

The Reward: Better Prospect With Less Risk

Let’s keep it real here: the Cowboys’ trade for Trey Lance burned them badly in the 2024 NFL Draft.

Instead of holding their 4th-round pick, and being able to select a running back like Bucky Irving or Braelon Allen, or drafting Spencer Rattler as a project backup behind Dak Prescott, the team was stuck with a third-string quarterback who is now a Los Angeles Charger.

This time around, due to the Jonathan Mingo trade, Dallas is once again in line to miss the entire fourth. That is a critical round for roster development.

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So, by moving those three picks to get back into it, they’d walk away with a much stronger prospect than those three selections combined, and encounter less risk from drafting from a weakened pool of players.

Miami running back Damien Martinez, a projected 3rd-4th round pick, is a key example of a guy who Dallas likes, and could not otherwise draft because of the Mingo trade.

In our trade scenario here, they could bring in an RB1 caliber player at the cost of three picks that likely won’t turn into anything serious. Again, if the Cowboys’ draft picks turn out lucky, just one of those three will become a starter.

If they aren’t lucky, all three will become practice squad players or cut candidates in no time. You simply cannot say the same about a 4th round pick, and Dallas must act on that fact.

This article first appeared on Inside The Star and was syndicated with permission.

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