B+
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys won the weekend at the trade table. Grade: B+.
by cal28 ·
2025 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The Cowboys bet big and early on Jake Briningstool, 74 picks ahead of the board. Bold does not always mean right. It nets out to a B+, which feels about right.
Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Starks. Every deal seemed to tilt their way, which is not luck. Leaving cornerback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
The Adonai Mitchell pickup adds a known quantity to a class of unknowns.
Bottom line, more hits than misses and a roster nudged the right way.
Pick-by-Pick
In the Round 1 slot they get a plug-and-play piece up front at fair value. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
A clean, defensible pick in the 44th overall pick with a little surplus value in Tyleik Williams. A sensible fit that makes the depth chart a little sturdier.
Taking Malaki Starks in the 76th pick is close to grand larceny; a safety that good had no business lasting this long. It thickens a room that could stand to be thicker.
Brashard Smith at Round 4, Pick 15 is right where the board had him, plain and simple. One more legitimate question on the roster, answered.
Nice patience on Rylie Mills, who had no business lasting to No. 150. The roster fit checks out.
They read the board right and Logan Brown was the payoff at slot 170. Top of the wish list, and they did not leave without it.
A reach on Dont'e Thornton Jr. in pick No. 172; the board had better options right there. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
A swing that ignored the value entirely, Jake Briningstool well ahead of where he belonged. A real hole, addressed with a reasonable pick.