B
Dallas Cowboys
The Cowboys fleeced the room on the phones and earned a B.
by D.HAWK ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 8 picks
· 3 steals
· 2 reaches
The Cowboys ran the phones like sharks, prying loose value on deal after deal until the ledger was lopsided.
Reaching for Barham left real value on the table behind him. The Golday pick is fine in a vacuum, less so with linebacker, quarterback and other spots still on the board.
They covered a lot of ground and still skipped linebacker, which is a strange place to end up. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Reed-Adams.
Solid rather than spectacular, and there is nothing wrong with that.
Pick-by-Pick
In the 18th pick they get an island corner. It fills the loudest need on the roster.
In the 28th overall pick they get a premier pass rusher, even if it was a touch early. Need was not the driver here.
They paid sticker price for Emmanuel McNeil-Warren in No. 49, and that is fine. Useful depth more than a marquee fix.
They zigged when the board said zag, taking Jake Golday at edge rusher with linebacker, quarterback and other spots open.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jaishawn Barham adds an edge rusher and leaves linebacker, quarterback and other spots untouched.
They let Aamil Wagner come to them and pounced at pick 177. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.
A quiet steal in the Round 5 slot: Ar'maj Reed-Adams for less than the market said. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Value with a capital V on Chase Roberts in Round 7, Pick 2, a genuine coup. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.