B
Dallas Cowboys
A masterclass at the trade table lands the Cowboys a B.
by D.HAWK ·
2026 NFL Draft
· 11 picks
· 4 steals
· 3 reaches
Whoever sat across the table from the Cowboys should ask for a receipt. They cleaned the room out, prying loose far more value than they gave up, and it was the quiet MVP of their weekend. More right than wrong, and a B to match.
They are betting Barham proves the room right and everyone else wrong. Whatever else happened, they won the night they took Anderson. Leaving quarterback unaddressed is the roster risk they will have to answer for in the fall.
It is not that Barham is a bad player; it is that the Cowboys had louder needs to answer first.
Nothing here to lose sleep over, and plenty to feel decent about.
Pick-by-Pick
A straight-up fair deal on Jermod McCoy at the 20th pick, value and slot in agreement. This was priority one on the needs board, and now it is handled.
In slot 27 they get a disruptor off the edge, even if it was a touch early. Need was not the driver here.
By-the-book stuff, Emmanuel McNeil-Warren at the 49th overall pick squarely in line with his ranking. It adds depth where they could use a little.
A reach on Jacob Rodriguez in Round 2, Pick 26; the board had better options right there. The biggest hole on the depth chart just got a whole lot smaller.
Hard to square with the roster. With positions of obvious need still on the board, Jaishawn Barham adds an edge rusher and leaves quarterback, running back and other spots untouched.
A reasonable price with a little left over, Treydan Stukes in pick No. 97. The one spot they could not leave alone, and did not.
Davison Igbinosun at pick 138 is the sort of value that quietly wins a weekend. That was the need underlined and circled, and now it is checked off.
A tidy bit of business in the Round 5 slot, where Aamil Wagner graded well above the range. They walked in needing this and walked out with it.
A clean, defensible pick in No. 180 with a little surplus value in Kaleb Elarms-Orr. A glaring weakness, addressed head on.
They barely believed it either: Aaron Anderson still on the board at Round 6, Pick 15. A must-fix position, and they treated it like one.
Harrison Wallace III slipping to the Round 7 slot is the kind of luck good rooms make for themselves. It also answers one of the loudest questions on the roster.