New Cowboys Rumors on Potential 2026 NFL Draft Trades, Latest Insider Buzz

The Dallas Cowboys own a pair of first-round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft, and they could wheel and deal to land the players they want.

The Cowboys will have the No. 12 and No. 20 picks in Thursday's first round. ESPN's Dan Graziano called Dallas "one of the most disciplined and successful drafting teams of the past decade and longer," and he explained that the team will only make a trade under the right circumstances.

"What I am told is that the Cowboys do not want to trade both No. 12 and No. 20 to move up for just one player," Graziano stated. "A small move up from No. 12 that doesn't involve No. 20 seems possible if they feel like one of their preferred targets is within range. But going all the way up into the top five or six picks doesn't sound to me like what they want to do."

B/R's NFL Scouting Department predicted in its mock draft that the Cowboys would use the No. 12 pick to select Tennessee cornerback Jermod McCoy before adding Oregon safety Dillon Thieneman with the No. 20 pick, which originally belonged to the Green Bay Packers and was acquired as part of last offseason's Micah Parsons trade.

Graziano added that he feels "it's more likely the Cowboys trade down from No. 20 than up from No. 12," explaining that it's more necessary for Dallas to fill multiple holes on its roster than to move up for one of the top prospects.

"They need a ton of help on defense and would love it if [Sonny] Styles, [Caleb] Downs or LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane fell to them at No. 12; they could get to work addressing the other positional needs at No. 20 and later," Graziano stated. "Dallas also doesn't have a second-round pick (it belongs to the Jets from the Quinnen Williams trade), which is why I've been told to watch out for the Cowboys to trade down from No. 20 to try to recoup some Day 2 capital."