2023 NFL Draft: Full list of Cowboys picks, plus potential fits, first-round trades, more

The Dallas Cowboys are in a great spot entering the 2023 NFL Draft. They have essentially all of their starters on defense accounted for following a stellar free agency period plus the trade for former Defensive Player of the Year cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore plugged a significant hole defensively opposite Trevon Diggs in the Cowboys secondary. Dallas’ biggest offensive need was also addressed, a legit No. 2 wide receiver opposite CeeDee Lamb, with the trade acquisition of Brandin Cooks. 

Given these developments, the Jones family, Jerry and Stephen, divulged their mindset Monday on where they stand entering the first round, with the 26th overall selection: wait and see. “We may be interested in going down, or maybe up,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said Monday, per the Dallas Morning News. “Or we might sit there, but keep us on your mind.”  

Dallas hasn’t made a significant first-round trade up since 2012 when it selected LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne sixth overall after sending its 14th overall pick and 45th overall pick (second round) to the Rams. 

“I just feel like where we’re picking at No. 26, it’s so difficult to know right now,” Cowboys COO, EVP and director of player personnel Stephen Jones said on possibly moving their 26th overall selection. “You’ve got to let the draft play out, and that takes hours. You’ve got plenty of time to be talking about it as guys are coming off and guys are starting to fall that you might like. Not unlike what happened with CeeDee Lamb [17th overall in 2020 NFL Draft] a couple of years ago. You really don’t know until it happens. You can read all of the mock drafts, you can see all of the things that we’re told quietly by other general managers, but you’ll never know until you’re there.”

This upcoming draft is unique in that many teams don’t have as many prospects with first-round grades on their draft boards, meaning a player is a no-doubt first-round talent. Stephen Jones revealed the Cowboys have given 15-17 prospects a first-round grade in the 2023 NFL Draft. That number is usually in the 20s most years, so the relative lack of top-shelf, first-round talent could create some unique draft scenarios. 

“You’re not going to know anything close to what we might do,” Jerry Jones said. “Because I don’t.”  

How Pollard’s future could impact Cowboys’ draft approach

Cowboys Pro Bowl running back Tony Pollard, who led the NFL in scrimmage yards per touch (5.9) in 2022 among players with at least 200 touches and is coming off a broken fibula he suffered in Dallas’ divisional round playoff loss at the San Francisco 49ers, will play a significant factor in how Dallas addresses the running back position in the upcoming draft. He turns 26 on April 30 and is entering the 2023 season on the franchise tag at a fully guaranteed salary of $10.09 million. 

“It’s going to be a tough decision as we move forward where’s Tony going to be, Pollard, and how he fits,” Stephen Jones said Monday. “He’s going to be here this year, and he’s franchised and that shows you what we think of him. We also like to look at keeping him around here for the next three or four years as well.”  

However, the Cowboys wouldn’t rule out a pursuit of Texas running back Bijan Robinson, one of the draft’s top prospects regardless of position, back on April 19. 

“I’m sure when that first day is over [of this year’s NFL Draft], he’s certainly gonna have a team, and you never know,” Jones said.

Although after just getting out from under former Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott’s massive contract after selecting him fourth overall in 2016, the Cowboys don’t seem in a hurry to trade up to take another running back early in Round 1.

“What I would say to you if you’re picking in the top 10 or top 15, wherever you want to make the cutoff, you really are thinking we have to have a second contract out of that deal,” Stephen Jones said. “So, does it affect you when you’re thinking about a running back up that high? Yes. As you start to really look at as you move down the draft, you’d like to hope you’re going to have success that that player is going to be a second contract, but in my opinion, not as necessary that you have to necessarily get that second contract.”

If Robinson or maybe Alabama’s Jahmyr Gibbs falls into the 20s where the Cowboys have pick 26, Stephen Jones said some conversations will be had about the idea of going with another first-round rusher. 

“If you happen to see a back there at the bottom of the first that’s rare and unique and falls because he’s a running back, then I would have to be thinking we’d be considering it, especially if we thought he should have been picked in the top half of the draft.”  

Cowboys team needs: OG, S, DL, LB, RB, C, TE  (via Josh Edwards)

Cowboys 2023 draft picks

Here’s a look at a few other Dallas Cowboys draft angles CBS Sports has covered in the lead-up to the 2023 NFL Draft.

The 2023 NFL Draft begins Thursday, April 27.