Should Cowboys make Julio Jones-type trade?
FRISCO, Texas — In 2010, the Atlanta Falcons had the best record in the NFC, finishing 13-3, but they lost to the Green Bay Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Believing they were close to becoming a Super Bowl team, Falcons general manager Thomas Dimitroff made a bold move, trading up 21 spots in a deal with the Cleveland Browns to draft wide receiver Julio Jones and pair him with quarterback Matt Ryan.
The man Dimitroff worked under for many years with the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, advised against it, and now six seasons later, Belichick will have to find a way to stop Jones, a task few have managed over the years.
But in order to get Jones, Dimitroff traded his first-, second- and fourth-round picks in 2011 (Nos. 27, 59 and 124) plus his first- and fourth-round picks in 2012 to the Browns.
“This may have been a once-in-a-career type move,” Dimitroff told the Boston Globe in 2013. “We felt that we were in the right place as an organization with the amount of veteran talent we had and the amount of youthful talent we had and the quarterback we had in place. It was a time that was right for us to get ourselves a very explosive player.”
By now, you must be asking how this is relevant to the Dallas Cowboys.
Well, a few weeks ago, the Cowboys lost to the Packers in the divisional round of the playoffs as the top seed in the NFC.
Dallas’ needs are obvious: defense, defense and more defense. If you want to say pass rush or cornerback or both, you wouldn’t be wrong.
So should the Cowboys consider an Atlanta-like move from No. 28 to the top of the first round to secure a pass-rusher or cornerback who will not be around later in the round?
The Browns squandered the five selections they got in the Jones trade. Phil Taylor, Greg Little, Owen Marecic and Brandon Weeden did not turn into franchise savers. The Browns traded their fourth-rounder in 2012 as part of a package in order to draft Trent Richardson with the No. 3 overall pick, but Richardson hasn’t played in the NFL since the 2014 season.
The last time the Cowboys made such a bold move was in 2012, when they moved from No. 14 to No. 6 to take cornerback Morris Claiborne. To get the deal done, they gave up the 14th and 45th overall picks.
Claiborne has four career interceptions and has not played a full season because of injuries.
In 2014, the Cowboys moved up to No. 34 overall to take defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. They gave up the 47th and 78th picks to Washington get the deal done. Lawrence has nine career sacks and recently had a second back surgery in as many offseasons.
It took the Falcons six seasons and more than just Jones to get to the Super Bowl, but they can look at that deal as a positive because of what Jones has become.
Dallas owner and GM Jerry Jones has shown a willingness to be bold, sometimes to a fault.
When the Cowboys built their Super Bowl teams of the 1990s, they did it with their sheer number of draft selections.
The Cowboys showed in 2016 that they can contend, but a team is never one piece away from a Super Bowl.
