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A lot of good info here, including who the pick would have been had they traded down with Baltimore and lost out on Elliott & Ramsey. King also says Baltimore would only offr a 4th to flip those two spots (6 to 4), the tade chart says that's 200 pts. Baltimore's 3rd was 240, their 4th was only 86. It would have been a loss for us to agree to that deal, not to mention the risk of the Jaguars trading down with someone who wanted Zeke if the Ravens had taken Ramsey.
Stars and Second Guesses: Inside the Dallas Draft Room
The Cowboys were elated after picking Ezekiel Elliott and Jaylon Smith, but owner Jerry Jones was left lamenting the one that got away. Plus more on the event in Chicago, including how the Ravens foiled the Pats
The MMQB's Peter King tells the tale of a Draft weekend spent with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.
IRVING, Texas — What no one on the outside world can see on NFL draft weekend is the gut-punch emotion owners and coaches and GMs feel when they miss out on a player they want. Really want. In this case, for the Cowboys, that player was Paxton Lynch, the quarterback they saw as the heir to Tony Romo, and the player featured on the billboard on I-30, near that shiny jewel of a stadium in Arlington through—they hoped—about 2032.
But at 9:56 p.m. Central Time Thursday, after 67 minutes talking to nine teams trying to deal for a Lynch-enabling pick, reality bit. Word filtered into the room that Denver had traded up with Seattle to pick Lynch. Pall over the room. Observers say owner Jerry Jones, who’d been standing next to the draft board trying to figure the math it might take to move up, looked and sounded crestfallen.
“Well,” Jones said wearily to no one, “guess I’ll sit down now.”
It is not rare to see Jerry Jones open a vein and bleed, and emote. It is rare, though, for one of the most decisive men in the football business, a man who has made his living in oil and gas and football making hard decisions, to not pull the trigger when he thinks the trigger should be pulled. Dallas wouldn’t increase its offer to Seattle from second-round and fourth-round picks to second and third-rounders, and that’s what lost Lynch. Eighteen hours after losing Lynch, the regret was chewing on Jones.
“I’m not gonna go jump from Dallas’ tallest, so let’s put this in perspective,” said Jones, pausing for a few minutes in his day-two draft prep at the Cowboys’ complex. “And I live with second-guessing and disappointments. That’s a part of this business. But if I had to do it all over again? I’d give the three.”
* * *
With Dallas in the epicenter of a draft that was unpredictable after the top two picks, Jones agreed to share his thought process, and his organization’s, in this draft. His thoughts, and the observations of sources with knowledge of the Cowboys’ draft room this weekend, form the reporting of this story.
This was a weekend of draft drama, from the Laremy Tunsil video, to Karl Joseph and Keanu Neal going in the teens and Reggie Ragland and Jarran Reed in the forties, to the Jets making Christian Hackenberg their lifeline at quarterback, to Myles Jack getting picked after Jaylon Smith, to Keenan Reynolds going to Baltimore and not New England. But it would be hard to beat the drama in Dallas. A lot happened.
* * *
Prelude to a Draft, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., Cowboys offices at Valley Ranch
The Cowboys have a great offensive line, and their makeshift running game was ninth in the league in rushing last year. They need a pass-rusher more than a running back. They need a corner more than a running back. Jones knows this, and he knows the outside world thinks it’d be absurd for him to pass on the premier players in this draft at spots he needs.
But the 73-year-old owner of the Cowboys has a feeling about this draft. It’s the kind of feeling he had about the oil and gas business in the seventies and eighties that got him the kind of money to buy this franchise.
“I’ve had my finest hours in business going against the grain,” he said. “In the oil business, I’m drilling between dry holes trying to make a strike, and everybody around us is laying off geologists. Business is bad. I jump in. Why? The opportunity’s good. Buying the Cowboys when I did? Bad business—they were down. Again, opportunity. This decision, this draft, is a little bit contrary, but it’s in step with how I think.”
That’s because Jones and the Cowboys have decided that Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott is their top target. Dallas had success running the ball in 2015, even with teams loading the box on the Cowboys when Tony Romo was hurt. Jones and the coaching staff feel a great running game will keep the offense on the field more and a suspect defense on the field less, and they view Elliott as a far more versatile back than Dallas’ 2014 rushing champ, the since-departed DeMarco Murray. Despite their rushing proficiency in 2015, the Cowboys ran 45 more offensive snaps in 2014 than last season. Elliott’s presence could lead to Dallas dominating in time of possession and offensive plays—both good for an average defense. Around the building, the oft-repeated thought is Dallas can help its defense most by picking Elliott.
In the Dallas draft room, support staff and scouts and coaches ring three quarters of a large rectangular table. At the head of the table sits, from left to right, mostly a family affair: vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones (who mans the phone for most trade discussions); Jerry Jones; executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson (Jerry’s daughter); coach Jason Garrett; and just around the corner of the table, executive vice president of sales and marketing Jerry Jones Jr. Stephen Jones is at the nerve center, with direct lines to 31 NFL teams on the phone console in front of him.
Moments after the Chargers picked Joey Bosa, Dallas was on the clock, with the fourth pick. Jacksonville had the fifth pick; Dallas knew the Jags were no threat to take Elliott. Baltimore had the sixth pick; Dallas suspected Ramsey was the Ravens’ target too. The aim for Dallas here was to move down two slots and add Baltimore’s third-round pick, number 70 overall. Dallas felt it could package that third-round pick and the Cowboys’ second-rounder, 34th overall, to move into the second half of the first round and snag Lynch.
Stephen Jones, one observer noted, picked up the phone and called Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome. “Hey Oz,” Stephen Jones said. “We probably will pick here, but …” Newsome told Jones to move up from 6 to 4 in the first round he’d give Baltimore’s fourth-rounder, 104 overall. “We need a three to do it,” Stephen Jones told him. “If you change your mind, call me.”
Later, Jerry Jones explained the thought process thusly: “We probably get the same player at 6 that we get at 4, but the extra third-round pick lets us take our two and do something special. I am fine with taking risks. In fact, I’m a big proponent of risk. The problem is when you take too much of it for not enough gain.” As the minutes passed before the pick, Jerry Jones got lost in thought, one observer noting him leaning back in his chair in the quiet draft room, chewing on a yellow pencil. He was thinking if he traded to six, and lost both Elliott and Ramsey on the next two picks, Dallas would take pass-rusher Leonard Floyd of Georgia. He liked Floyd. He loved Elliott.
His coach did too. Garrett, on Monday, closed his office door and spent seven hours looking at every snap of Ramsey at Florida State in 2015, and every snap of Elliott at Ohio State in 2016. He liked Ramsey. He loved Elliott. Garrett told the Joneses he favored Elliott. So the group was solid as the clock ran down here for pick number four of the first round of the 2016 draft.
“Two minutes,” someone called out.
Jones asked offensive coordinator Scott Linehan what he thought. “Zeke’s an impact player,” Linehan said.
Quiet in the room, observers said. No one spoke. The Ravens didn’t call. The Joneses wished they would, but now …
“One minute.”
It was obvious Baltimore wasn’t bluffing. Eight minutes had passed from the time Stephen Jones told Newsome to call if he changed his mind. It was clear he hadn’t. And Jerry Jones didn’t want to risk losing the player who’d been the team’s preferred target for months.
“Get Zeke on the phone,” Jerry Jones said. And he instructed the card to be turned in with Ezekiel Elliott’s name on it.
Jones’ grin was Texas-sized when he heard Elliott from a noisy draft green room in Chicago.
“Hey Dallas Cowboy! This is Jerry Jones!!”
Through the noise, Elliott told Jones he wanted to win the Super Bowl.
Jones smiled wider: “Let’s go win the Super Bowl!” he yelled into the phone.
A couple of minutes later, on the ESPN telecast, Jon Gruden appeared. If you were watching Gruden talk about the Dallas quarterback situation, you weren’t alone. Jones, the next day, said he was watching, and he heard Gruden’s words loud and clear.
“They have got to get back into the first round and get a quarterback now,” Gruden said on ESPN. “They have already proven they go nowhere without Tony Romo.”
It was like Gruden was speaking to one person: Jerry Jones.
* *
One observer estimated it was about midway through the round, around 8:50 p.m., just before Cleveland picked Corey Coleman at 15, that the talk in the room started about Paxton Lynch.
Dallas had Lynch as a clear first-round pick, the 12th overall player on their board, and the conversation in the room echoed what they’d discussed as a staff for weeks: We think Romo’s going to be our quarterback for three or four more years, but he’s also been hurt two of the past three years. At some point, we’ve got to start the process of finding his heir.
The plan was to offer Dallas’ second-round and third-round picks, 34 and 67 overall, to teams in the late teens and early twenties—Indianapolis, Buffalo, the Jets, Houston—but then swap out the third-rounder for Dallas’ fourth-rounder, 101 overall, starting in the mid-twenties. Cincinnati (24), Pittsburgh (25), Seattle (26), Green Bay (27) and Kansas City (28) all got called. Lukewarm responses, mostly. Buffalo (19) said no to the offer of the second and third. The Jets said no.
Seattle GM John Schneider wanted to keep talking.
Jerry Jones, one observer said, said to Garrett right about here: “The question is, can we really afford to lose two good players—good players—and take a guy as a hedge for the future? I think I’d rather give this two and three and have Lynch … or have [Mississippi State quarterback] Dak [Prescott] in the fourth.”
Given his druthers, Garrett was okay settling for Connor Cook or Prescott down the road in the draft, maybe in Round 4 if they lasted that long. With needs on defense, Garrett preferred to take two defensive players in rounds two and three from among this pool: Oklahoma State pass-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins. But he also saw the fascination with Lynch, and if Lynch was the guy, Garrett would truly be happy to take him on as a project.
Between 9:25 and 9:45, Stephen Jones had three conversations with Seattle. Jones started with a simple swap offer: Seattle would send the 26th pick to Dallas, with Dallas returning a two and four. Next call: Stephen Jones, apparently sensing interest, tried to move it along, offering to add Dallas’ sixth-round pick if Seattle would give back its lower of two seventh-round picks.
Now 9:47. Cincinnati on the clock; the Bengals, at 24, called to say no. Jerry Jones stood at the board near his seat, one observer saying he looked lost in thought as Stephen said to him: “Anything else? Want me to try something else?” Jerry Jones had no answers.
The Chiefs called. Said they’d trade from 28 to 34 but only if Dallas included its three, not the four. No dice. Bengals picked cornerback William Jackson III. Steelers up. Pittsburgh never considered trading at No. 25 and made a pick quickly: cornerback Artie Burns.
Now 9:54. Schneider back on the phone. The call was quick. Stephen Jones got off the phone, turned to Jerry Jones at the board, and as one eyewitness recalled son said to father: “No way with Seattle. Too much. They want our two and three.”
Quiet in the room. “Thoughts?” Stephen Jones said to his father. “Any thoughts?”
They had a minute, maybe, to up the offer to Seattle, which was the only fish on the line. But no new offer was forthcoming. It was a minute later, maybe two, that Denver consummated the deal with Seattle for the ability to pick Lynch. The Denver deal was clearly better. Dallas was offering picks 34 and 101 for the 26th overall pick. Denver was offering picks 31 and 94—and by staying in the first round with its pick, Seattle got to control the player it picked for a fifth year, as opposed to four-year control for a second-round pick. Denver’s offer was superior. Dallas could have trumped Denver only one way—by offering its third, the 67th overall choice.
That was it. If Lynch turned into a star instead of wearing one, it would bug Jones for years to come.
* * *
There’s no way Jerry Jones should have been wide awake Friday morning at 6 with just three hours of sleep, staring at the ceiling in his Dallas home. Not after the emotion of the first day of the draft, the near-trade with Baltimore early in the round, the fishing expeditions late in the round trying earnestly to trade up for Lynch. All of that stress and exertion should have been worth about four Ambiens, but here was Jones, wide awake.
“When I got up this morning,” Jones said Friday afternoon, “I second-guessed the hell out of myself for not giving the three. I have always paid a premium for a premium. So many times my bargains have let me down.”
No time for being bummed now, though. The second through fourth rounds were down, up, down, up, up … a range of emotion in and out of the draft room. Cleveland used the first pick of the day to steal Ogbah. Tennessee took defensive end Kevin Dodd, and then it was time for the Cowboys to shock the world.
As the draft sat now, with Ogbah gone, they hoped to get a boom or bust project, the nerve-damaged Notre Dame star linebacker Smith, in this round, and then a three-technique candidate for the middle of the defensive line in the third round, Collins. Smith might have been the first pick in the draft but for a terrible knee injury in his January bowl game that left him with drop foot. Dallas had some inside information here. The Cowboys’ orthopedist, Dan Cooper, did the surgery on Smith in January, and he told Jones he believed the nerve would regenerate and that Smith eventually would return to play football, probably at a high level. But there’s no guarantee. Which is why Jaylon Smith was sitting in his home in Fort Wayne, Ind., wondering when he’d get drafted instead of being one of the draft’s TV stars in the green room in Chicago.
Dallas considered trading down to Indianapolis at 48, but didn’t like the risk. The Cowboys heard—reliably, they thought—that New England was aiming to pick Smith near the end of this round. Remember the Jones/risk story. Trading down 14 slots, already having lost Ogbah? Too much risk, not enough reward.
Jerry Jones told his man in Chicago to turn the card in. Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame.
“I am at peace,” Jones told someone in the draft room. “I am at total peace.”
Then he grabbed the phone, connected to a living room in Fort Wayne.
“Jaylon, it’s Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. It’s great to be talking to a Dallas Cowboy!”
Second-guessing the hell out of himself in the morning. Making some damaged kid’s dreams come true in the evening. Jerry Jones’ life.
* * *
One last story. On day three, Dallas sat at pick 101, the third pick in the fourth round. Cleveland owned picks 99 and 100. The Cowboys favored Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook marginally over Prescott. Cleveland wasn’t going to take a quarterback, having just picked USC passer Cody Kessler near the end of round three. So the Cowboys offered Cleveland next year’s sixth-round pick to move up from 101 to 100. The Browns said no. Then the Cowboys offered this year’s sixth-round pick. The Browns said no. Cleveland took picks 114 and 154 from Oakland, and the Raiders jumped Dallas and picked Cook.
Bummer. But Jerry Jones and Garrett recalled Roger Staubach talking to them about quarterbacks a month or so ago, telling them leadership and belief in self were so vital to a quarterback’s fate. And Prescott has both, plentifully. So we’ll see what happens with these two quarterbacks. Three, if you include the other one Dallas wanted, the one wearing orange in Denver.
That’s the entire draft exercise. In mourning for Lynch. Euphoric for Smith and Elliott. And having no idea for next couple of years whether either emotion is well-founded. That’s the story of the draft, and in all of the league it wasn’t on display as vividly as in Dallas over the weekend.
Stars and Second Guesses: Inside the Dallas Draft Room
The Cowboys were elated after picking Ezekiel Elliott and Jaylon Smith, but owner Jerry Jones was left lamenting the one that got away. Plus more on the event in Chicago, including how the Ravens foiled the Pats
The MMQB's Peter King tells the tale of a Draft weekend spent with Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys.
IRVING, Texas — What no one on the outside world can see on NFL draft weekend is the gut-punch emotion owners and coaches and GMs feel when they miss out on a player they want. Really want. In this case, for the Cowboys, that player was Paxton Lynch, the quarterback they saw as the heir to Tony Romo, and the player featured on the billboard on I-30, near that shiny jewel of a stadium in Arlington through—they hoped—about 2032.
But at 9:56 p.m. Central Time Thursday, after 67 minutes talking to nine teams trying to deal for a Lynch-enabling pick, reality bit. Word filtered into the room that Denver had traded up with Seattle to pick Lynch. Pall over the room. Observers say owner Jerry Jones, who’d been standing next to the draft board trying to figure the math it might take to move up, looked and sounded crestfallen.
“Well,” Jones said wearily to no one, “guess I’ll sit down now.”
It is not rare to see Jerry Jones open a vein and bleed, and emote. It is rare, though, for one of the most decisive men in the football business, a man who has made his living in oil and gas and football making hard decisions, to not pull the trigger when he thinks the trigger should be pulled. Dallas wouldn’t increase its offer to Seattle from second-round and fourth-round picks to second and third-rounders, and that’s what lost Lynch. Eighteen hours after losing Lynch, the regret was chewing on Jones.
“I’m not gonna go jump from Dallas’ tallest, so let’s put this in perspective,” said Jones, pausing for a few minutes in his day-two draft prep at the Cowboys’ complex. “And I live with second-guessing and disappointments. That’s a part of this business. But if I had to do it all over again? I’d give the three.”
* * *
With Dallas in the epicenter of a draft that was unpredictable after the top two picks, Jones agreed to share his thought process, and his organization’s, in this draft. His thoughts, and the observations of sources with knowledge of the Cowboys’ draft room this weekend, form the reporting of this story.
This was a weekend of draft drama, from the Laremy Tunsil video, to Karl Joseph and Keanu Neal going in the teens and Reggie Ragland and Jarran Reed in the forties, to the Jets making Christian Hackenberg their lifeline at quarterback, to Myles Jack getting picked after Jaylon Smith, to Keenan Reynolds going to Baltimore and not New England. But it would be hard to beat the drama in Dallas. A lot happened.
* * *
Prelude to a Draft, Wednesday, 5:30 p.m., Cowboys offices at Valley Ranch
The Cowboys have a great offensive line, and their makeshift running game was ninth in the league in rushing last year. They need a pass-rusher more than a running back. They need a corner more than a running back. Jones knows this, and he knows the outside world thinks it’d be absurd for him to pass on the premier players in this draft at spots he needs.
But the 73-year-old owner of the Cowboys has a feeling about this draft. It’s the kind of feeling he had about the oil and gas business in the seventies and eighties that got him the kind of money to buy this franchise.
“I’ve had my finest hours in business going against the grain,” he said. “In the oil business, I’m drilling between dry holes trying to make a strike, and everybody around us is laying off geologists. Business is bad. I jump in. Why? The opportunity’s good. Buying the Cowboys when I did? Bad business—they were down. Again, opportunity. This decision, this draft, is a little bit contrary, but it’s in step with how I think.”
That’s because Jones and the Cowboys have decided that Ohio State running back Ezekiel Elliott is their top target. Dallas had success running the ball in 2015, even with teams loading the box on the Cowboys when Tony Romo was hurt. Jones and the coaching staff feel a great running game will keep the offense on the field more and a suspect defense on the field less, and they view Elliott as a far more versatile back than Dallas’ 2014 rushing champ, the since-departed DeMarco Murray. Despite their rushing proficiency in 2015, the Cowboys ran 45 more offensive snaps in 2014 than last season. Elliott’s presence could lead to Dallas dominating in time of possession and offensive plays—both good for an average defense. Around the building, the oft-repeated thought is Dallas can help its defense most by picking Elliott.
In the Dallas draft room, support staff and scouts and coaches ring three quarters of a large rectangular table. At the head of the table sits, from left to right, mostly a family affair: vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones (who mans the phone for most trade discussions); Jerry Jones; executive vice president Charlotte Jones Anderson (Jerry’s daughter); coach Jason Garrett; and just around the corner of the table, executive vice president of sales and marketing Jerry Jones Jr. Stephen Jones is at the nerve center, with direct lines to 31 NFL teams on the phone console in front of him.
Moments after the Chargers picked Joey Bosa, Dallas was on the clock, with the fourth pick. Jacksonville had the fifth pick; Dallas knew the Jags were no threat to take Elliott. Baltimore had the sixth pick; Dallas suspected Ramsey was the Ravens’ target too. The aim for Dallas here was to move down two slots and add Baltimore’s third-round pick, number 70 overall. Dallas felt it could package that third-round pick and the Cowboys’ second-rounder, 34th overall, to move into the second half of the first round and snag Lynch.
Stephen Jones, one observer noted, picked up the phone and called Baltimore GM Ozzie Newsome. “Hey Oz,” Stephen Jones said. “We probably will pick here, but …” Newsome told Jones to move up from 6 to 4 in the first round he’d give Baltimore’s fourth-rounder, 104 overall. “We need a three to do it,” Stephen Jones told him. “If you change your mind, call me.”
Later, Jerry Jones explained the thought process thusly: “We probably get the same player at 6 that we get at 4, but the extra third-round pick lets us take our two and do something special. I am fine with taking risks. In fact, I’m a big proponent of risk. The problem is when you take too much of it for not enough gain.” As the minutes passed before the pick, Jerry Jones got lost in thought, one observer noting him leaning back in his chair in the quiet draft room, chewing on a yellow pencil. He was thinking if he traded to six, and lost both Elliott and Ramsey on the next two picks, Dallas would take pass-rusher Leonard Floyd of Georgia. He liked Floyd. He loved Elliott.
His coach did too. Garrett, on Monday, closed his office door and spent seven hours looking at every snap of Ramsey at Florida State in 2015, and every snap of Elliott at Ohio State in 2016. He liked Ramsey. He loved Elliott. Garrett told the Joneses he favored Elliott. So the group was solid as the clock ran down here for pick number four of the first round of the 2016 draft.
“Two minutes,” someone called out.
Jones asked offensive coordinator Scott Linehan what he thought. “Zeke’s an impact player,” Linehan said.
Quiet in the room, observers said. No one spoke. The Ravens didn’t call. The Joneses wished they would, but now …
“One minute.”
It was obvious Baltimore wasn’t bluffing. Eight minutes had passed from the time Stephen Jones told Newsome to call if he changed his mind. It was clear he hadn’t. And Jerry Jones didn’t want to risk losing the player who’d been the team’s preferred target for months.
“Get Zeke on the phone,” Jerry Jones said. And he instructed the card to be turned in with Ezekiel Elliott’s name on it.
Jones’ grin was Texas-sized when he heard Elliott from a noisy draft green room in Chicago.
“Hey Dallas Cowboy! This is Jerry Jones!!”
Through the noise, Elliott told Jones he wanted to win the Super Bowl.
Jones smiled wider: “Let’s go win the Super Bowl!” he yelled into the phone.
A couple of minutes later, on the ESPN telecast, Jon Gruden appeared. If you were watching Gruden talk about the Dallas quarterback situation, you weren’t alone. Jones, the next day, said he was watching, and he heard Gruden’s words loud and clear.
“They have got to get back into the first round and get a quarterback now,” Gruden said on ESPN. “They have already proven they go nowhere without Tony Romo.”
It was like Gruden was speaking to one person: Jerry Jones.
* *
One observer estimated it was about midway through the round, around 8:50 p.m., just before Cleveland picked Corey Coleman at 15, that the talk in the room started about Paxton Lynch.
Dallas had Lynch as a clear first-round pick, the 12th overall player on their board, and the conversation in the room echoed what they’d discussed as a staff for weeks: We think Romo’s going to be our quarterback for three or four more years, but he’s also been hurt two of the past three years. At some point, we’ve got to start the process of finding his heir.
The plan was to offer Dallas’ second-round and third-round picks, 34 and 67 overall, to teams in the late teens and early twenties—Indianapolis, Buffalo, the Jets, Houston—but then swap out the third-rounder for Dallas’ fourth-rounder, 101 overall, starting in the mid-twenties. Cincinnati (24), Pittsburgh (25), Seattle (26), Green Bay (27) and Kansas City (28) all got called. Lukewarm responses, mostly. Buffalo (19) said no to the offer of the second and third. The Jets said no.
Seattle GM John Schneider wanted to keep talking.
Jerry Jones, one observer said, said to Garrett right about here: “The question is, can we really afford to lose two good players—good players—and take a guy as a hedge for the future? I think I’d rather give this two and three and have Lynch … or have [Mississippi State quarterback] Dak [Prescott] in the fourth.”
Given his druthers, Garrett was okay settling for Connor Cook or Prescott down the road in the draft, maybe in Round 4 if they lasted that long. With needs on defense, Garrett preferred to take two defensive players in rounds two and three from among this pool: Oklahoma State pass-rusher Emmanuel Ogbah, Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins. But he also saw the fascination with Lynch, and if Lynch was the guy, Garrett would truly be happy to take him on as a project.
Between 9:25 and 9:45, Stephen Jones had three conversations with Seattle. Jones started with a simple swap offer: Seattle would send the 26th pick to Dallas, with Dallas returning a two and four. Next call: Stephen Jones, apparently sensing interest, tried to move it along, offering to add Dallas’ sixth-round pick if Seattle would give back its lower of two seventh-round picks.
Now 9:47. Cincinnati on the clock; the Bengals, at 24, called to say no. Jerry Jones stood at the board near his seat, one observer saying he looked lost in thought as Stephen said to him: “Anything else? Want me to try something else?” Jerry Jones had no answers.
The Chiefs called. Said they’d trade from 28 to 34 but only if Dallas included its three, not the four. No dice. Bengals picked cornerback William Jackson III. Steelers up. Pittsburgh never considered trading at No. 25 and made a pick quickly: cornerback Artie Burns.
Now 9:54. Schneider back on the phone. The call was quick. Stephen Jones got off the phone, turned to Jerry Jones at the board, and as one eyewitness recalled son said to father: “No way with Seattle. Too much. They want our two and three.”
Quiet in the room. “Thoughts?” Stephen Jones said to his father. “Any thoughts?”
They had a minute, maybe, to up the offer to Seattle, which was the only fish on the line. But no new offer was forthcoming. It was a minute later, maybe two, that Denver consummated the deal with Seattle for the ability to pick Lynch. The Denver deal was clearly better. Dallas was offering picks 34 and 101 for the 26th overall pick. Denver was offering picks 31 and 94—and by staying in the first round with its pick, Seattle got to control the player it picked for a fifth year, as opposed to four-year control for a second-round pick. Denver’s offer was superior. Dallas could have trumped Denver only one way—by offering its third, the 67th overall choice.
That was it. If Lynch turned into a star instead of wearing one, it would bug Jones for years to come.
* * *
There’s no way Jerry Jones should have been wide awake Friday morning at 6 with just three hours of sleep, staring at the ceiling in his Dallas home. Not after the emotion of the first day of the draft, the near-trade with Baltimore early in the round, the fishing expeditions late in the round trying earnestly to trade up for Lynch. All of that stress and exertion should have been worth about four Ambiens, but here was Jones, wide awake.
“When I got up this morning,” Jones said Friday afternoon, “I second-guessed the hell out of myself for not giving the three. I have always paid a premium for a premium. So many times my bargains have let me down.”
No time for being bummed now, though. The second through fourth rounds were down, up, down, up, up … a range of emotion in and out of the draft room. Cleveland used the first pick of the day to steal Ogbah. Tennessee took defensive end Kevin Dodd, and then it was time for the Cowboys to shock the world.
As the draft sat now, with Ogbah gone, they hoped to get a boom or bust project, the nerve-damaged Notre Dame star linebacker Smith, in this round, and then a three-technique candidate for the middle of the defensive line in the third round, Collins. Smith might have been the first pick in the draft but for a terrible knee injury in his January bowl game that left him with drop foot. Dallas had some inside information here. The Cowboys’ orthopedist, Dan Cooper, did the surgery on Smith in January, and he told Jones he believed the nerve would regenerate and that Smith eventually would return to play football, probably at a high level. But there’s no guarantee. Which is why Jaylon Smith was sitting in his home in Fort Wayne, Ind., wondering when he’d get drafted instead of being one of the draft’s TV stars in the green room in Chicago.
Dallas considered trading down to Indianapolis at 48, but didn’t like the risk. The Cowboys heard—reliably, they thought—that New England was aiming to pick Smith near the end of this round. Remember the Jones/risk story. Trading down 14 slots, already having lost Ogbah? Too much risk, not enough reward.
Jerry Jones told his man in Chicago to turn the card in. Jaylon Smith, LB, Notre Dame.
“I am at peace,” Jones told someone in the draft room. “I am at total peace.”
Then he grabbed the phone, connected to a living room in Fort Wayne.
“Jaylon, it’s Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys. It’s great to be talking to a Dallas Cowboy!”
Second-guessing the hell out of himself in the morning. Making some damaged kid’s dreams come true in the evening. Jerry Jones’ life.
* * *
One last story. On day three, Dallas sat at pick 101, the third pick in the fourth round. Cleveland owned picks 99 and 100. The Cowboys favored Michigan State quarterback Connor Cook marginally over Prescott. Cleveland wasn’t going to take a quarterback, having just picked USC passer Cody Kessler near the end of round three. So the Cowboys offered Cleveland next year’s sixth-round pick to move up from 101 to 100. The Browns said no. Then the Cowboys offered this year’s sixth-round pick. The Browns said no. Cleveland took picks 114 and 154 from Oakland, and the Raiders jumped Dallas and picked Cook.
Bummer. But Jerry Jones and Garrett recalled Roger Staubach talking to them about quarterbacks a month or so ago, telling them leadership and belief in self were so vital to a quarterback’s fate. And Prescott has both, plentifully. So we’ll see what happens with these two quarterbacks. Three, if you include the other one Dallas wanted, the one wearing orange in Denver.
That’s the entire draft exercise. In mourning for Lynch. Euphoric for Smith and Elliott. And having no idea for next couple of years whether either emotion is well-founded. That’s the story of the draft, and in all of the league it wasn’t on display as vividly as in Dallas over the weekend.
