The Dallas Cowboys are in a weird spot when it comes to their two draft picks. Thanks to having a tie on their record, they will always draft after every team that has the same number of wins as they do. Conversely, they will also always draft before every team that shares their number of losses. What complicates things is that they also own the first-round pick of the team they tied, the Green Bay Packers.
Acquired in the famed trade for Micah Parsons prior to the beginning of the regular season, the same rules hold true for the Packers’ spot. This week, with the Packers falling to the Philadelphia Eagles 10-7 on Monday night, the Cowboys have benefitted. The Packers’ two consecutive losses have dropped them from having the NFC’s best record.
Entering Week 11, the Cowboys currently have ownership of the No. 12 spot in draft order (theirs), as well as the No. 21 spot (Green Bay’s).
It makes for some interesting scenarios were things to hold form.
No. 12 is where the Cowboys eventually sat when they landed Parsons in the 2021 NFL draft. Originally slotted at No. 10, the Cowboys fell back a couple spots after cornerbacks Pat Surtain and Jaycee Horn were snatched up in front of them.
No. 12 will normally allow a team to draft a player they saw as a top-10 value, as teams’ boards differ a great deal.
The No. 21 pick for Green Bay, whose offense is suddenly non-existent, also would afford the Cowboys some luxury. Depending on declarations, it’s possible that one of the Cowboys’ first-round grades — teams normally have between 16 and 20 in any given year — is still available when Dallas is on the clock.
Not only that, but the pick value of No. 21 is so high, 800 points on the Jimmy Johnson chart, that it has extreme trade impact in both moving up and moving backwards.
For example, the Cowboys can combine No. 12 (1200 points) and No. 21 and swap picks to get all the way up to No. 7, but also recoup a second rounder (they lost theirs in the acquisition of Quinnen Williams) at No. 39.
No. 21 is also a valuable enough spot the Cowboys could bail on the first round, drop down to the beginning of the second round and see a 2027 first-round pick as part of the return. That would allow them to recoup the future first rounder they gave up in the Williams trade.
Right now, the Cowboys have no scheduled picks on Day 2 of the 2026 draft, but if the season continues to unfold the way it sits currently, the options are plenty.
Here’s a look at the top of the draft order for teams not in the playoff picture, or in wild-card spots.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Updated NFL Draft Order for Week 11: Cowboys move up after Packers loss
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
