The Dallas Cowboys still have eight games left in their season, but unless they pull off a rather historic Dr. Jekyl Mr. Hyde transformation, the 2025 campaign is going to end when the clock strikes 00:00 in Week 18. With a 3-5-1 record, the Cowboys are closer to the No. 1 overall pick than they are the No. 7 seed in the NFC wild-card race.
For now, entering the bulk of Week 11 action, the Cowboys have the 12th-worst record in the NFL, giving them the No. 12 pick in next April’s first round of the draft. The team also has Green Bay’s first round pick, which thanks to their offense turning anemic in their last two losses, has the Cowboys picking at No. 21 as well. With the club having the day off while most of the league puts in work, it’s a perfect time to unveil a two-round mock draft.
The Cowboys currently don’t have a second-round pick, nor a third-round pick, thanks to trade acquisitions of DT Quinnen Williams from the New York Jets and WR George Pickens of the Pittsburgh Steelers. While many fans like to point out the team’s recent inability to grab star players from Day 2, this might not be the ideal scenario Dallas’ front office wants to find themselves in.
There’s no guarantee a blue-chip prospect awaits at No. 12, and watching 90 picks go off the board while sitting on their hands doesn’t exactly feel like the Jones family’s style.
Trade Proposal
Fortunately, the Cowboys can address both of those issues if they find the right trade partner. The Cowboys’ No. 12 pick is work 1200 points on the Jimmy Johnson draft value chart. The No. 21 pick is worth 800, bringing Dallas’ total to a cool 2000 points of ammunition.
The cleanest trade would be to package those two picks and send them to the club currently holding the No. 7 and 39 picks, which for now are the Miami Dolphins. This works out well as the Dolphins sell off over the last month indicates a team that is interested in wheeling and dealing.
The No. 7 pick (1500 pts) and No. 39 pick (510 pts) is almost an exact exchange, and it allows the Cowboys to grab a potential game changer for their defense.
No. 7 Arvel Reese, LB, Ohio State
If Reese somehow makes it out of the top five, the Cowboys should work to bring every other team’s power grids down so they could move up to secure his services. Reese seems like a Micah Parsons do-over; a linebacker with an insane ability to rush the passer.
The junior stands 6-foot-4, weighs 243 pounds and is lightning quick, not only in his physical ability but his diagnosis of what is happening in front of him. The Athletic’s Dane Brugler recently ranked him as the No. 1 prospect in the upcoming draft.
In a world where the Cowboys could conceivably keep all three star DTs (Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, Osa Odighizuwa), adding Reese to Donovan Ezeiruaku and DeMarvion Overshown is a capable defensive coordinator’ dream.
No. 39: Caleb Lomu, LT, Utah
The Cowboys haven’t resolved their tackle positions on offense, so it’s time to do something about that. They cannot focus on the sunk cost of the contract they gave Terence Steele in 2023 or the first-round pick spent on Tyler Guyton in 2024. Guyton’s transition from right tackle to left tackle hasn’t gone well, and Steele’s pass protection hasn’t evolved into acceptable levels.
Dallas needs to bite the bullet, release Steele and move Guyton back over to where he played at Oklahoma. To do this, grabbing Lomu seems like a great answer. The 6-foot-6, 305-pound redshirt sophomore has insanely good feet and is already a plus pass protector, with room for growth as a run blocker.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Way-too-early 2026, 2-Round Mock Draft: Cowboys trades net edgy LB, new LT
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
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