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Could the Cowboys flip the 20th overall pick?

Originally posted on Inside The Star | By Shane Taylor | Last updated Jan 21, 2026 11:15 AM ET

With the playoffs nearly over and the NFL draft the next big event on the schedule outside of free agency, I thought it would be interesting to take a dive into what Dallas might do with the 20th pick in the draft.

Look, you won’t have the same thoughts as me and that is okay, you don’t have to call me an idiot or that I have no idea what I am talking about, but people do it anyway.

I think Dallas should take a long hard look at maybe trying to flip that pick packaged with some other later selections for an additional impact player on defense.

Possible Options

So look, it is January 21st, it is hard to tell who really could be traded or put on the block before April rolls around, but come draft day, if Dallas could get a solid return, they would be smart to do so.

Let’s just let the cat out of the hat and say we know Maxx Crosby is having issues with the Raiders front office, but now that Tom Brady is involved, do you really think he is going to be traded?

They are going to land Fernando Mendoza, the man who just won the Heisman and the National title by going 16-0. Can he help turn Las Vegas around. I don’t know.

I think of it this way, if it gets to the 20th overall pick and the guy who is at the very top of your list is not there, what do you do?

The Cowboys have two top 20 picks in the 2026 NFL Draft.
Pick one player highlighted in blue & one player highlighted in green.
Which combo would best improve the Cowboys' defense? pic.twitter.com/H42gq8w79V

— Dan Rogers (@DannyPhantom24) January 11, 2026

I say try and flip the 20th pick for additional picks so you can add more players to see if you can hit a home run with a late round pick if you can’t add a day one starter.

Now, I will note that Dallas has drafted very well from pick no. 20. In the 70s, they drafted Joe Dupree, Ebenezer Ekuban in the 90s and the latest was Marcus Spears in 2005.

I don’t have all the phone numbers, like Jerry Jones and the rest of the crew, so I can’t tell you who else would even be available, but I will tell you that if they could make some calls on a guy like Minkah Fitzpatrick who I thought they may have tried to get at the deadline, I would be all for that.

He is wasting his time in Miami, and if Dallas can bring the right guy in as the defensive coordinator, who knows, maybe he would like a guy like that to come in a make your secondary better than it was yesterday.

All I am saying is the Cowboys could probably use that 20th pick and get a guy that can walk into the building tomorrow and make you better.

They should have plenty of options at pick no. 12, but it starts to get deep after that and trying to flip that pick for something better would probably be the smart move for this team who needs to win now.

They have the offense, Dallas should not draft a single offensive guy until maybe round 4 or 5.

This is just something to keep an eye on, maybe they try and bring in a guy like Trey Hendrickson who is a pending free agent, and then you don’t even have to worry about trying to flip this pick.

Jerry said he was going to “bust” the budget, kinda like he was going all in a few years ago, and look how that played out.

Let’s see how the next three months go, but I don’t think this defense is going to be good enough to compete in 2026.

This article first appeared on Inside The Star and was syndicated with permission.

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