Cowboys owner Jerry Jones: 'I would trade up' in 2022 NFL Draft

Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones left little doubt in January he was displeased with his team's one-and-done playoff journey that ended with a home loss to the San Francisco 49ers. The Cowboys then began the new NFL year in March by officially trading wide receiver Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns. Dallas later lost receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. and defensive end Randy Gregory to free agency and, as franchise legend and Hall of Famer Michael Irvin recently pointed out, still has noticeable holes on the roster ahead of the upcoming draft that opens on April 28. 

As of now, Dallas possesses pick No. 24 in the first round of the player-selection process, but Jones indicated while speaking with reporters Wednesday he'd be willing to sacrifice assets to go get the right to-be rookie earlier that Thursday night. 

"I would trade up this draft — and just going in as much as you can say about it, until you see what’s there and who’s on the other end of the line," Jones explained, per Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. "But I would trade up, since we’re down as low as we are in the first two or three rounds if we had a chance to and somebody that we had really coveted was sitting at the bottom … and we were able to trade up and get him."

According to Simmons, the Cowboys haven't traded up in the first round of a draft since 2012, when they did so to acquire cornerback Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall selection.

In mock drafts updated this week, four different CBS Sports analysts predicted the Cowboys will use pick No. 24 on an offensive lineman later this month.