Cowboys Trade With Patriots For QB? How To 'Win' NFL Draft Deal

FRISCO - If you haven't assembled an NFL Mock Draft that features the Dallas Cowboys trading down with the New England Patriots in a way that allows the Patriots to jump for a QB, well, you'd better get to jumping yourself.

Because this concept is all the rage.

ESPN's Mel Kiper tried it first, a swap that would be leaving the Cowboys with No. 15 in this draft and also giving Dallas the Pats' 2022 first-round pick in return.

Our three-pronged analysis of that idea:

1) Does it fit, value-wise? Is it fair? It doesn't help the 2021 Cowboys as much as other swap ideas. So it's not the idea "win-now'' move for a 78-year-old owner in Jerry Jones who "ain't got time to have a bad time.''

Dallas can (should?) ask for more. But it is "four quarters for a dollar,'' yes.

2) What is the Pats' motivation? In Kiper's mock, the four other top QB prospects are gone. So they jump up to get Ohio State's Justin Fields. ... and coach Bill Belichick has, if it works, a centerpiece building block for a decade.

Fields, by the way, is Kiper's second-ranked quarterback. And Kiper is not alone in that opinion.

3) Any problem with the Cowboys-related logic here? Kiper writes, "their biggest holes are on defense and they can get a good player at No. 15.''

We do not have a problem with that. ... as long as if, say, Patrick Surtain (Alabama cornerback) is gone but if Jaycee Horn (South Carolina cornerback) is still there. But ... Dallas would need to make certain of that.

READ MORE: What Horn Says About Himself Vs. Surtain To Cowboys

Next try comes from CBS Sports and Chris Trapasso, who has Alabama QB Mac Jones as the Pats' target left at 10, and he projects that the Cowboys will accept the following package: New England's pick at 15, plus its third-round pick, a fifth-round pick, and a future sixth-rounder.

Now let's do the same exercise as above. Points 2 and 3 remain the same; we know what New England would be thinking and we know what Dallas must be calculating. (CBS, by the way, has Dallas at 15 still landing Surtain, who we know the Cowboys are discussing having to trade up to secure. So this part seems like a fantasy.)

But what about Point No. 1, the "equal value fit''? This, dear mockers, is a problem. New England's offer (CBS version) again matches up on the Trade Value Chart. And yet it's not close to good enough. The Cowboys would be accepting No. 15 overall, plus a third-rounder ... and a collection of (relatively) garbage picks. The fifth holds too little value, and next year's sixth has the Trade Value Chart worth of a seventh.

This version of the trade should be a slam-down-the-phone "no.'' The Cowboys need to "win'' this swap, getting real value ... and by the way, that's tough to do, as we know Dallas' intention here is to package its own picks in order to take fewer guys - not to gather up a bunch of sixth-round draftees.

Persuade Bill Belichick to offer two premium picks, not a gaggle of late-rounders ... and let's talk.