The Cowboys traded up one spot before taking safety Caleb Downs in the first round of this year’s draft, but that deal only came after an attempt to move even higher was rebuffed.
A clip from ESPN’s The Pick Is In shows Browns general manger Andrew Berry fielding a call from Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones while on the clock at No. 9. Berry turned down Dallas’s offer of their No. 12 and No. 20 picks for No. 9 and No. 24, and he did not change his mind when Jones offered to a fifth-round pick to the offer.
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The offer suggests the Cowboys thought that the Giants were going to take Downs at No. 10 as that was a frequent link during the mock draft season. The Giants wound up taking tackle Francis Mauigoa and the Cowboys wound up sending two fifth-rounders to the Dolphins to move up to No. 11 for Downs. They later traded down three spots from No, 20 and picked up two fourth-round picks.
The Browns took tackle Spencer Fano at No. 9 and another clip from the show features Berry talking to the Browns’ draft room after they traded down from No. 6 into that spot. He said Fano, Mauigoa and wide receiver Jordyn Tyson were the players the team was considering at No. 9 and Tyson went to New Orleans at No. 8, so another move down may have left them without all of their preferred options with their first of two first-round picks.
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