MOCK DRAFT: Would Small Trade Up With Chiefs Accomplish Draft Goals For Dallas Cowboys?

Summary

---

Locked On Cowboys Podcast Summary

Episode: MOCK DRAFT: Would Small Trade Up With Chiefs Accomplish Draft Goals For Dallas Cowboys?

Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool
Date: April 7, 2026

---

Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into a 2026 NFL mock draft scenario for the Dallas Cowboys, analyzing whether a small trade-up with the Kansas City Chiefs at pick #9 would help Dallas accomplish their draft goals. The hosts use a Pro Football Focus simulator to walk through pick-by-pick decision-making, trade negotiations, and discuss the roster-building implications for Dallas.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Why Target the Chiefs for a Trade Up?

• Background:
  • The Chiefs, sitting at #9, are likely trade-back candidates due to their needs at wide receiver and offensive line.
  • Marcus: “The Chiefs have this very valuable pick at 9. They need wide receiver help, they need offensive line help. It might be in their best interest to slide back a little bit and it might help out the Cowboys.” (01:33)
• Both teams could benefit: Kansas City could still address their needs after trading down, while Dallas could secure a top defensive player before other teams pick.

2. Draft Board Fallout (Mock Draft Top 8 Recap)

• Only one offensive lineman and no receivers off the board before #9.
• At #9, Dallas is in position to nab a highly-coveted defender, Monsour Delaine, just before teams like the Bengals (#10) and Dolphins (#12) could strike.
• Landon: “If you could find a way to do it while keeping the same number of picks that you've got in in the top 100, that's always preferable.” (03:16)

3. Trade Scenarios Considered

Option 1:

• Cowboys send #12 + #92 to move up to #9.
• Seen as a fair but costly offer for Dallas, losing a valuable top-100 pick.

Option 2 (Preferred):

• Cowboys and Chiefs swap 1st round (#12 for #9) and late-1st round picks (#20 for #29, originally from the Rams via Trent McDuffie trade).
• Dallas gives up a mid-round value (~50 points on the trade chart) but retains its full slate of top-100 picks.
• Marcus: “Sometimes it costs a little bit more and it might even take another day three pick, maybe pick 180, 177 to get it done.” (04:46)
• Landon: “That's what you would be losing in value. If you want to hold them to it, you can. Or... chalk it up to the cost of doing business.” (05:19)

Final Mock Trade:

• Dallas receives: #9, #29
• Kansas City receives: #12, #20

---

Mock Draft Results and Analysis

4. Cowboys’ Picks with New Trade Structure

First Round (#9): Monsour Delaine, CB

• Highly rated corner; last in Cowboys’ top defenders list, fit value perfectly.
• Landon: “Let's get our guy. Monsour’s why we traded up. We figured he was the last guy on our kind of wants list of defenders in the top 10 range.” (07:28)
• Consensus: Worth making the move to get a key piece for the defense.

Late 1st/2nd Round Maneuver:

• Cowboys further trade back from #29 to #34 (ARZ), picking up pick #104.
• At #34, they select Jacob Rodriguez (LB), a potential day-one starter and scheme fit.
• Marcus: “Let’s look at linebacker. Jacob Rodriguez is still available. I think 29 is a very fair spot to draft him... At 34 more than fine.” (09:24, 10:53)
• Landon: “I would have no problem with Rodriguez at 20... you’re getting an awesome player.” (10:53)

Third Round (#92): Dante Corleone, DT (Nose Tackle)

• Despite thinner options at EDGE and S, they land a quality run-stuffer in Corleone.
• Marcus: “I probably would go with Dante Corleone just because... right away as a nose tackle.” (12:18)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trade Value:

  "Fifty points is about the equivalent of a lower mid-round, fourth round pick... you could chalk it up to the cost of doing business and trading up." – Landon McCool (05:19)

• On Maintaining Draft Capital:

  “We did this without losing the number of picks in the top 100. So I'm happy with this and I'm sure we're still going to have options at 29 that we're going to like.” – Landon McCool (07:28)

• On Defensive Focus:

  “Again, there’s lots of different ways to add talent to this defense. Trading up, trading down, you know, it's just about finding the right value at the right spots.” – Landon McCool (12:51)

• On Flexibility After the Trade:

  “You traded up in round one. It didn’t really cost you anything in terms of the talent that you lost. I love this trade up.” – Marcus Mosher (13:18)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Intro & Chiefs as Trade Target – 01:03–02:34
• Mock Draft Scenario and Player Run-Down – 02:34–03:16
• Trade Scenarios & Negotiations – 03:16–05:40
• Round 1: Cowboys Select Monsour Delaine – 07:28–07:58
• Kansas City’s Perspective & Trade Outcome – 07:58–08:41
• Options at Pick #29 and Decision to Move Down Again – 08:41–10:37
• Cowboys Select Jacob Rodriguez – 10:48–10:53
• Day Two/Three Selections (Edge, DT) – 11:23–12:18
• Draft Recap and Positional Flexibility – 12:18–13:59

---

Final Thoughts & Takeaways

• The Cowboys can move up to secure an elite defender without sacrificing their pool of top-100 picks, if they're willing to strategically swap with a trade-back-minded team like the Chiefs.
• Trading down in the late first/early second gives Dallas flexibility for both need and value picks, adding key depth and starters (Rodriguez, Corleone).
• Both hosts agree: such a draft-day maneuver would be a “win-win” for Dallas and a model scenario for maximizing draft capital.

---

For Cowboys fans, this episode delivers an in-depth, strategic blueprint for how Dallas can be aggressive and flexible on draft night—securing both top-tier talent and future lineup flexibility, all while maintaining a consistent, measured approach to value.

Transcript

[A]

It's the Locked on podcast network your team every day.

[B]

America's best network just got bigger.

[A]

Switch to T mobile today and get

[B]

built in benefits the other guys leave out.

[A]

Plus our five year price guarantee.

[B]

And now T mobile is available in US Cellular stores. Best mobile network based on analysis by oogle of speed test intelligence data 2H 2025 bigger network the COM T mobile's and US cellular network footprints will enhance the T mobile network's coverage price guarantee on talk text and data exclusions like taxes and fees apply. See t mobile.com for details.

[C]

Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles. No guys. I said no bells and whistles. No trombones are fine. Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.

[D]

Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. The Kansas City Chiefs might be the perfect trade target for the Cowboys. We'll tell you why next. You are Locked on Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked on podcast network your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. I am your host Marcus Mosher. He is Landon McCool. And on today's show we're continuing our series on potential trade ups for the Dallas Cowboys. We already looked at a trade where we went from 12 to 4 with the Tennessee Titans. And on today's show, we're looking at trading up with the Kansas City Chiefs at number nine. Landon. This is a team that we've kind of looked at as potentially a trade back candidate. This, the Chiefs have this very valuable pick at 9. They need wide receiver help, they need offensive line help. It might be in their best interest to slide back a little bit and it might help out the Cowboys.

[A]

Yeah, it gives them an opportunity to get a little bit more value at the positions that they're looking to shop at and pick up a pick. And for the Cowboys, if you target a certain player or if you feel like the run on defensive players has kind of worn out this the group a little bit, go up and get the last remaining guy ahead of two teams that you feel like are likely to go defense or could at least threaten to pick up that one last guy, you may be looking to see if he can fall to you.

[D]

All right, so let's go ahead and run the mock draft. I have it here on Pro Football focus. Fernando Mendoza 1. Sonny Styles 2. Arvell Reese 3. Jeremiah Love 4. Caleb Downs goes to the Giants at 5. Reuben Bain to the Browns at 6, David Bailey to the Commanders at 7. Francis Moyoa Moenawa to the Saints at 8. This is a tough situation for Dallas because there's only been one offensive lineman off the board and no receivers. And you're kind of down landing here to one guy, and that's Monsoon Delaine. And if you're worried about the Bengals taking him at 10 or the dolphins picking him at 12 and it might make sense to go up and get them.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And if you could find a way to do it, and this is one of the things we've talked about a lot, it's not always possible, but if you could find a way to do it while keeping the same number of picks that you've got in in the top 100, that's always preferable. But if not, I mean, I think it's pretty easy Math to flip 9 for 12 and 92. But let's see if there's any other way we could potentially get some value here.

[D]

Yeah. And just really quickly for the Chiefs, the reason why they might do this, number one, there's no receivers off the board. They know the Cowboys aren't going to draft one at nine. They know that the Bengals aren't going to draft one at 10. Worst case scenario, one goes at 11 to Miami and then they can pick the next best available one. I also wouldn't be surprised if they drafted someone like J. McCoy. Maybe they feel like Nine's a little rich. Twelve is more of an attainable spot. But let's talk about a couple trades. So the obvious one is the Cowboys could trade picks 12 and 92 to get its nine. Now that's pretty close in the trade value chart. I think Kansas City would probably do this just to move back a couple spots, but you're also taking away one of the Cowboys most valuable picks in this draft and that would be hard to stomach.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, again, like we said, like, it would be a much preferable situation if you could find a way to keep the just the number and just shuffle them around to get the value that way. So it was. It's worth at least asking to see if you can do that kind of elevator trade where you trade your two first for there too first and just kind of move it around to see if they'd be willing to take on that kind of trade.

[D]

Yeah. And the other one that you suggested would be picks 9 and 29. That's the pick they got from the Rams and the Trent McDuffie trade for 12 and 20. Now on the trade value chart, the Cowboys would actually be losing this trade by about 50 points. But because you're trading up, sometimes it costs a little bit more and it might even take another day. Three pick, maybe pick 180, 177 to get it done. But if the Chiefs are interested in sliding back three spots here, but moving up nine spots later in round one, I think I would do it.

[A]

Yeah. And just so, just so everyone's aware, 50 points is about the equivalent of a lower mid round, fourth, fourth round pick. So that's what you'd be losing in value. That's what you would be losing in value. If you want to hold them to it, you can. Or you could just be chalk it up to the, the cost of doing business and trading up or see if they will just shoot you a sixth or seventh or a conditional pick or something like that.

[D]

All right, so let's go ahead and offer that pick again. That is pick 9 and 29 for 12 and 20. The Kansas City Chiefs accept that trade and when we get back, we're going to make our picks for the Dallas Cowboys at pick number nine in number 29. We'll see how this draft turns out. We'll do that next. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Financial stress is something that a lot of people are carrying right now. And that's not just about numbers. It can affect your sleep, your relationships, and your overall mental health in ways that build up over time. And the reality is, struggling with money doesn't mean that you failed. Sometimes it just means that you haven't had the right kind of support. It's something that I've thought about how easy it is to put pressure on yourself financially without really talking about it. I know that stress comes with trying to figure everything out on your own, the expectations that you have of trying to have everything together and how that pressure can spill over to other areas of your life. But therapy isn't about financial advice. It's about working through stress, the anxiety and the emotions that come with it. And with over 30,000 licensed therapists and more than 6 million people served, BetterHelp makes it easier to get matched and and start focusing on what you need. When life feels overwhelming. Therapy can help. Sign up and get 10% [e-mail] LockedOn that is BetterHelp H L P.com LockedOn welcome back to the Lock On Cowboys podcast. We are going to finish out our mock draft now that we have traded up to pick number nine. The top players on the board here, Landon Monsour, Delaine Carnell Tate, Dylan Thieman but this feels like a layup right here.

[A]

Yeah, let's get him. Let's get our guy. Mansource. Why? We traded up. We figured he was the last guy in our, our kind of wants list of, of defenders in the kind of top 10 range. So, you know, unfortunately, the draft didn't quite fall the way that you wanted it to. You would prefer for someone like that to fall to you at 12, but hey, you went up and got your guy. And I think we did this without, you know, losing the number of picks, like we said, in the top 100. So I'm happy with this and I'm sure we're still going to have options at 29 that we're going to like.

[D]

Yeah, by the way, I would be fine with that. That is a more than fair trade up. Kansas City actually drops back to 12. They take Kenyan Sadiq, which honestly, like, that's a perfect outcome for them. They pick up nine spots earlier here. They still get a dynamic tight end. Makes all the sense in the world. And then at pick 20, they turn around and take Jermad McCoy, some player that probably wasn't going to get them. It wasn't going to be there at 29. They get him at 20. Pretty good outcome there for Kansas City. Top players on the board here at pick 29 for the Cowboys. Kaden Proctor, Maxine Anchor Denzel Boston, Caleb Banks, Peter Woods, Colton Hood. Now, you already got your corner. What positions would you be looking to fill here now that you got your corner?

[A]

Let's look and see what edge rushers are still available because I think that's probably what I would be focused on right away.

[D]

Malachi Lawrence, R. Mason Thomas, Zion Young, Gabe Yakis. That's all four of those guys are going right in that range.

[A]

Yeah. And if you remember, we're at 29, not 20 now, so, so these are kind of very appropriately ranged guys. I, honestly, I would be thrilled with any of those top four guys. I mean, I, I, I'm not as big a fan as Zion Young as some other folks are.

[D]

I just also don't think he fits a scheme particularly well.

[A]

That's, that's fair. But I love all, I love our Mason Thomas. I love Gabe Yakis. I, I love Malachi Lawrence. What else we got on there?

[D]

Yeah, let's look at linebacker. You want to grab the linebacker. Jacob Rodriguez is still available. I think 29 is a very fair spot to draft him if you're interested in that. I think the safeties got wiped out pretty good here. Yeah, we're the top three safeties are all off the board. If you wanted to go to defensive tackle, you do have some names, including Caleb Banks, Peter Woods, Christian Miller, all available in that range.

[A]

Yeah. Honestly, for me, I don't hate those defensive tackles, to be honest. But at 29. But they're.

[D]

I want it to be like seven spots lower. If I, If I got him at like 35, I'd be fine.

[A]

I. I think for me, it would probably be Jacob Rodriguez, who was the other. Who are the other edge options? Oh, well. Or one of the edge guys. You know, we had like some good edge guys, so maybe we could. Maybe we could entertain a trade back here. Because to. Honestly, there's, There's. There's a lot of guys at linebacker and edge that I could be comfortable with. If we can find another way to get another pick, that'd be all right.

[D]

How about to The Cardinals pick 34. So you go. You move back from 29 to 34 to pick up 104.

[A]

Okay, let's do it.

[D]

Top of the fourth round. Okay. Offer it. Boom. Done. Cardinals go with Maxine, Anchor, Caleb Banks, Kaden Proctor, Braden C. Say, Colton Hood. All off the board. It's really the same names that we just talked about before.

[A]

Give me Jacob Rodriguez and let's go hunting for. For edges in the next pick.

[D]

Love it. I mean, again, I would have no problem with Rodriguez at 20. I admit that it's probably a little high. You're getting an awesome player. But at pick three, 34 more than fine. Let's finish out this mock draft here at 92. Cowboys have Monsoon Delaine, they got Jacob Rodriguez. That's two guaranteed day one starters. Let's look at the edge room. The top guys available. Jayshon Barnum, Anthony Lucas, Tyreek Sapp. So pretty, pretty rough group there.

[A]

Slim Pickens at that at that point. But that was a risk you were going to take.

[D]

Safeties Genesis Smith, Zaki Wheatley, Bud Clark, all available.

[A]

Yeah, I like Bud Clark. Answer key, Wheatley.

[D]

Okay. If you want to look at the defensive tackle room, Rayshawn Benny, Dante Corleone, Caleb Proctor, all available. I actually like all three of those names quite a bit there as well. If you wanted to grab another linebacker at this spot. Case on Elliott and Bryce Boucher. Are both. Or sorry, Betcher. I'll make sure I get it right. Are both available. One other spot that I wanted to point out. Tight end Michael Trigg, Justin Jolly, Marlon Klein, all available. If you wanted one of those guys.

[A]

What's that? Running back. Just so we just.

[D]

So we see top running backs available. Jonah Coleman, Emmett Johnson, everybody.

[A]

Oh, it's. Yeah, we're at 92. Yeah. Let's go ahead and take. Honestly, one of those defensive linemen to me have, are the best value, don't you think?

[D]

Yeah, I think so. And I honestly, I, I probably would go with Dante Corleone just because I think. I think I would right away. As a nose tackle.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

And there you go. That's. That's how this could look. Now, would the Cowboys be able to trade back from 29? It's possible there could be teams looking for that fifth year option. But, you know, the thing is, Landon, like the Cowboys, if they drafted Jacob Rodriguez at 29, they're probably not exercising a fifth year option anyways because of the price. It's not the worst thing in the world to drop back to 34 and grab them.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. Honestly, I think, yeah, you got a situation where you're getting the value you wanted. You know, we didn't get a chance to go beyond this, but you get a top end of the fourth round pick as well to kind of add to the bodies you want on defense. Again, there's lots of different ways to add talent to this defense. Trading up, trading down. You know, it's just about finding the right value at the right spots and then you can kind of draft freely and, and, and, and add talent, you know, appropriately.

[D]

Yeah. And in this mock, we'd have pick 104 and 112 on day three. And maybe that's where you grab a tight end. Maybe that's where you grab a running back. Maybe you flip one of those picks for a veteran. Ed Dresser, since you didn't get one in the first two days of the draft. It just gives you a lot of options. And again, you traded up in round one. It didn't really cost you anything in terms of the talent that you lost. I love this trade up. I would, I would be very happy if the Cowboys were able to execute something like this on draft night.

[A]

Yeah, absolutely. And even, like we said, maybe taking a slight loss like this just because you're getting value by the taking the guys at the appropriate positions that you're. You're taking them.

[D]

All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making lot on Cowboys. Your first listen every single day. Make sure you subscribe and follow the podcast so you get all of the latest episodes. And if you never miss an episode, the Everydayer club is built for you. Get Locked on Cowboys Ad Free plus members only, Discord access and so much more. Head over to locked on cowboys.supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel. And on audio, make your second listen the locked on NFL Draft podcast. Follow Layden on Twitter @mccoolbcb. I'm arcusmo and we will see you right back here tomorrow.

[C]

Liberty Liberty Mutual customizes your car and home insurance to save you money. That's it. That's the ad. No bells and whistles? No guys. I said no bells and whistles. No trombones are fun. Visit libertymutual.com and make the switch today.

[D]

Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty.

[E]

When you invest with Fidelity Go, it does all the work for you. So while Fidelity Go monitors the markets, rebalances your portfolio, and tracks your progress to keep your investments aligned with your goal, you can invest your time however you want, all while paying no advisory fees under 25k. Invest your money, not your time, with Fidelity GO. Get [e-mail] go Advisory services offered by Strategic Advisors, LLC, a registered investment advisor. Brokerage services provided by Fidelity Brokerage Services, llc, Member NYSE and SIPC

[D]

I checked Allstate first and saved hundreds on my car insurance. Really smart.

[A]

Unfortunately, I didn't check if I took

[D]

the gas hose out of my car's tank. Oh, not smart. And I drove off while still attached to pump number three.

[A]

Three?

[E]

Yeah, checking first is smart. So check Allstate first for a quote that could save you hundreds.

[B]

Potential savings vary, subject to terms, conditions and availability.

[E]

Allstate North American Insurance Company and Affiliates, Northbrook, Illinois.