FRISCO, Texas — It’s all smiles for the Dallas Cowboys following Day 1 of the 2026 NFL Draft. With only a 12 percent chance of it happening, former Ohio State superstar safety Caleb Downs was still available for the Cowboys after the first ten picks went off the board, and Dallas traded up from No. 12 to grab him at No. 11 — taking no risk on losing him by waiting one more selection.
[**Enter Cowboys Draft Central here**]
Their next decision was to stick and pick at No. 20 or to trade back for more picks, and they chose the latter while hoping Malachi Lawrence, the former UCF sack machine, would still be there for the taking. He was, and so the Cowboys walked away with Lawrence and two additional fourth-round picks from the Eagles in the trade.
On Day 2, they made an additional move to trade with the San Francisco 49ers to land linebacker Dee Winters and then, with the 92nd-overall pick in the draft, they selected linebacker/edge rusher Jaishawn Barham out of Michigan.
