King’s Latest: Cowboys, Lynch, Ravens, Pats

Peter King of TheMMQB.com spent time last week in the Cowboys‘ draft room as Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones mulled over potential franchise-altering decisions, and King’s latest MMQB column features plenty of tidbits related to the Cowboys’ draft. Let’s dive in and round up the highlights…

• Jerry Jones badly wanted Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch in the first round, but the Cowboys‘ offer of a second-round pick (No. 34), a fourth-round pick (No. 101), and a sixth-rounder (No. 189) for the Seahawks‘ first-round pick (No. 26) and a seventh-rounder (No. 247) wasn’t enough. Seattle wanted a second- and third-rounder (No. 67) from Dallas, and ultimately went with Denver’s offer instead.
• The Cowboys had been willing to offer their second- and third-round picks for a selection in the teens or early-20s, but decided not to pull the trigger on that offer for the No. 26 pick. If the target was always Lynch (who was 12th on the Cowboys’ board, per King), it seems odd that Dallas would balk at that asking price at No. 26, since the team would have made the same pick and gotten the QB at a lower salary slot.
• The Ravens offered their 104th overall pick, a fourth-rounder, in an attempt to move up to No. 4 from No. 6. The Cowboys wanted Baltimore’s third-rounder (No. 70) instead, and ultimately decided to stand pat when the Ravens didn’t increase their offer. Dallas didn’t want to risk missing out on both Ezekiel Elliott and Jalen Ramsey — pass rusher Leonard Floyd would have been the Cowboys’ pick at No. 6 in that scenario, and while they liked Floyd, he wasn’t graded as highly as Elliott and Ramsey.
• After missing out on Lynch, the Cowboys also made an effort to move up for Connor Cook in round four — the team offered its sixth-round pick to the Browns, along with No. 101, for No. 100, but Cleveland chose Oakland’s offer instead, and Dallas ultimately drafted Dak Prescott instead of Lynch or Cook.
• In non-Cowboys news, King writes that the Ravens had what they considered “reliable information” that the Patriots would try to draft Navy’s Keenan Reynolds in the sixth round. Baltimore beat New England to the punch by nabbing Reynolds with the 182nd overall selection.