That was not the only subject of negotiation.
In fact, Jones said the Cowboys had four offers to choose from, and Detroit was one of the last to come in while the Cowboys were sitting at No. 24.
“We were working in a situation where everything was moving at the same time,” Jones said. “You're bumping into all of them. You're dealing with all of them at the same time. It's really interesting.”
Four different representatives in the war room were handling four different offers before Dallas cashed in on the deal with Detroit. In their minds, there were still four players on the board they would feel comfortable signing: Jordan Morgan, Graham Burton, Darius Robinson and Tyler Guyton.
From there, it became a matter of understanding where teams between 24th and 29th could potentially go, and whether at least one of those players would still be around.
“That's your homework,” he said. “Definitely you are given stuff from the team behind you – and don't forget someone can trade their spot – [have]. It can get stuck in a loop. i did it. We've lost players to trades before. They had two players in their next three picks and lost them. They went. Of all the players on that board, I've had something like that happen. ”
“So the important thing for you to know is, if possible, can you live with losing what you have? That's really the test.”
Fortunately for Jones and the war room personnel, they had just one man left in Tyler Guyton. Discussion then turned to the possibility of a second trade back, and Dallas came very close to making it happen before the trade partner went in a different direction.
“It was there for a little while, and then Kansas City went with someone else,” Jones said. “That made us try again. [go] under. “
Overall, the Cowboys were happy with how things were going, and Jones said Guyton and Burton were two people they probably expected to disappear.
“This worked,” he said. “He really was our main consideration considering what we could potentially lose, even though we had a center at Duke as well.”
