Paxton Lynch would have been drafted by the Dallas Cowboys instead of the Denver Broncos if owner Jerry Jones hadn’t been overruled by his son, Stephen Jones.
This is an interesting bit of behind-the-scenes information obtained by Peter King of MMQB, who spoke with the Cowboys’ CEO and Director of Player Personnel: “No way with Seattle,” Stephen told Jerry. “Too much. They want our two and three.”
In the end, John Elway swung the deal to acquire the quarterback, swapping first-round picks (from 31 to 26) with the Seattle Seahawks and giving up his third-round pick (No. 94).
The Cowboys, who were just three spots under Denver, ended up keeping their two picks and spent them on defense.
The first (No. 34 overall) was a risk/reward gamble on linebacker Jaylon Smith out of Notre Dame. He has a nerve issue stemming from his ACL injury suffered in the Fiesta Bowl in January and is expected to miss the entire 2016 season. If he returns healthy in 2017 with no ill effects, then Dallas will likely have an All-Pro linebacker on its roster.
The second selection that would have otherwise been used for Lynch ended up being used to select defensive tackle Maliek Collins out of Nebraska. He’s going to have a chance to start as a rookie, and the team is high on his pocket-pushing potential.
Time will tell whether the Cowboys would have been better off going with Jones’ gut or his son’s logic. But this isn’t the first time Stephen has outranked his father when it comes to personnel decisions at the quarterback spot. Jerry was high on Johnny Manziel and wanted to make a move to land him in 2014. Stephen said no and the team drafted center Travis Frederick instead.
We all know how that worked out.