The Dallas Cowboys have an interesting decision forthcoming in the first round of the 2025 NFL Draft.
With the 12th selection in the draft’s first round, the Cowboys know they won’t be going after a quarterback or any of the top few talents on the board. They could hold at their position or look to trade in either direction to accomplish very different objectives.
If they trade back in the first round, the Cowboys could stockpile an extra draft pick or two and still target an intriguing talent with their eventual selection. And that’s precisely what one NFL writer sees the team doing this April.
On Monday, FanSided’s Jerry Trotta wrote a three-round Cowboys mock draft, and projected that they would trade their first selection to the Denver Broncos for the No. 20 and No. 52 picks in the draft.
With the 20th pick, Trotta tabbed the Cowboys to select University of Texas receiver Matthew Golden, who has been a trendy first-round prospect of late after a strong finish to the college season and a good showing at the NFL combine last week.
Golden’s stock has been on the rise after he showed out for Texas in the College Football Playoff,” Trotta wrote. “That will not change after Golden ran a blistering 4.29 40-yard dash (at the combine).”
“What’s crazy is that speed is not the first thing that pops in Golden’s game. That he announced himself as a sub-4.30 guy all but guarantees him as a first-round pick.”
Golden, 21, is a 6-foot, 195-pound super-athlete who posted 987 receiving yards and nine touchdowns for Texas this past season. He’s not particularly physical at this point in his career, but his speed and leaping ability could make him highly effective on the outside for Dallas.
With the 52nd pick, the extra selection he mocked to Dallas in the trade with Denver, Trotta projected that Dallas would take Iowa State cornerback Darien Porter, an older prospect (age 24) with freakish athleticism at 6-foot-2.
Quarterback Dak Prescott desperately needs a second option to throw to beyond superstar CeeDee Lamb. If Dallas could net an extra second-round pick on top of finding that weapon in Golden, it would certainly be remembered as a strong draft performance.
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