Overview
- Dallas used two first-round picks on defense with safety Caleb Downs at No. 11 after a one-spot trade up with Miami.
- UCF edge rusher Malachi Lawrence went No. 23 in a class that also made Downs the team's highest-drafted safety since Darren Woodson.
- The Cowboys devoted five of seven draft picks to defense as they try to reset a unit that struggled to take the ball away and allowed the most points in team history last season.
- The extra first-round pick traced to last year's trade that sent star pass rusher Micah Parsons to the Packers.
- Dallas kept reshaping the front seven by trading a fifth-round pick for 49ers linebacker Dee Winters and by installing 34-year-old coordinator Christian Parker in January.