Another Cowboys draft, another case of Stephen Jones telling his dad not to go overboard for a first-round quarterback.
Two years ago, Cowboys owner and General Manager Jerry Jones wanted to draft Johnny Manziel in the first round, but son Stephen talked his father out of it, and the Cowboys took guard Zack Martin. The results speak for themselves: Manziel is out of the NFL; Martin has made the Pro Bowl in each of his first two NFL seasons.
This year, Jerry wanted to trade up with the Seahawks and draft quarterback Paxton Lynch late in the first round, but Stephen said the price they’d have to pay -- their second- and third-round picks -- was too steep.
“No way with Seattle,” Stephen told Jerry, via Peter King of TheMMQB.com. “Too much. They want our two and three.”
As it turned out, the Broncos traded up with the Seahawks to take Lynch. Jerry said after the draft that he wished he’d overpaid and made the trade. The Cowboys ended up using the two picks Seattle was demanding on Notre Dame linebacker Jaylon Smith and Nebraska defensive tackle Maliek Collins. Time will tell if Smith and Collins turn out to be better NFL players than Lynch, but given Stephen’s track record with the Manziel-Martin decision, it’s probably a good thing that the father listened to the son.
