NFC East · 2027 Draft Class

Dallas Cowboys 2027 NFL Draft Needs and Projected Picks

What the Cowboys are working with in the 2027 draft: the needs we have researched for this cycle, the capital the projected order gives them, and which prospects are projected into their range.

Compiled by the NFL Mock Draft Simulator research desk · Front office: Jerry Jones (GM), Brian Schottenheimer (HC)

Where the Cowboys stand

The 2027 draft has not been held, so there are no picks to report and nothing here is a result. This page is the pre-draft picture: what this roster is missing, what the projected order hands them, and who is likely to be there when they are on the clock.

As the projected order stands, the Cowboys hold 5 selections in 2027: 1 on Day 1, 2 across Day 2 and 2 on Day 3, with 3 inside the top 100. 2 of those slots are ones they do not originally own, and 4 of their own picks have gone the other way.

Projected draft capital

Projected order. The 2027 draft order is set by the 2026 regular season and is not known until January.

Picks already traded away: No. 17 (R1, now Jets), No. 113 (R4, now Packers), No. 145 (R5, now Steelers), No. 209 (R7, now Eagles).

Roster needs entering the 2027 cycle

Our needs assessment for the Cowboys, ordered by priority. These are not decorative: the number beside each one is the multiplier the simulator applies to a prospect at that position when this team is on the clock, so a edge rusher prospect is genuinely harder for this team to pass on than his board rank alone implies.

Team needs were researched for this class from current rosters. They predate free agency and will be revised after March 2027.

Position rankings for their top needs: Edge Rusher, Offensive Tackle, Cornerback.

Who is projected into their range

Prospects currently projected inside the 15 picks either side of No. 25, where the Cowboys pick first. Restricted to positions on their needs list, ordered by how heavily that need is weighted, and capped at 3 per position so one need does not fill the table.

Rows are selected on the consensus projection. The range beside each one is where public mocks disagree: a prospect listed 20-45 is one whose projections genuinely span that much, and a wide range on a lightly-covered player reflects thin coverage rather than real volatility. Ranges are taken from published mock drafts where we have them and modelled from board position where we do not.

How this front office drafts

The unique Cowboys model: Jerry Jones functions as de facto GM, making final calls on all picks. Schottenheimer's traditional West Coast offense values precision route runners and a capable OL. Jones tends to draft for star power and marketability alongside talent.

Inside the simulator, this regime leans toward drafting for need, at roughly 55 to 45 against best player available, and is more likely to move up the board than back down it (25 against 20). Its clearest positional preferences are linebacker, wide receiver, edge rusher, which the engine applies on top of the needs list above. It also weights testing numbers more heavily than most, so athletic outliers rise on its board.

Jerry Jones has a fondness for high-upside, high-profile players regardless of need, often taking the highest-rated player at a glamour position. He heavily recruits from the SEC and Big 12, particularly Texas programs. Schottenheimer's system will push for reliable offensive contributors, but Jones ultimately controls the board.

What this page is not

It is not a mock draft, and it is not a prediction of what the Cowboys will do. Two of its three inputs will change before the draft is held: the order is set by a season that has not been played, and the needs list predates free agency, which reliably removes two or three items from every team's list and occasionally adds one. The board itself will move most of all.

We publish it anyway because the order-independent part is real and useful now. A front office's needs, its draft capital and the shape of the class it is drafting from are knowable months before the order is, and they are what actually drive a mock draft. Known gaps in the 2027 data: New York Jets general manager is unconfirmed.

More on the Cowboys

The Dallas Cowboys franchise hub carries the current front office and every draft class we cover. The 2027 consensus big board is the full board these projections sit against.