Draft Trade Rumors Already?

So the draft is a few months away and we have already started hearing about trade rumors regarding the Cowboys. Here is the latest rumor being tossed around which has big Bill Parcells trying to do some wheelin’ and dealin’ to get Marion Barber down to Miami. The rumored trade has Dallas sending Barber plus both of their 1st round draft picks (both in the 20’s) to Miami for the #1 overall pick in the draft whereby it is assumed Dallas would take running back Darren McFadden out of Arkansas.

I gotta tell you, I’m not too high on this. I have become a Marion Barber fan over the last couple of years and would hate to see him get away. The majority of the time Barber touches the ball, he gets positive yardage. Even if he only gets a couple of yards, he will punish those who try to tackle him and most of the time it takes more than one person to bring him down. Not only is he a tenacious runner but he can catch the ball out of the back field and doesn’t fumble so he can be trusted to salt the game away late in the 4th quarter, if Dallas is in that position. And while I’m not sure if he can be a 20 – 25 carry running back, if he is used properly, he can be as effective if not more effective than the majority of running backs in the league right now.

Another reason I’m against this trade is because Marion Barber is a known commodity…Darren McFadden isn’t. McFadden had a couple of outstanding years at Arkansas, no doubt about it. Rookie Viking running back Adrian Peterson had similar success at Oklahoma so people naturally think that McFadden’s success will translate to the pros. However, some may remember the names of these outstanding college running backs who never panned out in the NFL: Ki-Jana Carter, Rashan Salaam (who won the Heisman) and Curtis Enis. Those guys were pretty close to “can’t miss” guys on draft day. And that is just off the top of my head…I bet I could find more names of RBs that flamed out in the NFL if I researched it.

The point is, you don’t know if McFadden could be the next Emmitt Smith or the next high draft pick to not live up to expectation. And with the #1 overall pick comes a pretty heavy price tag. That pick will probably will be guaranteed $40 million or so which could drastically affect Dallas’ salary cap in the coming years. Remember, the Cowboys have other needs to fill. Dallas needs to beef up it’s receiving corps as Terry Glenn may get cut (he is getting ready to have his 3rd knee surgery in less than a year) and T.O. Owens probably has just a few more good years left. Dallas also needs to try to improve it’s defensive backfield with a safety, cornerback or both. Dallas could take a wide receiver (Mario Manningham from Michigan or Malcolm Kelly from Oklahoma) with it’s 1st pick in the first round and could take a corner/safety or even a back up RB (Felix Jones from Arkansas) to compliment Barber with it’s 2nd pick in the first round.

So, my opinion is that this would be a bad move for the Cowboys to make. There are other needs that Dallas has and the risk/reward factor is not in Dallas’ favor. Of course this would put Dallas in the news and Jerry isn’t afraid of taking risks (see Joey Galloway trade in 1999). Plus McFadden is from Arkansas and Jones still has strong ties back to that school. So, I won’t be surprised if something like this trade happens…I just won’t be pleased if it does.