Some Rumblings About a Cowboys-Fins Trade

About a month ago, I wrote about the possibility of a draft trade between the Dolphins and the Cowboys, who are eagerly hoping to land Arkansas tailback Darren McFadden.

I originally dismissed it because the trade value chart simply doesn't add up. The two 1st round picks the Cowboys have in this April's draft aren't enough to merit trading the #1 overall pick. However, according to PFT now Chris Mortensen is reporting that there is still the possibility of this trade happening.

Apparently, the dealbreaker is the rights to Marion Barber. Since he is a restricted free agent, one of two things could happen: Dallas could trade one or both of their 1st rounders and Barber in a sign-and-trade to the Dolphins, or they could slap the highest tender on Barber, which would force anyone who signs him away to compensate the Cowboys with their 1st and 3rd round picks. Those picks in turn could be used to sweeten the deal for Miami.

Obviously, I would prefer some sort of wild scenario where someone is foolish enough to sign Barber at the highest tender and then Miami gets 3 first round picks. In a more realistic scenario, I suppose I would be content with two late firsts and Barber for the 1st pick. I don't know if Dallas would do that, but I don't think they have much of a choice. Barber is great and all, but he has little value to a team that counts RB as it's only real position of strength. We don't need him.

Then again, Dallas doesn't need McFadden. Jerry Jones is just infatuated with his fellow Razorback. All I know is that this makes the next 3 months very interesting for Dolfans. The future of our franchise could very well be hanging in the balance here. One player won't change this team, especially if he comes with a 60+ million dollar price tag. Trading down is clearly the best option, so I am hoping this deal actually works out.