Despite drafting Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys passed on trading their RBs

Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said the team had no interest in trading any of their running backs

By Ryan Wilson

May 28, 2016 at 11:05 am ET • 1 min read

The Cowboys had plenty of needs heading into the 2016 NFL Draft, which made it somewhat surprising that they decided to take Ohio St. running back Ezekiel Elliott with the fourth-overall pick. Yes, he has a chance to be a transcendent talent, but when was the last time the final piece of the Super Bowl puzzle involved adding a running back?

Plus, the Cowboys had added solid runner Alfred Morris in the offseason to work with Darren McFadden, the former Raiders first-round pick who was signed 14 months ago. Yes, Morris and McFadden were replacement-level or worse in 2015, but they'll also line up behind the NFL's best offensive line, and more importantly will have a healthy Tony Romo and Dez Bryant on the field.

We mention all this because having McFadden, Morris and Elliott at one of the most fungible positions in football seems, well, excessive, especially when the Cowboys were fielding trade offers for their backs during the draft.

"We got calls during the draft asking to trade for a couple of our running backs, and we just don't have that interest," team executive vice president Stephen Jones said, via the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Of course, an extra pick obtained from trading one of those backs might have greased the skids on another trade -- moving up to grab quarterback Paxton Lynch.

But the Cowboys also understand the importance of quality depth; McFadden rushed for 1,089 yards last season and improved his yards per carry from a career 4.1 to 4.6 in 2015. But you could argue that that underscores the importance of a good offensive line, which CBSSports.com's Jared Dubin pointed out in his offseason review of the NFC East.

Having three quality backs is a luxury the Cowboys can afford, though ultimately, all that matters is keeping Romo healthy. All the other personnel talk is meaningless if there is no franchise quarterback under center.