Jerry Jones is quite content with the Dallas Cowboys parting ways with a 2024 fourth-round pick in exchange for Trey Lance, no matter if the price was hefty to acquire the former No. 3 overall pick. Jones does put a premium on quarterbacks, evidenced from what he saw when Cooper Rush filled in for Dak Prescott last season (the Cowboys don't win 12 games without Rush playing well).
Why not take a chance on a player like Lance who has upside? Of course, Jones likes making headlines so he had to take things a step further when defending the trade he made.
Which brings up Jalen Hurts, who is the franchise quarterback for the Philadelphia Eagles. Once again, Jones reiterated the Cowboys had interest in drafting Hurts to back up Dak Prescott back in 2020 and develop him -- similar to what they will do with Lance this year.
"I think had we been able to draft [Lance] with next year's four [fourth-round pick], the kind of talent he was in this draft. Like I just told you, two years ago we were looking at the Philadelphia quarterback," Jones said, via WFAA in Dallas. "But looking at him, had he fallen to us there, we would have drafted him.
"It is our plan when we can -- but it very seldom happens -- to have someone of a high-level quality to be there at the right place with our draft pick. This one worked, so we're excited about it."
The Cowboys did have their opportunity at Hurts, two picks before the Eagles selected him at No. 53 overall. They took Trevon Diggs at No. 51, which has worked out very well. Jones passed on Hurts for another asset on defense, one who has 17 interceptions in three seasons and made two Pro Bowls.
"We talked about him a lot," Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy said of Hurts back in 2020. "We had a great virtual interview with him. Very impressive young man. Went back through his history both at Alabama and Oklahoma. We thought of him very highly in our building."
Hurts was in the Cowboys' grasp. They passed -- and the next pick for Dallas was at No. 82. Did Jones think Hurts was going to fall that far?
