Where Did That Guy Come From? Dallas Cowboys Wide Receivers

In this series, we will examine how exactly each player that wears the star on his helmet arrived at his destination.

Often times, we take snapshot judgments when evaluating a player's worth to the Dallas Cowboys. When they line up on Sundays in the fall, "will player X outperform player Y" always seems to be at center of the discussion and rightfully so. However, there is always more to a player than what you see on Sunday, as his journey could have taken on many different paths. Did the player come from out of nowhere to land on your television screen? Did the player arrive with fan fare and a high grade of pedigree? Were they outcasts from other teams or did Dallas break the bank to attain them?

I'll highlight one player from the group to start the post, and then cover all other players at the position(s). If they were drafted by the team, who else could have been here? If they were traded for, how did those trades play out over the years? The series kicks off with the wide receivers.

Name: Roy E. Williams

DOB: 12.20.81

College: University of Texas

Originally drafted with the 7th pick of the 2004 draft by the Detroit Lions. Signed to a six year, $54 million contract through 2014. Came to Dallas with Detroit's 2009 seventh round pick #210. That pick was combined with Dallas' pick #156 and traded to Atlanta (who picked DT Vance Walker) for pick #143 CB DeAngelo Smith.

Dallas gave up a 1st (TE Brandon Pettigrew), 3rd (WR Derrick Williams) and a 6th (RB Aaron Brown) round pick in the 2009 draft. People nonchalantly say that this was the worse trade Jerry Jones has or ever will make, but when looking at the players Detroit selected it doesn't look too bad. However, we dive deep here at BTB and know that Detroit doesn't always make the right decision.

No player worth noting was picked after the sixth rounder given up before Dallas' next turn, so let's eliminate that from the equation. With the pick sent to Atlanta, Dallas could have drafted CB Captain Munnerlyn, not a big loss but worth mentioning.

Much more after the jump...

Would you rather have Roy Williams or one of the following? WR Brandon Tate :: WR Mike Wallace :: WR Ramses Barden :: CB Lardarius Webb :: TE Jared Cook

Roy makes the top five, but not at the top. The kicker? These are all players selected after the 3rd round pick we gave up for Williams.

OK, how about this list? S Louis Delmas :: S Patrick Chung :: LB James Laurinaitis :: LB Rey Maulauga :: S Jairius Byrd :: DT Ron Brace :: C Max Unger :: WR Mohamed Massaquoi :: RB LeSean McCoy :: OT Phil Loadholt :: G Andy Levitre :: OT Sebastian Vollmer (Pro Bowl)

Angry yet? Well, these were all 2nd round picks that Dallas could have probably traded back from #20 to pick up a couple of these guys. Still not pissed off? 

WR Percy Harvin, OT Michael Oher, DT Peria Jerry, LB Clay Matthews, WR Hakeem Nicks, WR Kenny Britt, RB Chris Wells, DT Ziggy Hood

These were some of the remaining first round picks selected after Detroit picked at #20. That's right folks, if Dallas never makes that trade, we could have had Clay Matthews AND Lardarius Webb, or Hakeem Nicks AND Brandon Tate or Andy Levitre, Sebastian Vollmer AND Mike Wallace, or any other combination you prefer. Plus oodles of cap space. Not only did the Cowboys give up way too much in the trade, they did it with phenomenal talent available at positions of need.

To pour some salt on the wounds, Dallas also traded the 51st pick in that draft to Buffalo for the 75th and 110th pick, Robert Brewster and Victor Butler respectively. G Andy Levitre made the all-rookie team that season and was picked with our 51st pick. Also available  were LeSean McCoy, CB Sean Smith, Phil Loadholt, OT Sebastian Vollmer. Who would you rather have, Vollmer or Brewster and Victor Butler?

Here's a look at the remaining eight wide receivers currently employed by the Dallas Cowboys.