Dallas Cowboys News & Notes: Stephen Jones Calls Dibs On 2015 Draft Venue

Stephen Jones calls dibs on a new location for 2015 NFL draft.

• Cowboys' Stephen Jones: Bring draft to AT&T Stadium - NFL.com
• Dallas Cowboys would like to have the NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium - Dallas Morning News
• Cowboys want NFL Draft at AT&T Stadium - FOX Sports
• Cowboys’ stadium could host the NFL draft - ProFootballTalk

Just like his father, Stephen Jones knows exactly how to get some headlines for the Cowboys. Amid reports that the league is considering moving the location of the draft as early as 2015, Stephen Jones calls dibs and says he already knows of a place that would be happy to host the event: AT&T Stadium.

Meanwhile, the owners of 31 other NFL teams called their PR guys, angrily demanding to know why their team wasn't in the headlines as a possible destination for the draft next year. The lesson here: it's good to be first.

Do you know who was the second guy to fly the Atlantic solo? Nobody remembers who finished second but the guy who finished second.

49ers Employ Own Value Chart on NFL Draft Day - 49ers.com
The 49ers site writes that the Jimmy Johnson value chart is still used as a guideline in NFL Draft war rooms across the country, but that many teams are supplementing it with their own charts, as do the 49ers:

"There are several teams that use the same chart we do," 49ers general manager Trent Baalke said at the 2014 NFL Scouting Combine. "You have to understand both of them because sometimes teams aren't willing to talk to you on your chart, they're only willing to go with the standard charts that have been used and developed for a long time."

"It's the standard," Baalke said. "Everybody uses it, so you have to understand it and take a look at it." As Baalke added, however, the chart isn't exactly carved into a stone tablet in his office. "Sometimes it makes sense to just disregard it and make the decision you think you need to make to get the player you want," he said. "The No. 1 one thing is targeting the players you want, identify those and find a way to go get them."

Trade Winds Blowing In Cowboys Mock Draft 2.0 - Bill Jones, CBS DFW
Those trade winds have kicked up a veritable hurricane in Bill Jones' corner of the world, as Jones has the Cowboys trading down not once, not twice, but three times in his mock.

TRADE 1: Dallas 1st round pick (16) for Browns' 1st (26), 3rd (71), 4th (127), and 6th (180).
TRADE 2: Dallas 1st (26) and 4th (127) for the 49ers' 1st (30) and 3rd (94).
TRADE 3: Dallas 1st (30) for Vikings’ 2nd (40) and 3rd (72).

The Cowboys now have six picks in the top 100 instead of three. Here's the attendant haul with those six picks: DT Dominique Easley, LB Telvin Smith, DE Kareem Martin, OT/OG Billy Turner, DE Jackson Jeffcoat, WR Josh Huff.

Dane Brugler Has Bad News For Dallas - Blogging The Boys
A top NFL draft expert has put out his final "big board" for 2014, and it is depressing reading for Cowboys fans. Here is why this is such a downer: Pick a name you really like for the Dallas Cowboys in the first round. Now go look at his board. And where is that name? In the top 15.

Who are Chicago's top 6 prospects in the draft? - Windy City Gridiron
Bears general manager Phil Emery said Thursday that the team was narrowing its search to six players for the team's first round pick next week. Our friends at WCG think those six are Jadeveon Clowney, Khalil Mack, Aaron Donald, HaSean Clinton-Dix, Justin Gilbert, and Calvin Pryor. The first two will be long gone at No. 14, possibly leaving the Bears with one DT or three DBs. Does that mean there's a 75% chance Donald slips to the Cowboys?

Cowboys would make a good trade-down partner for Buffalo - Buffalo Rumblings
Brian Galliford looks at a hypothetical trade-down scenario that would give the Cowboys the No. 9 pick in the following trade:

Bills get: Round 1 (No. 16), Round 2 (No. 47), Round 3 (No. 78), Round 7 (No. 229)
Cowboys get: Round 1 (No. 9), Round 3 (No. 73)

2014 NFL draft: 50 facts you need to know | Audibles - SI.com
You don't really need to know any of this, but this is a fun diversion on a slow Sunday morning.

The Notebook: Dee Ford is no 'blind dog in a meat market' - SBNation.com
Retired NFL defensive end Stephen White heads to the film room to check out Dee Ford, and is not overly impressed.