Cowboys or Jets: Who Trades Up?

ESPN's Matt Miller joined the show to handicap whether the Cowboys or Jets are the most likely trade-up candidates in the first round, and his reporting has sharpened in the last week.

Start with the Jets. Daniel Jeremiah mocked David Bailey to New York at 16, and a week ago Miller had heard internal chatter pointing toward Ar'vell Reese instead, with the logic being that the Jets are building for the future. That has shifted. The tide in the building has turned toward winning now. Aaron Glenn needs results. His defense produced zero interceptions last year under a former NFL defensive back. Everything Miller is hearing today says Bailey is the preferred pass rusher because the Jets need someone who can help Glenn keep his job.

If the Jets do not get the help they need this year, Miller expects them to move on from Glenn next offseason and chase an offensive mind to pair with a rookie quarterback, Arch Manning or Dante Moore type. The alternative is Geno Smith and Frank Reich buying enough wins to keep the current staff intact.

Then came the trade-up scenario. Jeremiah suggested the Jets package their second-rounder this year and a fourth to move up to pick seven and take Ohio State receiver Carnell Tate. Miller loves it. Receiver is the Jets' second-biggest need after edge, and while Miller personally rates Mekhi Becton and Omar Cooper Jr. as solid WR2 prospects, the teams he talks to see a real gap between Tate and the rest of the board. Pick 34 becomes less valuable if the receiver board is wiped by then, so packaging picks to jump ahead of the Saints and Chiefs makes sense.

The Cowboys trade-up case is about corner. Dallas holds picks 12 and 20. If they view Cam Smith from Tennessee or Mansour Delane from LSU as must-haves, Miller thinks they get aggressive. Delane would be the more likely target. In-division trades are off the table, so not the Commanders.

Miller floated Cincinnati at ten as a logical trade partner. One spot up for the Bengals, a completely remade Dolphins board at eight potentially willing to move back, and the Saints at eight as another candidate if they are cool on Reuben Bain's short-arm concerns and want extra capital to slide to 12. The Dallas target in those scenarios: Mansour Delane, a player Miller has compared to Trent McDuffie. The symbolism is sharp, jumping the Chiefs, who just traded McDuffie, to grab the guy Miller believes Kansas City would have wanted.

Two teams with multiple firsts, two very different positions of need, two plausible paths up the board. Miller's read: both are live.