As armed as the Cowboys are to move up in the first round of the draft, Dallas' two first-round picks are not enough.
Based on the 2008 NFL draft point chart that teams use as a guideline for draft trades, the Cowboys 22nd overall pick is worth 780 points and their 28th pick is worth 660 points, giving Dallas 1,440 points.
It's a lot. But it's not enough, not to get into the top five picks of the draft to take a player such as Arkansas running back Darren McFadden.
Miami's No. 1 pick is worth 3,000 points, St. Louis' No. 2 is worth 2,600 points, Atlanta's No. 3 is worth 2,200 points, Oakland's No. 4 is worth 1,800 points and Kansas City's No. 5 is worth 1,700 points.
To get into the top five, Dallas would have to consider throwing in its second-round pick, the 61st overall pick, which is worth 292 points. Those 292 points, combined with Dallas' first-round picks, would give the Cowboys 1,732 points, more than enough to get to Kansas City's No. 5 and almost enough to get to Oakland's No. 4.
From there, it is up to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to decide whether a top five pick is worth the price.
Now the NFL draft point chart is not set in concrete; teams can use their own guidelines and decide whether a certain trade is fair even if it doesn't measure out on the chart. But the chart provides a rough gauge as to what it would take for a certain team to move up and what it would take for a certain team to move down.
But the price to do it will be steep -- even steeper than many have speculated.
McFadden is projected to go somewhere between Oakland's spot at No. 4 and the New York Jets' at No. 6. Trading up to Atlanta's spot at No. 3 would give Dallas a clear-cut chance to draft McFadden. But beyond that slot, the Cowboys risk losing him.
Jet streams
Either the Jets are blowing smoke or they're extremely intrigued with McFadden.
For starters, they flew a contingent of team officials to Arkansas last week to meet with McFadden.
