IRVING, Texas — Owner Jerry Jones made it very clear what the Cowboys' plan is for the NFL Draft: Anything is possible.
In the annual exercise in futility known as the Cowboy's pre-draft press conference, Jones said Wednesday his club is prepared to go a number of ways. The Cowboys have the No. 14 pick in the first round of the draft which will play out Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
The Cowboys could trade up. They could go defense. They could go offense.
By the end of the press conference, the only thing for certain is that Jones isn't about to tip the Cowboys' hand on the eve of the draft.
"We wouldn't hesitate for a minute to draft at what would look like a long [i.e. deep] position on this team, for example a running back," Jones said. "If we've got an opportunity to take a great player . . . we're going to approach this thing as if we've got a need at every position."
The possibility of moving up is unlikely with the team sitting in the middle of the first round. To move up, the Cowboys would have to find a partner willing to move back in a first round that generally considered to have fewer than 10 elite prospects.
On the other hand, Jones believes more teams will be active in the first round because of the rookie wage scale implementing by the new collective bargaining agreement.
"I think it potentially will cause more movement than we've had in the past," said Jones, who expects more teams to move up with the knowledge of exactly what a higher pick will be paid.
Count the Cowboys among the teams willing to move up if a certain player is within reach.
"Certainly, if it's there and we have the opportunity, we'll give some picks and move up," Jones said.
Jones would not name specific players that Cowboys would be willing to trade up for, but left the impression there is at least one or two names worth giving up multiple draft picks to acquire.
"We've done that exercise. I don't want to go into our strategy, but we've done that exercise," Jones said. "Yes, there's a possibility, but there are players we would go up for."
Stanford guard David DeCastro has been mentioned often as a sure-fire pick if he's available at No. 14. Although the Cowboys also took an offensive lineman No. 1 last year in Tyron Smith and signed two guards in free agency, DeCastro is considered the best offensive line prospect in the draft and the Cowboys have worked him out at center, an area of need.
But when it comes to areas of need, defense is the prevailing direction most draft experts feel the Cowboys need to pursue, whether it's a pass rusher, a 3-4 defensive end or a safety.
"We've talked about defense, but we've got a real way to go offensively that I think could make a significant impact," Jones said.
"We're not in trouble at all if we come out of here without a pass rusher."
Outside linebacker Anthony Spencer signed his franchise tag tender this week, no doubt in anticipation of the Cowboys drafting an outside linebacker. Spencer had been procrastinating in hopes of getting a long-term deal.
However, Jones said the Spencer signing does not alter their thinking this weekend.
"We'd have done the same things whether he'd signed his tender or not," Jones said. "Because the alternative is not acceptable to the team or him."
Although Jones did most of the talking, sitting alongside him at the press conference were head coach Jason Garrett, executive vice president Stephen Jones and director of scouting Tom Ciskowski.
Jones said there has been a lot of back-and-forth among the Cowboys' brass about which direction to take, but the group is not divided.
"We'll discuss it right up until the pick is made, but we have consensus," Jones said.
Jones said the Cowboys also haven't been handcuffed by the NFL penalty for exploiting the uncapped year during the labor dispute. The Cowboys were docked $10 million in cap room over two years.
"It has impacted us to some degree, but hats off really to Stephen [who is in charge of salary cap structure]," Jones said. "I can say we have not missed anything that we wouldn't have done relative to free agency."
Follow Keith Whitmire on Twitter: @Keith_Whitmire
