Mailbag: Does NYG trade affect Dallas' draft? 

(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)

The New York Football team now has the Nos. 5 and 10 picks, both ahead of Dallas at 12. How concerned are you that they are going to target players the Cowboys really want? Does this make it more likely for Dallas to trade up? – Curtis Rosenbusch/Pflugerville, TX

Nick: I can't say it really changes the strategy too much. The Cowboys were always behind both the Giants (No. 5) and Commanders (No. 7) and this is nothing new. It's not like the Cowboys haven't been picking behind those teams for a while now. Ok, so the Giants now have a couple of picks in the Top 10 but I don't worry about it that much.

Think of it this way ... are the Eagles worried about the Cowboys having two picks in front of them? Granted they're not Top 10 picks but they're Top 20 selections. I don't think the Eagles are too concerned. Let's not forget why the Cowboys got these picks in the first place. One of the reasons is they gave up one of the best defensive players in football. And so the Giants are in a similar boat. Sure, they landed a Top 10 pick, but they got worse on defense at the same time. I bet if we asked the interior O-line trio of Tyler Smith, Tyler Booker and Cooper Beebe, they'll probably be rather excited about the trade, sending Dexter Lawrence to the AFC and out of the division.

Now, the question you asked about the Giants taking players the Cowboys are targeting. Yeah that's always a possibility but I think it's probably a little better now than before. The Giants have a real shot of taking a wide receiver in the Top 10 and I don't think you would've said that about the Bengals.

If the Cowboys are going to trade up, it needs to be because they really want a certain player and they won't be around at No. 12. Not because a team in the division could get them. It has to make sense for the Cowboys and this roster. It's too early to be worrying about other rosters.

Kurt: I don't think the Giants' trade with the Bengals, which saw New York give up defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence in exchange for Cincinnati's 10th overall pick in Thursday's NFL Draft, will have a great deal of impact on the Cowboys' plans. And there are a couple of reasons why.

First, mock drafts before the deal largely anticipated the Bengals would target the same defensive players the Cowboys and now possibly the Giants are interested in. Those like Ohio State safety Caleb Downs, LSU cornerback Mansoor Delane and Miami edge Rueben Bain Jr.

So just because the teams at No. 10 changed doesn't mean the players who will be selected necessarily have. Dallas may have needed to jump Cincinnati as well to get, say, a guy like Downs. In fact, some mock drafts have New York grabbing an offensive player with its new pick, which would certainly help the Cowboys.

The other reason is that Dallas simply needs to handle its own house and not get bogged down in what others may or may not being doing with theirs. We hear that all the time from players and coaches during the season, about how the Cowboys just need to worry about themselves. Well, the same could seemingly apply here. If the Cowboys start playing guessing games or seriously altering their own philosophies and draft strategies based on what New York does or doesn't do, that could spell trouble.

So for now, I think the Cowboys might be pretty happy about the whole situation. Their draft thinking shouldn't be greatly altered, and perhaps even more importantly, they no longer have to face one of the NFL's premier defensive tackles twice a season.

Accept that little gift and now just take care of your own business.