List Of Dallas Cowboys First-round Draft Picks
The NFL draft, officially known as the "NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting", is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. The draft order is determined based on the previous season's standings; the teams with the worst win–loss records receive the earliest picks. Teams that qualified for the NFL playoffs select after non-qualifiers, and their order depends on how far they advanced, using their regular season record as a tie-breaker. The final two selections in the first round are reserved for the Super Bowl runner-up and champion. Draft picks are tradable and players or other picks can be acquired with them.
Since the team's first draft, the Cowboys have selected 60 players in the first round. The team's first pick in their inaugural NFL draft was Bob Lilly, a defensive tackle from Texas Christian University; he was the 13th overall selection. The Cowboys have drafted first overall three times, selecting Ed "Too Tall" Jones in 1974, Troy Aikman in 1989, and Russell Maryland in 1991. In the most recent draft, held in 2024, the Cowboys selected Oklahoma tackle Tyler Guyton.
The Cowboys did not draft a player in the first round on eleven occasions. Seven of the team's first-round picks—Troy Aikman, Tony Dorsett, Michael Irvin, Bob Lilly, Emmitt Smith, DeMarcus Ware, and Randy White—have been elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. One of the team's first-round picks—Scott Appleton—chose to sign with the NFL's pre-merger direct competitor, the American Football League (AFL), instead.
Player selections
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| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| † | Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| * | Selected number one overall |
| ‡ | Selected number one overall and inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame |
| Position abbreviations | |
|---|---|
| C | Center |
| CB | Cornerback |
| DB | Defensive back |
| DE | Defensive end |
| DT | Defensive tackle |
| G | Guard |
| LB | Linebacker |
| QB | Quarterback |
| RB | Running back |
| S | Safety |
| T | Tackle |
| TE | Tight end |
| WR | Wide receiver |