The Dallas Cowboys made headlines on 2026 NFL Draft night, pulling off a surprise move that disrupted the Pittsburgh Steelers’ plans to secure a No. 1 wide receiver in this year's draft class. And now, the franchise president has issued a message on the same.

Art Rooney II, owner of the Steelers, was recently asked about the trade by the Cowboys as he joined Randy Baumann on the DVE Morning Show.

“No, no, no,” Rooney said on April 28. “No hard feelings with Jerry. I mean, that things happen in every draft where the team in front of you jumps in and picks somebody that you wanted, or somebody trades up in front of you and grabs somebody that you wanted.”

The Philadelphia Eagles traded up to No. 20 with the Cowboys to secure Makai Lemon, whom the Steelers were looking to possibly secure.

The disappointment was quite evident, as Lemon was on the phone with the Steelers GM Omar Khan, before the Cowboys-Eagles trade chipped in. 

The Steelers selected Arizona State offensive tackle Max Iheanachor at No. 21. And on the Cowboys' end, Jerry Jones also made it clear that this is how the draft works and does not want to instigate any rivalry. 

"I don't want to get on their bad side. I'm sorry if they're mad," Jerry Jones said via Jon Machota of The Athletic. ”But, boy, I'll tell you what, we've had it happen to us a bunch of times. It {was} traded right out from under us. That's why we [traded] those [fifth-round picks] to move up to get Caleb Downs."

Even if the Pittsburgh Steelers have every reason to be frustrated after being upstaged at their home stadium, the Cowboys made a strategic call to get what they wanted.

They struck a deal with the Eagles, despite being a divisional rival, to secure their pick, even if it meant going against the old-school philosophy once preached by his late friend, Al Davis.

Cowboys-Eagles Trade Comes Despite Al Davis’ Classic Warning

During the post-draft conference of Day 3, Jerry Jones was asked about trading with the Eagles, and Jones said that Davis advised him not to provide a way for the division team to improve.

"Al Davis, probably the first thing he tried to put in my head was, ‘Don’t even answer a call from your division," Jones said to Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News.

Al Davis was a former owner and general manager of the Oakland Raiders in the NFL. And Jones was quite clear on differentiating between game and business, and did not pay heed to any suggestion that came his way in trading picks.

"Jerry, this is all about strategizing against your division opponents because you play them twice, and you can’t forget that edge there. That’s a very strategic edge. So I didn’t take that lesson from Al,” Jones added to Cowlishaw of the Dallas Morning News.

Though he ignored the advice from his late ally, the trade down with the Eagles helped bring in Malachi Lawrence, meeting their defense needs.

Considering the bar is quite high with the last such rival trade leading to the signing of Micah Parsons, it'll be interesting to see how 2026 unfolds for Jerry Jones' team.

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Written by

Archana Ramakrishnan

Edited by

Aadesh Dhote