# List of Dallas Cowboys first-round draft picks

The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference East Division. The Cowboys joined the NFL as an expansion team in 1960 and have played their home games at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, since 2009.
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

Key :
| 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 |
Dallas Cowboys first-round draft picks by season :
| Season | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
| 1961 | 13 | Bob Lilly† | DT | TCU | Original pick traded to Washington Redskins. Pick received from Cleveland Browns. |
| 1962 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Cleveland Browns |
| 1963 | 6 | Lee Roy Jordan | LB | Alabama | |
| 1964 | 4 | Scott Appleton | T | Texas | Signed for the AFL's Houston Oilers instead |
| 1965 | 5 | Craig Morton | QB | California | |
| 1966 | 5 | John Niland | G | Iowa | |
| 1967 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Houston Oilers |
| 1968 | 20 | Dennis Homan | DE | Alabama | |
| 1969 | 24 | Calvin Hill | RB | Yale | |
| 1970 | 23 | Duane Thomas | RB | West Texas State | |
| 1971 | 25 | Tody Smith | DE | USC | |
| 1972 | 26 | Bill Thomas | RB | Boston College | |
| 1973 | 20 | Billy Joe DuPree | TE | Michigan State | |
| 1974 | 1 | Ed "Too Tall" Jones* | DE | Tennessee State | Pick received from Houston Oilers |
| 1974 | 22 | Charley Young | RB | NC State | |
| 1975 | 2 | Randy White† | LB | Maryland | Pick received from New York Giants |
| 1975 | 18 | Thomas Henderson | LB | Langston | |
| 1976 | 27 | Aaron Kyle | DB | Wyoming | |
| 1977 | 2 | Tony Dorsett† | RB | Pittsburgh | Moved up draft order in trades with San Diego Chargers and Seattle Seahawks |
| 1978 | 28 | Larry Bethea | DE | Michigan State | |
| 1979 | 27 | Robert Shaw | C | Tennessee | |
| 1980 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Baltimore Colts |
| 1981 | 26 | Howard Richards | T | Missouri | |
| 1982 | 25 | Rod Hill | DB | Kentucky State | |
| 1983 | 23 | Jim Jeffcoat | DE | Arizona State | |
| 1984 | 25 | Billy Cannon Jr. | LB | Texas A&M | |
| 1985 | 17 | Kevin Brooks | DE | Michigan | |
| 1986 | 18 | Mike Sherrard | WR | UCLA | Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers |
| 1987 | 12 | Danny Noonan | DT | Nebraska | |
| 1988 | 11 | Michael Irvin† | WR | Miami (FL) | |
| 1989 | 1 | Troy Aikman‡ | QB | UCLA | |
| 1990 | 17 | Emmitt Smith† | RB | Florida | Original pick forfeited in 1989 supplemental draft. Pick received from Minnesota Vikings. Moved up draft order in trade with Pittsburgh Steelers. |
| 1991 | 1 | Russell Maryland* | DT | Miami (FL) | Pick received from Minnesota Vikings. Moved up draft order in trade with New England Patriots. |
| 1991 | 12 | Alvin Harper | WR | Tennessee | |
| 1991 | 20 | Kelvin Pritchett | DT | Ole Miss | Pick received from New Orleans Saints. Moved down draft order in trades with New England Patriots and Washington Redskins. |
| 1992 | 17 | Kevin Smith | DB | Texas A&M | Pick received from Minnesota Vikings. Moved down draft order in trade with New England Patriots then up in trade with Atlanta Falcons. |
| 1992 | 24 | Robert Jones | LB | East Carolina | |
| 1993 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Moved down draft order in trade with Green Bay Packers |
| 1994 | 23 | Shante Carver | DE | Arizona State | Moved up draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers |
| 1995 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Moved down draft order in trade with Tampa Bay Buccaneers |
| 1996 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Moved down draft order in trade with Washington Redskins |
| 1997 | 22 | David LaFleur | TE | LSU | Moved up draft order in trade with Philadelphia Eagles |
| 1998 | 8 | Greg Ellis | DE | North Carolina | |
| 1999 | 20 | Ebenezer Ekuban | DE | North Carolina | Moved up draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks |
| 2000 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Seattle Seahawks |
| 2001 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Seattle Seahawks |
| 2002 | 8 | Roy Williams | S | Oklahoma | Moved down draft order in trade with Kansas City Chiefs |
| 2003 | 5 | Terence Newman | CB | Kansas State | |
| 2004 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Moved down draft order in trade with Buffalo Bills |
| 2005 | 11 | DeMarcus Ware† | LB | Troy | |
| 2005 | 20 | Marcus Spears | DE | LSU | Pick received from Buffalo Bills |
| 2006 | 18 | Bobby Carpenter | LB | Ohio State | |
| 2007 | 26 | Anthony Spencer | LB | Purdue | Moved down draft order in trade with Cleveland Browns then up in trade with Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2008 | 22 | Felix Jones | RB | Arkansas | Pick received from Cleveland Browns |
| 2008 | 25 | Mike Jenkins | CB | South Florida | Moved up draft order in trade with Seattle Seahawks |
| 2009 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Detroit Lions |
| 2010 | 24 | Dez Bryant | WR | Oklahoma State | Moved up draft order in trade with New England Patriots |
| 2011 | 9 | Tyron Smith | T | USC | |
| 2012 | 6 | Morris Claiborne | CB | LSU | Moved up draft order in trade with St. Louis Rams |
| 2013 | 31 | Travis Frederick | C | Wisconsin | Moved down draft order in trade with San Francisco 49ers |
| 2014 | 16 | Zack Martin | T | Notre Dame | |
| 2015 | 27 | Byron Jones | DB | UConn | |
| 2016 | 4 | Ezekiel Elliott | RB | Ohio State | |
| 2017 | 28 | Taco Charlton | DE | Michigan | |
| 2018 | 19 | Leighton Vander Esch | LB | Boise State | |
| 2019 | No pick | No pick | No pick | No pick | Pick traded to Oakland Raiders |
| 2020 | 17 | CeeDee Lamb | WR | Oklahoma | |
| 2021 | 12 | Micah Parsons | LB | Penn State | Moved down draft order in trade with Philadelphia Eagles |
| 2022 | 24 | Tyler Smith | T | Tulsa | |
| 2023 | 26 | Mazi Smith | DT | Michigan | |
| 2024 | 29 | Tyler Guyton | T | Oklahoma | Moved down draft order in trade with Detroit Lions |