Cowboys make mock draft trade into top 10, plus explaining the Rueben Bain Jr. situation

Here's everything you need to know about the NFL for April 13
Since the draft is now officially 10 days away, we're going to be talking a lot about the draft today.

Not only do we have a SEVEN-ROUND mock draft for the Giants , but we have our weekly Monday mock draft.

Also, we'll take a closer look at the situation involving top-10 draft prospect Rueben Bain Jr.

1.

Mock Draft Monday: Cowboys make trade into top 10
It's time for another edition of Mock Draft Monday, which is where we hunt down one of our NFL Draft gurus and force them to give you a new mock draft since there's no better way to start the week than with a fresh mock.

With the draft coming up next week, this is our penultimate Mock Draft Monday.

And yes, I'm already getting emotional about that.

This week, we have a mock draft from Zach Pereles, who has the Cowboys making a trade into the top 10 to land a defensive player.

1.

Raiders : QB Fernando Mendoza (Indiana) 2.

Jets : LB Arvell Reese (Ohio State) 3.

Cardinals : OT Spencer Fano (Utah) 4.

Titans : RB Jeremiyah Love (Notre Dame) 5.

Giants: LB Sonny Styles (Ohio State) 6.

Browns : WR Carnell Tate (Ohio State) 7.

Commanders : EDGE Rueben Bain Jr.

(Miami) 8.

Cowboys (via Saints ): S Caleb Downs (Ohio State) 9.

Chiefs : EDGE David Bailey (Texas Tech) 10.

Bengals : CB Mansoor Delane (LSU)
If Jerry Jones has proven one thing during his time as the owner of the Cowboys, it's that he's not afraid to make a trade in the first-round.

Over the past 14 years, the Cowboys have made FOUR first-round trades, but only one of those came in a deal where they moved up (They made a deal with the Rams to move up from 14th overall to sixth overall in 2012).

With the Cowboys desperate to improve their defense, it certainly wouldn't be a surprise if Jones decides to pull the trigger and make a move up the draft board in the first round, so Pereles' prediction is certainly something that could happen.

If you want to see how the rest of Zach's opening round pans out, then be sure to check out his entire mock draft here .

For more draft coverage, you can hear in-depth analysis twice a week on "With the First Pick" -- our year-round NFL Draft podcast with NFL Draft analyst Ryan Wilson.

You can find "With the First Pick" wherever you get your podcasts: Apple Podcasts , Spotify , YouTube .

2.

Rueben Bain Jr.

involved in 2024 car crash that led to one person's death: What you need to know
Bain is expected to be a top-10 pick and it's impossible to say for sure whether this will impact his draft status.

If teams already knew about the situation and accepted his explanation, then he likely won't fall.

It's also worth noting here that Betts' family views her death as a tragic accident.

"At this time, we are not seeking public attention surrounding this tragedy and respectfully request that our family's privacy be honored.

We also wish Mr.

Bain the best as he continues his life and career," the family told The Read Optional.

The problem for Bain is that he was also cited for careless driving again in October 2025, according to court records.

Although this citation was later dismissed, two citations could show teams a pattern of bad decision-making, which might hurt his draft stock, so it will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.

We've got the full details on Bain's situation here .

3.

Giants seven-round mock draft: New York goes on the defensive with top two picks
For the past two weeks, we have been doubling up on the mock drafts every Monday.

First, we give you a regular mock draft and then we give you a team mock draft, and today, we'll be covering the Giants with our team mock draft.

The Giants are going to be an interesting team to watch.

In John Harbaugh's first draft with the team, the Giants will have two of the first 37 picks, but they don't have a third round pick, so after making a selection at 37th, they won't pick again until 105.

We put Jordan Dajani in charge of making EVERY Giants pick for all seven rounds and he has them looking to the defensive side of the ball at fifth overall.

The Giants have a total of seven picks in the draft and we're going to check out what Dajani came up for their for first selections:
If you want a full explanation for the picks or if you're wondering how the other three picks turned out, then be sure to check out Jordan's full mock draft for the Giants here .

4.

Five NFC teams that must ace the NFL Draft
Every team in the NFL will be facing pressure to ace the draft, but some teams will be facing slightly more pressure than others.

With that in mind, Jared Dubin made a list of five NFC teams that need to come up big in the draft this year.

1.

Cowboys.

The Cowboys desperately need to take advantage of their opportunity with two picks in the first round.

They have a Super Bowl-caliber offense with Dak Prescott throwing to CeeDee Lamb and George Pickens , plus Javonte Williams capitalizing on the light boxes that passing attack affords him.

But the defense was arguably the worst in the NFL last year and needs to be upgraded at every level.

2.

Rams.

Matthew Stafford is basically going year-to-year at this point, and the Rams don't know if and when they'll need to truly start over from scratch.

That means they have precious few chances to win another Super Bowl .

They no longer have the two first-rounders they came into draft season with thanks to their trade for Trent McDuffie , but they also used that trade to shore up their biggest weakness; and they have a top-15 pick available to them to upgrade at some other spot.

3.

Lions .

After missing the playoffs despite being projected as a Super Bowl contender, they're also picking earlier within each round than anybody expected, so they have a chance to add players that make a greater impact than you might have thought they'd have coming into the 2025 season.

For the Lions to get back to the top of what might be the most competitive division in the NFL, they have to come away from this draft with impact players along both lines.

4.

Vikings .

This is an interesting draft for the Vikings for another reason, in that interim general manager Rob Brzezinski will run the show but the Vikings won't actually be hiring their new GM until after the draft.

If Brzezinski does a good enough job and works well with O'Connell and his staff, could he land the full-time role?

That's something to watch out for.

If you want Dubin's full explanation for why each of these teams needs to crush the draft or if you want to know who the mysterious fifth team is, we've got that here .

5.

Biggest need for every NFL team heading into the draft
The NFL offseason is all about filling the biggest holes on your roster and the best time to do that is in the draft.

Every team has different needs, so Josh Edwards decided to take a look around the NFL to identify the BIGGEST need for each team heading into this year's draft.

Let's check out four of the teams on his list:
Remember, Josh covered all 32 teams and if you want to see the biggest need for the 28 other teams, you can do that here .

6.

Extra points: Netflix or YouTube could be landing more NFL games
It's been a busy past few days in the NFL, and since it's nearly impossible to keep track of everything, I put together a quick roundup for you.