I have seen draft grades where experts gave Dallas A+ or A for the pick so one guys opinion is as good as another's. Two points.First, we have no idea if the Cowboys tried to trade down and did not get the value they wanted. Something tells me they made the deal with the Eagles because noone else was there. The problem for Dallas was everyone knew the Giants would not take a QB so teams were going to try to work out a deal with the Giants before they went to Dallas.
I am not a fan of this pick for all the reasons mentioned by the talking heads in this video, but other than Slater, who else could they take at 12? It was too soon to take another CB or any of the edge guys. No DTs were taken in the first round, and I think that is only the 2nd time that has happened in the last 30 years. I could be wrong about it, but it is very unusual. Personally, I would have tried to move down again for another 3rd round pick then tried to make a deal for another 2nd round pick. But maybe there were no takers. Still, the right pick was Slater who would improve the offensive line more than Parsons will improve the defense.
Parsons is a good player but as Brady Quinn(?) said, most of the time there are only 2 LBs on the field. Do they sit Jaylon or LVE? If they sit LVE then a past 1st round pick goes to waste. As Quinn also said, the bigger problem with Dallas's defense last year was pass rush and pass coverage. But Quinn is wrong for suggesting Phillips would have been a better pick when Phillips has his own injury issues.