The small silver lining of the Dallas Cowboys' Sunday Night Football loss to the New York Giants and subsequent elimination from the NFL Playoffs is a stronger placement in the 2012 NFL Draft order. The 8-8 Cowboys will have the No. 14 overall pick in April's NFL Draft, seven slots higher than if they'd made the playoffs and lost in the first round.
The Cowboys' jump up the Draft order comes after a series of tiebreakers with multiple other 8-8 teams, including division rival Philadelphia and the New York Jets, as well as the Oakland Raiders (whose pick goes to Cincinnati as part of the Carson Palmer trade), San Diego and Chicago.
Last year the Cowboys took offensive tackle Tyron Smith from USC with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the Draft.
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