Draft History: 1996

IRVING – The first team to win three Super Bowl championships in four seasons, the Cowboys completed their punishment Sunday as the first team sentenced to draft last three times in four seasons. But then Jerry Jones contended the only difficulty he confronted was this: What to get the team that already has everything?

That uncertainty has produced another. Who are Kavika Pittman, Randall Godfrey, Clay Shiver, Stepfret Williams, Mike Ulufale, Kenneth McDaniel, Alan Campos, Wendell Davis and Ryan Wood? And why is it that Jones plans to negotiate contracts that will put them on his payroll?

Those are the players the Cowboys chose in the NFL draft as they confront the difficult task of maintaining their current dominance while protecting themselves for the future.

"We approach this thing that 1996 will be the best chance we have to ever go to the Super Bowl in the future," Jones said Sunday.

While most of the players are prospects at positions where the Cowboys have salary-cap concerns or anticipate free-agent damage, the top defensive picks are Super Bowl insurance.

Pittman was taken because the Cowboys are planning a three-man rotation at defensive end to manage the playing time of starters Charles Haley and Tony Tolbert.

Coach Barry Switzer thinks Haley and Tolbert's declining productivity can be spiked if the two veterans recovering from the torment of back operations and knee surgeries are used on a rotation basis with a third player. That could be Shante Carver, Broderick Thomas or Pittman.

"We need to think about giving them some players who have the ability to play some time for them, give them the quality snaps in the ballgame that they can play at when they take 50 or 60 snaps," Switzer said. "They're both excellent players coming off injuries, and there are big question marks as to how well they can play at their age, with their injuries and for how long with such a demanding schedule."

The Cowboys also took Pittman and third-rounder Ulufale to increase their chances of developing one great player from a group of youngsters that includes Carver, Hurvin McCormack, Darren Benson and Oscar Sturgis.

Confronting a third pro season pivotal for a defensive lineman, Carver will have a challenge from Thomas, a strong pass-rush linebacker from the Minnesota Vikings. But if Thomas is not motivated playing under terms of a one-year contract, perhaps direct competition will stimulate him.

Godfrey, the second choice, poses as competition at strong-side linebacker Thomas, a player with whom the Cowboys have never won. Godfrey's presence also could mean the Cowboys are not hostage to Darrin Smith.

The Cowboys signed Thomas and Fred Strickland as free-agent replacements for Robert Jones and Dixon Edwards. The defection of the two linebackers in unrestricted free agency deprives the team of its trademark speed at the position. Godfrey is a speed player chosen when the Cowboys traded up to draft in the second round, the last available linebacker of the five the team targeted. Campos, an inside linebacker taken in the fifth round, provides another option.

"I'm not so sure, frankly, whether we solved the free-agency situation when we took Strickland and Thomas," Lacewell said.

Defensive coordinator Dave Campo said Godfrey initially would be deployed at strong-side linebacker. But he plays all three positions, which means he can shift to weak-side if Smith decides to play another partial season while protesting his contract.

In a pre-draft trade, the Cowboys sent fourth- and fifth- round choices to the Atlanta Falcons for free safety Roger Harper. He will compete with Brock Marion for the starting role and, at worst, Harper instantly upgrades the Cowboys' third-down defensive packages. The Cowboys took Davis because his speed makes him a potential nickel back.

The fact Harper has a three-year contract secures a position that had been an uncertainty since Marion can become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Free agency was a factor in the Cowboys taking Williams, a big-play receiver. Kevin Williams is in the last year of his contract.

The offensive line is another long-term concern the Cowboys confronted. Third-round pick Clay Shiver is a center the Cowboys think could play his rookie season if Ray Donaldson has problems with a plate in his leg from dislocating his ankle.