IRVING, Texas — Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones predicted the first day of the 2009 NFL Draft would be slow and boring for his team.

The Cowboys traded their first-round pick to Detroit last fall to acquire wide receiver Roy Williams and had only one pick Saturday — a second-rounder, No. 51 overall.

But while he admittedly got antsy midway through the first round, even popping out of the Cowboys' war room to forecast a probable trade up in the second round, the day for Jones and the Cowboys would end up being historically boring.

What was expected to be a slow day became a no-draft-pick day.

Jones decided the value of having extra picks and more flexibility on Sunday was more important toward improving the Cowboys than simply picking the best player left on the board.

The Cowboys traded their second-round pick to the Buffalo Bills for a third- and fourth-round selection — Nos. 75 and 110 overall today.

"Obviously, we had the pick to use," Jones said. "But we liked going into the third round and picking up a pick. We like where we are relative to the players who we think will be there in the third and fourth round. It's been a long day not to have made a pick. But you can get excited about what we have a chance to do (Sunday)."

It's the third time in team history the Cowboys didn't have a pick in the first or second round — 1967 and 1980 were the others — but the first time since the draft went to seven rounds in 1994.

When the draft resumes today, the Cowboys will have 12 picks in rounds three through seven.

But just as Jones predicted that Saturday would be a slow day, he also says the Cowboys are set up to be in a controlling position today with two picks in the third round, three in the fourth, three in the fifth, two in the sixth and two in the seventh.

For Jones, the bounty of picks is not just about the players the Cowboys could select but the trade options from other teams trying to get into the third and fourth rounds.

Jones said the Cowboys have already fielded several calls for their first third-round pick — which will be the fifth pick of the day — and he expects more calls.

"I know what we've got coming tomorrow," Jones said, when asked about fan reaction to the draft so far. "It's like '89, '90 and '91. It didn't look good trading Herschel Walker and doing some things. But you had some information that you knew you were going to get better. While this wasn't of that magnitude, we've got a chance to get some good players. We have a chance to get real extended value because of the early pick in the third round."

Jones has historically been known to move up in the draft via trades to select a player. But he said he never seriously considered moving up in the draft this year, no matter his antsy feelings. He said the cost of moving up was too much.

And while there were players he would have considered taking if they were still on the board — safeties Louis Delmas and Patrick Chung, cornerback Jairus Byrd, receiver Brian Robiskie and center/guard Max Unger — he recognized early that moving down and out of the second round was a real possibility.

Jones didn't feel there were any players left in the second round who could have pushed for a starting positions and ultimately felt better about the quality of player he could get in the third round relative to their expectations.

As it came closer to time for the Cowboys to pick, Unger was the guy the Cowboys were targeting. Jones said he was the only player who could come in and compete for serious playing time. But Seattle traded up with the Chicago Bears to get him at No. 49, thus sealing the decision to move down.

"There were good players there," Jones said. "There were good players in the 10 or so picks above us. But we might have traded down anyway because we would have gotten more consideration for a trade had they been there. We really made our call when we didn't go up and get Unger."