Dallas traded Pete Hunter to the Jets for a conditional…
Dallas traded Pete Hunter to the Jets for a conditional selection that ultimately became the 2007 sixth-round pick at No. 200, not an undisclosed 2006 choice. Hunter never appeared in a Jets regular-season game. Dallas later packaged No. 200 with No. 234 to move up to No. 195, so the Cowboys retained usable draft leverage without being credited for a downstream player they did not select with No. 200. That makes Dallas the clear value winner.
Dallas Cowboys Received
- pick 2007 sixth round pick (#200 overall, conditional; later traded to Cleveland)
New York Jets Received
- player Pete Hunter
Trade Analysis
The Exchange
Dallas sent cornerback Pete Hunter to the Jets on July 14, 2005 for a conditional draft choice. The 2007 draft transaction ledger identifies the conditionally conveyed selection as the 2007 sixth-round pick at No. 200. That is the asset Dallas received, without attributing to Dallas the player ultimately selected after the pick moved again.
Dallas Cowboys Return
Dallas received No. 200 in the 2007 draft. The Cowboys did not stay at that slot. They later sent No. 200 plus No. 234 to Cleveland in exchange for No. 195. Dallas therefore extracted real trade currency from the Hunter transaction, but the value of the player chosen at No. 195 cannot be assigned solely to No. 200 because another pick was part of the move. A C+ captures the useful but modest leverage.
New York Jets Return
The Jets received Hunter, but his New York stay produced no regular-season contribution. Available career records show his 2005 regular-season games came with Cleveland, not the Jets. For a player acquisition, that is the key outcome: New York gave up a future sixth-round asset without receiving regular-season snaps from the player it acquired. The Jets receive a D+.
Value in Hindsight
This is a straightforward example of why exact conditional-pick provenance matters. Calling the selection an undisclosed 2006 pick hides both the true year and the fact that Dallas later used the asset in a draft-day move. At the same time, crediting Dallas with Melila Purcell, the player Cleveland eventually selected at No. 200, would be wrong because Dallas had already traded the pick away.
Final Verdict
Dallas wins, C+ to D+. The Cowboys received and later redeployed a confirmed sixth-round selection. The Jets received no regular-season production from Hunter. The 2007 No. 200 pick makes the value separation visible without overstating the downstream chain.