Ranking the 10 best players drafted with traded NFL Draft picks

2. Emmitt Smith: 1990 Pick #17 Traded by Pittsburgh Steelers to Dallas Cowboys

Emmitt Smith running for the Dallas Cowboys

The Minnesota Vikings would wish to forget the Herschel Walker trade ever occurred, yet it set into motion a chain of events that saw the Dallas Cowboys draft arguably the greatest running back ever to play the game.

Walker was traded by the Cowboys to the Vikings in October 1989, and a number of picks went in the opposite direction, including a first-round choice in the 1990 NFL Draft.

This selection would go on to be the 21st pick in the aforementioned draft, which Jerry Jones would then trade to the Pittsburgh Steelers to move to pick #17.

It was at this position that the Cowboys drafted Emmitt Smith.

Smith would spend 12 years in Dallas, winning three Super Bowl titles, a Super Bowl MVP award, an NFL MVP award, as well as breaking the all-time record for rushing yards (18,355), rushing touchdowns (164) and rushing attempts (4,409).

1. Joe Montana: 1979 Pick #82 Traded by Seattle Seahawks to San Francisco 49ers

Super Bowl XXX: Dallas Cowboys v Pittsburgh Steelers

The 1979 NFL Draft saw a lot of quality players drop down draft boards, yet one would stand out above all others.

To track the lineage of the 82nd pick of the 1979 NFL Draft back to its origin, we must address a particular trade which took place in August of 1978.

The Seattle Seahawks traded their third and sixth-round choices in 1979 to the Dallas Cowboys, receiving Bill Gregory and a 1979 third-round pick in exchange.

Seattle would then move this pick to the San Francisco 49ers in exchange for the #57 pick, used to select Michael Jackson.

After multiple trades, the 49ers had emerged with the 82nd pick in the 1979 NFL Draft and defensive back Bob Jury.

With that pick, the Niners would select a quarterback out of Notre Dame who would surpass all expectations. They selected none other than Joe Montana.

The original "Joe Cool" is widely considered to be the greatest player to ever play in the NFL.

His career in San Francisco was extraordinary. He teamed up with Bill Walsh to win four Super Bowl championships, three Super Bowl MVP awards and two NFL MVP awards.

Montana would throw a total of 122 passes across four Super Bowls, and not once did he throw an interception in the big game, nor would he ever taste defeat in a Super Bowl, something even Tom Brady can’t claim.