The Dallas Cowboys have been more aggressive in free agency as promised, but the early returns haven’t brought much significant talent to a team looking to rebound.
DALLAS — Free agency is only a few days old, but the Dallas Cowboys have already been more active than they were all last year. In an odd turn of events, the Cowboys have been one of the busiest teams in the league early this offseason.
However, it’s fair to wonder whether the acquisitions made equals an improved roster. The Cowboys had a few priority free agents that they were hoping would return while building around them with a ‘selective’ group of outside players.
That part of the plan didn’t come to fruition, but the front office has been busy adding players. The Cowboys did have 27 of their own free agents, and they needed bodies, so they set out to build back a roster that had lost much of its depth last year.
If that was the goal, mission accomplished.
But quantity doesn’t necessarily equal quality, and the Cowboys seem content to add players, just not the type that appears likely to get them to the Super Bowl. Time will tell, but the haul that Dallas has brought in thus far this offseason is lacking in impact players.
There has been a lot of movement through the first few days of free agency and it almost seems like Jerry and Stephen Jones are trying to make a point after being dormant through free agency last offseason. It’s one thing to bring in players, but those additions will need to prove that they can play at a level that reaches the expectations in Dallas. Looking at what the Cowboys have done, it’s easy to cast doubt.
Dallas began free agency by adding running back JaVonte Williams (513 yards rushing with four TDs in 17 games last season), who was a second-round pick for the Denver Broncos in 2021. Williams was once considered one of the best young RBs in the league, but a torn ACL in his second year slowed his ascension and he’s never gotten back to being the same player.
The Cowboys will likely pair the fifth-year runner in the backfield with a rookie RB drafted in the first few rounds in April. One potential difference-making aspect is Williams is also a good receiver (346 yards on 52 receptions), something new head coach and offensive play-caller Brian Schottenheimer said he looks for in a running back.
To assist Williams, the team signed guard Robert Jones, who started 17 games at guard for the Miami Dolphins last season, which is a positive for a team that needed interior OL help. The bad news is that Jones was graded as one of the worst guards in the NFL.
If the idea was to add experience and an option for a starting right guard, the Cowboys succeeded. If the team was trying to get better, Jones is a tough sell. Again, he improves the depth just by being on the roster, but does Dallas actually want to see him in games? If he’s on the field, Plan A has failed and Plan Bs hardly ever win you games in the NFL.
The team also added linebacker Jack Sanborn, who has widely been considered the best outside pickup thus far. Sanborn was an undrafted free agent who worked his way into 19 NFL starts in three seasons. He played with the Chicago Bears and has a history with new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus, which can help in whatever new scheme Eberflus brings. Sanborn should prove to be a great pickup for Dallas’ defense.
One of the more puzzling sets of moves was a flurry of former first-round acquisitions. The Cowboys seem to be heavily invested in the process of adding top draft picks from previous years who haven’t played up to their potential.
It began when the team signed defensive tackle Solomon Thomas, who was the third overall pick in 2017. Thomas has been an underwhelming player that hasn’t lived up to his draft status. He’ll be 30 years old when the season begins and Thomas is more of a pass rusher on the interior than he is a run stuffer, which is a skillset similar to Osa Odighizuwa.
To help their pass rush, the team is hoping that Peyton Turner, who was a first-round pick by the New Orleans Saints in 2021, can pitch in. Having never played a full season, injuries have limited Turner’s effectiveness. With only five sacks in four seasons, Turner hasn’t produced enough after being the 28th overall pick in the draft, but Dallas seems to think a change of scenery could unlock him.
The Cowboys also completed a string of trades for former first-round talent, swapping for Buffalo Bills cornerback Kaiir Elam and Tennessee Titans LB Kenneth Murray. Elam was the 22nd pick in the 2022 draft, while Murray was the 23rd pick in the 2020 draft. Neither has played well early in their career, but Murray has been more productive of the two, with two 100-tackle seasons under his belt.
The hope is that the Cowboys can put these players in a better position to maximize their talents. If not, then they invested late-round picks on two veterans who haven’t shown the ability to play at a high level despite being highly touted coming out of the draft.
And so, we appear to have landed upon this year’s true theme for how the Cowboys will construct their roster, with the front office gambling on their ability to tap into the potential of former first-round players after the teams that drafted them have exhausted their efforts to do so while bypassing talent that has already succeeded at the NFL level. There’s evidence to show that it’s a foolish proposition, but Dallas would rather take these low-cost chances rather than pay more money for quality players.
The Cowboys did do some positive things in free agency so far, though. Keeping All-Pro kick returner KaVontae Turpin on a three-year deal was smart business, as was retaining long snapper Trent Sieg and punter Bryan Anger. The team had one of the best special teams units last season, and the band is back together in 2025.
Free agency for the Cowboys in the early going has also been more about who they’ve lost instead of who they’ve signed. Losing cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who was arguably their best defensive player not named Micah Parsons last season, was a huge blow. And letting DEs DeMarcus Lawrence and Chauncey Golston walk away wasn’t smart either. The team is now searching for answers to help Parsons rush the passer.
Lawrence’s departure especially stings; he was a mainstay on the edge for the last 11 years and was one of the best two-way DEs in the NFL. Without Lawrence, QB Dak Prescott now becomes the longest-tenured Cowboy, with nine years on America’s Team.
It is at this point that it should be noted that the offseason isn’t over, of course, and there’s a long way to go for Dallas to reconfigure a roster that was a 12-game winner as recently as 2023, but the free agency strategy for the organization remains as foolhardy as ever.
Why did the Cowboys free up all that cap space to only sign average or cheap opportunistic free agents to one-year deals – except Thomas, who got two years – instead of investing in good players? Dallas can/could sign any player they wanted, yet they continue to shop for bargain basement players that only improve depth, even in the initial stages of free agency when difference-making talent is available.
Things could change in the upcoming weeks, but so far, the Cowboys are Cowboying in free agency, and that’s a bad thing. It hasn’t worked before, so what makes them believe it will work this time around?
That’s a question for the Joneses to answer, and contradictory quotes and catchphrases certainly won’t cut it.
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