Cowboys early inactivity in free agency puts pressure on finding bargains from what’s left

The lack of free agency activity for the Cowboys has put all the more pressure on the upcoming draft.

The Dallas Cowboys have done what they have always done during the first wave of free agency, which is not much. The first and only acquisition they have made so far is re-signing their long snapper, Trent Sieg. While this news shouldn’t surprise any fan that has been following this team, it still feels like a pretty big disappointment, especially after the “all-in” comments made by Jerry Jones after the last season abruptly ended. Those two little words gave fans a little bit of hope that this year might actually be the year where the Cowboys make waves in free agency.

Unfortunately, fans were yet again disappointed. The front office didn’t do what was required beforehand in order to make some big moves, which was a big clue to their mindset. They failed to extend or restructure many different players that would have freed up enough cap space to shop for some of those “designer brands” in free agency. Instead they opted to wait for some names that they could pick up on the sale rack, and even some of those were a bit too pricey.

In addition to not signing any free agents at positions of need, the Cowboys watched many of their players head out the door looking for greener pastures. Tony Pollard signed with the Tennessee Titans while Dorance Armstrong, Tyler Biadasz, and Dante Fowler all signed with the Washington Commanders, leaving some serious “blank spaces” in this 2024 roster. Looking at the list of players currently on the team for 2024, there are holes at running back, center, left tackle, defensive end, defensive tackle, linebacker and they could do with some help at cornerback and wide receiver as well.

Having all of these missing pieces, the Cowboys will most likely try to acquire some second-wave bargains in the next couple weeks before the draft. It is uncertain how valuable those players might be, and if they don’t end up filling all of the gaps in the roster, the Cowboys may be relying heavily on this year’s draft class. The Cowboys currently have seven draft picks this year with plenty of positions of need. Will that be enough? Is that putting too much pressure on some of these new rookies? Looking at last year’s Cowboys rookies, there weren’t any that became immediate starters. Although, giving the front office a little grace and looking at the overall history in the past 10 or so years, they have actually been very successful in finding starting caliber rookies. Still, the pressure on their draft class will be high if they don’t find some free agents that can play over the next few weeks

You can find a detailed breakdown of the Cowboys draft history from BTB’s Dan Rogers here.

Going into the draft, if the team still has as many positions of need, it would be another scenario where the Cowboys tie their own hands behind their backs. It could possibly restrict them from taking the best player available, a strategy that many would favor, if they are too focused on needs. Regardless of what happens in the draft, the Cowboys will not be able to solely rely on the rookies to help carry the team into the playoffs. They will need to look at free agency to fill in the gaps in the next few weeks. When they do, the hope would be that there are still valuable players available and that the Cowboys have freed up some of the “pie” to go out and get them.