Grading the top 5 moves of the Cowboys 2024 offseason so far

Here’s a look at five major key points in the Dallas Cowboys offseason and grading each one

The 2024 offseason is in full swing and teams have been doing all they can to make themselves better and prepare for the upcoming season. But what about the Cowboys? The moves the front office has made since the season ended are interesting to say the least. But if we break the moves down in chronological order, what grade do the Cowboys for each major move so far? Let’s find out.

Hiring of Mike Zimmer
With the major flunk of Dan Quinn in the playoff game, Dallas Cowboys fans’ patience had drawn thin enough to call for a change. Quinn left for a head coaching role in Washington leaving the job wide open. With the gap left at defensive coordinator the Cowboys fell back to a familiar name in Mike Zimmer.

On one hand, Zimmer is definitely the man to find a way to get the run defense organized. Expect the linebacker position to look more traditional as well as the defensive scheme, and a bigger emphasis on stopping the run. That should include some bigger bodies in the middle. Linebackers will rush the passer a lot more in creative blitzes and will be free to find the ball carrier.

But there’s also the negative side. Zimmer’s Vikings were under-performing in terms of winning big. Most people thought when he left Minnesota that would be the last time we saw Zimmer in the NFL. But some coaches are built to be coordinators and some can transition into head coaching easily. Hopefully, Zimmer is one that is built best to be a coordinator and Dallas strike again in revitalizing an ex-head coaches career.
Grade: B

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Losing key players to NFC East rival
So far, Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler, Tyler Biadasz and Noah Igbinoghene have left town and signed with Washington. Biadasz leaves a huge hole at center, but the loss of two rotation pass rushers cannot be overlooked. Armstrong had worked his way up to be a key designated pass rusher and Fowler had two solid seasons of production while at Dallas. This leaves a big gap in the roster on the defensive line and filling the void in the draft or leaning on last year’s class is a strategy that leaves a lot of questions. The loss of these players is one thing, but to a division rival just adds more salt to the wound.
Grade: F

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Signing of linebacker Eric Kendricks
Kendricks was all set to sign for San Francisco, but for whatever reason there was a turn about and he quickly signed with Dallas. This move is huge on a linebacker corps that has many durability questions and has just experienced the loss of Leighton Vander Esch.

Kendricks adds a veteran presence to a young linebacker unit in Dallas, plus he’s already knowledgeable of the Zimmer system which is a massive plus. Even if we take those factors away, Kendricks had a better season than any of the Cowboys linebackers last year. He had four sacks, 117 tackles, seven tackles for loss and missed only 6% of his tackles last year. Among linebackers in Dallas, Damone Clark had the best season last year and he registered zero sacks, 109 tackles and four tackles for loss. So it’s easy to say Kendricks is already top of the depth chart this year.
Grade: A-

Losing Tyron Smith
This move is like a Rorschach test for fans. Most feel sad Smith is gone and hate the fact he will be unable to end his career as a Dallas Cowboy. The irony was even though he failed to play a full season last year, Smith still had one of his better seasons and most certainly the best season he had in the last half decade.

But on the other side, this team no longer has the burden of manipulating the roster to cater for the missing time with Smith. Is this roster better off without Smith though? The argument can be made either way, but there’s no doubt when he’s fully healthy and on the field, there are few left tackles in the league better than him.
Grade: C-

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Re-signing Jourdan Lewis
This move hasn’t been talked about enough in terms of how important it was. Without Lewis back in the fold, the cornerback position was becoming a huge need. Not only does Lewis coming back take some of the pressure off finding a player for the position, Lewis also plays the slot position very well and as the season progressed he was looking more and more confident. This is a good sign as he was recovering further from the lisfranc injury he had the year before. The signing doesn’t mean the Cowboys are completely free from drafting a cornerback this year, but it does mean the front office can be a little more patient when they want to draft one.
Grade: B+