The Dallas Cowboys have spent little money this offseason. They’ve made their usual minuscule forays into outside free agents, signing Eric Kendricks, Ezekiel Elliott and Royce Freeman. Let’s face it, no one gets out of their seat because of those acquisitions. You’ve heard of ROUS, rodents of unusual size. They are CHILDREN, signings without significance.
The lack of free agent spending on outside players is normal for this front office, but the unwillingness to retain some of their own guys has some a little perturbed. Several starters and key rotation players will play elsewhere next season. Here is the list of Cowboys players who left in free agency and their prices.
Cowboys free agents lost
Player | Years | Total Contract |
---|---|---|
Player | Years | Total Contract |
Dorance Armstrong | 3 | $33,000,000 |
Tyler Biadasz | 3 | $29,250,000 |
Tony Pollard | 3 | $21,000,000 |
Tyron Smith | 1 | $6,500,000 |
Dante Fowler | 1 | $3,250,000 |
Jonathan Hankins | 1 | $2,050,000 |
Neville Gallimore | 1 | $1,790,000 |
Noah Igbinoghene | 1 | $1,292,500 |
$98,132,500 |
In total, eight players have left at a total cost of almost $100 million (assuming they all serve out the full length of their contracts). When you stop and think about it, there is a lot of cap space. Sure, some of it is spread out over several years, but $100 million is $100 million. Not paying those players opens the door to other possibilities.
As we have seen, those “other possibilities” do not include a buying spree to acquire free agents from other teams. The Cowboys aren’t interested in that. Outside free agents are like a juicy deluxe cheeseburger. We would love to have one and it makes us feel happy in the moment, but deep down we know that it is not good for us. Many people will still prefer cheeseburgers, but the Cowboys are the vegans of the NFL.
It should be noted that the Cowboys are willing to spend money. Strange narratives have been spread to the contrary and they should not be in our heads. Jerry Jones’ lack of spending on free agents isn’t because he’s cheap and wants to pocket the savings. Things don’t work like that. The Cowboys use their allocated cap space. Additionally, Jerry is not using his roster funds to fuel his other non-football investments, which will give him greater overall returns. We should be clear about this. The Cowboys spend their money and Jerry Jones wants to win. But it’s fair to criticize them for how they do it. Are they doing the things that give them the best chance of winning? Many say no.
With $100 million in “savings,” the Cowboys will have more money to allocate elsewhere. We all know what places we are talking about. Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons. Three renowned All-Pros who will have prices out of this world.
The crazy thing about these big 3 is that they were all accidents. What we mean by this is that none of these players were on track to end up in Dallas, but through some Tom Cruise wizardry, they all did. The Cowboys tried everything in their power to Draft a quarterback other than Prescott in 2016, but after missing out on Paxton Lynch and Connor Cook, they settled for Dak. No one expected Lamb to be around when they drafted him in 2020, as he was never available during any of the Cowboys’ repeated pre-draft taunts, but lo and behold, he was. Bazinga! And finally, we all know the Cowboys were looking for cornerbacks in 2021 when Parsons fell into their laps, but hey, who’s complaining?
So, long story short, the Cowboys got…
The player with the highest approximate value (per Pro Football Reference) in the 2016 NFL Draft in Prescott, the player with the highest approximate value in the 2021 NFL Draft in Parsons, and the player with the highest AV high non-QB in the 2020 NFL Draft in Lamb. Three drafts in which the Cowboys got one of the best players in the entire draft, if not the best, and at no time did they pick in the top 10. Even more exciting is that all three steals play a prime position in the NFL. Quarterback, edge rusher and wide receiver. Bazinga again!
The Cowboys didn’t carefully orchestrate a scenario in which they would have three star players who will soon become the highest-paid players at their respective positions, but here we are. And in order for the band to keep playing, they have to keep putting quarters in the jukebox. Replacing previous players won’t be that difficult and the team already did a lot of that with last month’s draft, all of which was done at a fraction of the price. Moving that $100 million to help cover the costs of this new holy trinity is what the Cowboys front office is now doing. Good, bad or indifferent, is the direction they are going now.
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