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In the last 10 offseasons, the Cowboys have signed 37 free agents. None signed a contract worth more than $18.3 million.
By Jean-Jacques Taylor
10:43 AM on Apr 11, 2022
The last time the Cowboys spent big money in free agency, they gave cornerback Brandon Carr $50 million over five years in 2012.
The front office thought Carr would develop into a star.
Instead, he was a solid player who never missed a game and intercepted seven passes in five years; Trevon Diggs intercepted 11 last season.
Carr, it seems, is the reason the Cowboys swore off free agency as a way to infuse the roster with elite talent.
It’s a dumb approach that needs revisiting.
In the last 10 offseasons, the Cowboys have signed 37 free agents. None signed a contract worth more than $18.3 million.
Just so you know, 52 players currently have contracts that average $18 million per year.
The Cowboys signed Cedric Thornton to a four-year, $18.3 million deal In 2016. He was a poor scheme fit, who contributed 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Two year later, he was out of the league.
Then there’s Gerald McCoy, who signed a three-year, $18 million deal in 2020 and ruptured his quadriceps in training camp and never played a game.
They signed the infamous Greg Hardy, who was on the commissioner’s exempt list for 15 games in 2014, to an incentive-laden deal worth $13 million in 2015. He finished with six sacks and only earned about $2.6 million in 12 games.
That was his last NFL season.
As former coach Bill Parcells used to say, confidence is born from demonstrated ability. The Cowboys have fared poorly in free agency on big-ticket items so they shy away from participating in free agency at its highest level.
It’s an interesting approach because when Dallas re-signs its own players such as Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper and DeMarcus Lawrence to big-money deals and they don’t produce at the expected level, the Cowboys don’t stop paying their own guys.
Exhibit A: Michael Gallup and Jayron Kearse re-signed with Dallas this offseason and they tried to re-sign Randy Gregory.
The Cowboys have a flawed approach to free agency, and until it changes they’re going to struggle with consistency.
No team drafts well enough to fill all of its holes without a big-time free-agent acquisition here and there.
By Jean-Jacques Taylor
10:43 AM on Apr 11, 2022
The last time the Cowboys spent big money in free agency, they gave cornerback Brandon Carr $50 million over five years in 2012.
The front office thought Carr would develop into a star.
Instead, he was a solid player who never missed a game and intercepted seven passes in five years; Trevon Diggs intercepted 11 last season.
Carr, it seems, is the reason the Cowboys swore off free agency as a way to infuse the roster with elite talent.
It’s a dumb approach that needs revisiting.
In the last 10 offseasons, the Cowboys have signed 37 free agents. None signed a contract worth more than $18.3 million.
Just so you know, 52 players currently have contracts that average $18 million per year.
The Cowboys signed Cedric Thornton to a four-year, $18.3 million deal In 2016. He was a poor scheme fit, who contributed 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks.
Two year later, he was out of the league.
Then there’s Gerald McCoy, who signed a three-year, $18 million deal in 2020 and ruptured his quadriceps in training camp and never played a game.
They signed the infamous Greg Hardy, who was on the commissioner’s exempt list for 15 games in 2014, to an incentive-laden deal worth $13 million in 2015. He finished with six sacks and only earned about $2.6 million in 12 games.
That was his last NFL season.
As former coach Bill Parcells used to say, confidence is born from demonstrated ability. The Cowboys have fared poorly in free agency on big-ticket items so they shy away from participating in free agency at its highest level.
It’s an interesting approach because when Dallas re-signs its own players such as Ezekiel Elliott, Amari Cooper and DeMarcus Lawrence to big-money deals and they don’t produce at the expected level, the Cowboys don’t stop paying their own guys.
Exhibit A: Michael Gallup and Jayron Kearse re-signed with Dallas this offseason and they tried to re-sign Randy Gregory.
The Cowboys have a flawed approach to free agency, and until it changes they’re going to struggle with consistency.
No team drafts well enough to fill all of its holes without a big-time free-agent acquisition here and there.
