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Cowboys Offseason - Make a Shopping List
Step one in every offseason is figuring out which of your own you wish to keep around
Bob Sturm
Feb 18, 2025
Red = Free Agents
Happy New Year!
Well, to be fair, the new league calendar in the league that never sleeps – the NFL – does not officially drop until March 12th. But, those of us who do this every year know that today at 4pm Eastern is the first time teams can do business for the new season.
Here is what we are looking at over the next three weeks:
From a Cowboys standpoint, we will cover the offseason with as little cynicism as possible and offer them a chance to reframe how we think of their front office at the moment. I don’t want these Cowboys pieces to be depressing, so from this point forward, here at #Sturmstack, we will offer them every opportunity to do better in this 2025 offseason than they did in the 2024 offseason and use their resources to build a better roster. Last year was not good enough and hopefully they learned their lessons and also want to offer Brian Schottenheimer a decent chance at getting off to a good start with his staff (Speaking of his staff, I plan a breakdown of that crew of young and lesser-known names soon).
Schottenheimer’s staff may see football very differently than the Mike McCarthy staff and therefore we will need to see their moves through the lens of how things might be changing. It would be silly to view their needs until we get an idea what they think they are when they begin talking publicly (which will happen starting today).
That said, as we can tell, their list of needs far outweighs their resources. They have a lot of needs and probably not nearly enough money and picks to fill them properly, so this will either be a very creative offseason or it will be a roster that takes holes to the season and tries to plug them while their ship is at sea – which we never like to attempt, if at all possible.
Today’s exercise is about listing those needs and looking at some options, but know it will be an ongoing project because the pieces on the board will be changing as we go.
The league does not really help planning for teams like I think they should. The following sports point is one that I make annually because I think it could be made better by how the league lays out its calendar. I call my annual speech…
“The NFL should have the draft before free agency”
The NFL is put together differently than our friends in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
In those sports, you either have free agency fully separated from the drafting of youthful prospects altogether (MLB), or, you have the NHL and NBA systems that put the draft BEFORE the free agent marketplace. That small adjustment may not sound like much, but say you want to try to replace Osa Odighizuwa as your starting defensive tackle.
In this scenario, there may be five defensive tackles in the draft that I think could do a reasonable job starting for you in 2025 and maybe even be as good or better than Osa. But, then, he would be better than anyone below that group in the draft if you miss on those five. If the draft was first, you could allow the draft to develop and see if you like the prices on everyone BEFORE you decide to not compete to keep Odighizuwa.
But, this isn’t the NBA. So here, the Cowboys have to show their cards on their starting (and only) reasonable 3-technique DT and at the same time wonder if the draft will allow them to get their guy to replace him. It is about six weeks of having nothing too appealing at a starting position and this leads to the desperation we sometimes see from teams that don’t want to look at a depth chart and see nothing but a blank space.
My solution is for the NFL to switch the draft to before free agency, but since I have been saying this for at least 20 years, it doesn’t sound like they are too compelled to chase common sense. Rather, the “we have always done it this way” will keep free agency in March and the draft on the last weekend of April. So, if you are just going to draft a guy to replace Rico Dowdle, Osa, and maybe Jourdan Lewis, well, you better hope the draft falls properly and I guess we aren’t worried about “best player available” in that scenario – because now we are chasing needs.
I really think this would be solved by the draft in March (or even February) and the start of Free Agency hitting on April 1 or so, but they don’t really care what I think.
Today, let’s start chipping away at this spring team-building season:
As we make an offseason shopping list, we have to have our central priorities and then look at all of the ways we might be able to address them. At the very top of this page, I placed my current Google Sheets page on the Cowboys roster sheet. You are welcome to bookmark this link and review it whenever you’d like. I mostly try to keep it updated but also alert me to any clear mistakes. I do not include every roster name until we believe they are actually in the mix for a final roster spot (that means that offseason camp bodies are not going to be put on this depth chart if we believe they have less than a 1% chance of appearing in a regular season game).
The central priorities will be split into two general sections that are related, but in a capped world, we have to admit the financials impact everything. So, on one side of this sheet we need to consider the following:
We have talked about this at great length and I would direct you to some reading here and here if you really want to get into the financial spreadsheet, but know that the Cowboys do have the financial ability to get a lot of business done if they wish. But, last year, they did not wish to do it. This all despite Jerry assuring everyone that he is spending as fast as he can (as we can actually see he did just the opposite).
The other section is where we are at for most of the spring, even though those questions above will determine where you go with every move. Dallas needs to know who they are playing at defensive tackle, linebacker, right guard, wide receiver, and corner if the season started today. They also have depth issues in many spots. There is work to be done, as there always is in this league where teams turn over about 33% of their game-day roster every season.
The cheap labor comes from the NFL draft and the four years you keep those kids on a fixed income. But, alas, the Cowboys do not have enough picks for all of their needs. This is when the absurdity of sending fourth rounders to San Francisco for Trey Lance and to Carolina for Jonathan Mingo comes in. Dallas needs all the picks it can get, but they actually are a bit short there again this year.
But, before the draft, the Cowboys can secure a few of their own names provided the prices are right. Well, we have 17 names in red above on that depth chart, so let’s go through them today in some sort of stack of priorities and then you can score my work below and disagree where you would like in the comments.
19 Cowboys UFA’s for 2025:
I have stacked these in order of importance, but I am not certain that matters too much after Odighizuwa. There are tiers after that and the significance each player is probably not worth debating too heavily.
I really think Osa Odighizuwa is worth keeping around, but I also want it clear that he is “good but not great” and therefore I am willing to be talked into a better option if you have one handy. But, for every massive hole in our roster, we have to have a solution that makes sense and using my 1st rounder on another DT seems to be a very sketchy plan. I would do it, but to expect that to be a good use of resources is probably not that smart if you don’t feel good about your other DT spot right now (and you definitely do not).
Otherwise, I am all for keeping DeMarcus Lawrence and Jourdan Lewis at the right price and that probably goes for Zack Martin and Rico Dowdle. But, let’s be honest, the resources spent here is an issue for players who are in decline or are not massive difference makers.
The theme of the offseason is that this team has more needs than avenues to fill them and it will be a scramble to fix it all in one spring.
But, actually lifting a finger in free agency will do a great deal to get started in that general direction. Let’s see how they handle this.
Step one in every offseason is figuring out which of your own you wish to keep around
Bob Sturm
Feb 18, 2025
Red = Free Agents
Happy New Year!
Well, to be fair, the new league calendar in the league that never sleeps – the NFL – does not officially drop until March 12th. But, those of us who do this every year know that today at 4pm Eastern is the first time teams can do business for the new season.
Here is what we are looking at over the next three weeks:
- Today, February 18th - Teams may designate Franchise or Transition Players
- February 24 – March 3 - NFL Scouting Combine (Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis)
- March 4 - Deadline for designating Franchise or Transition Players
- March 10 - Teams may opening negotiate with UFA’s from other teams
- March 12 - Teams may officially sign UFA’s from other teams at 3pm
From a Cowboys standpoint, we will cover the offseason with as little cynicism as possible and offer them a chance to reframe how we think of their front office at the moment. I don’t want these Cowboys pieces to be depressing, so from this point forward, here at #Sturmstack, we will offer them every opportunity to do better in this 2025 offseason than they did in the 2024 offseason and use their resources to build a better roster. Last year was not good enough and hopefully they learned their lessons and also want to offer Brian Schottenheimer a decent chance at getting off to a good start with his staff (Speaking of his staff, I plan a breakdown of that crew of young and lesser-known names soon).
Schottenheimer’s staff may see football very differently than the Mike McCarthy staff and therefore we will need to see their moves through the lens of how things might be changing. It would be silly to view their needs until we get an idea what they think they are when they begin talking publicly (which will happen starting today).
That said, as we can tell, their list of needs far outweighs their resources. They have a lot of needs and probably not nearly enough money and picks to fill them properly, so this will either be a very creative offseason or it will be a roster that takes holes to the season and tries to plug them while their ship is at sea – which we never like to attempt, if at all possible.
Today’s exercise is about listing those needs and looking at some options, but know it will be an ongoing project because the pieces on the board will be changing as we go.
The league does not really help planning for teams like I think they should. The following sports point is one that I make annually because I think it could be made better by how the league lays out its calendar. I call my annual speech…
“The NFL should have the draft before free agency”
The NFL is put together differently than our friends in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
In those sports, you either have free agency fully separated from the drafting of youthful prospects altogether (MLB), or, you have the NHL and NBA systems that put the draft BEFORE the free agent marketplace. That small adjustment may not sound like much, but say you want to try to replace Osa Odighizuwa as your starting defensive tackle.
In this scenario, there may be five defensive tackles in the draft that I think could do a reasonable job starting for you in 2025 and maybe even be as good or better than Osa. But, then, he would be better than anyone below that group in the draft if you miss on those five. If the draft was first, you could allow the draft to develop and see if you like the prices on everyone BEFORE you decide to not compete to keep Odighizuwa.
But, this isn’t the NBA. So here, the Cowboys have to show their cards on their starting (and only) reasonable 3-technique DT and at the same time wonder if the draft will allow them to get their guy to replace him. It is about six weeks of having nothing too appealing at a starting position and this leads to the desperation we sometimes see from teams that don’t want to look at a depth chart and see nothing but a blank space.
My solution is for the NFL to switch the draft to before free agency, but since I have been saying this for at least 20 years, it doesn’t sound like they are too compelled to chase common sense. Rather, the “we have always done it this way” will keep free agency in March and the draft on the last weekend of April. So, if you are just going to draft a guy to replace Rico Dowdle, Osa, and maybe Jourdan Lewis, well, you better hope the draft falls properly and I guess we aren’t worried about “best player available” in that scenario – because now we are chasing needs.
I really think this would be solved by the draft in March (or even February) and the start of Free Agency hitting on April 1 or so, but they don’t really care what I think.
Today, let’s start chipping away at this spring team-building season:
As we make an offseason shopping list, we have to have our central priorities and then look at all of the ways we might be able to address them. At the very top of this page, I placed my current Google Sheets page on the Cowboys roster sheet. You are welcome to bookmark this link and review it whenever you’d like. I mostly try to keep it updated but also alert me to any clear mistakes. I do not include every roster name until we believe they are actually in the mix for a final roster spot (that means that offseason camp bodies are not going to be put on this depth chart if we believe they have less than a 1% chance of appearing in a regular season game).
The central priorities will be split into two general sections that are related, but in a capped world, we have to admit the financials impact everything. So, on one side of this sheet we need to consider the following:
- Will the Cowboys consider the franchise tag or transition tag for Osa Odighizuwa this week.
- What will be done with Micah Parsons’ contract situation.
- Will the Cowboys retain the services of Trevon Diggs ($19.4m aav) and Terence Steele ($16.5m aav)?
- When will the Cowboys free up a huge amount of money by restructuring the Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb contracts (as they always intended)?
We have talked about this at great length and I would direct you to some reading here and here if you really want to get into the financial spreadsheet, but know that the Cowboys do have the financial ability to get a lot of business done if they wish. But, last year, they did not wish to do it. This all despite Jerry assuring everyone that he is spending as fast as he can (as we can actually see he did just the opposite).
The other section is where we are at for most of the spring, even though those questions above will determine where you go with every move. Dallas needs to know who they are playing at defensive tackle, linebacker, right guard, wide receiver, and corner if the season started today. They also have depth issues in many spots. There is work to be done, as there always is in this league where teams turn over about 33% of their game-day roster every season.
The cheap labor comes from the NFL draft and the four years you keep those kids on a fixed income. But, alas, the Cowboys do not have enough picks for all of their needs. This is when the absurdity of sending fourth rounders to San Francisco for Trey Lance and to Carolina for Jonathan Mingo comes in. Dallas needs all the picks it can get, but they actually are a bit short there again this year.
But, before the draft, the Cowboys can secure a few of their own names provided the prices are right. Well, we have 17 names in red above on that depth chart, so let’s go through them today in some sort of stack of priorities and then you can score my work below and disagree where you would like in the comments.
19 Cowboys UFA’s for 2025:
I have stacked these in order of importance, but I am not certain that matters too much after Odighizuwa. There are tiers after that and the significance each player is probably not worth debating too heavily.
- Osa Odighizuwa, 27 (on opening day ‘25), DT
As we tried to say last summer, this one is a big one. I would love to do a film study on him this week if time will allow to walk us through this, but the DT has plenty of teams sniffing around and the prices at this position are massive. Is he a superstar? No. Is he a very good NFL starter at this position and easily the best thing Dallas has? Yes. So, now we need to figure out the valuation. PFF suggests that his contract project is sitting at 4 years/$85 million and that would cause riots in Dallas if they signed him to this. Over $21m a year for that? The franchise tag at this position is $23,468,000, but it drops to $18,934,000 if you just want to put the transition on him. I assume there would be unrest for even that much, but I would be pretty sick to my stomach to see him dominating elsewhere after Dallas invested four years in his development. He makes plays (22 splash plays this year), he plays hard, and he plays in every game. I am not eager to lock him in for four years because he has not proven to be that big of a game-wrecker, but I think a one-year tag buys you the time to see this through while giving Matt Eberflus a chance to build a decent defense this season. I will try to circle back and write more on this guy soon. But, I want to keep him. Keep.
- Jourdan Lewis, 30, CB
I admit that there is a price where he makes sense and I also don’t believe the entire league will be chasing him. That said, I could definitely see Dan Quinn getting him to Washington, so you don’t want to disrespect him. But, as far as having a warrior who is a trusted veteran in the room and helps set the tone, I am a full convert on the value of Jourdan Lewis. I would think 2/$14m or so. Keep.
- DeMarcus Lawrence, 33, Edge
These next two are going to be based on how badly they want to stay here. I would never say goodbye to Lawrence or Martin if they want to hang around and I want to find a proper price. They are quality players who are on the downside but they do have value and could serve a real strong purpose on a team that cannot turn over the whole roster right now. So, for Lawrence, I want to keep him and I would be fine with something like 1/$6m or 1/$8m (PFF says 2/$15m which might actually make it easier to fit the money so I can live with that).
- Zack Martin, 33, RG
Same for Martin as Lawrence. I got the sense that Martin is done with playing altogether and is ready to be retired when we talked to him at the Super Bowl. But if he wants to play for the Cowboys and his body will let him, then I would want to make it happen rather than see him playing for the Chiefs next season. I think 1/$7m or 1/$8m is fair.
- Rico Dowdle, 27, RB
I think Dowdle has proven himself to be a RB2 for sure moving forward and would love to keep him and get a little money in his pocket. Therefore, 2/$8m or so seems to be the proper price to accomplish those to things. Keep.
- Eric Kendricks, 33, LB
He probably belongs on the list with Jourdan Lewis in that he plays hard and plays reasonably well and you really have no better option anywhere on the roster right now. Yes, it would be great if you felt great about DeMarvion Overshown’s body and Marist Liufau’s development. But, if we can do this for 1/$3m, I would like you back. I can’t do much more than that. Keep.
- Chauncey Golston, 27, Edge
This one is hard to fully grasp. But, we have probably found the tier where we would keep him at small levels and quickly dismiss ourselves if someone wanted him like Washington wanted Dorance Armstrong last year. In a capped world, he had four years to convince us. Pass.
- Carl Lawson, 30, Edge
I really enjoyed Carl Lawson’s fine work as the season went along. There is something there, for sure, but obviously the budget is tight and Sam Williams should be back and ready again. I am interested at the minimum, but I am guessing he is not.
- Brandin Cooks, 33, WR
Same as Lawson. Cooks was making a ton of money over his time in Dallas and it never really went very far. So, there is a price, but it isn’t very high.
- Cooper Rush, 32, QB
It is probably mean of me to list him higher than Trey Lance and it is also very possible that the team now values the running QB much higher than it did with the last regime. That said, Cooper is practically a member of the coaching staff. I guess I don’t have a strong opinion on QB2 other than I would love to see them draft a guy in Day 3 who could take both of these guys out of the mix.
- Trey Lance, 25, QB
I am going to say that I don’t really see it and I also cannot believe they spent a 4th rounder and $5m on this project, only to play him about one game as a Cowboy in an otherwise lost 2024. Basically, I don’t expect much interest at all. Pass.
- Linval Joseph, 36, DT
I highly doubt Linval is interested in a post-Zimmer universe and it is all good to go ahead and move on. Pass.
- Nick Vigil, 32, LB
I assume we can do better. Pass.
- Israel Mukuamu, 26, S
Minimum.
- Chuma Edoga, 28, T
Maybe minimum. Why not.
- Bryan Anger, 37, P
No opinion.
- Amani Oruwariye, 29, CB
Pass.
- CJ Goodwin, 35, ST
No opinion.
- Trent Seig, 30, LS
If you want to keep your long snapper, knock yourself out.
I really think Osa Odighizuwa is worth keeping around, but I also want it clear that he is “good but not great” and therefore I am willing to be talked into a better option if you have one handy. But, for every massive hole in our roster, we have to have a solution that makes sense and using my 1st rounder on another DT seems to be a very sketchy plan. I would do it, but to expect that to be a good use of resources is probably not that smart if you don’t feel good about your other DT spot right now (and you definitely do not).
Otherwise, I am all for keeping DeMarcus Lawrence and Jourdan Lewis at the right price and that probably goes for Zack Martin and Rico Dowdle. But, let’s be honest, the resources spent here is an issue for players who are in decline or are not massive difference makers.
The theme of the offseason is that this team has more needs than avenues to fill them and it will be a scramble to fix it all in one spring.
But, actually lifting a finger in free agency will do a great deal to get started in that general direction. Let’s see how they handle this.
