2026 Cowboys Free Agency Thread…

[Simpleton]

So here is the sketchy part of the Ravens situation. They had all the medical information when the trade was made. Meaning x-rays and doctors reports and all that stuff. And yet they don't decide they are concerned about something until yesterday? Seems extra sketchy to me.

At the same time we hear that Hendrickson is making a decision on a team the next day. I'm sorry, the Ravens were absolutely waiting to see if they could get Hendrickson. Once they found out they could, they pulled the plug in the trade. The Raiders have a right to be pissed. And now the Raiders can't go and get the first and second round offer they had from the Cowboys. Feels like they have serious damages by the bullshit the Ravens pulled.

The league needs to punish them, the "legal tampering period" only works if teams operate in good faith, they can't use it as a testing ground to feel out options then back out of tentative agreements as things evolve.

 

[Cujo]

Hell no! Mainly because I don't know who Fred Ward is.

He just died recently, I think. He was in Anchorman.

 

[boozeman]

Did something happen?

 

[boozeman]

The Ravens should honestly lose a pick for this dirty shit they just did.

It is pure Indian Giving. Yeah, I am bringing that back.

 

[bbgun]

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Sweet, this frees us up to ignore edge rusher in the draft.

 

[Stars]

He’s sort of correct.

But with Parker’s coaching, those two players plus a good draft, I believe we’d be a top 20 defense.

And that’s just assuming we sign nothing but rejects the rest of FA, which isn’t a stretch.

 

[Cujo]

Sweet, this frees us up to ignore edge rusher in the draft.

They're doing the bare minimum. I don't know why we should expect anything else.

 

[ravidubey]

3-4 OLB is fine, not ideal and could definitely use a high pick, but it's passable with Gary, Ezeiruaku, Houston and Williams. I guess you can throw Liufau in there also but I don't think he's a serious piece.

ILB is the issue, we have Overshown and I guess James maybe, and then basically nothing.

There and CB-- each spot we have JAGs starting.

And all 10 defensive positions besides one safety spot are paper thin with JAG backups.

 

[ravidubey]

Osa has gone from a 3-T unable to win by himself to foundational as a part of our 3-4 shift alongside Quinnen and Clark

If we trade him we kind of reset the whole 3-4 strategy, especially as Clark gets older

 

[Tony D]

He’s sort of correct.

But with Parker’s coaching, those two players plus a good draft, I believe we’d be a top 20 defense.

And that’s just assuming we sign nothing but rejects the rest of FA, which isn’t a stretch.

I know. This dude keeps forgetting about the draft.

 

[Tony D]

I have no doubt we will still do something at LBer. The problem is what. Because the easy and obvious choices are gone. Guys you know would have made the defense better for sure. Now we are back in the sign Sandborn and trade for Kenneth Murray territory. You just have to hope the guys they pick are way better this time around.

True, but you have to hope the guys they get are better than those 2.

What if they brought Murray back? Damn.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

True, but you have to hope the guys they get are better than those 2.

What if they brought Murray back? Damn.

You absolutely have to hope. And frankly I think you'd have to try hard to do as bad as Murray was. I honestly think there are a lot of NFL backup LBers that are better players than he was last year. It was full on embarrassing bad and the fact that our defensive coordinator couldn't pull the plug on it is part of the reason he is no longer a defensive coordinator. Then again Jaylon Smith kept getting tries after his play became embarrassing bad.

It really shouldn't be this hard. I hope the Cowboys figure it out. But last offseason's shit show of Elam and Murray has me worried. Hopefully we can make trades more like when we got Gilmore and Cooks. My hope is the connections our staff has this year will provide better intel on these players. Because our pro scouts suck in my opinion.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

He’s sort of correct.

But with Parker’s coaching, those two players plus a good draft, I believe we’d be a top 20 defense.

And that’s just assuming we sign nothing but rejects the rest of FA, which isn’t a stretch.

I mean coaching is a large part of the equation. If you returned Eberflus and the defensive staff from last year I'd absolutely agree. But I do think a defensive coordinator alone can make a significant impact on a defense to jump them into the top 20 for example. Now I don't know if Parker is that guy but I think he can be that dude based on listening to him.

As far as talent is concerned, I get it. Right now we have added 2 starters. Both upgrades to what we had last year but not game changers either. That's really what the draft is about. The only thing I can say right now is that the concept of busting the budget to fix the defense has fallen as flat as "going all in" and other catch phrases. We didn't bust the budget to fix the defense. We made 2 nice moves so far. And then returned to the Olawale's we see every year.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

 

[kidd]

He doesn't know how to spell Warner.

I might in all honesty depending on the medicals on Warner. The guy is an absolute game wrecker at LBer. If healthy and of course last year he wasn't. But that type of addition changes everything for this defense if healthy. He is the high IQ, study stupid hard, film junky combined with great athletic traits that this defense needs.

It is interesting that there were Osa trade rumors. There were Warner trade rumors. And now we hear that the 49ers are the team interested in trading for Osa. Sort of lines up as a potential trade. But I just don't know if the 49ers would expect something in addition to Osa and I'm not sure I'm willing to do that. You rarely see player for player swaps of guys this high caliber.

My bad

 

[boozeman]

He was Kevin Bacon’s co star in Tremors. RIP

You gotta have a plan.

 

[mcnuttz]

Osa has gone from a 3-T unable to win by himself to foundational as a part of our 3-4 shift alongside Quinnen and Clark

If we trade him we kind of reset the whole 3-4 strategy, especially as Clark gets older

Pretty excited about the potential of the d-line this season as it has, in one season, been rebuilt into the strength of the defense.

But if Osa can be traded to get a LB or CB, we just about have to do it...just because talent is needed so badly.

 

[ravidubey]

I know. This dude keeps forgetting about the draft.

The draft is deep in talent through the 2nd-4th rounds to the point it's possible a starting talent might get caught by our net of three 5ths.

The Cowboys have no 2nds or 3rds and only a single 4th.

The Cowboys also have 12, which is an inflection point because an actual 1st round talent might fall to that spot. That player could

• Provide us a single, high impact player irrespective of position OR
• Net us a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round pick in a trade down, maybe more if the player falling is in high demand to a team 1-2 players away

The Cowboys also have 20, which in this draft is a lot like having pick 30. Suppose someone wants to jump up and grab Terrell, one of the top 3 CBs. We could grab another 3rd round pick.

If we do trade down like this, we could have two low 1sts, a 2nd, two 3rds, a 4th, and three 5ths in a deep draft.

Trades could net us

EDGE TJ Parker
CB Brandon Cisse
EDGE Zion Young
LB Jake Golday
CB D'Angelo Ponds

VS

CB Jermod McCoy
EDGE Keldric Faulk
without trading

I would much rather have the surge of five talented players competing at multiple levels of the defense vs two more guaranteed starters.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

Pretty excited about the potential of the d-line this season as it has, in one season, been rebuilt into the strength of the defense.

But if Osa can be traded to get a LB or CB, we just about have to do it...just because talent is needed so badly.

I know we bitch about the talent on defense.

But the one thing I am excited to see is Osa, Clark and Williams as your three down lineman on a regular basis. That's a pretty damn impressive group. Of any 3-4 team I struggle to come up with one that has a better D-line. I hate to take what could be an absolute bitch for offensive lines to handle and turn it into Clark, Williams and Solomon Thomas or some other below average starter.

We have one thing about this defense that could be special next year. It's the 3 down lineman in this defense. Don't give that away unless you're getting a legit high impact player to fill LBer.

It's sort of my same reason for not being willing to trade away Pickens. You have one thing special about your offense, it's WR. Right now O-line isn't special. The RB isn't special. Both are good but not special. The one thing that actually keeps defenses awake at night is this WR group. Don't take that away. I kind of feel the same way about the potential of Clark, Williams and Osa all lined up with their hands on the ground (Obviously not as dynamic but it has the ability to be the one unit that is a pain in the ass to handle on defense).