Sturm: Cowboys Free Agency

dpf1123

dpf1123

DCC 4Life
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12 Plays That Explain Safety Jalen Thompson​

Dallas made a move for a secondary piece that should greatly improve their defense in 2026​


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Day 1 of Cowboys Free Agency 2026 was not quite the shock and awe that some inside the Cowboys organization had anticipated. They fully planned on three significant pieces, but were left at the alter, reportedly, when Nakobe Dean did not take their similar offer and instead locked in for Las Vegas.

Being rejected by Dean will excite Eagles fans as “the least he could do” is not go play for Dallas against them twice a season. But from a Dallas perspective, they are reminded of how the free agency world rolls. Your intentions are fine, but here the player can choose as much as you can. He has many options and can pick his own. Other teams can thwart your efforts, too, because they need their guy.

Imagine a morning with Nakobe Dean, Rashan Gary, and Jalen Thompson. Our tunes would be different. They would seem to have added three reasonably strong pieces to a defense that probably needs five – while holding both top-20 picks in April. Ah, our perspectives would be wildly different.

Instead, it is just Gary and Thompson. We wrote about Gary yesterday in short and I promise a more exhaustive film study as soon as this week on the Packers edge – provided the Cowboys don’t do something more significant – but, I am more interested in learning about Jalen Thompson after the Cowboys put their most significant free agent signing on the board since either Greg Hardy or Brandon Carr. Either way, its been over a decade since Dallas took a reasonably big swing and this one definitely gets our attention.

According to Spotrac, here are the particulars on a three-year $33 million deal with $22 million guaranteed on the 27-year old Arizona Cardinals safety who is out of Compton, California.

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But, I will also tell you that I had not done any work on him in a few seasons. My last notes for Thompson was the Monday Night Football broadcast in 2022 – so keep in mind, this is over 3 years old:

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Now, it is good to have that information in the filing cabinet, but I don’t want to give the impression I have been tracking his career. So, Monday, I had some unscheduled Monday Night Football and went over his 2025 tape for this morning’s piece for you. The Cowboys wanted a top safety and went and got one of the best players at this position in the market – including maybe the best one available who can play at all three levels of the defense.

12 plays that explains his game:​

No. 34 - Jalen Thompson - 27 – 5’11 - 190 - Washington St​

OK, these are all single snaps and will show different attributes – both good and bad that might have jumped out as I went through a decent portion of his year. He is a very nice player.

No. 1 -​


The first things you will see when you follow this guy for a little while is his build, disposition, and his tackling. If you want a safety who is a tackling machine and gets his guy to the ground and does it with feeling, it is Thompson. This play may not be a perfect example, as he slips on the turf, but you will. quickly get the idea that he is a dependable stopper when it comes to getting off his first guy and getting to the action with enthusiasm and often bad intentions. More specifically, you instantly see that while he is under 200 pounds, he is built like a running back with some thickness to him.

No. 2 -​


Here is is against 11-Michael Pittman and Jonathan Taylor is running wide to the left. He has a combination of cover ability as well as the determination to quickly get off his WR and get downhill to cut Taylor off at the pass. This is who he is and how he plays. He will get blocked, but he also will give you what he has to make sure he doesn’t stay blocked. He loves being in the action.

No. 3 -​


One thing about Thompson that makes him valuable for me is that he plays a very nice deep middle safety and closes down on deep crossers in front of him while making sure he doesn’t give up anything behind him. Like all safeties, you can find snaps where he doesn’t get it perfect, but I am satisfied that he is trustworthy deep. So, already, we have seen snaps at the line of scrimmage, at linebacker depth, and now single-high deep. This has great value for a Cowboys defense that wants to be multiple. This is what that looks like.

No. 4 -​


Here, the Cardinals think so highly of Thompson that they have him covering the Packers two best receiver threats in this game. Romeo Doubs is the assignment on this play and by all looks, this is a touchdown missed by Green Bay because Doubs vs a safety is a speed problem. But, Jalen is a very fast safety at 4.47 and I must say that I wanted to show you this clip to say that the speed is evident here and Doubs does not beat him that badly. Again, this is a loss in coverage, but it is also fairly convincing that Thompson can cover against most receivers on verticals because he has some pretty uncommon versatility, in my opinion. Those hips are impressive.

No. 5 -​


Tucker Kraft weighs 260 pounds and is an absolute stud. Thompson is listed at 190. The Cardinals routinely put him on the best receiving tight end and he holds up very well. I believe in this case he will draw an illegal contact penalty, but I just want to show you the rep against a really good player who outweighs him by 70 pounds in the open field with no help. Green Bay wanted to isolate against him and he wasn’t having it. Again, think about the safety position of the Cowboys before this signing and imagine the idea of trying this with someone off last year’s roster. That guy didn’t exist.

No. 6 -​


But, let’s not forget his best attribute. He is here to blow things up downhill. This is what Thompson is and how he plays. He wants to seek and destroy with physical safety play. I am so here for this type of play. Donovan Wilson could do this, but you were giving up coverage to get it. I think Thompson is a really nice hybrid of those skillsets.

No. 7 -​


3rd and 1. Power football from Green Bay with 13 personnel. Do you have a safety at 190 that isn’t even going to hesitate and get down there to get Josh Jacobs – a big and physical RB – to the ground? I want this type of run support from my deep safety. But, he is going to need to have some dawg in him. I believe Thompson is that guy. Look at this gold. Also, look at his confidence in what they are about to see. He is calling it out and then first on the scene. Ideal.

No. 8 -​


OK, this is my favorite thing from a safety and I realize it is a small part of the job, but it is something I consider big. You are on one side of the field but you sniff out from film study that the play is going the other way. There are guys who activate and rally to the ball and then there are guys who look like the cop in Terminator 2 on a dead sprint who are acting like this play may decide the future of mankind. I prefer those guys on my side and to see him come across the field like this is a sign of what he is all about. He is not a rookie trying to make the team. This is just who he is and how he plays and I suggest I would love that guy on my team. Beautiful safety play.

No. 9 -​


Here is a man-snap against Kenneth Walker where he reads his assignment and is on time to hit the gas and cut Walker off at the pass. We know Walker is a guy they believe will destroy you in space, so no false steps here or misreads. Thompson is on the case and again has no help behind him. He has to make this play or it goes for a while. Very strong work.

No. 10 -​


But, again, sometimes they rotate him back to single-high. Here is a route concept where the 49ers use trips to get the defense unbalanced and then they use George Kittle on the other side to run a dig. This should draw the safety up and Purdy then hits Ricky Pearsall behind him in that hole. This is a very tricky spot for a safety because you are always wrong if it plays out correctly. Instead, Jalen is smart and knows the plan. So, he nearly baits the pick. Probably should have caught it, but you have to love how he is showing exceptional football IQ.

No. 11 -​


Now, is Thompson a perfect player? Of course not. There are limitations. And the limitation is George Kittle in the red zone. You play outside leverage so Kittle manipulates that into Thompson playing the post and then Kittle expertly circles out and is wide open for a touchdown. He is going to the Hall of Fame, we suspect, so putting a 190-pound safety on him down deep is probably a rough plan, but we will give Thompson the nod for having the assignment. We probably see though how that might go from inside the 5-yard line against one of the best to do it. Might want to give him some help there.

No. 12 -​


This final snap is probably the one you will see the most when it comes to his highlights as he lights Trevor Lawrence up with a strip-sack that might actually be ruled a straight interception by Walter Nolan. Can he be your nickel safety? I think he can, but I wonder if the idea is to add another versatile safety so they can constantly be moving them around and offer plenty of deception and uncertainty.

I had a real enjoyable time breaking this guy down and I think there is plenty to like.

  • He is a physical player who tackles very well and brings a thump for his size.
  • He has great range and speed.
  • He reads things out and has an excellent IQ and film study smarts.
Those are the big 3 in NFL safety play - tackler, rangy, and instincts. He probably is at least “plenty solid” in all three categories. Then you see him play man coverage against elite safeties, running backs, and even the occasional wide receiver downfield. Someone described him well by saying “he is always where he needs to be.” That is confirmed in any film study of his work.

He has played roughly 5,000 snaps in five years which indicates he is durable, too. That definitely can change as a player ages, but he plays with a physical edge, but also appears to have a body that can handle it most of the time. This is a collision business and a collision player, but I was not nearly familiar enough with all the different ways he was used, but now I am thinking they targeted this guy for some very specific reasons and if you can find the right inside linebacker to pair him with, we might have something pretty fun. Nakobe Dean might have been that guy, but now it is time to move in a different direction.

But, let’s also not lose sight of Jalen Thompson. Is he a well-known household name? Probably not. But, that shows you there are guys all over this league who can help – even if you don’t know their dossier by heart. He is one of them and I think the Cowboys got a pretty strong one here.
 
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The Monday Stack – How Will the Boys Proceed?​

The 2026 Offseason officially begins as soon as 11 am on Monday. It's time to buy groceries.​

Bob Sturm
Mar 09, 2026



This Monday Stack is probably not going to be terribly lengthy (I always say that..) because I seldom write a piece that might not even be relevant by lunch.

Today is opening day in the NFL world of free agency. Yes, it is true – deals cannot be made official until Wednesday, but where I sit right now suggests to me that you will not have all of your Monday lunch down before the copy-and-pasted tweets begin rolling in. Hopefully some of them will have us figuring out how it all fits with the Dallas Cowboys attempts to put a proper defense on the field in 2026.

As you know by now, they have done the easy stuff already. They found a proper leader of the defense by hiring Christian Parker and even done some business with their own roster. But, now, we introduce the other 31 teams in to the plan. You can target certain players all you want, but unless you have a method to convince them to join your team, you will just be standing there with your head spinning as names go off the board.

We saw this with Maxx Crosby on Friday. Dallas wanted him pretty badly, it seems. But, not bad enough to offer both No. 12 and No. 20 in the 1st Round to get him.

We should probably start riffing there for our Monday Stack.

THE MONDAY STACK​

The Cowboys do not get Maxx Crosby.​

I don’t know how best to say this, so let me just give you my best reaction on hearing that Baltimore paid a huge price to go get Crosby.

From a Dallas perspective, what is my response? Good.



Dallas simply cannot trade a 1st and a 2nd for Quinnen Williams (age 28) and then come back and trade a 1st and a 2nd (and we hear Osa Odighizuwa, too) for Maxx Crosby (age 28) and expect to build a defense that has a chance to compete. This is not basketball and if anyone who loves this team wishes they went to a 1st and a 1st to do it must forget that a roster of 5 guys and 50 replacement level bodies is not winning anything.

Heck, the Cowboys were explaining the Micah Parsons deal to us under the guise of the following quote:

“This was a very conscious trade to get three, four, five, six players for one.”

We knew the moment he said it that he was probably full of it, but the offers for Maxx Crosby suggest that they were more than willing to toss the picks that Micah Parsons got right back into the present tense without much concern about building a full roster.

What the Eagles, Seahawks, 49ers, and most other contenders do is they put the best full roster together. Full rosters can withstand injuries and can win in a number of ways. The shiny object approach has not worked in the history of this game. If it was the NBA, it might at least be worth discussing, but it is incredible to me that the price of the Quinnen Williams deal was again offered for Crosby.

It seems they were saved from themselves. If they can improve 2026 without blowing out their own draft, then let’s do it. The money approach was always better – even if you are taking a lesser player. For instance, if you get Trey Hendrickson here in free agency and keep your picks, I think that is a significantly smarter approach. Then, we could continue to argue that splitting the Hendrickson money into two players might be even smarter, because this is a “strength in numbers” game, rather than a top-heavy roster approach.

Understanding the 2026 draft picks value.​

I just want to make sure that this gets said again and again. The Cowboys have a very valuable draft this year due to the trade and their own pick being quite nice. But, we need to quantify it.

So, every pick has a value put on it based on a points system that has existed for years. There are a few different charts but I have used this one for several years and it works well. Each pick has a value and you work off that when making trades. When you trade down, you are basically breaking the currency in half, but the sum should be similar or allow you to profit a small amount.

Here are the Cowboys “total points” by year:



As you can see, since 2018, this is the 2nd most valuable draft haul they have had. 2021 was more and that was because 2020 this team had a very bad record. Your draft currency is largely determined, of course, on your position which is largely determined, of course, by your place in the standings.

The Cowboys values are usually quite low because they have been usually quite good. But, this year, they traded away several picks but brought in a 1st (that they thankfully still have) which means this is more than they usually have.

Some context is required:

  • The team with the top pick in each round has about 4,000 points total, but the first pick in the draft is 3,000 of that haul.
  • The Super Bowl Champion would normally have a little over 1,000 points from their seven picks (no. 32 in each round).
  • If you are dead-bang average in the middle of the league – picking 16th or 17th, you will have roughly 1,700 points per draft.
So, Dallas is almost at 2,200 points this year with 94% of that currency right now in your two top picks at No. 12 and No. 20. Here it is in a pie chart to understand why you should not trade them both for Maxx Crosby:



I know that is not the best graphic ever created, but it shows you that pick No. 12 is 55% and pick No. 20 is 39% = 94%. All the other five picks add up to 6% of your entire purse.

This is why we will discuss the premise of making sure we understand that trading down to cut these slices into more pieces makes some sense. You need a lot of players, so moving back might be a chance to diversify your portfolio. But trading them all for a 29-year old with high mileage is not the way, in my opinion.

And now, as I write this, we have breaking news and it is not even 9am.

Terence Steele is Staying Put as your Right Tackle​

If we may go back to our piece from January 29th, I support keeping Steele on the roster because I do not like the idea of jerking Tyler Smith out to tackle.

we need to know the intentions on Terence Steele’s deal. The more I think about it, the more I think I am keeping him at that number.
Click to expand...
Well, the Cowboys look like they did even better. They got Steele to agree to a pay-cut in exchange for guaranteeing him a nice chunk of change and assuring him they are not letting him go for ‘26 or ‘27. Again, creating new holes is not the way out of this mess if you are playing to this window.

Instead of paying Steele his old money:

2026: $14 million, 2027: $17 million 2028: $17.5 million = $48.5 million

They agree on a new deal that looks more like this:

2026: $11 million, 2027: $11 million 2028: $11 million = $33 million (with $22 million guaranteed)

Again, he is a decent player and also one with perfect attendance the last several years. This is a fair price for a fair right tackle. You can do better, but at $11m, the valuation is doable.

Here comes Edge Rashan Gary to join the defense​

I had no plans on this one happening, but here we are.



In a move that was preceded by Gary offering a post on Instagram on Saturday that he then deleted where he claimed he had been released, Dallas has sent a fourth-round pick in 2027 to the Green Bay Packers for Rashan Gary.

Gary has been a productive edge for them for years, but definitely not of the highest quality. Once he signed his big extension of 4/$96m back in October of 2023, it put the pressure on him to be a premier edge rusher. However, as it often happens, the label and expectation combine with the new price-tag and ultimately Green Bay was compelled to go get the best in Micah Parsons and push Gary down to the 2nd best edge. Of course, on the depth chart that is fine, but on payday, you aren’t going to pay your 2nd edge big money unless he produces – especially when Parsons was hurt. They needed him to keep the ship afloat and they hardly received anything in those vital games that ended their season.

Thus, they were done. Lukas Van Ness was taken in the 1st round to replace him and he also has underwhelmed. But, as we know, underwhelming at $4 million is much less painful than underwhelming at $24 million. There are levels to this stuff.

To prove that, I would like to say that Gary will be really good here, I bet. He would probably been better than any edge Dallas had in 2025 with the exception of the last two weeks of Jadeveon Clowney’s season. He is a very powerful man who plays both the run and the pass at an above average level. Just not at a spectacular one. If the Cowboys can do some contract magic on him that gets him down to similar levels as they did on Terence Steele, I think we can like this move.



Based on our color-coding, Gary and Clark are both solid NFL starters at their position that were simply too expensive. If the Cowboys can make them fit on a better deal, then you take that because the economics are not everything once the games begin. They also have given us the word that Malik Hooker is staying on.

Do I like the move? I like the move in a way that it supports the idea of improving this defense with a number of solid players in a group. This might be a version of the Seahawks jumping on DeMarcus Lawrence. Is he the solution? No. Is he part of the solution? He absolutely can be.

Rashan Gary has done some great things in his career, I promise. He has at times been the best player on his defense. But, the economics make us feel like he is a disappointment when he got out of his range of effectiveness. The Cowboys know how this works because this is why so many people turn on Dak Prescott. It isn’t that he isn’t really good. It is that he isn’t that good at $60 million a year.

The issue is the fourth-round pick in 2027. That is a lot for a guy who was about to be released – unless they felt they were going to lose him to someone else. We just don’t have enough information to know if someone else had offered a 5th or not. A 4th is not a 7th rounder and we shouldn’t act like it is, but it is something for sure. That is expensive for someone they would likely have to cut, but again, we don’t actually know so they decided to go get their guy.

More on Gary tomorrow, I am sure.

So, what is the next move?​

What is next? Well, like I said, this piece will be outdated when I publish it because things are happening. I promise I will keep turning out content each day, but probably not each hour. Let’s see what happens next and I will attempt to keep up.
 
dpf1123 said:
Being rejected by Dean will excite Eagles fans as “the least he could do” is not go play for Dallas against them twice a season. But from a Dallas perspective, they are reminded of how the free agency world rolls. Your intentions are fine, but here the player can choose as much as you can. He has many options and can pick his own. Other teams can thwart your efforts, too, because they need their guy.
Click to expand...


That's fair enough but it's not as if Dean was the only FA linebacker available.

If Dean doesn't choose you there's not much you can do about that but what you can do is pivot to another good player and add him instead.

Instead they threw up their hands and signed a few Olawales.
 
Genghis Khan said:
That's fair enough but it's not as if Dean was the only FA linebacker available.

If Dean doesn't choose you there's not much you can do about that but what you can do is pivot to another good player and add him instead.

Instead they threw up their hands and signed a few Olawales.
Click to expand...

Well we freed up money to go get Howell and some backups. As though that is some type of equivalent.
 
Cotton said:
Holy crap, @dpf1123, was that a bitch to post? Regardless, props for doing so.
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The one with all the videos? Not really. The new upgrade let me just drop it in. For some reason, the formatting was a little off which I had to fix, but not the videos. The second one with no videos was perfect.

It will be nice to have all the videos during the season articles. He does quite a bit of breakdown that nobody could see.
 
dpf1123 said:
It will be nice to have all the videos during the season articles.
Click to expand...
Yep, when he was with the Athletic he used GIFs for the longest time and it was easy to post. I really enjoyed those articles because of the visual aid he would give to his words. Back then all of the GIFs just automatically embedded, but at some point they changed to MP4s and it took 20-25 mins at least to post so I stopped posting them.
 

Check-in: Cowboys Fans Waiting to Be Impressed​

They appear to have intent to try to improve things for 2026, but results are not yet seen.​

Bob Sturm
Mar 12, 2026



When you have little credibility remaining with your public and lost the benefit of the doubt, then you aren’t given a whole lot of time to impress. The cynics are pretty sure you will never actually change your ways – despite your ability to talk about it and attempt to get hopes up in that carnival barker way that comes naturally to the Jones Boys.

Some of us in life have learned to under-promise and over-deliver. But, those of us who have tried to keep expectations reasonable could never ascend to heights like being the most famous owners in the most famous league we know. For that requires the ability to assure the masses that the sun will come out tomorrow, even if we haven’t seen it in decades. The dream of revival fuels all energies.

We will be back. Just you wait. Its about to happen. Are you prepared to be blown away by the most awesome free agency you have ever seen?

Or something like that.

I have heard from enough of the masses to see that by Wednesday Night of Free Agency, loyalists of the Star have already lost their senses of humor.

MONDAY​

It started Monday with the promised “shock and awe” campaign consisted of:

  • Trading for Rashan Gary a pick that certainly seemed generous as Dallas handed over yet another 4th round pick (2027) for a guy most projected to be released.


  • Signing Arizona’s Jalen Thompson, a safety that most had to google to know who he was (he is a very good player, indeed).
  • And then getting outbid for what appeared to be the main objective of the Monday plan, despite the price for Nakobe Dean being very reasonable when he opted for Las Vegas over playing for his familiar coaching friend, Christian Parker in Dallas.


Now, as we said on Monday, we have no earthly idea who else was bidding on Rashan Gary, so a fourth-round pick may be what it took to secure the player. Parker has certainly spent enough time with Gary for us to know that he knows the player well – at least the very early version of him. Like Kenny Clark, there is no question that the familiarity that Parker has from 2019-2020 in Green Bay is not hurting those two guys in any way have a home in 2026 and a key spot in his build. We just hope that the natural decline timelines are not a major concern to Parker and his plan as 2020 was quite a while ago.

Next, my breakdown of Thompson from Tuesday should explain the interest level for sure. I love this signing and think he should really be a fine addition who had plenty of ties to new DB Coach Ryan Smith at Arizona. 3/$33m with $22m guaranteed is the biggest free agency cash-outlay since 2012, which is both impressive and incredibly sad. But, again, the signing is a good one so let’s celebrate the moments.

As to the issue of Nakobe Dean and losing him to Las Vegas for a deal that put him in the three-year, $36 million bracket ($12 million AAV), I think this is a good time to review how this entire thing works and why the Jones Boys hate free agency to begin with.

Allow me a moment, please.

So, you don’t just take 14 years off of something because it keeps slipping your mind. You are aware of it and you see the entire league participating in it, so you realize this is the quickest way to fill holes on a team that wishes to be a contender. This is not something that you just forgot.

No, the Cowboys do not like free agency – especially the chase for top free agents – because the Jones Boys are not interested in operating from a position of weakness. We know this because of the prolonged struggle that every single contract has been over the last generation of Cowboys football. Find the easy contracts when you look at those big ones. He usually took good care of Tony Romo with no stress, but since?

Dez Bryant, DeMarcus Lawrence, Ezekiel Elliott, Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Micah Parsons, etc. Brandon Aubrey, even! The Cowboys can take any contract and produce several weeks (sometimes months) of content. We should know what to expect on George Pickens by now. If a multi-year deal is done, we project July 15, 2026 as the over/under on the when.

But, all of those deals get done where there are no other bidders at the auction. All of the significant contracts that the Cowboys have written since Brandon Carr were not in the free marketplace where 31 other teams could join in the fun. Rather, they were exclusive property of the Dallas Cowboys and each of them either received or were threatened with the franchise tag (see: Pickens ‘26). That, of course, keeps the money and negotiations on their terms and their timeline. No interrupting dinner or a European yachting voyage with these pesky agents on the phone wanting to talk terms. Now, players and agents could still pout if the money wasn’t right, but usually, the terms were achieved, but the process was deliberate and tedious.

Well, guess what? Free Agency doesn’t work that way. You don’t have any leverage and you don’t wait for the agents to call you. If you want a deal, you better move fast. It is a race and answers and bids must be immediate and you will not dictate the proceedings. If you want this player, here is the price. If you don’t, then move along because the other line is ringing.

We know Jerry and Stephen hate this posture. They want complete control, not some agent who thinks he is a big deal. Jerry has owned this team since before that guy was alive and as we know, he is not a fan of agents. The battles have been plenty and whether it was Stephen bragging about the team not talking to David Canter (Tank’s agent) in any substantive way from March 2018 until April 2019 or Jerry claiming to not know David Mulugheta’s name last April in a moment that told everyone what he thought of Micah’s agent.

They also speak about wanting to sign their own guys which is sensible, unless we cynically say because it also means they never have to allow the agents to control the situation as happens when they bid on UFAs. So, here we are. They just won’t participate unless a UFA has no urgency or wide interest across the league.

Such was the case with Nakobe Dean and his agent Mike McCartney. Dallas lost the bidding, but reports are that they were willing to pay the price and Dean opted to leave the NFC East (which we are sure was popular with his Eagles friends) and start anew in the desert. He has every right to make that choice since he is a free agent. But, this perhaps shows why Dallas is rusty at this.

If you want someone badly – if your whole offseason hinges on plugging that hole with that player – then you might have to over-bid to get him. If your bid is the same as the Raiders, then perhaps you need to go to three years and $39 million or three years and $42 million or four years and $48 million to get him. If all things are equal, he wants to try the AFC West. Ok, then maybe you cannot afford to allow them to be equal. You are the Cowboys and this is your key. Maybe this is the time you must overbid to get your guy. The money is not QB money. This is Jake Ferguson money. It isn’t going to alter the direction of your budget or franchise. But, you will have a huge day in free agency if you get Dean and Thompson to add to your defense.

It didn’t happen. And neither did Quay Walker or Devin Lloyd. The linebacker board got wiped clean and you still got nothing. The prices were not absurd at all. And this is why Cowboys fans are stressing out right now. I honestly don’t blame them on this one.



Yes, you will pay more than someone is worth. But, the price is the price. And if you wish to deal in free agency, then you lose the power to dictate the terms. Either you want the gas for your tank or your car will not move. This is the price.

People will say, “Hey Bob, it isn’t your money.” But, once we establish that obvious fact, we can then look at the depth chart and see that taking 14 years off of this process did not prepare them for the realities of Monday.

TUESDAY​

Tuesday was more about adding depth and pieces that they can plug in around the edges in a series of 1-year deals at very light prices – including minimal guarantees.

  • PJ Locke is a safety from Texas with a spinal fusion last offseason and a nice interception off Josh Allen in these most recent playoffs for Denver. He is another player who has history with Parker and this team appears to be married to the idea of playing 3 safeties together a lot and therefore they might wish to draft the right one in April, as well. I supported a full overhaul of the safety position, so getting Thompson and Locke seem like promising possibilities at different price points and track records. Locke has been a player who has had a hard time staying fit and we know that is a huge part of life in this league.
  • Otito Ogbonnia brought in from the Chargers on a tiny deal, but he is anything but. Scheme fits on the defensive line appear to be a theme this week and Ogbonnia at 325 definitely has the size to play the type of defense they are seeking. Now, does he do it well? Based on the price point, this is depth.
  • Sam Williams is back for 1/$2.5m because at that price, why not? I have no issue with that player at that price and I don’t think anyone should. At that price, I am more than happy to do so.
  • Tyrus Wheat is also back in the fold after a year of playing special teams in Detroit. I imagine that is what he will be doing here, too, and the Cowboys guaranteed $100k to get the deal done (and about $100k per game).
  • And the Sam Howell signing was also done. According to our old friend Bill Jones: “It’s the 1st time in 12 years they’ve signed an UFA QB from another team in March (Brandon Weeden — 3/17/14).” I will say this is interesting, but also a chance for Joe Milton and Howell to battle it out at camp to see who QB2 should be. I like the idea, but nobody seems to know the money yet. I do know that this is Howell’s 5th year and his 5th NFC team (Wash, Sea, Min, Phi).


They added five players and guaranteed $1.1 million to do it. Did the needle move at all?

It did, but only because Baltimore vetoed the Maxx Crosby trade with the Raiders which then caused every single Cowboys reporter to assure us the Cowboys have no interest at all in Crosby.



WEDNESDAY​

I will just repeat what I have said a number of times in this space:

I would hope my team would not admit they are interested in Maxx Crosby even if they are interested in Maxx Crosby. Telegraphing your intentions to reporters is not terribly smart or helpful, even though we have grown accustomed to that 'round here.

Now, this is where things get complicated because Dr. Daniel Cooper – AKA, the Cowboy Hat Doctor for the Cowboys – was right in the middle of this alleged medical veto:

“As reported by ESPN, that process began with Dallas Cowboys team doctor, Daniel Cooper, who reportedly took a dim view of the left knee Crosby had surgically repaired in January. 'Many teams and players rely on Dr. Cooper's expertise, and Dr. Cooper was one of the doctors who reviewed the images where the Ravens then felt compelled to back out of this trade.'

I say “alleged” because most of us think the Ravens just wanted out of the trade when they found that Trey Hendrickson makes much more sense and costs significantly less to acquire, once his market cooled off. They pulled the plug on the deal and got the entire NFL mad, so for them to fall back on the knee seems suspicious but also an obvious escape hatch. I will repeat again based on my experience in talking with NFL people for a long time – just about any veteran of this sport can be failed on a physical at any time. They have all done enough damage to their bodies that you can always find something bothersome to flag when $100 million is at stake over their future.

So, the game of poker gets interesting now because the Raiders are moving him. There is no reason for either party – Crosby or the Raiders – to declare intentions as that might harm the proceedings, but there is almost no path to him playing for them in 2026.

Dallas also should not declare intentions because there is no point in hurting yourself again in a negotiation.

But, I am telling you that I expect they are back in this. The obvious predicament that it would put Dr. Cooper in notwithstanding, I know how Jerry feels about Maxx. And now that the price has inevitably dropped again, could you get the deal for just pick No. 20? If you can, at some point, you probably have to do it. He is so much better than anyone available after 19 picks have gone off the board.

Again, this is not reporting. This is riffing. But, yes, I am willing to say that the pulse at the Star has quickened a bit over the last 24 hours. We don’t know the reality of the knee, but we do know the reality of striking out in free agency and then having this land on your front door. The Cowboys do know the realities of the situation much more than I do, but I could not fully escape the thought.

Then, at about 5:15 pm, the Cowboys called in two trades in which they were simply sending guys out.



In moves that signal that the defense is being overhauled, Solomon Thomas is given to Tennessee (where DL coach Aaron Whitecotton and HC Robert Saleh are both very familiar with Thomas) for virtually nothing and Osa Odighizuwa is sent to the 49ers for a very cheap return where Matt Eberflus is now employed.

I am a huge fan of Osa Odighizuwa and think he has played some very strong football from 2023-2025. He is one of the better DT’s in the game at getting in the backfield and has been paid accordingly. I also cannot deny that he was a bit less impactful in 2025 after signing that huge deal. His stock price had fallen, but was still a heck of a player that I figured would be bouncing back for Parker.



But, the fact of the matter is that his scheme fit and money might not be ideal in this new defensive universe. I obviously recognize that allocating the amount of money to Quinnen Williams, Kenny Clark, and Odighizuwa was likely to never make a ton of sense. Also, Thomas and Osa are both under 290 pounds and we see by the types they are looking at, they want to be closer to 320 at these spots in the 3-4 alignment.

Also, moving him doesn’t clear much money in 2026 as the signing bonuses accelerate into this year and there is no June 1st option to split the money for trades. You must take all $16 million against this cap, so Dallas will only save $4.75 million there for this year, so if you want to suggest they are clearing space for Crosby, I would have a hard time seeing it there. I should note, though, I believe Rashan Gary has agreed to a pay-cut and Kenny Clark is a candidate, too. Perhaps all of these moves and the Thomas trade is putting a huge slot together for the next shoe to drop. Or maybe I am seeing things that aren’t there.

I do know this, the Niners must be over the moon to get someone like him for the price of the 92nd pick – especially when all they need to worry about is the balance of his contract (3 years/$57m). I would like to think you could do better than that in return, because things are pretty thin at that point of the draft.

But, what we don’t know is why did they do this? Is something about to drop that would make this all make sense? Have they pivoted to another move that isn’t even on our radar? Or are they trying to grab Crosby at a huge discount? Or am I just slowly chasing my tail trying to make heads or tails of the Jones Boys again?

They are “trying”, but that is not what the roster demands right now. They need to be doing. It is early and summarizing their every move is dangerous because it can all fall together without warning. But, as of right now, reading their intentions is incredibly unclear and confusing.

As is their current defensive depth chart. Still.

We wait.
 
I think there's a good chance that we part with 20 for Crosby and I don't really like it at all. What, is he an OLB for you?

I just don't like it. Want to build around a kid, not an aging, expensive veteran.
 
Smitty said:
I think there's a good chance that we part with 20 for Crosby and I don't really like it at all. What, is he an OLB for you?

I just don't like it. Want to build around a kid, not an aging, expensive veteran.
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Yeah he is an OLBer for me and a DE in the 4 man fronts that we will run for our nickel defense.
 
NoDak said:
No different than for DeMarcus Ware. They are roughly the same size.
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Yeah ESPN lists him at 6'5" 255. He plays way more physical than that size may indicate but this isn't like putting Greg Ellis at OLBer.
 
Smitty said:
I think there's a good chance that we part with 20 for Crosby and I don't really like it at all. What, is he an OLB for you?

I just don't like it. Want to build around a kid, not an aging, expensive veteran.
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Good chance? How so?
 
Cowboysrock55 said:
Immanent?
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Cotton said:


TRADE ALERT! Dude, reel it in a bit.
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Highsmith would at least cost the third we just got if we were fortunate. He gets nicked a bit, but he is pretty good. I would still take swing at Herbig if we are all ants in the pants to trade. Which given we have nobody left from five years ago, fuck them picks. Except for the fifths.
 
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