Heading into the 2023 season, the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl were the Philadelphia Eagles, San Francisco 49ers, and Dallas Cowboys. As usual, the Cowboys finished the regular season with a 12-5 record and won the NFC East championship. And, as usual, they were eliminated early in the playoffs, losing at home to the Green Bay Packers in the wild card round.
At the Senior Bowl in January, Jerry Jones promised the Cowboys would “do everything we can” to win the Super Bowl in 2024. Their free agency actions didn't exactly back up that word, as they lost a number of high-profile players and lost them with barely a meager record. Someone added it.
Number of players acquired
• LB Eric Kendricks: Kendricks is a nine-year veteran who has recorded over 100 tackles in eight consecutive seasons. He played his first eight seasons at Minnesota and signed with the Chargers last season. He had 117 tackles (seven for a loss), 3.5 sacks, six pass breakups, one forced fumble, and seven QB hits in 2023. Kendricks isn't the same player he was at the peak of his career when he was named first-team All-Pro in 2019, but he's still a good starting linebacker and will help Mike Zimmer establish a new defense in Dallas. right.
Remaining players
• C.B. jordan lewis: Lewis competed for a spot on the roster last offseason, but ended up being the cornerback three after Trevon Diggs left midway through the season. In my opinion, he is one of the weak spots on the Cowboys' defense in 2023, and he had some tough moments in the playoff loss to the Packers.
• RB Rico Doodle: Dowdle has been a mainstay in the Cowboys' preseason for the past few years, but he finally got significant carries in 2023. As a backup to Tony Pollard, he rushed 89 times for 361 yards (4.1 YPC) and 2 TDs. If the season started today (which it doesn't), Dowdle would be the team's No. 1 back, but they would almost certainly add another player as their primary ball carrier.
• CB/ST CJ Goodwin:Special forces guy.
• LS Trent Sieg: Long Snapper Trent Sieg is a long snapper.
losing player
• L.T. Tyrone Smith: Smith had a rare healthy season in 2023, at least by his standards. Smith missed 13 games in 2022, six in 2021, and 14 in 2020, but played well in 2023, missing only four games. He signed a one-year contract with the Jets. It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys move LG Tyler Smith to LT or keep him at LG and draft a LT early to start him as a rookie. Either way, the Cowboys will very likely experience a decline in play on the left side of the line.
• C Tyler Biadasch: Biadasz has been the Cowboys' starting center for the past three seasons, but he's a bit of a guy. He agreed to a three-year contract with the Commanders for just under $30 million. He's currently the 8th highest paid center in the NFL, and while he's certainly not in the top quartile of centers in the league in terms of talent, he was a solid enough starter. So the Cowboys will have to replace him going forward.
• RB Tony Pollard: Pollard received the franchise tag last year but had a disappointing season as the lead back, averaging 3.99 yards per carry and 5.7 yards per catch. He signed a three-year, $21.75 million contract with the Titans. The Cowboys were right not to try to keep Pollard at that number, but they're also left with nothing at running back. It's very likely they'll be bargain shopping at RB for the next few weeks.
• DE Dorrance Armstrong: Armstrong has been part of the Cowboys' defensive line rotation for six years. Although he didn't do much in his first three seasons in the NFL, he has recorded 21 sacks in his last three seasons. He agreed to a three-year contract with the manager worth a total of $33 million. There was no way the Cowboys could match that.
• LB Leighton Vander Esch: The Cowboys released Vander Esch after failing his physical. He resigned a few days later. Vander Esch is an excellent player on the field, especially as a rookie in 2018, when he recorded 140 tackles, seven pass breakups, and two INTs, earning him a second-team All-Pro selection. He was an excellent player. However, he had serious problems with his durability as a result of a series of neck injuries. He missed seven games in 2019, six in 2020, three in 2022 and 12 in 2023.
• WR Michael Gallup: Gallup got off to a good start to his career as a rookie, gaining 507 yards in 2018, 1,107 yards in 2019, and 843 yards in 2020. In his first three seasons, Gallup averaged 15.6 yards per reception. However, in his fourth season he tore his ACL and hasn't been the same player since. In 2022 and 2023, he averaged 27.2 receiving yards per game, but only 11.5 yards per reception. The Cowboys will release Gallup and will have $8.7 million in dead money in 2025.
• DT Jonathan Hankins: Hankins started 14 games for the Cowboys in 2023, recording 27 tackles and three sacks. He signed with the Seahawks.
• DE Dante Fowler: Fowler was a situational pass rusher for the Cowboys, racking up 10 sacks over the past two seasons. He signed a one-year contract with the Commanders for just over $3 million.
• DT Neville Gallimore: The Cowboys thought they had a stealth base when they selected Gallimore in the third round of the 2020 draft, but he mostly disappointed. He is now a dolphin.
• CB Noah Igbinoghene: Igbinoghene was a first-round pick by the Dolphins and signed with the Cowboys last season, appearing in five games. He became the fourth non-impact Cowboys player to sign with the Commanders.
Still a free agent, but likely to transfer
• CB Stephon Gilmore: Gilmore played for the Cowboys last season at age 33. The Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs midway through the season to a torn ACL, and Daron Brand stepped up in his place and became a star. With Diggs and Brand returning, it would probably be too expensive to bring Gilmore back as CB3.
• S Jaylon Kearse: Kearse was a starting safety who excelled in coverage on the back end, but with Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker at safety, Kearse will likely sign elsewhere.
tape story
| Number of players acquired | Remaining players | losing player | Maybe it disappeared |
| LB Eric Kendricks | CB Jordan Lewis | LT Tyrone Smith | CB Stephon Gilmore |
| RB Rico Doodle | C Tyler Biadasch | S Jaylon Kearse | |
| CB CJ Goodwin | RB Tony Pollard | ||
| LS Trent Sieg | DE Dorrance Armstrong | ||
| LB Leighton Vander Esch | |||
| WR Michael Gallup | |||
| DT Jonathan Hankins | |||
| DE Dante Fowler | |||
| DT Neville Gallimore | |||
| CB Noah Igbinoghene |
Analysis/Grade
The Cowboys knew they would be one of the most cap-constrained teams in the NFL this offseason, especially with CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons on the verge of not being able to play on their rookie contracts. That should have made their one-and-done performance in the playoffs even more devastating. As expected, they have lost a number of key players so far this offseason. The current starting lineup of the attacking team is as follows.
• QB: Dak Prescott
• RB: Rico Doodle
• WR: CeeDee Lamb
• WR: Brandin Cooks
• WR: Jalen Tolbert
• TE: Jake Ferguson
• LT Tyler Smith
• LG: TJ base
• C: Brock Hoffman
•RG: Zack Martin
• RT: Terence Steele
That offensive line is watching Very Shake. Martin is facing a career slump, Steele is in a slump in 2023, Smith could move from LG to LT, and Bass and Hoffman are two undrafted players who have played in 564 career games. There is.
Spoiler: The Cowboys are set to take an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and likely another on day two.
Defensively, the Cowboys' starting lineup is still pretty good, but they lost a lot of role players and depth.
Losing many players was probably inevitable, but there's still no evidence of a creative plan to replace them, and they only have three picks in the first four rounds of the draft.
School year:DNP.
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