Monday, March 11th is officially past business hours, but the Dallas Cowboys have not yet played. We're, of course, talking about free agency, where the NFL's legal tampering period begins at 12pm ET. If you look at everything that Dallas has done, you can watch it all on our tracker, there's not a ton of nothing.
Technically this is not true. The Cowboys may not have a new body, but they do have some new holes. Tony Pollard returned to his home state with the Tennessee Titans to kick things off, while Dorrance Armstrong and Tyler Biadasz followed Dan Quinn to the Washington Commanders. As of this writing, none are loosely tied to the Cowboys, although Jourdan Lewis also has some ties to Washington.
It's been a frustrating day for many fans, but we'll do our best to get through it with three different takeaways.
Every team in the NFC East except the Cowboys made a significant move.
It is often said that NFL teams build their rosters to win their division. Of course, this is the easiest and surest way to qualify for the postseason tournament. It's hard to say that the Philadelphia Eagles, New York Giants, and Washington Commanders are specifically working on the Cowboys' offense, but at least they are. work.
Each team is doing well, but the Philadelphia Eagles in particular have acquired running back Saquon Barkley and pass rusher Bryce Huff. Meanwhile, the New York Giants acquired a new pass rusher of their own in the Brian Burns trade, replacing Barkley with Devin Singletary. Washington acquired two Cowboys, signing Austin Ekeler in addition to Frankie Lube.
Super Bowls aren't won or lost by much during the legal tampering period, but while each of Dallas' rivals is better than when the window opened, the Cowboys themselves are worse.
Looking at the state of the league, while running backs can command decent amounts of money, the Cowboys are likely relying on a draft class that isn't that high at the position.
Every other NFC East team acquired a new running back. The Eagles paid Barkley a little more given his reputation, but the position saw some serious movement on Monday.
Outside of the division, the Green Bay Packers acquired Josh Jacobs and the Titans acquired Tony Pollard. Antonio Gibson joined the New England Patriots and D'Andre Swift started the party by joining the Chicago Bears. In terms of serious names, only Derrick Henry and Aaron Jones (who was released in the aftermath of Jacobs) remain.
This is not a deep draft class for running backs, and NFL teams appear to be seriously considering it. Making sure a position isn't a necessity before the draft is a smart way to build a roster, and the Cowboys have done it in the past.
However, with Pollard's departure, the Cowboys are now faced with the reality of finding a legitimate primary ball carrier and are running out of options and avenues to do so. Perhaps fate will smile on them through Henry or Jones, but that feels a little rich (no pun intended) considering Dallas wasn't willing to pay Pollard the same way Tennessee did. do not have).
All of this was predictable, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating
As all the details were revealed throughout the day, there were people on the internet noting just how predictable this was. That is true now and always has been true.
But does that make it any less frustrating? of course not. Whether you agree with Jerry Jones' assertion that he's going “all in” this year or not, it's no secret that Dallas is going “all in” this year while continuing to watch other teams improve their rosters. Being ambitious is difficult to correct even from a logical point of view.
The Cowboys have had great regular season success in recent history, and it's important to note that. But why not consider tapping into the free agency pool in the name of gaining parity? more success? Why not consider a different mindset than the one that has driven this series for over a decade?
History is written by winners, but the Cowboys' front office doesn't have a pen. They may think their way is the best, but despite the overwhelming amount of evidence suggesting otherwise, why not consider doing things even a little differently? , at least bold. There may be some underlying arrogance in other respects.
We all knew this was coming. That this was the case only makes the reality even more frustrating, and not something we should understand more about.
