In the words of Dak Prescott, “Here we go!!!”
NFL free agency begins Monday at 11 a.m. Dallas time. At that point, teams can begin negotiations with free agent players.
So we're trying to find out what Jerry Jones means when he says he's “committed” to making the Cowboys a better football team this year.
Based on the breadcrumbs he left on the floor of the Cowboys bus when Jerry held a press conference for the annual State of the Cowboys scouting combine in Indianapolis 10 days ago. We already have a pretty good idea of what Jerry is going to do.
“We could have free agency,” Jones said. “And that free agent is going to cost as much as the other three players cost. Well, we're going to go all in with the other three players.”
To illustrate Jerry's 3-1 all-in philosophy, use eight-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith as an example. He is experiencing free agency for the first time in his 14-year career.
Let's say Tyrone receives an offer from another team for $9 million per year. Jerry would like to acquire three players with an average annual salary of $3 million.
These three players include first-round draft picks (24th overall) like Georgia's Amarius Mims, who has a salary cap hit of just under $3 million, as well as veterans like Donovan Smith, who made $3 million last year. He could become a free agent OT. In addition to Kansas City, there are veteran free agent centers like Evan Brown, who made $2.25 million with Seattle last year.
There's some logic to Jerry's all-in definition — especially with 33-year-old Tyron Smith, who has missed 55% (36 of 66) of the Cowboys' games over the past four years. That's right.
That's what we can expect from Jerry. But it will be interesting to see how much he is willing to spend on a running back. There is a lot of speculation linking Derrick Henry to Dallas. But that may mean too much.
Another pressing issue this week is the status of wide receiver Michael Gallup, who has been given permission to seek a trade. Unless he accepts a pay cut, the Cowboys will likely cut Gallup after June 1, which would save them $9.5 million on the salary cap this year.
However, that cap amount will not be available until June.
We will keep you updated on this week's events and happenings. In the meantime, “Let's go!”
The Cowboys' 16 unrestricted free agents are:
- RB Tony Pollard
- RB Rico Doodle
- OT Tyron Smith
- C Tyler Biadasch
- OT Chuuma Edga
- TE Sean McKeown
- CB Stephon Gilmore
- CB Jordan Lewis
- CB CJ Goodwin
- CB Noah Igbinogin
- S Jaylon Kearse
- DE Dorrance Armstrong
- DE Dante Fowler
- DT Jonathan Hankins
- DT Neville Gallimore
- LS Trent Sieg
