It's already been a busy offseason for McCray. After receiving interview requests for the vacant general manager position from the Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders, McCray declined and focused his immediate attention on the offseason in Dallas.
“You set goals, and one of my goals is to help win a Super Bowl here with the Cowboys,” he said. “We've built something great. We have a great coaching staff and organization. There's nothing like winning at home and that's the real goal.”
His offseason evaluation was thorough, with Jerry and Stephen Jones calling it “comprehensive” with a big lens on everything on Tuesday. Offensively, the running game is questionable and that ties directly into the play up front of the offensive line. Fortunately for the Cowboys, the 2024 draft class and mobile talent each have a wealth of talent up front that they can utilize in the early rounds.
“No. 1 is watching the offensive linemen,” he said. “When you have a chance to see them in different environments and you watch them play NFL games, you can evaluate their ability…The running game, it's all about the blocking, the runners, the situations, all of that. It is based on.”
“What do you think Mike? [McCarthy] They did a great job of connecting the run and pass games. If that happens, you need offensive linemen who can keep people off the ball and play in space. It's that grit and tension. That's why we're here to come to the Senior Bowl and find out who's got that stuff and add it to the roster and make it even better. ”
On defense, many question marks remain several weeks into the offseason, with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn still eyeing a head coaching opportunity. But for McCray and his department, the organizational structure for evaluating offseason acquisitions through both the draft and free agency remains the same despite the uncertainty.
“At the end of the day, when we look for players, we look for the biggest, strongest, fastest, most athletic players and see how they fit into our plans.” he said. “Whatever that scheme is, we have to evaluate the players and even if that scheme changes at any time, there will still be historical value of what the players are and how they fit. ing.”
The linebacker room stands out as a position group that needs more depth this offseason, especially considering the Cowboys' inability to stop scoring runs consistently from game to game. It remains important for the front office to strengthen those areas in the draft and offseason offense.
“I think it’s huge,” McCray said of the need at linebacker. “We didn't win a championship, so we have to get better at every position. I want to see our young players grow. I want to see our veteran players get us where we need to be, and we want to see our young players get better.” We need to find our team.'' Bring you with us so we can build the team to the end. ”
Free agency looms as a potential opportunity to “disrupt” this offseason for the Cowboys, with more than a quarter of the active roster scheduled to hit the open market, so it's a sure bet for personnel departments. There is the challenge of finding players while waiting for their potential. How much cap room is available?
“It’s the same challenge every year,” he said. “We have to evaluate all of them, we have to go through it. We have to know who they are, our ranking and evaluation of them and then see what happens. The thing about free agency is that there's a big boom at the beginning, and it's the last.'' Seats. I'm trying to find someone that fits me in my price range. ”
McCray and his team will evaluate in mobile this offseason before preparing for the NFL Combine, 30-game visit, free agency, and more before putting the 2024 product on the field in Oxnard in six months. It's planned. Meanwhile, simple overall goals remain the focus.
“It's about finding better players to meet our needs and help us get to the point,” McCray said. “It’s the offseason for me and it’s about improving as much as I can.”
