Dallas City News

The first week of free agency is over and the Dallas Cowboys have done very little in bringing in new players to add to their roster. This isn’t anything new for them as it’s been their modus operandi for years now, but for some reason, every offseason people tend to completely forget that and become very upset with the lack of free agent activity.

Adding fuel to the fire, Jerry Jones regretfully uttered the “all-in” comment and now fans have reached a new level of dissatisfaction. Has the front office lost its way or is the team going about things the right way? This is an argument for the latter, with four reasons why the Cowboys are wise in their standoffish free agency approach.

Free agency is a fool’s game

One of the most interesting things about the free agency craze is the lack of awareness that investing in free agency is a house game. Just like people in a casino, there can be winners, but the overwhelming majority of deals will consist of players who don’t perform to the level of their contract. Let’s think about this for a moment. First of all, a player leaves in free agency because his previous team, who knows this player all too well, didn’t think enough of him to keep him. That should be red flag number one. Second, the player then enters the open market where a bidding war will drive up their price. Finally, the players landing the bigger deals are typically coming off a good season, where teams are paying for the high end of their performance, leaving little room to outperform their contract and a lot of room to underperform it.

Going after the big name players is a risky endeavor and sure, some fans want to experience the feeling of hope that those big names bring, but many Cowboys fans are just asking for a mid-tier signing. Nothing that will break the bank, but would it kill them to show a little assertiveness in free agency?

Yes. It would figuratively kill them to do that. Why, you ask? Well, that segues nicely into our next point.

The money is better suited to go elsewhere

We understand that the Cowboys are a draft-and-develop organization with a heavy emphasis on retaining their own talent. They draft their stars and they pay them big money when it’s time for an extension. We should all take some solace in knowing that they have All-Pro talent at all of the money five positions, quarterback, wide receiver, left tackle, edge rusher, and cornerback (note: Tyler Smith earned his All-Pro at left guard, but can play left tackle). Having great talent at the premier positions, that’s the way to go, and paying for these stars costs money.

Not just that, but the team also likes to retain key starters and will re-sign guys they’ve had in their clubhouse who they believe are worth keeping around. Throwing money at their own players is far less risky. They know what type of player they are dealing with. They see their practice habits and they have a better sense of their true upside. So, when a team is willing to let what seems like a good player leave, there’s a good reason for it.

Contrary to overused Twitter proclamations, the salary cap is not a myth. It’s a real thing that provides financial spending limits. However, the cap is fluid and money is often moved around allowing more spending ability in one year versus another. But rest assured, the money has to be accounted for. So, when the Cowboys talk about “not having the cap space” to spend on certain players, that’s not true at all. They can do what they want to do. And what they’re really saying is that’s just not how they want to budget their resources. Instead, investing in their own guys who they really love is the way they want to go.

In this week’s episode of The Star Seminar, Rabblerousr and I discuss the Cowboys’ free agent moves thus far and why taking the cautious approach is the right way to go.

Make sure to subscribe to the Blogging The Boys podcast network wherever you get your podcasts so you do not miss any of our episodes or shows across the network! Apple devices can subscribe here and Spotify users can subscribe here.

The Cowboys are playing within themselves

Not being able to get past the divisional round in nearly 30 years creates a lot of frustration and people insist that they should try a different approach. There was a time not so long ago when Jerry was more aggressive in free agency and the results weren’t good. This led to wasted cap space and the team battling large dead money hits in subsequent seasons.

The team eventually learned from this and took a far more conservative approach. Oddly, they have done well at finding quality contributors at a low cost. These aren’t superstar signings, but adding players who outperform their contract to a roster with already proven stars is a solid formula. The Cowboys do that and they win football games. So, when you look at how the Cowboys have done while being aggressive compared to being conservative, it’s very understandable why they do what they do.

Roster-building isn’t the problem

The final thing we’ll leave you here with today is to just ask yourself to do a simple reflection of this football team. Where do the problems lie? What’s truly holding this team back? If you believe the Cowboys are talent-deficient, then changing their approach makes sense. But if you think this is a team that produces among the most Pro Bowl level players year in and year out, then roster-building may not be the problem.

Getting better is always the plan, but it’s important to address the right problems. Don’t just change things up for the sake of changing things up, especially when roster building is one of the better things this team does. Would a mid-tier free agent signing a year ago prevented the Green Bay debacle? Did they lose to the Packers because they just didn’t have the talent to match up with them? No.

If the problem is talent, then fix the talent, but we need to be honest with ourselves here. While not great everywhere, the Cowboys are a talented team.