Cowboys: Final offseason recap before training camp kicks off
The Dallas Cowboys report to training camp on July 24th with the first practice set to take place on the 26th. As we prepare to dive into training camp and every must-follow position battle involved, one final recap of the 2023 offseason is in order. The Cowboys will look like a different team in many […]
The Dallas Cowboys report to training camp on July 24th with the first practice set to take place on the 26th.
As we prepare to dive into training camp and every must-follow position battle involved, one final recap of the 2023 offseason is in order. The Cowboys will look like a different team in many ways even if the team's core remains the same.
In this article, we'll review the 10 most important decisions the Cowboys made this year ranked from best to worst.
1. Trading for WR Brandin Cooks
Say what you want about Kellen Moore's departure and what Mike McCarthy brings to the table (which I believe to be extremely significant) but this league is more about the Jimmys and Joes than it's about the Xs and Os.
Adding Cooks is the biggest improvement on offense and it's not even close. His speed will lead to better one-on-one opportunities out of the slot for CeeDee Lamb as the recently-acquired veteran threatens defenses with his speed working on the outside. Last year, the Cowboys' wide receivers greatly struggled to generate separation. Cooks will go a long way in changing that and giving Prescott – one of the best deep-passing QBs in the league – many more big-play opportunities.
2. Trading for CB Stephon Gilmore
Speaking of big-time additions, we have to mention the former Defensive Player of the Year that joins Dan Quinn's ranks. Gilmore showed last year that he's still one of the best in the league even at 32 years old.
He'll join Trevon Diggs on what's looking like one of the best secondaries we've seen in Dallas in a long, long time. Gilmore is easily the best partner Diggs has had in his time in the NFL. His presence on defense will help Quinn's defense to be much more versatile with a couple of outside cornerbacks who could travel with top wide receivers around the league.
3. Re-signing S Donovan Wilson
For my money, this is the most underrated decision the Cowboys made this year. Just a year after signing Jayron Kearse to a two-year deal, the franchise inked Wilson to a three-year contract. Investing so much in the safety position wasn't the front office's custom before Quinn's arrival.
The safety remains underrated even by decision-makers around the league. But for Quinn, he's been key. Simply put, the guy makes explosive plays. Whether it's being shot out of a cannon for a tackle for loss or teleporting to the quarterback as a blitzer, or in coverage, he's been key to the Cowboys' recent defensive success.
4. Making Tony Pollard RB1
Tagging Pollard and moving on from Ezekiel Elliott couldn't have been easy for the team that picked the latter fourth overall and then signed him to a record-setting deal in 2019. And yet, they did it.
It was the right call. Pollard was the most explosive and efficient back. Even better, they avoided the mistake of signing him to a long-term deal in the current declining running back market. At least for the upcoming season, he's their guy. We'll see what happens after the season.
5. Mike McCarthy's takeover
Some are downplaying McCarthy's takeover of the Cowboys offense entering the 2023 NFL season. That's not what I'm trying to do by ranking the development this low. In fact, I expect big changes to the offense.
But there's definitely some risk involved and it's no guarantee that the head coach will help this unit make the leap it's missing.
6. Drafting DT Mazi Smith
I tried to avoid adding many NFL Draft-related decisions to this list as it's usually extremely hard to make a significant impact in Year 1, even for first-rounders like the defensive tackle out of Michigan.
And yet, I believe Mazi has scheme-altering potential. He will allow the Cowboys defense to do things it didn't do much of before like playing with more light boxes against the run. Looking forward to seeing what Quinn comes up with.
7. Re-signing Leighton Vander Esch
LVE is no elite player but getting him back for a two-year, $8 million contract was an absolute steal. Without him, the Cowboys' linebacker corps would be in big trouble.
Getting him back is making everyone breathe a little bit easier entering training camp. Depth is still needed at linebacker. Could a reunion with Anthony Barr be on the cards?
8. Tyron Smith's reworked deal
The Cowboys could've moved on from the future Hall of Famer. Instead, they found a way to come up with a win-win-win solution by reworking Tyron's deal and setting it up to where he can make most of his money back through playing time incentives.
Smith can earn $1M by playing 50% of the snaps and then an additional $1M per each additional 5% of snaps that he plays all the way up to 90% for a maximum of $9M.
9. Letting Dalton Schultz go
I gotta say, this one didn't age well for the Cowboys, considering Schultz signed for just $6.25 million with the Houston Texans, becoming the 21st highest-paid tight end in the league today.
Perhaps for such a low value, the offense would've been better off with him on the team. Although the decision to let him go was more than justified, if Jake Ferguson or Luke Schoonmaker fail to step up, this is one we could look back at in January.
10. No big deals were done
Jerry Jones and Stephen Jones both claimed the Cowboys were hoping to get some of their pending deals done this year. Trevon Diggs, CeeDee Lamb, Dak Prescott, and Terence Steele, are all up for extensions soon and Micah Parsons can start negotiations in 2024.
Being proactive and getting something done with at least one of the players was expected yet nothing has happened before training camp. If that doesn't change soon, it will be the worst thing about the team's offseason.
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Featured image via Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
