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Dallas Cowboys Offseason So Far

The Dallas Cowboys have been quiet in free agency thus far. The first priority they had was keeping Dez Bryant. A long-term deal was their hope, but they elected to hit Dez with the franchise tag instead. Bryant originally said he did not want to be tagged but came to the realization that the Cowboys weren’t in the position to give him a monster contract before they addressed some other needs. Hopefully for the Cowboys a deal will get done at some point and Dez will be locked up for the next 5-10 years.

The Cowboys re-signed Doug Free and Cole Beasley, who they felt were key pieces to the offense. Free signed a 3-year deal worth $15 million and Beasley agreed to 4 years for $13.1 million. They also issued a 1 year tender to restricted free agents Lance Dunbar, and punter Chris Jones. Rounding out returning players are Ronald Leary, Darrion Weems, and Cameron Lawrence who signed their exclusive rights 1 year tenders.

Former Cowboys who chose to take their talents elsewhere include Bruce Carter, Justin Durant, Henry Melton, Dwayne Harris, Jeremy Parnell, and of course DeMarco Murray. Carter signed a 4 year $20.5 million dollar deal in Tampa Bay. Along with Carter, Melton decided to go to Tampa and reunite with his former Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith. Melton signed a 1-year $3.75 million deal. Durant decided to join Atlanta on a 3-year $10.8 million deal. Although serving as a backup in Dallas, Parnell received a lucrative 5-year $32 million contract in Jacksonville. Finally, DeMarco Murray signed a 5-year $42 million deal with the Philadelphia Eagles. The Cowboys were willing to pay Murray around 5-6 million per season, much less than Philly’s $8.4 million offer. It is understandable why Murray accepted Philadelphia’s offer, but won’t sit smoothly with Cowboys fans. Murray was already receiving boos at a UFC fight in Dallas that he was in attendance for. This signing will certainly make for some exciting story lines when the Cowboys and Eagles face off twice next season.

Although no highly touted free agents were signed by the Cowboys, a couple of players were brought in for depth purposes. Darren McFadden, Keith Rivers, Jasper Brinkley, Jed Collins, and Ray Agnew round out the list of new faces in Dallas. More importantly, the Cowboys need to look to bring back linebacker Rolando McClain, and cornerback Sterling Moore. There are reports that Moore visited the buccaneers this week. McClain on the other hand has been quiet likely to due his 4 game suspension in 2015 (PEDs).

I don’t expect the Cowboys to bring in any big name free agents this year but one name to keep an eye on is defensive end Greg Hardy. Hardy will likely face a suspension of some sort next season, so his value has dropped on the free agency market. Talent-wise, Hardy is an outstanding player who can generate a fierce pass rush off the edge. Pass rusher is certainly a need for the Cowboys, and if they can bring in Hardy for cheap, he might be worth the gamble.

Unlike previous years, the Cowboys aren’t able to be big spenders in free agency. I give a lot of credit to the front office for staying discipline and not overpaying free agents. Free agency is when you can really hurt your organization by giving too much money to the wrong players. The draft will be the best resource for the Cowboys to improve their team and add some key contributors for next season.

 

Author: Troy Altbaum

Troy Altbaum, writer for The Runner Sports and lifelong Dallas Cowboys fan. Get all your latest Cowboys news and analysis here.