Dallas Cowboys: How Rod Marinelli should impact free agency and draft

Rod Marinelli is a big reason why the Dallas Cowboys shouldn’t sign high-priced defensive linemen in free agency, but rather develop rookies and/or bargain players.

Improving the defensive line needs to be a top objective for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason. Even with the impending multi-year deal for DeMarcus Lawrence, the future of the line is very much in question. Despite the uncertainty, it would be a waste of financial resources to throw big money at the D-line in free agency. Yet it would be a great use of resources to use the draft for the D-line.

Why, you might ask? Because of Rod Marinelli…

What defines a good coach? Is it just overall success or is it how they achieve such success? Often times we measure a coach solely on his overall success, and for the most part, that seems like the right thing to do. I mean, winning is the entire point of the game after all.

But value must also be considered and to ascribe value we need to look into the “how” of the situation. Anyone can coach a group of proven All-Stars and achieve decent results. Not everyone can take a group of orphans and make them productive.

Top free agents are signed and paid because they are proven products. They are supposed to meet expectations because they’ve already set the expectations. Draft picks are a different story. Rookies need assessment, development, and the right opportunities. And even then they may not work out (why am I thinking about tacos right now?).

Rookies are the real challenge and who they develop is often what separates the good coaches from the average coaches. Anyone can win with proven veterans. Special coaches do it with rookies and journeymen. And that’s what Rod Marinelli is – a special coach.

Bluntly put, if we regard Rod Marinelli as such a great coach, we shouldn’t feel obligated to give him high-priced free agents to succeed. It would be a waste of his talents and a waste of resources.

Let the man develop

Draft picks are a different kind of commodity but one that’s arguably more valuable than money (think of them as cigarettes in prison). You don’t just hand over a top-100 pick to just any coach. You need to make sure that pick is in good hands.

Over the years Marinelli has carved out quite the reputation for developing defensive linemen (Taco Charlton notwithstanding) . Whether that’s making a journeymen into a playmaker, a undrafted rookie into a key starter, or a Day 2 pick a Pro Bowler, Marinelli has a track record of success.