Dallas Cowboys Free Agency Day 1: Lost more than they gained

If you were hoping for the Dallas Cowboys to dive headfirst into free agency, you haven’t been paying attention for a long time now. The front office has repeatedly said they do not want to throw a ton of money around in free agency and would rather shop for what they view as better bargains.

This doesn’t mean they won’t go after a top free agent at some point, but expecting it to happen may not be prudent.

Last offseason the Dallas Cowboys tried to tell everyone they were aggressive and were making moves to upgrade certain positions. Instead, the team invested in players that were on the downside of their careers (or even at the very end), depth players expected to be prime contributors as starters, and with players already on the team the previous year. The return for their investment last year was paltry at best.

The Dallas Cowboys had a fairly predictable first day of free agency.

So as this team headed into the 2021 offseason, the biggest signing they needed to do, they did by signing Dak Prescott. However, the moves after that seem to be anyone’s guess right now. The team is sorely lacking in defensive talent and has huge holes at every position on defense except maybe starting edge and one outside corner. You could argue for Donovan Wilson, but I am not 100 percent on him yet.

A big name fans wanted, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson, went to the Vikings. Safety John Johnson went to Cleveland, and defensive tackle Shelby Harris stayed in Denver. As the days tick by, the top names will slowly (or quickly sometimes) fall off the board and the Dallas Cowboys will be left to pick through the leftovers. The faith in the front office will most likely fall off as names come off the list.

So far there are not a lot of valuable names attached to Dallas in free agency. Oft-injured off-ball linebacker Denzel Perryman who has not played a full season since entering the NFL, has been one name linked. The other name that has popped up is safety Damontae Kazee who had a solid 2018 and 2019 before suffering a torn Achilles tendon in 2020. So far outside of signing a long-snapper, re-signing Noah Brown and tagging Cedric Wilson, the Cowboys have been fairly quiet.

No one should have expected the Cowboys to be active on the first few days of free agency. The first days are full of large contracts, something the Cowboys have decided to stay away from unless it is for in-house players in recent years.

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However, the question of how much the Cowboys will actually be involved is a valid one. Looking at the past few years, some of the players linked to the Cowboys could be too costly for the front office. Reflecting on this past season, it is possible the front office has seen the lack of talent and could look to make moves they may not have in previous years.

For the first day of free agency, the Dallas Cowboys lost more than they gained. Cam Erving, their swing tackle, is now gone, as is linebacker Joe Thomas leaving the linebacker position even more thin than it already was. The team decided to let L.P. Ladouceur walk and signed former Rams player Jake McQuaide, even at a wash it is a strange move on the first day.

So moving forward expecting the Cowboys to do a lot in free agency may only leave to some disappointment. However, the front office may surprise fans but until they do, many fans are thinking this year will be more of the same. There are moves to be made, what no one knows is what they will look like and when.

• Published on 03/16/2021 at 11:01 AM
• Last updated at 03/16/2021 at 07:47 AM