Jerry Jones promised his Dallas Cowboys would come out blazing in free agency, given the embarrassment of the defense and that decades-long championship drought.
Yet their aggressive moves on Day 1 of the NFL’s offseason feeding frenzy – calling it a “negotiating window” or “legal tampering” would be just semantics as the market has clearly opened for business – reminded us of a hardcore fact still attached to “America’s Team.”
The Cowboys are still trying to make up for the loss of Micah Parsons.
Maybe, ultimately, Jerry & Co. will get over that bridge and manage some sort of last laugh after dealing away one of the NFL’s premier defenders.
Yet right now it’s quite the process.
The Cowboys just added two starters to the defense that was historically bad without Parsons last season – as in ranked last in yards and points allowed – and seemingly can’t get any worse.
After plucking rising star Christian Parker from the Eagles staff to coordinate the defense, replacing Matt Eberflus, the Cowboys are needing to double down with talent upgrades. Sure, holding two first-round picks (12th and 20th, overall) is some kind of ammunition. Yet Monday was significant with the type of moves that have not happened with this team in free agency for a long time.
This, to some degree, brought to life the bluster Jones – the franchise’s owner, GM and consummate hype man – exhibited on his luxury bus during the recent combine as he described his vision.
“I can see us being aggressive in free agency,” Jones pledged.
Of course, part of that involves creating room under the NFL’s record $301.2 million salary cap. The Cowboys always seem to find a way, creatively restructuring contracts and, well, kicking the can down the road against caps that almost always rise in the future.
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have,” Jones said. “The only way for me to push more is for me to go borrow some of my future. Expect me to go borrow some of my future.”
Yep, and look at the irony. They swung a deal with their friends up north, the Green Bay Packers, to obtain edge rusher Rashan Gary. Not bad. That’s another first-round talent, with a $19.5 million cap figure for 2026, added to a rebuilt front that includes D-tackles Quinnen Williams and Kenny Clark (another ex-Packer). Yet it does seem a bit weird that they went to the well with Parsons’ team.
The other move netted former Arizona Cardinals safety Jalen Thompson, whose reputation as a sure tackler fits with the idea of changing the identity of a unit that missed way too many tackles. Thompson, signed to 3-year, $36 million deal, also has a connection with new secondary coach Ryan Smith, who coached him in Arizona. His ability to communicate on the back end brings added value.
Yet the additions are tempered by the misses. The Cowboys went into free agency looking to add a playmaking linebacker. Now they’ll have to look a bit deeper as their apparent top linebacker targets, Nakobe Dean and Qway Walker, both signed with the big-spending, cap-flush Las Vegas Raiders.
Meanwhile, Devon Lloyd, the former Jaguar rated as the top linebacker on many lists ranking free agents, signed with the Panthers.
This, after the Cowboys missed out on whatever shot they had to land edge rusher Maxx Crosby, before he was dealt last weekend from the Raiders to the Baltimore Ravens in a blockbuster trade.
What next?
There are still big-name players on the market as Day 2 commenced, including edge rusher Trey Hendrickson and linebacker Bobby Wagner. And there’s no way every available impact player was snapped up on the initial wave of the market’s opening.
In other words, there’s a lot more aggressiveness needed for the Cowboys to make up for dealing away Parsons.
Contact Bell at jbell@usatoday.com or follow on X: @JarrettBell
