In the words of Dak Prescott, “Here we go!!!”
NFL Free Agency kicks off Monday at 11 a.m. Dallas time. That’s when teams can start negotiations with free agent players.
So, we are about to find out what Jerry Jones means when he says he is “all-in” on making the Cowboys a better football team this year.
We already have a pretty good idea what Jerry intends to do based on the bread crumbs he sprinkled on the floor of the Cowboys bus when he held his annual Scouting Combine “State of the Cowboys” press briefing in Indianapolis 10 days ago.
“You could have a free agent,” Jones said, “and that free agent would cost you as much as three other players would cost you. Well, we’re going to be all-in with the three other players.”
To illustrate Jerry’s 3-for-1 all-in philosophy, take the case of 8-time Pro Bowl offensive tackle Tyron Smith, who is getting a taste of free agency for the first time in his 14-year career.
Let’s say Tyron gets an offer of $9 million per year from another team. It sounds like Jerry would rather have 3 players who average $3 million per year.
Those 3 players could be a 1st round draft pick (24th overall) like Amarius Mims of Georgia, who would carry a salary cap hit of just under $3 million, plus a veteran free agent OT like Donovan Smith, who made $3 million last year in Kansas City, plus a veteran free agent center like Evan Brown, who made $2.25 million last year in Seattle.
There is some logic in Jerry’s definition of all-in — especially in the case of 33-year old Tyron Smith, who has missed 55% (36 of 66) of the games the Cowboys have played the last 4 years.
So, that’s what we can expect from Jerry. However, it will be intriguing how much money he is willing to spend on a running back. There is much speculation linking Derrick Henry to Dallas. But that might make too much sense.
Another pressing issue this week is the status of WR Michael Gallup, who has been given permission to seek a trade. Unless he takes a pay cut, the Cowboys are likely to cut Gallup with a post-June 1st designation which would save $9.5 million on the salary cap this year. However, that cap money would not become available until June.
We will keep you posted on the comings and goings as they happen this week. In the meantime, “Here we go!”
Here are the Cowboys 16 Unrestricted Free Agents:
RB Tony Pollard
RB Rico Dowdle
OT Tyron Smith
C Tyler Biadasz
OT Chuma Edoga
TE Sean McKeon
CB Stephon Gilmore
CB Jourdan Lewis
CB C. J. Goodwin
CB Noah Igbinoghine
S Jayron Kearse
DE Dorance Armstrong
DE Dante Fowler
DT Johnathan Hankins
DT Neville Gallimore
LS Trent Sieg