Lack of big FA Spending

[Sydla]

Yeah, everyone here wants the team to be mediocre …

I'm not sure how much more nonsensical a comment can get to a bunch of folks that have such a huge interest in the team that they spend significant time on this website almost every day.

Yeah saying people want the team to be mediocre seems ridiculous.

But I absolutely think some are wired to always make excuses for what they do. Every year it seems it's the same people defending the Cowboys free agency moves and then it blows up during the season. And then they come back next year and make the same excuses/rationalizations.

So while they don't want the team to mediocre, they tend to be way more accepting of their continued mediocrity.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

We spent dollars on Prescott, you are right.

But we also spent dollars bringing back Lewis.

Try to sugarcoat it as you wish.

We are doing exactly what we have done for years, which is failing to take advantage of the opportunities that exist in free agency.

Everyone can see how our special brand of caution has paid off for us in the last decade.

That's just it we haven't always been cautious in free Agency.

And how has that worked out? I'm old enough to remember paying Carr and giving guys like Hardy 13MM in 2014 for 1 yera of service.

The numbers are what they are. Spending big in free Agency is not correlated with winning a championship.

As I've stated repeatedly there are reasons this team has underperformed for years. Their recent free agent approach is not it. But it's an easy scapegoat for the frustrated fan who is mad we didn't sign... Insert random player they've heard of.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

But they still spent money. 75m is not peanuts

Sure. But Brady earned 28.4MM of that 75 last season. Hardly a typical or replicable.

 

[john van brocklin]

Relax.

Per usual when people think about spending in free Agency they often discount dollars we spend on our own guys. This year it was Dak securing the bag.

While this team has underachieved for numerous reasons... Not routinely buying other teams' players at market price isn't it.

Good insight

 

[Sydla]

Sure. But Brady earned 28.4MM of that 75 last season. Hardly a typical or replicable.

47 million is still a fairly decent chunk of change spent in FA compared to what we are on pace to spend, which might be around $15-20 million or so.

We know for certain going cheap doesn't work. If you want to defend the notion that the Cowboys would be dumb to spend oodles of cash in FA chasing all the big name players, that's fine. But don't ignore the fact that we've now going to the opposite end of the spectrum and spent peanuts and it's clearly not worked.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

47 million is still a fairly decent chunk of change spent in FA compared to what we are on pace to spend, which might be around $15-20 million or so.

We know for certain going cheap doesn't work. If you want to defend the notion that the Cowboys would be dumb to spend oodles of cash in FA chasing all the big name players, that's fine. But don't ignore the fact that we've now going to the opposite end of the spectrum and spent peanuts and it's clearly not worked.

My argument is we are not winning or losing by our free agency approach. There is a deeper rot. The Free Agency approach in fact is wise. Fill holes in Free Agency with guys you aren't likely to make a mistake on and that allows you to draft true to the board. Then develop, grow and pay your guys. Which we've had moderate but above average success on.

The problem has been in innovating at the coaching level and interference into strategic plans at the GM level.

But laying our mediocrity at the hands of Free Agency is silly given over the last 20 years we've gone with both approaches.

 

[Sydla]

My argument is we are not winning or losing by our free agency approach. There is a deeper rot. The Free Agency approach in fact is wise. Fill holes in Free Agency with guys you aren't likely to make a mistake on and that allows you to draft true to the board. Then develop, grow and pay your guys. Which we've had moderate but above average success on.

The problem has been in innovating at the coaching level and interference into strategic plans at the GM level.

But laying our mediocrity at the hands of Free Agency is silly given over the last 20 years we've gone with both approaches.

What does "fill holes in FA with guys you aren't likely to make a mistake on" mean? That we shouldn't bring in a big name or middle tier guy because if he busts we are out money? Because in reality, we are really good at making mistakes in FA. If you look over our FA list over the last 5-7 years, it's almost comical how many have been total busts.

And one reason we have had "moderate" but not great success is that while drafting pretty well, you can't draft an entire roster. You have to find people that can play and make impacts in FA. Almost every SB winning team has used FA more than we have recently.

I also don't get the point about not signing better FAs because it allows you to stick to your draft board. That seems like backwards logic to me and a very risky way to roster build. If you have a clear hole, like we do at S, which would you rather have? A solid S like say John Johnson or would you just rather take the risky approach and hope whatever rookie S you bring in makes an impact?

The Jones have a flawed approach to roster building. That's pretty evident at this point.

 

[Aven8]

My argument is we are not winning or losing by our free agency approach. There is a deeper rot. The Free Agency approach in fact is wise. Fill holes in Free Agency with guys you aren't likely to make a mistake on and that allows you to draft true to the board. Then develop, grow and pay your guys. Which we've had moderate but above average success on.

The problem has been in innovating at the coaching level and interference into strategic plans at the GM level.

But laying our mediocrity at the hands of Free Agency is silly given over the last 20 years we've gone with both approaches.

It all goes back to Jerry’s love for JG for 10 plus years and trying to make him into something he wasn’t, a good HC. He kept us at mediocrity with a glimmer of hope.

 

[Typhus]

Most comp picks
High pick order in the draft
Smith, Collins, Martin, Dak, Jarwin, Hill, and all the other multi game injuries back
Gregory will actually have an offseason and training camp
Young players got a lot of exp last year

In a nut shell right there.
How much better do you think Lamb will get if he doesnt have 4 different QBs again.
In his rookie season, and still flashed with all the chaos.
I look forward to some chemistry being made with a very dangerous group of receiving options.
I hope Jarwin can recover 100 percent and pick up where he left off, and Shultz getting valuable reps and starting to show
that he can be some reliable hands at times, is in the mix.
Im looking forward to this draft much more, as usual, pay much less attention to the offseason as far as FA acquisitions, they have proven
to be basically roster spot fillers, like putting some bondo on a dented fender.

 

[Alexander]

That's just it we haven't always been cautious in free Agency.

And how has that worked out? I'm old enough to remember paying Carr and giving guys like Hardy 13MM in 2014 for 1 yera of service.

The numbers are what they are. Spending big in free Agency is not correlated with winning a championship.

As I've stated repeatedly there are reasons this team has underperformed for years. Their recent free agent approach is not it. But it's an easy scapegoat for the frustrated fan who is mad we didn't sign... Insert random player they've heard of.

The trend since Carr is the issue. I am sure they spent a lot of money, which I am sure reminded Jerry Jones of Love Field.

To put it in perspective, just look back at that class of FAs after. It has been beyond horrible and a lot of the same pattern.

Simply put the Joneses have battered women syndrome and it affects how they approach the health of this roster.

 

[Sydla]

To put it in perspective, just look back at that class of FAs after. It has been beyond horrible and a lot of the same pattern.

Here's our FA signings starting in 2016. It's pretty bad.

2016

Cedric Thornton
Benson Mayowa
Alfred Morris
Joe Looney

2017

Nolan Carroll
Byron Bell
Stephen Paea
Damontre Moore
Jonathon Cooper

2018

Allen Hurns
Deonte Thompson
Cam Fleming
Marcus Martin
Joe Thomas

2019

Randall Cobb
Kerry Hyder
Christian Covington

2020

Andy Dalton
Blake Bell
Cam Erving
Everson Griffen
Aldon Smith
Dontari Poe
Gerald McCoy
Maurice Canady
Brandon Carr
Daryl Worley
HaHa Clinton Dix
Greg Zuerlein

I think you could argue Cobb and Zuerlein were really good signings and big contributors. Looney is a JAG but was a pretty competent fill in for us and certainly filled a roll. Aldon Smith started off hot but tailed off and it looks like he might not even be in our plans. Thomas was a decent backup LB. Dalton was a decent backup QB.

The rest? Not good. Some just got injured, others just sucked. The class with Nolan Carroll, Moore, Paea was a real doozy as those were arguably our three biggest signings and none of the three made it past November on the roster.

 

[AzorAhai]

There’s 3 avenues of talent acquisition. Draft, free agency and trades. We ignore free agency and outside of Cooper barely dabble in trades. It’s completely irrational. Wondering why we hover around mediocrity is like asking why somebody who has a job, stocks/bonds and rental properties has more money than Joe who works his 9-5 and nothing else. It’s that simple.

 

[dsturgeon]

In a nut shell right there.
How much better do you think Lamb will get if he doesnt have 4 different QBs again.
In his rookie season, and still flashed with all the chaos.
I look forward to some chemistry being made with a very dangerous group of receiving options.
I hope Jarwin can recover 100 percent and pick up where he left off, and Shultz getting valuable reps and starting to show
that he can be some reliable hands at times, is in the mix.
Im looking forward to this draft much more, as usual, pay much less attention to the offseason as far as FA acquisitions, they have proven
to be basically roster spot fillers, like putting some bondo on a dented fender.

I think it will be a big year for lamb. I hope he is not returning punts. It makes me nervous when he does that.

If jarwin is healthy, he is going to be making big plays and getting td's

 

[Sydla]

I think it will be a big year for lamb. I hope he is not returning punts. It makes me nervous when he does that.

If jarwin is healthy, he is going to be making big plays and getting td's

Tend to agree. I think the offense, as long as people stay healthy, can be one of the better ones in the league.

Which is why it chaps my butt that they didn't try to bring in at least one or two mid-tier FAs on the defensive side of the ball that could make an impact. John Johnson would have solidified the back end of the defense and given a proven playmaker at FS that could help the young CBs they are likely to take in the draft. Instead, they are likely going to end up with another Darian Thompson type and it's just not good enough.

Quinn is certainly a help on defense given Nolan was awful but even he can't turn meatloaf into prime rib.

 

[basel90]

Relax.

Per usual when people think about spending in free Agency they often discount dollars we spend on our own guys. This year it was Dak securing the bag.

While this team has underachieved for numerous reasons... Not routinely buying other teams' players at market price isn't it.

Not much money left anyway for FA to make a huge impact .

 

[OmerV]

Yeah saying people want the team to be mediocre seems ridiculous.

But I absolutely think some are wired to always make excuses for what they do. Every year it seems it's the same people defending the Cowboys free agency moves and then it blows up during the season. And then they come back next year and make the same excuses/rationalizations.

So while they don't want the team to mediocre, they tend to be way more accepting of their continued mediocrity.

I don't disagree that there are excuses made, but I also think people exaggerate things or find fault where there is little or none. I think it's the nature of a board like this that there will be folks who see things on the extremes and only the way they want to see them rather than taking a fair minded look at all aspects, including those that don't fit what they are already inclined to believe.

Ultimately, we all know the team has failed to have the desire success for over 2 decades, we just don't all agree on every aspect of what has caused that.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The trend since Carr is the issue. I am sure they spent a lot of money, which I am sure reminded Jerry Jones of Love Field.

To put it in perspective, just look back at that class of FAs after. It has been beyond horrible and a lot of the same pattern.

Simply put the Joneses have battered women syndrome and it affects how they approach the health of this roster.

It's funny that in the face of object evidence about the correlation to free agency and winning a championship... You just continue to trot put the same tired narrative.

Anyway since Carr I bet few teams have invested as heavily in resigning their own players. We were giving out huge contracts to our own best players annually. The linemen. Lawrence. Dez. Romo. Dak. Cooper. Etc etc.

But somehow that spending is discounted.

And somehow despite teams crashing and burning year after year on these big free agent deals fans still cry because they actually are enamored with shiny names. The very thing they've historically accused Jerry of.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

What does "fill holes in FA with guys you aren't likely to make a mistake on" mean? That we shouldn't bring in a big name or middle tier guy because if he busts we are out money? Because in reality, we are really good at making mistakes in FA. If you look over our FA list over the last 5-7 years, it's almost comical how many have been total busts.

And one reason we have had "moderate" but not great success is that while drafting pretty well, you can't draft an entire roster. You have to find people that can play and make impacts in FA. Almost every SB winning team has used FA more than we have recently.

I also don't get the point about not signing better FAs because it allows you to stick to your draft board. That seems like backwards logic to me and a very risky way to roster build. If you have a clear hole, like we do at S, which would you rather have? A solid S like say John Johnson or would you just rather take the risky approach and hope whatever rookie S you bring in makes an impact?

The Jones have a flawed approach to roster building. That's pretty evident at this point.

Of the free agent guys who have "busted" over the last 5 years how many got huge investments by this team?

The team uses free agency strategically. They'll fill depth holes. Maybe spend if the right opportunity presents (see G. Hardy) and then draft without feeling the need to reach.

As I've stated the team has underachieved but not because of free agency.

I mean look at the OP. Free agency has not been correlated with championships. This is irrefutable.

 

[DAL1180]

Right. Every other team in the league has used a 1st round pick on a DT, at least 1. Only the Cowboys have never drafted a DT in the first round.

Except maybe Russell Maryland.

 

[Rockport]

2019 saw the following teams as big spenders in free agency and their spending rank:

Washington #10
Buffalo #9
Tampa Bay #8
Tennessee #7


In 2020 they ALL made the playoffs....just saying Gil.

#1 Jacksonville
#2 New York Jets
#4 Chicago
#5 Denver