I am not so sure this soft-rebuild is actually a plan as much as they have been forced into it. Why have we not seen a contract extension for CeeDee Lamb? Could it be that CeeDee doesn't want an extension and he wants to test free agency in 2025? Could it be the Cowboys are not willing to pay him top WR money to extend him? For the Cowboys to do anything significant in free agency they need Dak and CeeDee to sign extensions. Sure they can restructure some guys and push money out into the future, but they are already sitting with $56.6 million in dead money in 2025 assuming they designate Gallup a June 1 cut.
Also, this is a bad year for Dallas to look at a soft rebuild. They have their 7 draft picks but two are late 7th round, 2 are comp picks in the 5th and 6th which puts them at the bottom of those rounds, and no 4th round pick. At the rate they are losing free agents, and the rate the are signing them, it looks like they will get 3 or 4 late round picks in 2025. But none of these players are signing big contracts so it is possible they net only 6th or 7th round comp picks - or no comp picks if there are 32 other more highly rated FAs for which teams are awarded comp picks next year. Of course there are other factors involved such as playing time, post season awards etc. that could improve the comp pick designations.
I admit I am only guessing at Dallas's strategy, but it seems to me taking a couple of years to rebuild, soft or otherwise, is just wasting two more years of player such as Zack Martin, Dak and DLaw. Why not trade them if the plan is a soft rebuild? Instead they restructure Martin again pushing $17 million into future years of his deal. IMO, the Cowboys have never had the courage to undergo a soft rebuild correctly. They would never trade players like Martin and DLaw to stockpile picks.
The other thought is maybe we are trying to rationalize front office incompetence by giving it a name.