Comparing 2025 FA moves and trades to 2026 moves so far

[Diehardblues]

It was never going to happen. We do not have the salary cap space for bigger/more moves

Well, if we don’t resign Pickens couldn’t we have pursued Hendrickson?

 

[Jarntt]

It was never going to happen. We do not have the salary cap space for bigger/more moves

Totally untrue

 

[Jarntt]

I still think we have to hit big in the draft on defense to make the type of progress we are looking for on defense capable of elevating this team to a playoff contender.

And all of the recent mock drafts I’ve seen show us trading out of at least one of our first round picks if not both . So while we could compile more picks it could limit the level impact players we need for a more immediate upgrade on defense this season.

Totally agree with your first paragraph.

On the second, why do people still look at mock drafts as if they have any meaning whatsoever

 

[Diehardblues]

Totally agree with your first paragraph.

On the second, why do people still look at mock drafts as if they have any meaning whatsoever

I hear ya but we have nothing else to look at. Some mocks are a model to some degree until their picks are off the board.

And that’s what can factor into our picks or if we trade back, etc . I think we have a pretty good idea where we will be going in 1st round unless guys on our board are gone .

 

[plasticman]

I can't blame anybody for believing that this season would be different. I know Jerry and Stephen can sound persuasive and I'm just like everybody else, I want to believe it.

However, the repetition got to me years ago. These days, I'm like "Yeah,......sure".

Then again, the Cowboys are terrible at free agent signings as a rule. Occasionally, they will get lucky but it's not unusual to see half their newly signed veteran free agents on the injury list before the season opener.

And like I've said previously, some of them just want to steal some of Jerry's money on their way out the door. Cowboys management can't tell the difference.

The Cowboys have signed big names for even bigger money but when was the last time a veteran free agent came to the Cowboys and outperformed his contract?

Don't get me wrong, there has to be some, but i can't remember one on the top of my head.

 

[Diehardblues]

I can't blame anybody for believing that this season would be different. I know Jerry and Stephen can sound persuasive and I'm just like everybody else, I want to believe it.

However, the repetition got to me years ago. These days, I'm like "Yeah,......sure".

Then again, the Cowboys are terrible at free agent signings as a rule. Occasionally, they will get lucky but it's not unusual to see half their newly signed veteran free agents on the injury list before the season opener.

And like I've said previously, some of them just want to steal some of Jerry's money on their way out the door. Cowboys management can't tell the difference.

The Cowboys have signed big names for even bigger money but when was the last time a veteran free agent came to the Cowboys and outperformed his contract?

Don't get me wrong, there has to be some, but i can't remember one on the top of my head.

TO. Before that have to go back to 90’s SB era.

 

[kskboys]

Plus they would still be a mess inside. I don’t see the use of having an all-world rusher if he can be schemed around easily because everyone else is so bad. We have literally seen that happen in big games, plus his chance to impact a game diminishes when they don’t have a lead.

The deal was the right move for this team, at the time they made it. Pick 20 not busting ices it.

Jerry did the same thing w/ Ware, didn't surround him w/ enough talent. That's why he wants a war daddy, so he can draft more WRs and TEs.

 

[Jarntt]

I hear ya but we have nothing else to look at. Some mocks are a model to some degree until their picks are off the board.

And that’s what can factor into our picks or if we trade back, etc . I think we have a pretty good idea where we will be going in 1st round unless guys on our board are gone .

Yeah, one thing this team does is telegraph their moves. They go need and not BPA and also seem to leak stuff as well.

 

[kskboys]

Totally untrue

Totally true.

 

[Bobhaze]

Plus they would still be a mess inside. I don’t see the use of having an all-world rusher if he can be schemed around easily because everyone else is so bad. We have literally seen that happen in big games, plus his chance to impact a game diminishes when they don’t have a lead.

The deal was the right move for this team, at the time they made it. Pick 20 not busting ices it.

Jerry and SJ don’t understand how to build a complimentary roster. They think if they get a “star” player at a certain position, they don’t need anyone else that “complements” their talents or weaknesses.

We’ve seen this time and again. Remember when we were told Romo didn’t need a great OL because of his escapability? Or when we were told we could have a “WR by committee” approach before trading for Amari Cooper at midseason. Remember being told after signing Jaylon and his bad knee that we had found a cornerstone for our defense?

This list could go on and on. The Jones boys don’t have a clue about talent management and roster building. Zero.

 

[kskboys]

Well, if we don’t resign Pickens couldn’t we have pursued Hendrickson?

We'd have to take the tag off him, making him a FA.

 

[MapleLeaf]

Money is always a factor in every move/decision in the NFL. It's fine for a fan to ignore it, but the reality is that it's always important.

For instance, if we hadn't overpaid Diggs/Bland/Osa/Hooker, we could've made much better pickups in FA. Money badly spend. And for those who scream hindsight, not true at all in this case, I didn't think we should've paid any of those guys.

The hardest thing for teams and permanent owner/GMs is the "sunk cost theory".

You drafted those players and got connected. Now you can't stomach the fact that they could play somewhere else, and be better than what they were in Dallas.

That is what made New England so good for man of those years. They ditched players before they got into the expensive second contracts. They had a different formula for second contracts.

We need to have a different formula for second contracts.

 

[Bobhaze]

The hardest thing for teams and permanent owner/GMs is the "sunk cost theory".

You drafted those players and got connected. Now you can't stomach the fact that they could play somewhere else, and be better than what they were in Dallas.

That is what made New England so good for man of those years. They ditched players before they got into the expensive second contracts. They had a different formula for second contracts.

We need to have a different formula for second contracts.

New England’s great success for nearly two decades was centered on three key things:

1. Tom Brady
2. Bill Belechick
3. And their outstanding assessment of their own talent.

That third reason is the most underrated part of cap management. Knowing when to keep or when to cut or trade your talent.

Sadly, our FO is one of the worst at #3. We overpay guys who are declining, which in turn overloads cap space with players who are paid too much and don’t play up to their contracts. This kills our ability to acquire better talent.

 

[Blackrain]

I don’t think most fans realize how important talent evaluation is in being wise with salary cap numbers.

Poor talent evaluation is how you end up making big contract commitments with guys like Jalen Smith, a clearly declining Zeke Elliott and many other players they over-valued because they drafted them.

Poor talent evaluation is also how we squander draft picks on guys who have low motors their head isn't really in the game they don't really like football they have injuries drug problems mental problems.

Up to now or talent evaluation has pretty much been a crapshoot hope it improves.

 

[Blackrain]

Yes there is a decent chance our defense will be better. My question had more to do with why should any Cowboys fan be confident that we will be better?

There are a couple things that make me feel this defense should be a little better.

First it would be tough for it to get worse second I believe we've improved the coaching on defense.
Third I think we finally have put a value on stopping the run and got some personnel that if they stay healthy can do that.

Fourth if we commit those two first round draft picks to the defensive side of the ball there's a better than average chance we get better

 

[atlantacowboy]

It’s late March in what is supposed to be a “bust the budget” and “different” off-season for our FO. Which made me wonder about how this 2026 off-season of Free agency and trades compares (so far) to last year’s off-season.

2025 Off-season New Free Agency Acquisitions:

Position	Player	Age	2024 team	Contract
RB	Miles Sanders	28	Carolina Panthers	1 year, $1.3 million
RB	Javonte Williams	25	Denver Broncos	1 year, $3 million
G	Robert Jones	26	Miami Dolphins	1 year, $3.75 million
T	Hakeem Adeniji	27	Cleveland Browns	1 year, $1.2 million
DE	Dante Fowler	31	Washington Commanders	1 year, $8 million
DE	Payton Turner	26	New Orleans Saints	1 year, $3 million
DT	Solomon Thomas	30	New York Jets	2 years, $6 million
LB	Jack Sanborn	25	Chicago Bears	1 year, $1.5 million

2025 Trades

Position	Player/Aquired	Age	2024 team	Traded away
QB	Joe Milton	25	New England Patriots	2025 fifth-round selection
WR	George Pickens	24	Pittsburgh Steelers	2026 third-round selection and 2027 fifth-round selection
DT	Kenny Clark and two 1st rounders	29	Green Bay Packers	DE Micah Parsons
DT	Quinnen Williams	27	New York Jets	DT Mazi Smith, 2026 second-round selection, and 2027 first-round selectionhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Dallas_Cowboys_season#cite_note-QuinnenTrade-7

Also Kenneth Murray for a 6th round pick.
And Logan Wilson for 7th.

Here are (so far) our new FA acquisitions in 2026:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Contract
QB	Sam Howell	25	Philadelphia Eagles	1 year, $2.5 million
C	Matt Hennessy	29	San Francisco 49ers	1 year, $1.4 million
DE	Tyrus Wheat	26	Detroit Lions	1 year, $1.755 million
DT	Otito Ogbonnia	25	Los Angeles Chargers	1 year, $3 million
CB	Cobie Durant	28	Los Angeles Rams	1 year, $1.5 million
S	P.J. Locke	29	Denver Broncos	1 year, $5 million
S	Jalen Thompson	27	Arizona Cardinals	3 years, $36 million

Trades so far:

Position	Player	Age	2025 team	Traded away
DT	Rashan Gary	29	Green Bay Packers	2027 fourth-round selection

What looks amazingly similar this year compared to 2025 is once again only signing one free agent to a multi-year contract. And there will certainly be a few more FA signings before the 2026 off-season ends. But the only ones left are of the “dumpster dive” variety. And I expect a trade or two perhaps as well.

But how is this off-season (so far) so much different than last year?

I think most everyone was expecting a splash free agent signing on defense, but we lost out. The difference is that they actually attempted to sign big names this year. They just got beat out. So, better effort same result. We are used to coming up short and it's kinda the organizational energy right now.

 

[kskboys]

The hardest thing for teams and permanent owner/GMs is the "sunk cost theory".

You drafted those players and got connected. Now you can't stomach the fact that they could play somewhere else, and be better than what they were in Dallas.

That is what made New England so good for man of those years. They ditched players before they got into the expensive second contracts. They had a different formula for second contracts.

We need to have a different formula for second contracts.

Well said.

Seymour, Samuels, Belly traded away some top players. And then look at which positions he kept: NT and OL. He knew where the game was won.

 

[kskboys]

I think most everyone was expecting a splash free agent signing on defense, but we lost out. The difference is that they actually attempted to sign big names this year. They just got beat out. So, better effort same result. We are used to coming up short and it's kinda the organizational energy right now.

I wasn't. We had to stretch out contracts just to sign the guys we did. And we didn't need one great player, we needed several decent ones. Which is what we got.

I'm satisfied w/ our FA this year, first time in forever.

 

[atlantacowboy]

I wasn't. We had to stretch out contracts just to sign the guys we did. And we didn't need one great player, we needed several decent ones. Which is what we got.

I'm satisfied w/ our FA this year, first time in forever.

These contracts are made to be restructured. Dak counts 79M against the cap next year if we don't restructure it, for example.

IMO, we have treadmilled. The only position upgraded was safety. Gary for Clowney in regard to QB pressure is a wash, at best. I don't see how this defense with the current crop of OLBs on the roster generates any pass rush. We don't have an ILB and our CBs could be a bottom 5 group in the league. Obviously, the draft will enfuse talent, but every team can say as much so that doesn't really move the needle past anyone.

The improvement I guess is coming from the new defensive alignment and coaching bc it's not in the talent base.

 

[Bobhaze]

I can't blame anybody for believing that this season would be different. I know Jerry and Stephen can sound persuasive and I'm just like everybody else, I want to believe it.

However, the repetition got to me years ago. These days, I'm like "Yeah,......sure".

Then again, the Cowboys are terrible at free agent signings as a rule. Occasionally, they will get lucky but it's not unusual to see half their newly signed veteran free agents on the injury list before the season opener.

And like I've said previously, some of them just want to steal some of Jerry's money on their way out the door. Cowboys management can't tell the difference.

The Cowboys have signed big names for even bigger money but when was the last time a veteran free agent came to the Cowboys and outperformed his contract?

Don't get me wrong, there has to be some, but i can't remember one on the top of my head.

I completely understand how you feel about being “sold” so many times….

Despite not having much success in FA as you described, I will say the Javonte Williams FA acquisition last year was a success. He’s one of the few one year “prove it” FAs that has worked out well.