I hope you're right about being able to sign other players. Watching Green Bay get ravaged by the niners because their defense sucks was a scary thought for the future.
It all depends on what Dallas wants to do. The front office likes to retain its own players and not overpay for outside FAs because it has been burned by that before. I don't know if that policy will change under McCarthy because I don't know how much influence Garrett had on it.
Strategically, using restructures, deals that don't pay out much the first year, etc., they can virtually bring back and bring in anyone they want. Since I don't think the Joneses are looking at this as a rebuilding process, I think they are more than likely going to supplement the roster. They clearly believe the talent level on this team was greater than the result, so I can't see them tearing it apart.
Dak and Cooper will be either resigned or tagged. It's obviously better for Dallas if they get long-term deals so they don't have to take a big hit this year, but if they have to take a big hit, that's where restructures come in to open up space as needed.
I'm not as sure about Byron Jones because the front office might believe that Lewis and Awuzie can be solid starters for cheaper. (If we don't re-sign Jones, I could see us trying to re-sign Brown for cheap to be the third corner.) I'm not sure about Quinn both because of age/wear and tear vs. cost and because I truly feel that the Joneses believe that Gregory can be just as good or better. (Not saying that's smart, just what I think the Joneses believe.)
I wouldn't be surprised if Heath is re-signed either to be depth or the starting safety if we can't find one in the draft. I don't think Witten and Lee are re-signed because production doesn't equal cost. I won't be surprised if Cobb returns on a similar deal to the one he received last year. There are also several depth players we could either re-sign or replace with similar depth players McCarthy is either more familiar with or likes better.
I think we'll make a splash move in free agency at DT and possibly one at S.