I'm wondering out loud here... considering the financial implications of veterans with solid production vs head to head competition with promising rookies, who wins out and takes a roster spot?
A couple of factors here.
COVID restrictions created a boom in terms of quality amongst undrafted free agents.
The Cowboys were able to secure many of the talented, "should have been drafted" players from those UDFA's.
The time is approaching quickly to pay the piper for the premium contracts of
CeeDee Lamb,
Trevon Diggs,
eventually Micah Parsons
and others.
So... does that lower the threshold for a rookie to make the team? Saving money for superstars, while rookies prove themselves on a comparably inexpensive contract... I'd say that if the performance is 90% of what an established veteran gives you, with the upside of growth to possibly be better in a year or 2... makes it very likely that players like
S Marquise Bell
OL Alec Lindstrom
LB Storey Jackson
S Juanyeh Thomas
RB Aaron Shampklin
K Jonathan Garibay
and others could very likely make this team, and the Cowboys let an established veteran go. What do you think, do you see a wave of rookies making the team??
