They traded most of their picks this year for proven players...1st and 3rd for Brandin Cooks, 2nd for Kony Ealy, 4th round pick for Dwayne Allen, and a 5th round pick for James O'Shaughenssey. This is also a year when they forfeited a 4th round pick for "deflategate" and sent over another 5th round pick to Buffalo for signing restricted free agent Mike Gillislie.
This is like the idea that the Patriots win because they don't sign big-name free agents.. until they do, they signed Darrelle Revis to a $12M deal in 2014 and just signed premier free agent Stephon Gilmore to a 5-year, $65M deal. Cowboy fans fall into this trap where they buy the company line... "we will build through the draft".."free agency bad"... etc. The Patriots have been a perennial winner these last several years by not just having some single-minded focus, they adjust and adapt. They looked at this draft and felt they wanted veterans instead. They looked at free agency and thought adding Gilmore greatly improves their team. They do what it takes to win.
This team has a chance to be very good with Dak, Zeke, and the offensive line for the next several years. If they don't use every single aspect of talent acquisition, including unrestricted free agents, they are going to blow it. Every team attempts to "build through the draft" and lazy teams try to fix too much via free agency. The great franchises, like New England and Green Bay, utilize both.
