How many times have we heard the lazy voice of Stephen Jones answer a softball question on his “radio show” regarding roster changes with the tired phrase, “We like our guys”…?
Why is this such a bad statement from an NFL team’s front office? Because
teams winning SBs are usually kings of the “roster churn”- the constant evaluation of its talent to cut free from those that don’t absolutely make your team better and avoid fond connections with players because you like them.
In short, good NFL front office people don’t over-value their own players or they lose their jobs! They have a few years to win playoff games or find a new address. Nothing motivates talent evaluation like job security.
Well, here’s some clear evidence that this Jones front office over-values its own players:
- The NFL average retention of their own drafted players is 23.
- The last 53 man roster of the 2021 Cowboys contained 30 players that had been originally drafted by the Cowboys, including several on their second contracts. That’s a lot more than most teams. And it could have been higher if we hadn’t released Jaylon Smith and his bloated contract this last fall.
- For some comparisons, last year’s SB champs the Buccaneers only had 19 of its 53 man roster retained from its drafts.
- It’s good to have successful draft picks. But you should NOT re-sign marginal players to second contracts that are just ok.
That means that the avg NFL team does not retain as many of its drafted players as the Cowboys do. The Cowboys sign more of their drafted players to second contracts than almost all other NFL teams.
“We like our guys” is a sadly honest statement from the Jones Boys.
If your name is Jones and you work in the Cowboys front office, there are no consequences for “liking the wrong guys”.
In Big D- “We like our guys”- Therefore the roster churn is very, very slow. As are the playoff wins.