This is fun... off the top of my head I would do the following. Would probably tweak the more I thought about it... Here goes.
- Hire football people that have a history of building teams from the ground up and rebuilding teams. A mix of old school and new school thought. An experienced ex head coach as well. I don't have specific names but think Bill Polian, Bill Parcels and some more recent names etc. even in if they are consulting roles. There is no salary cap on the front office so I would try and have an executive board of advisors of good people who are winners. Tony Dungy like people come to mind. You would need some younger more recent names as well obviously. You can argue who but this would be my mentality and I would do it fairly quickly.
- Try and meet with ex successful NFL owners. What worked and what didn't. There is a lot to learn in that experience.
The experience above could change and shape the rest of everything below. If you hired the experts, you should listen to them if they want to change the plans below.
- Rely on these advisors, and hire a GM. Invest in the scouting department. Take extensive time and look for the coach in waiting. Even if it's not the first year. Look for a young coach to hire long term and be patient with. I would probably hire on the offensive of the ball. Maybe not him, but an Eric Bieniemy type of hire. Easier said then done but look for a Mike Tomlin like hire on the offensive side of the ball.
- Again, no salary cap on coaching staff, hire experience coordinators that mesh with the coach to mentor him. Think Wade Philips etc. who mentored Shawn McVay. Find guys committed to being coordinators that value the continuity of keeping the organization together and pay them well. Overpay if necessary. Build a hard but fair culture with the coaching staff and treat them and their families well to keep them in Dallas. Try for retention.
- Agree with the entire staff that this is a long term plan, success won't be measured only yearly. Push the trade back in the draft philosophy. Trade your 1st for a 2nd and next years first.... that type of mentality. Trade your 3rd now for a 2nd next year understanding it's not a win now move. These trade's are available as many GM's need to win now. Take advantage of GM's trying to keep their jobs by making desperate win now moves. Do this as often as possible unless a generational talent falls to you. I've always valued early 2nd and 3rd round picks, try to maximize the number of those choices.
- Decide the identity of the team. What are the strengths of the team and how do we want to construct a roster. What positions are prioritized and salary cap considerations for each position.
- Look at the current roster and decide building blocks of the franchise. Cee Dee Lamb yes, Pollard no, Elliott no, Shultz no, LVE no, Lawrence maybe no. Dak... probably no. Release and trade where you can to obtain young players and draft pics. Rid the large numbers for average players even if it's detrimental short term.
- If you trade or release the QB, get the next one in the first round or via trade. Yes I know Brady was a 6th rounder but not often great QB's are picked out side of the 1st or early 2nd round. 4th and later QB's rarely hit and act as stop gaps. If some really intriguing winner or project falls maybe, otherwise use that pick elsewhere.
- It's ok to draft a kicker.... they score a lot of points. Maybe no Janikowski in the 1st, but you can draft one mid rounds if he's there. Your 5th round WR could easily bust, take the best kicker in the country in the 5th.
- Early on, don't spend to the cap. Salary cap space can be carried over. Do it, repeatedly early on. You can roll over millions of space. Shed the heavy contracts where you can and roll over 10's of millions in space. Do it for 2-3 years minimum. Give yourself a stash of cap space to use in the coming decade.
You really are clueless. The team Dr. Isn’t a Psychiatrist.