The Dallas Cowboys’ maddening approach to free agency for a very long time continues in 2025. The fan base’s aggravation with said approach continues to increase at the same pace.
Which leads to a very brutal question:
Is there even a hint of a plan among the leadership of the Dallas Cowboys?
Because it sure seems that the Cowboys are being reactive, with no overall plan in place. Meanwhile, the other 31 teams are proactive when it comes to free agency.
Which is one very big reason why Dallas has failed to advance beyond the Divisional round of the playoffs in nearly 30 years.
But why is this so?
Fear Or Just Greed
There are two reasons that top the list. That’s assuming we can discount incompetence.
Which is a safe thing to do, because no one can be this stupid and still be a billionaire.
Is it greed?
Does the front office value money saved over championships won?
Judging by its love of one-year contracts for $3 million and under, you have to say it’s possible. Letting Rico Dowdle go when he could have been kept for $6 million bolsters that argument.
Especially when they shelled out $3 million for Javonte Williams, who is clearly not as good as Dowdle since Williams’ injury in 2022.
If Williams ends up being RB1 this year, do not expect the running game to be any good in 2025.
The Cowboys cleared up a lot of cap space prior to free agency opening this week. Those moves led many to believe Dallas would be big players this year.
They have been far from it so far.
In fact, aside from signing linebacker Jack Sanborn, none of the free agents they have signed have impressed.
The two trades have brought in back-ups that were former first-rounders. But if these players were as good as their draft positions, they’d still be on their original teams.
They might, might, work out. But that’s like betting $5 on every long shot at the track.
It might work out if you hit on one of them. But if even a single one does not, you’re not ending up in a good place.
But these players are cheap, which makes the case for Dallas being more concerned with the bank account than the trophy case.
Some theorize that the Cowboys have been “burned” in the past with big swings in free agency. Greg Hardy and Brandon Carr are the examples being offered.
But Hardy was a head case that everyone warned against signing.
Dallas ignored those flags and signed him anyway. They got what they paid for there.
As for Carr, he actually worked out, until Rob Ryan was brought in.
Carr’s strengths were erased by Ryan’s defensive scheme.
Again, like Hardy, that’s on a front office not doing its homework. If you bring in a coach with a different defense, some of your players are not going to mesh with it.
But to use these two as an excuse not to keep trying is just a cave in to fear. And it’s the best way to ensure you never win when it matters.
Other teams make missteps with their free agency moves and trades.
The teams that compete for conference championships and Super Bowls move on from missteps, learn from them, and keep trying to improve their team.
The Cowboys don’t. They just keep making the same mistakes while finding new mistakes to make.
You’d have thought they would have learned a big lesson from last year’s refusal to pursue Derrick Henry or Saquon Barkley.
Both had huge impacts on their new teams. Barkley led his to a victory in the Super Bowl.
Apparently no one in the front office noticed this.
The Way Forward
The reason why they are stuck in this loop is the same reason why they will never win a Super Bowl in the foreseeable future.
The front office. Particularly, the man occupying the general manager’s chair at The Star.
The other 31 teams have a general manager who answers to the owner.
If said general manager isn’t getting the job done, he gets fired.
For the last 29 seasons, the Cowboys’ general manager hasn’t gotten it done.
The only reason why he hasn’t been shown the door is because he’s also the owner. That lack of accountability, the lack of someone saying you are not getting it done so you’re out, is killing this franchise.
Until that dynamic finally changes, it will be wash, rinse, repeat in Dallas.
And that is no plan at all.
It’s just plain chaos. And long-time fans of the Cowboys deserve better than this.