The past two weeks have been filled with additions in Dallas. Between a stellar NFL Draft performance and a blockbuster trade for George Pickens, we have suddenly forgotten all about the Cowboys departures in free agency.
Despite a more aggressive strategy than in years past, the front office still let talented players walk due to “cap constraints.”
If they are so worried about having enough cap space to keep the core intact, they could be using their money on an extension for Micah Parsons, but that has not happened.
A reminder that the Cowboys could have first negotiated an extension with Micah Parsons LAST offseason. https://t.co/x8OdyJFdeq
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) March 9, 2025
Instead, they have allowed some major roster holes to develop as key players have fled to other teams in recent months. It’s only fair that we look at these moves, or non-moves, rather, to see which could hurt Dallas the most in 2025.
When you break it down, there are a few names that stand out as potential disasters for the Cowboys, so let’s take a look at them.
The Weak Get Weaker: Jourdan Lewis to Jacksonville
Jourdan Lewis, an eight-year Dallas veteran, was not the highest-paid Cowboys departure, but he is by far the most significant.
Playing in 32 games over the past two seasons and turning in a career-best year in 2024, Lewis became instrumental over time for the Dallas defense. His presence in the slot is hard to replicate, and it’s hard to see them doing it in 2025.
The Cowboys’ cornerback room has far more questions than answers, even with third-round pick Shavon Revel Jr coming to town.
Rehab is coming along nicely for ECU CB Shavon Revel Jr, following ACL reconstruction on Oct. 15th.
One of the premier corners in the class, Revel is up to 21 mph on the treadmill, and remains on track to be fully cleared this summer. pic.twitter.com/pHwAau6QL4
— Ryan Fowler (@_RyanFowler_) March 19, 2025
He is still recovering from an ACL tear, former All-Pro Trevon Diggs is dealing with some serious injury concerns, DaRon Bland had a slew of health problems in 2024, and the depth behind all three is weak.
This is all to say that Lewis, as solid and reliable a corner as you can get, would be awfully nice to still have right now.
Unfortunately, the Jacksonville Jaguars gave him a three-year, $30M deal, and that was too much for the front office to handle. In reality, that’s a fair deal that will likely come back to bite them as the 2025 cornerback room gets sent to battle.
In-Division Loss: Chauncey Golston To New York
Perhaps the most underrated Cowboys departures come from the defensive line, as Chauncey Golston headed north to join the Giants.
As the 84th selection in the 2021 NFL Draft, Golston was often overshadowed by fellow draft class member, Micah Parsons, and veteran DeMarcus Lawrence, who also left town this offseason.
Despite his reputation as a depth piece, Golston gave the Dallas defense a tremendous boost in 2024.
With career highs in sacks, pressures, tackles, tackles for loss, quarterback hits, and starts, Golston became a legitimate force for the Cowboys, and just like that, he was gone.
https://twitter.com/PFF_Giants/status/1899302848883470716
New York jumped at the opportunity to get a young, versatile pass-rusher after a breakout season, while Dallas stood by and lost him despite his contract being just $12M in guaranteed money.
That should be pocket change for the Cowboys, especially considering their need on the defensive line, even with rookie second-round pick Donovan Ezeiruaku joining the fray.
Golston might just terrorize Dallas twice a year to make this loss even more painful.
Small Price, Big Loss: Rico Dowdle To Carolina
Dallas struggled at running back for nearly two full years before giving Rico Dowdle the full-time job.
What did he do when he gained that responsibility? He ran for over 1,000 yards in just 15 starts, reeled in nearly 40 receptions, and showcased the kind of potential the Cowboys have been desperate for.
Naturally, they let him walk to Charlotte for just $2.5M over one season with the Panthers.
Panthers now have announced they reached a one-year agreement with former Cowboys RB Rico Dowdle, who is from Asheville and attended the University of South Carolina. Dowdle had a breakout year with the Cowboys last season, rushing for 1,079 yards and two touchdowns. pic.twitter.com/umacIhenCd
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 12, 2025
Now, Dallas is relying on damaged veterans in Javonte Williams and Miles Sanders, and late-round rookies Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah.
For the record, I think Blue was a home-run draft pick, and he could legitimately blossom into something special. That said, Dowdle’s youth and proven production, for that low of a cost, should have been a no-brainer.
Instead, we’ll see him play for a fellow-NFC team as one of the key Cowboys departures of the off-season.
Who will step up with him gone? Now that’s something serious to watch for.
I don’t think we’ll miss any of these players!! The only one I think we mite miss is Jourdan Lewis, but even then we have Bland that can move inside and be just as good, if not better than Lewis, and we have Kaiir Elam that can play outside decently and Shavon Revel is supposed to be ready for the start of training camp and he can play the other outside spot!! And if they wanna keep Bland on the outside, then they can put Israel Mukuamu in the slot!! A lot of people seem to think he’s not any good for some reason, I’ll never know why, but we all seen the playoff game where he locked down Chris Godwin for the buccaneers!! If he can lock Godwin down then he should be good enough to start in the slot for us through the whole season!! And then we have Calen Carson who we drafted last year…. He started off playing good, until he got injured and came back from the injury not playing as good, but I think he’ll be ok after having the rest of the season and this off season to get back to his ways and maybe get better!! So we have plenty of options to keep our secondary good!! And then as far as Golston goes, he wouldn’t have had his “breakout year” if it wasn’t for Sam Williams and Marshawn Kneeland getting injured, now this year we’ll have both of them back, plus our 2nd round pick from this year, plus Donte Fowler!! And that’s not including Payton Turner and Solomon Thomas!! And Solomon Thomas is a better version of Golston!! They both can play inside and outside, the only difference is Thomas is better, in my opinion!! But either way, we mite have lost Golston, but we filled his spot with a better version of him and a few other players that can be better than him!! And then there’s Dowdle…. He was just really not all that good!! He definitely wasn’t worth 6M!! I think we’re better off playing Williams and Sanders for less than what Dowdle got paid!! And I think both of them are better than Dowdle too!! I know when it comes to Williams, he’s had bad injury luck, but if he can get back to the way he began his career, he’ll be a better player than Dowdle!! And Sanders has already showed he can be better than Dowdle when he was with the eagles, but something happened while he was with the panthers, but if he can get back to how he played with the eagles, he’ll be better than Williams and Dowdle!! But even if either of them don’t get back to their past play, I still think they’re better than Dowdle!! And then we drafted Jaydon Blue and Phil Mafah, which I think both of them will be better than Dowdle to start their careers!!, so I think we’re better off with what we ended up with than how it would’ve been if we kept Dowdle!! So with all that said, I don’t think we’ll miss any of these players!! I think we’ll be just fine without them!!