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Will Randy Gregory’s suspension change the Cowboys plans?

By Matthew Conner

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The four-game suspension of defensive end Randy Gregory will have a significant impact on how the Dallas Cowboys approach the offseason.

On Friday, the NFL announced that the Dallas Cowboys second-year defensive end Randy Gregory has been suspended for the first four games of the 2016 NFL season for violating the league’s substance abuse policy. This news is a big blow to a defensive line that was already in desperate need of an upgrade.

So now it is fair to wonder how Gregory’s suspension for one quarter of the upcoming season will impact the Cowboys’ off season maneuvers. Though Gregory did not record a sack as a rookie in 2015, his suspension makes reinforcing the defensive line rise to the top of the organizations to-do list.

With only 31.0 sacks on the season, Dallas ended 2015 ranked 25th out of 32 teams. Thus, improving the pass rush was already a must for the Cowboys and now it is likely that the organization will be forced to use even more resources than planned to make up for Gregory’s absence.

The most obvious and interesting question this news raises is whether or not the Cowboys now view differently the idea resigning troubled defensive end Greg Hardy. For weeks it has been reported that Dallas was not likely to bring Hardy back but now that the team is facing a substantial portion of the season without one of its projected starting defensive ends, does Hardy become a more attractive option for the Cowboys?

Though he did not meet expectations last year with only six sacks in 12 games played, Hardy was still second on the team in sacks behind defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence who finished the year with eight. How much Hardy will command on the open market is a huge uncertainty but if Dallas decides to negotiate with him, Hardy now has extra leverage on his side.

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Dallas was likely going to focus on the defensive tackle position this spring, especially in free agency. Now the team must take a closer look at possible defensive ends that are available.

The problem is that defensive ends are expensive on the open market. So should the Cowboys decide to pursue players such as the Miami Dolphin’s Olivier Vernon (7.5 sacks in 2015) or the Los Angeles Rams’ William Hayes (5.5 sacks in 2015) the team could wind up overpaying to compensate for Gregory’s absence.

Furthermore, the list of quality defensive ends available this off season is not overwhelming. Most of the players available are not difference makers and others like Jason Pierre-Paul of the New York Giants may be on the downside of their careers.

Then there is the question of how this situation will impact the Cowboys’ draft plan. While the team was always likely to bring aboard at least one free agent defensive end, Randy Gregory’s suspension makes it more likely that the team will be prompted to spend a high round pick on the position for the third consecutive draft. After spending second round picks on Lawrence in 2014 and Gregory in 2015, Dallas now might look to spend yet another top 100 pick on a defensive end.

The top defensive end on the board is Joey Bosa from Ohio State who looks like a J.J. Watt (of the Houston Texans) starter kit. Should he be on the board at pick No. 4, will Dallas now be more likely to draft him and pass on one of the top quarterbacks available?

If Dallas does not address this need in round number 1, it could look at players like Robert Nkemdiche from Ole’ Miss, Shilique Calhoun out of Michigan State or Noah Spence from Eastern Kentucky (though Spence has had his own struggles with substance abuse which might prompt the Cowboys to steer clear of him despite his talent).

However the Cowboys decide to fill Gregory’s shoes, his suspension puts the team in an all to familiar position. Once again, Dallas will be forced to throw extra resources at a position in which it has already invested an inordinate amount of capital in recent years.

Just as the Cowboys have spent more money and draft picks trying to fill holes at corner back, the organization has also been chasing a dominant edge pass rusher for quite some time yet it has had about as much success as Captain Ahab had when chasing the great white whale. Now, it appears that pursuit will continue.

Mistakes made on players, like Gregory, that fail the organization have prevented Dallas from improving other areas of its roster such as backup quarterback, running back or linebacker. Now the Cowboys will once again have to scramble to make up for a flaw in its roster rather than having the freedom to take the best player available in the draft or using salary cap room to strengthen other areas of the roster.

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Perhaps this will be Gregory’s wake-up call and he will find a way to move forward and turn into the player Dallas believes he can be. But for now, another gamble taken by the Dallas Cowboys has backfired leaving the team to once again try to patch yet another hole in the dam.

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