Dallas Cowboys and free agency are like oil and water
By Tyrone Starr
Over the past five years, the Cowboys have signed a total of 51 players in free agency. Those signings totaled $157.6M and have cost Dallas a total guaranteed amount of $34.9M.
At first glance, the money seems awfully reasonable… and it is. As I said before, when you tie your own hands together, your options are limited.
The problem isn’t the money they have lost. The problem is the production they have received from the players signed. Here is a list of every player that the Cowboys brought in for more than $5M.
| YEAR | PLAYER | POS | AGE | FROM | TO | YEARS | DOLLARS | TOTAL GTD |
| 2014 | Henry Melton | DT | 31 | CHI | DAL | 4 | $27,501,000.00 | $1,000,000 |
| 2017 | Terrance Williams | WR | 28 | DAL | DAL | 4 | $17,000,000.00 | $9,500,000 |
| 2016 | Cedric Thornton | DT | 29 | PHI | DAL | 4 | $17,000,000.00 | $9,000,000 |
| 2015 | Greg Hardy | DE | 29 | CAR | DAL | 1 | $11,311,600.00 | |
| 2017 | Nolan Carroll | CB | 31 | PHI | DAL | 3 | $10,000,000.00 | $3,000,000 |
| 2016 | James Hanna | TE | 28 | DAL | DAL | 3 | $8,250,000.00 | $3,250,000 |
| 2015 | Andrew Gachkar | OLB | 29 | SD | DAL | 2 | $5,200,000.00 | $1,200,000 |
The first problem that instantly noticeable is the age of these players. Not one player was less than 28 years of age at signing. Why you would give anyone without a history of stellar play big dollars after that age is beyond me.
Now for the gruesome production.
Melton played just one year, starting three games and sacking the quarterback five times. Melton earned just over $3.5M, played one more season in Tampa Bay and is out of the league.
Everyone on the internet must be too busy spitting vitriol at Dez Bryant to notice how Terrance Williams is stealing money. Somehow, he “earned” a $17M deal with $9.5 guaranteed after putting together back-to-back seasons averaging less than 50 catches, less than 725 yards and less than four touchdowns.
What did he do after inking such a deal? 53 catches, 568 yards and 0 TDs. Dallas has an out after this year and should eat the $2.5M in dead money it will cost them to get out of this deal.