Dallas Cowboys must get more aggressive in their offseason approach

With their division rivals finding different ways to improve their roster, the Dallas Cowboys must become more aggressive in finding ways to improve their own.

The Philadelphia Eagles have picked up right where they left off last season in terms of the aggressiveness in building their roster. Since winning the Super Bowl, they have dealt for former Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett, for only a fifth-round pick, to join their already formidable defensive line and swapped wide receiver Torrey Smith for the young Panthers cornerback Daryl Worley.

To make things even worse, even with as bad as the New York Giants were last season, they have even managed to land a defensive playmaker in Rams linebacker Alec Ogletree via trade. The worst part of these trades, if you’re a Dallas Cowboys fan, is these types of playmakers are being dealt for third day draft picks. While these trades continue to happen in their own division Cowboys VP Stephen Jones’ response at the combine when asked about the team’s lack of trades was, “It’s difficult for me to put a finger on why we haven’t made a trade in awhile.” He would also later add “It’s certainly not conscientious.”

With the compensatory draft picks the Cowboys were rewarded with they now sit with a total of ten picks in this year’s upcoming draft. While the Cowboys remain committed to fundamentally building their roster through the draft, the reluctance to give up some later round picks in exchange for a proven veteran who can make an immediate impact is a little startling. Also the Cowboys history of drafting impact players in rounds four through seven is inconsistent at best. It’s unrealistic to assume all ten would be rookies would make the team, so why not try to shop some of the picks to bring in proven veterans?

There is another side of the coin to go along with any trade and that is the financial side. The Cowboys are currently up very tight against the cap due to designating the fully guaranteed franchise tag of $17.1 million on defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence. However, there are always ways to create space in order to get under the cap such as cutting veterans such like tight end James Hanna and cornerback Orlando Scandrick and signing Lawrence and guard Zack Martin to long term deals.

And thinking further down the road the Cowboys cap flexibility will not improve once the likes of quarterback Dak Prescott and running back Ezekiel Elliott come off their rookie contracts. The time is now for the Cowboys to construct their roster around the rookie contracts (cheap labor) of Prescott and Elliott; very similar to what the Seahawks did with quarterback Russell Wilson.

Next: Cowboys Post-Combine 7 Round Mock Draft 2.0

The financials are not scaring the Philadelphia Eagles away from strengthening their roster when given the opportunity as they currently sit $9 million over the salary cap. They are capitalizing on opportunities when presented with them and will figure out the economics at a later date. With the way the Eagles are currently operating Stephen Jones and company will have to alter their offseason approach if they want to keep pace within their own division.