Incredibly, the Dallas Cowboys have already accomplished more in free agency this year relative to last offseason. That speaks volumes when you consider their biggest external signing is pass rusher Dante Fowler, who inked a one-year deal worth up to $8 million.
While not a splash for most NFL teams, Fowler's contract is a bank-breaker around these parts. In fact, it is Dallas' biggest signing from outside the organization in years.
The Cowboys still have close to $40 million in cap space after the first wave of free agency. That can be attributed to the restructuring of Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Extending Micah Parsons will only add to the pot, but it is fair to wonder why the front office reworked Prescott and Lamb's deals if they were just going to sit on the newfound cap room.
Maybe they're scheming a big trade or signing. Maybe they're preserving funds for extensions for Tyler Smith and DaRon Bland.
While we await the next move, Jon Machota of The Athletic debriefed the team's first wave of transactions and revealed three players in particular it missed out on because Jerry Jones wasn't willing to fork over the necessary money.
Cowboys insider reveals 3 free agents Dallas missed out on
Machota understands the Cowboys had interest in linebacker Dre Greenlaw, cornerback Kristian Fulton and nose tackle Poona Ford.
A longtime Dallas rival with the 49ers, Greenlaw signed with the Broncos for three years, $35 million. Fulton, meanwhile, shined on a one-year deal with the Chargers last season and parlayed that into a two-year, $20 million payday with the Chiefs. Another former Charger, Ford got a juicy three-year, $29 million deal from the Rams to beef up their defensive line.
While nobody's saying Dallas should have signed all three players, these are yet more examples that prove the Joneses refuse to overpay for free agents ... when overpaying for free agents is the name of the game.
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Jerry and Stephen (somehow) still don't understand that it's totally fine to step outside their comfort zone to sign players they think will help the team. It might be regarded as "losing" a negotiation, but they do that every offseason anyway with extensions for their own players. They are going to continue missing out on marquee players with this outdated approach. Bidding wars lead to slight, sometimes gross, overpays. There is nothing wrong with it if it contributes to winning.
Maybe Greenlaw, Fulton and Ford don't perform up to their new deals. However, each would have plugged huge holes at positions that sorely need an infusion of talent.
Two years removed from Achilles surgery, Greenlaw is a heat-seeking missile and would don the green dot in Matt Eberflus' scheme. He'll turn just 28 years old in May and has been one of the league's top linebackers despite being overshadowed by Fred Warner.
Fulton is a serviceable CB2 who's posted PFF run-defense grades north of 79.0 in two of the last three seasons even though he plays predominantly out wide.
Ford had a career year in 2024 with 23 pressures, three sacks, 21 defensive stops and a 78.8 run-defense grade that ranked sixth among interior defenders, per PFF.
Signing just one of them would quell a lot of concerns about this roster. Alas, linebacker, cornerback and nose tackle are still glaring red flags as we enter the final week of March.
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