It seemed like Jerry Jones and the Dallas Cowboys were going somewhere in free agency when they traded for Rashan Gary. It set the stage for Jones to live up to his "bust the budget" mantra, but it wasn't to be.
Another slogan, and it already feels like another empty promise from Jones. If Maxx Crosby was out of reach, Trey Hendrickson should’ve been next in line. Instead, the Cowboys missed on both stars, as well as tier two pass rushers Odafe Oweh and Jaelan Phillips.
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk said what every Cowboys fan is thinking about. Not just this offseason, but going back to what now looks like multiple years of false offseason promises.
"(The Cowboys) used 'all in' anytime they could to just kind of gaslight everyone that Jerry didn't mean what he said and what the words meant, and that was the Senior Bowl in '24 when he said that. Get ready for a new meaning for busting the budget. Get ready, because Jerry didn't bust the budget."
Dallas Cowboys fans are feeling empty after Jerry Jones' repeated empty offseason promises
Fitting, considering the “all-in” mantra after the 2023 season went awry. The Cowboys have since posted back-to-back losing seasons for the first time since 2002, dating back to the Dave Campo era, which is one of the worst stretches in franchise history.
Offloading Osa Odighizuwa felt inevitable after the signing of nose tackle Otito Ogbonnia. The defensive tackle position was going to be massively crowded financially, and while getting a 2026 third-round pick was a solid return, it made the defense worse.
Signing safeties P.J. Locke and Jalen Thompson helps bolster a once-terrible secondary, but it’s not enough to pull them out of their defensive jam.
“Busting the budget” now looks more like being more proactive in the first week of free agency than the front office stepping outside of its comfort zone to sign impact players. Busting the budget would have entailed offering an extra $2 or $3 million to get Nakobe Dean to Dallas.
Jalen Thompson is the Cowboys' biggest free agency investment in years, but it hardly warrants a standing ovation. They got Thompson at fair value relative to the safety market.
There's still time for Jones to flip the script. But Dallas got wiped out with the free agency getting pillaged in the first 48 hours of the legal tampering period, and now they must get creative to plug the remaining holes at linebacker and edge rusher.
That wouldn't have been necessary if Jones simply kept his promise.