Cowboys fans will laugh at PFF's offseason grades for the NFC East

The NFC East was quietly the best division in football last season. All four teams finished .500 or better and it marked the first time since 2002 that three teams from the same division reached the Divisional Round of the playoffs, which is as far as the Dallas Cowboys have advanced since they last won it all in 1995.

Clearly motivated to change their luck, the Cowboys put the pedal to the metal this offseason in terms of upgrading the roster.

They kept their most important free agents, including Donovan Wilson, Tony Pollard and Leighton Vander Esch, and made two low-risk, high-reward trades by bringing in veterans Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore that strengthened arguably the two biggest weaknesses on the roster.

What more could they do in the eyes of NFL writers?

Not much. While Dallas received largely glowing reviews from the media for their aggressive offseason, Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson gave them a B- grade (not kidding), which was the worst grade in the entire NFC East.

Cowboys had worst offseason of NFC East teams, per PFF

Here's what Monson said of Dallas' offseason.

"The biggest moves the Cowboys have made were trades for wide receiver Brandin Cooks and cornerback Stephon Gilmore. Both players showed in 2022 that they are still capable of high-level play, and each will have less responsibility to be the best player on their respective units given Dallas' talented roster."

Doesn't sound like Monson is all that inspired by the Cooks and Gilmore deals, which is odd because those moves have been praised by NFL media members at every turn. Further, Monson noted the Mazi Smith pick patched up a major flaw of the 2022 team and even showed love to the selection of Luke Schoonmaker.

How does this translate to a B- grade? What prevented Monson from giving the Cowboys a higher mark? There was no mention of re-signing Donovan Wilson or Leighton Vander Esch, or keeping Pollard on the franchise tag. What about Dallas cutting its losses and releasing Ezekiel Elliott?

As for the other NFC East teams, the Eagles got an A for keeping Fletcher Cox, Darius Slay, James Bradberry and Brandon Graham to help offset other free agency departures. Hard to fault Monson for that, especially considering Philly's home run draft and their savvy trade for D'Andre Swift.

The Commanders, meanwhile, received a B grade and there was zero mention of the Dan Snyder sale. Get this, folks. Monson gave love to the signings of Andrew Wylie and Cameron Dantzler (!) -- who has since been released and joined the Bills, mind you -- and selection of Emmanuel Forbes in the first round, which surprised just about everyone given his slight frame.

Objectively, what are more needle-moving signings: Wylie and Dantzler (who is no longer with the team!) or Wilson, Pollard, Vander Esch and Johnathan Hankins?

Like the Eagles, the Giants received an A grade. Monson mentions the risk baked into giving Daniel Jones $40 million a year. He also says, "Tight end Darren Waller was a nice gamble that took some of that cap flexibility, and it can’t be overlooked that it allowed them to tag Saquon Barkley."

Have you seen the news this week? Barkley -- the Giants' unquestioned most important offensive player last year, no Daniel Jones -- has elected to skip mandatory minicamp over his contract dispute and even threatened to sit out the 2023 season.

The Giants admittedly had a great draft and overall improved the roster relative to last season, but how can someone make the argument that they definitively had a better offseason than the Cowboys? Their unproven QB is now on a massive contract and their face of the franchise is threatening a holdout.

What's that they say about making a mockery of the Cowboys for clicks?

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