The Dallas Cowboys' front office claimed in the offseason that they didn't have the necessary resources to spend money, but that is a lie. They thought they could survive a mass exodus in free agency and count on the 2024 draft and the development of previous draft picks to replace them.
That ignorance is a big reason why Dallas is 5-7 and a long shot to make the playoffs. While they've won two games in a row, this roster is extremely top-heavy. A overhaul isn't necessary, but it needs a big-time retool in the 2025 offseason.
READ MORE: Mike McCarthy quietly did Dak Prescott dirty in Cowboys' Thanksgiving win
As much grief as Jerry and Stephen Jones get, they got some decisions right. Obviously any front office will run into a few wins, but several of the players who the Cowboys parted ways with, whether it be after the 2023 season or prior, have really struggled with their new teams this year.
4 players who are floundering away from the Cowboys in 2024
Tyron Smith
Letting Tyron Smith leave marked the start of a disappointing offseason in Dallas. While Smith again missed time due to injury, he put together his first All-Pro campaign since 2016. Much of the frustration stemmed from the contract Smith signed with the Jets. It was an incentive-laden deal worth just $2 million guaranteed.
Maybe Dallas' front office was onto something. While Smith has decent blocking grades this season, he's allowed five sacks (!) and 22 pressures, per Pro Football Focus. For context, Smith allowed five sacks over the previous six seasons combined. This is also his first season since 2019 allowing more than 20 pressures and his 96.3 pass blocking efficiency is his worst since 2012.
To add injury to insult, Smith has a neck injury and is a candidate for injured reserve, which would effectively end his season. It has arguably been the worst season of Smith's decorated career and there is no telling what 2025 holds for the Cowboys great.
Johnathan Hankins
Hankins is another player Cowboys fans wanted back. He was the team's best nose tackle for the previous two seasons. The front office instead decided to let Mazi Smith sink or swim as the starting NT and he has started to stack some impressive games after a poor start.
Hankins, meanwhile, reunited with former Dallas defensive line coach Aden Durde in Seattle, which hired Durde to be its defensive coordinator. It was a measly one-year, $2.05 million deal with just $300,000 guaranteed.
What looked to be good business by the Seahawks has actually been the polar opposite. Among 100 qualified interior defenders, Hankins' 35.0 run-defense grade ranks 95th, per PFF. His 33.0 player grade is 97th and his 12 defensive stops are tied for 53rd.
While Seattle's defense has come on strong in recent weeks, Hankins has floundered under Durde and first-year head coach Mike Macdonald.
Dalton Schultz
Between bashing the team's culture, making up stories about fans tapping on the glass during tours at AT&T Stadium and taking a lame victory lap after the Texans' win in Dallas a few weeks ago, Schultz has made an enemy of Cowboys fans since he left after the 2022 season.
Perhaps Schultz is still bitter about not being re-signed. He inked a three-year, $36 million extension with Houston in the offseason and has not lived up to it.
Entering Week 13, he has just 36 catches for 363 yards and has yet to find the end zone. His 63.2% catch rate when targeted is the lowest of his career. The former Cowboy is 12 amongst tight ends in catches, 19th in receiving yards and 11th with 57 targets.
Those numbers look even worse when you consider Texans star receiver Nico Collins missed four games with a hamstring injury. As the game's sixth-highest-paid tight in terms of guaranteed money, Schultz needs to produce a lot more than he is.
Greg Zuerlein
The Cowboys now flaunt the game's premier kicker in Brandon Aubrey, but Zuerlein at least provided some stability to the post-Dan Bailey era in his two years with the franchise. While a disaster from beyond 50 yards, he made a fruitful 82.9% of his field goals with Dallas.
Zuerlein was actually one of the NFL's most efficient kickers in 2023 with the Jets, converting field goals at a 92.1% clip.
For whatever reason, the 2024 season has been the worst of his career. Before going on IR with a phantom knee injury, Zuerlein made just 9-of-15 field goals, including just 1-of-4 from 40-49 yards. He missed a game-winner from 50 yards in the final seconds against the Broncos and had misses from 32 and 43 yards in the Jets' three-point loss to the Bills.
You have to wonder if Zuerlein has played his last snap in the NFL.