March 22, 2024
Heading into the 2023 season, the favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl were the Philadelphia Eagles, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Dallas Cowboys. As usual, the Cowboys had a good record during the regular season, going 12-5, winning the NFC East. And, well, as usual, they were a quick out in the playoffs, getting blown out at home in the wildcard round by the Green Bay Packers.
At the Senior Bowl in January, Jerry Jones promised that the Cowboys would be "all in" to win a Super Bowl in 2024. Their free agency actions have not exactly backed up those words, as they lost a slew of notable players, and barely added anyone.
• LB Eric Kendricks: Kendricks is a nine-year veteran who has eight straight seasons with 100-plus tackles. He played his first eight seasons in Minnesota before signing with the Chargers last season. In 2023, he had 117 tackles (7 for loss), 3.5 sacks, 6 pass breakups, a forced fumble, and 7 QB hits. While not the same player he was at the peak of his career when he was a first-team All-Pro in 2019, Kendricks is still a good starting linebacker who will help Mike Zimmer install his new defense in Dallas.
• CB Jourdan Lewis: Lewis was competing for a roster spot last offseason, but eventually became the CB3 after Trevon Diggs was lost for the season. He was one of the weaknesses of the Cowboys' defense in 2023, in my opinion, and he had some rough moments in their playoff loss to the Packers.
• RB Rico Dowdle: Dowdle has been the Cowboys' preseason workhorse over the last few years, but in 2023 he finally got some carries that mattered. He had 89 rushes for 361 yards (4.1 YPC) and 2 TDs as the backup to Tony Pollard. If the season started today (it doesn't), Dowdle would be the team's No. 1 back, but they'll almost certainly add another player to be the primary ball-carrier.
• CB/ST C.J. Goodwin: Special teams guy.
• LS Trent Sieg: Long snapper Trent Sieg is a long snapper.
• LT Tyron Smith: Smith had a rare healthy season in 2023, at least by his standards. After missing 13 games in 2022, 6 games in 2021, and 14 games in 2020, Smith only missed four games in 2023, and he played well. He signed a one-year deal with the Jets. It will be interesting to see if the Cowboys move LG Tyler Smith out to LT or if they'll keep him at LG and draft a LT early to start as a rookie. Either way, the Cowboys are highly likely to experience a dropoff in play on the left side of their line.
• C Tyler Biadasz: Biadasz has been the the Cowboys' starting center for the last three seasons, but he's just kind of a guy. He agreed to a three-year deal with the Commanders for just under $30 million. He's now the eighth-highest paid center in the NFL, and while he's certainly not in the top quarter of league's centers in terms of talent, he was a solid enough starter and the Cowboys will now have to replace him.
• RB Tony Pollard: Pollard got franchise tagged last year, and he turned in a disappointing season as the lead back, averaging 3.99 yards per carry and 5.7 yards per catch. He signed a three-year, $21.75 million deal with the Titans. The Cowboys were right not to try to retain Pollard at that number, but they also have a bare cupboard at running back. They'll very likely bargain shop at RB over the next couple of weeks.
• DE Dorance Armstrong: Armstrong has been part of the Cowboys' defensive line rotation for six years. He didn't do much during his first three seasons in the NFL, but he has 21 sacks over the last three seasons. He agreed to a three-year deal worth $33 million with the Commanders. There was no way the Cowboys were matching that.
• LB Leighton Vander Esch: The Cowboys released Vander Esch with a failed physical designation. He retired a few days later. Vander Esch was a good player when he was on the field, most notably as a rookie in 2018, when he had 140 tackles, 7 pass breakups, and 2 INTs on his way to being named second-team All-Pro. However, he had significant durability issues as a result of a series of neck injuries. He missed 7 games in 2019, 6 games in 2020, 3 games in 2022, and 12 games in 2023.
• WR Michael Gallup: Gallup had a promising start to his career when he had 507 receiving yards as a rookie in 2018, 1107 yards in 2019, and 843 yards in 2020. Those first three seasons Gallup averaged 15.6 yards per reception. However, in his fourth season he tore an ACL, and has not been the same player since. In 2022 and 2023, he averaged 27.2 receiving yards per game, and just 11.5 yards per reception. The Cowboys released Gallup, who will count for $8.7 million in dead money in 2025.
• DT Johnathan Hankins: Hankins started 14 games for the Cowboys in 2023. He had 27 tackles and 3 sacks. He signed with the Seahawks.
• DE Dante Fowler: Fowler had 10 sacks over the last two seasons as a situational pass rusher for the Cowboys. He signed a one-year deal with the Commanders for a little over $3 million.
• DT Neville Gallimore: The Cowboys thought they had a steal when they selected Gallimore in the third round of the 2020 draft, but he was mostly a disappointment. He's now a Dolphin.
• CB Noah Igbinoghene: Igbinoghene was a Dolphins first-round bust who signed with the Cowboys last season, and played in five games. He became the fourth non-impact Cowboys player to sign with the Commanders.
• CB Stephon Gilmore: Gilmore played well for the Cowboys last season at the age of 33. The Cowboys lost Trevon Diggs for the season with a torn ACL, and DaRon Bland stepped up in his place, becoming a star player. With Diggs and Bland returning, Gilmore will probably cost too much to bring back as a CB3.
• S Jayron Kearse: Kearse was a starting safety who has become good in coverage on the back end, but with Donovan Wilson and Malik Hooker at safety, Kearse will likely sign elsewhere.
| Players gained | Players retained | Players lost | Probably gone |
| LB Eric Kendricks | CB Jourdan Lewis | LT Tyron Smith | CB Stephon Gilmore |
| RB Rico Dowdle | C Tyler Biadasz | S Jayron Kearse | |
| CB C.J. Goodwin | RB Tony Pollard | ||
| LS Trent Sieg | DE Dorance Armstrong | ||
| LB Leighton Vander Esch | |||
| WR Michael Gallup | |||
| DT Johnathan Hankins | |||
| DE Dante Fowler | |||
| DT Neville Gallimore | |||
| CB Noah Igbinoghene |
The Cowboys knew that they were going to be one of the most cap-constrained teams in the NFL this offseason, especially with CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons on the verge of not playing on their rookie contracts any longer. That had to have made their one-and-done playoff performance all the more devastating. As expected, they lost a number of key players so far this offseason. Their starting lineup on offense currently looks like this:
• QB: Dak Prescott
• RB: Rico Dowdle
• WR: CeeDee Lamb
• WR: Brandin Cooks
• WR: Jalen Tolbert
• TE: Jake Ferguson
• LT Tyler Smith
• LG: T.J. Bass
• C: Brock Hoffman
• RG: Zack Martin
• RT: Terence Steele
That offensive line is looking verrrry shaky. Martin is on the downside of his career, Steele stunk in 2023, Smith may be moving from LG to LT, and Bass/Hoffman are a pair of undrafted guys with a combined 564 career snaps played.
Spoiler: The Cowboys are going to take an offensive lineman in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft, and probably another one on Day 2.
Defensively, the Cowboys' starting lineup is still fine enough, but they lost a lot of role players and depth.
While losing a bunch of players was probably an unavoidable inevitability, there is also no evidence of a creative plan to replace them yet, and they only have three picks in the first four rounds of the draft.
Grade: DNP.
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