The Cowboys have not signed a high-profile free agent to a megacontract since 2012 when cornerback Brandon Carr arrived on a five-year, $50.10 million deal. But they spent more on the free agent market this offseason than they have in recent years.
Defensive tackles Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe, safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, quarterback Andy Dalton and edge rusher Aldon Smith were the biggest names, filling the team’s biggest needs.
“I feel like we’ve done what we set out to do,” executive vice president Stephen Jones told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “We knew coming into this offseason, we were going to lose a lot of players. We got to that point with the cap where you just can’t do it.
“Unfortunately, you have to pick and choose.”
The Cowboys lost four defensive starters, including cornerback Byron Jones to the Dolphins and defensive end Robert Quinn to the Bears. After adding cornerbacks Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson in the draft and signing free agent cornerbacks Daryl Worley and Maurice Canady, the Cowboys will try Chidobe Awuzie at safety.
The Cowboys believe they are better (on paper) than they were to end 2019.
“We felt like we were strategic in what we did,” Jones said.
