Cowboys Offseason: Make a Shopping List, Pt 1
Step one in every offseason is figuring out which of your own you wish to keep around.
We have probably waited long enough to do this as we juggle all of our interests here at #SturmStack. So let’s weigh in on how we handle the Cowboys offseason with a little more specificity.
This is February, where most front offices have an idea of where they want to go. Today, the Cowboys will introduce new Defensive Coordinator Mike Zimmer and while we are already pretty prepared for this with what we wrote last week, we also should be aware that this will be our first chance to fully hear him (and them) articulate what drove them to this destination.
Do they plan on anything significant in terms of scheme changes or philosophical differences that they would like Zimmer to depart from Dan Quinn’s ideas before him?
Because that would generally fuel any sort of personnel priority list. If you think there is a world where you want to be sure to “get bigger up front”, well then, this might not be a tactical move you can make on game-day. That is a move you better make in March and April when you are adding to this roster.
Now, keep in mind, the NFL is put together differently than our friends in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
In those sports, you either have free agency fully separated from the drafting of youthful prospects altogether (MLB). Or, you have the NHL and NBA systems that put the draft in front of the free agent marketplace. That small adjustment may not sound like much, but say you want to try to replace Tyler Biadasz as your starting center. In this scenario, there may be four centers in the draft that I think could do that as a better option. But, then, he would be better than anyone below those four in our stacking of the options. If the draft was first, you could allow the draft to develop and see if you like the prices on everyone BEFORE you decide to not compete to keep Biadasz.
But, this isn’t the NBA. So here, the Cowboys have to show their cards on their starting center first and at the same time wonder if the draft will allow them to get their guy to replace him. It is about six weeks of having nothing too appealing at a starting position and this leads to the desperation we sometimes see from teams that don’t want to look at a depth chart and see nothing but a blank space.
My solution is for the NFL to switch the draft to before free agency, but since I have been saying this for 20 years or so, it doesn’t sound like they are too compelled to chase common sense. Rather, the “we have always done it this way” will keep free agency in March and the draft on the last weekend of April. So, if you are just going to draft a guy to replace Tony Pollard, Tyler Biadasz, and maybe even Stephon Gilmore, well, you better hope the draft falls properly and I guess we aren’t worried about “best player available” in that scenario, either?
Today, let’s start chipping away at this spring team-building season: