Revisiting Dallas Cowboys' Best, Worst Moves of 2017 Offseason
Nobody has a perfect offseason. No team hits on every draft pick and/or free-agency signing. It's just not possible to be that successful in one offseason. But that's what makes the NFL offseason one of the most exciting times in sports.
We get excited about teams making moves, only to know that a small percentage of them ever work out.
While the Dallas Cowboys will hope they are the first team to nail every move in the offseason, we know that's not going to happen. In fact, we have a pretty good idea as to which moves (or lack of them) will fail this year.
But which ones were smart and will help them take the next step? It's time to revisit the team's best and worst moves of the offseason so far.
Best: Re-Signing Terrance Williams
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Heading into the offseason, it seemed as if Terrance Williams was destined to be overpaid by another team in free agency. It seemed inevitable that Dallas was going to need to replace him as the team's No. 2 receiver.
While he has never been a big stats guy in Dallas, Williams has been an important part of the Cowboys' offense since 2013. Losing him in free agency would have drastically altered their offseason plans.
Instead, Dallas was able to sign Williams to a modest deal worth up to $17 million over the next four seasons. He is currently the 43rd-highest paid receiver in the NFL, and that number should continue to drop as more receivers get contract extensions.
Over the past four seasons, Williams has accumulated more than 2,700 receiving yards while scoring 20 touchdowns. He's never going to be a No. 1 receiver, but he's developed into a more-than-adequate complementary piece. In 2016, he finished third among wide receiver rating as well as a top-50 receiver, according to Pro Football Focus.
If Dallas had lost Williams in free agency, the team would have been forced to slide Brice Butler up the depth chart or spend a premium pick on a receiver. Neither were great options as Butler is better suited to be a backup and Dallas needed to save their draft capital to address their secondary.
Williams has his limitations, but he knows his role and is a perfect fit opposite Dez Bryant. This signing was one of the best this offseason as it allows Dallas to keep continuity within their offense and stopped them spending valuable picks on offense in the first few rounds of the draft.
Worst: Letting Morris Claiborne Leave in Free Agency
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All in all, I believe the Cowboys upgraded their cornerback (and secondary) unit this offseason. They have added youth, versatility and depth to a unit that was already one of the best in the league in 2016. However, the loss of Morris Claiborne in free agency hurt for a variety of reasons.
The first being that the team had the cap space to sign him. As of today, the Cowboys have close to $17 million in cap space available, according to Over The Cap. The Jets signed the 27-year-old to a one-year deal worth $5 million, a reasonable price for a cornerback as young and talented as Claiborne.
As Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported, Dallas had an interest in re-signing Claiborne, but they just weren't willing to match the Jets' offer. The offer was cheap enough that the Cowboys could have signed the player to an extension, even if it were for only one year.
But the biggest reason why the loss of Claiborne stung was that he has played well over the past few seasons. He was finally starting to showcase his elite talent and Dallas decided to let him walk.
At only 27 years old, he was just starting to hit his peak. He was finally starting to look like the cornerback the team envisioned they were getting when they traded up to six in the 2012 draft.
Now, Dallas will be infusing a bunch of young corners into their secondary as they try to replace Claiborne. It's likely they will be able to reproduce Claiborne's production by 2018, but I would have liked to see him get one more shot, especially at that cheap a price.
Best: Signing Damontre Moore
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In a move that didn't get much press at the time, the signing of defensive end Damontre Moore may prove to be the team's best move of the entire offseason.
Consider this: Moore has more career sacks (10) than any defensive end on the Cowboys' roster aside from Tyrone Crawford (12.5), who got most of his sacks from the defensive tackle spot. And surprisingly, Moore is one of the youngest defensive ends on the roster as he is still just 24 years old. He's on his fourth team in his career, but that doesn't mean he can't find a spot in Dallas.
According to former NFL scout and current Cowboys' writer Bryan Broaddus, Moore has impressed this offseason.
Broaddus believes if the season started today, Moore would be the team's starting right defensive end. That's not bad considering the Cowboys signed him to a deal this offseason that is just about the veteran minimum.
While I'm not expecting Moore to start for the Cowboys (at least not right away), it is reasonable to assume he could make the roster and be a part of the team's heavy rotation on the defensive line.
In time, he may be able to develop into something more with defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli molding him, but for now, it was a good depth signing that has the potential to develop into something much greater.
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Worst: Losing Ronald Leary and Doug Free
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Two of the biggest losses for the Cowboys this offseason came with the exits of two starters on their offensive line.
Unfortunately for Dallas, there wasn't too much the team could do about the losses of Doug Free and Ronald Leary. Let's address each separately.
For the past decade, Free has been a staple of the Cowboys' offensive line. He has never made a Pro Bowl and never garnered the national attention that others on the offensive line received. He's been one of the better right tackles in the league since 2013.
However, his play has steadily declined each year, according to Pro Football Focus. In fairness to Free, he was asked to face some of the best pass-rushers in the league, most of the time without help. His loss on the offensive line has created a massive hole at right tackle and forced Dallas to move players around to fill the void.
As for Leary, Dallas didn't have much of a choice when he left via free agency to join the Broncos. He signed a four-year deal worth $35 million with $20 million guaranteed.
With a Zack Martin contract extension on the horizon and somewhat limited cap space, Dallas just couldn't afford to match Denver's deal as they already had La'el Collins on the roster to replace him.
You can't blame Dallas for losing either player, but it will hurt them moving forward. I expect there to be some rough games early in the season as the team transitions to two new starters on the offensive line.
The loss of Free and Leary was expected, but it still stung.
Best: Selecting Ryan Switzer
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In the fourth round of the 2017 NFL draft, the Cowboys selected return specialist Ryan Switzer from North Carolina.
The thinking behind the pick was that Dallas needed an upgrade on special teams and Switzer had been one of the best return men in college football in the past four seasons. He returned seven punts for touchdowns in his first three seasons in college before teams realized they shouldn't be punting the ball to him anymore.
Over the past three seasons, the Cowboys returned 91 punts and failed to return one for a score. In that same time span, Dallas has averaged just 7.2 yards per return. To put that in some perspective, the rest of the league averaged 9.2 yards per return. Tyreek Hill of the Chiefs averaged more than 15 yards per return in 2016.
Switzer will compete with Lucky Whitehead for that role on special teams, but he will also back up one of the best slot receivers in the league in Cole Beasley. The Cowboys' offense relies heavily on Beasley to be the team's chain mover on third down, and over the past few seasons, Dallas hasn't had a true backup for that spot.
With the selection of Switzer, not only will they have a more-than-adequate backup for Beasley, Dallas will also have a player who may be able to get on the field at the same time. In the fourth round, the Switzer selection made a lot of sense considering the roles he can fill.
He's received a lot of buzz this offseason as a player who could surprise the league as a rookie. Whether that happens in his rookie year or not, drafting Switzer was one of the best moves this team has made in the offseason.
Worst: Not Signing a Veteran Quarterback
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In what could be the team's worst move of the offseason, the team failed to add a veteran quarterback to the roster despite a clear need.
Behind Dak Prescott in 2017 will be Kellen Moore, who is a limited passer at best. He first entered the league in 2012 and has just a 71 passer rating with four touchdowns and six interceptions in his career.
Moore is barely 6'0" and lacks the arm strength to play in the NFL. He relies on anticipation and accuracy on short throws when he's in the game. However, he's just not good enough to challenge any kind of defense at this level.
If he's ever asked to enter the game for Prescott, Dallas is in big trouble.
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