We are all experts. Put us in the decision-making rooms of The Star in Frisco and we could turn the Dallas Cowboys right around.
It often feels this way in our minds, right? Like we have all the answers? Obviously this is said in jest, but we all have thoughts and opinions on how the Cowboys operate and it goes without saying that we will air them out if we need to.
You’d be hard pressed to find three total decisions between the 2024 and 2025 seasons combined that a majority of fans approved of, but
the tide really turned this year which is why optimism is higher than usual, or at the very least exists, as training camp approaches.
What do you think were the three best decisions made this offseason specifically?
Signing Jalen Thompson in free agency
This move gets nowhere near the attention it deserves.
Outside of the fact that Jalen Thompson is an incredible and rangy player, a safety who is going to thrive for the Cowboys under Christian Parker, it was the biggest deal that the team handed out in free agency since The Brandon Carr Deal™ of 2012. It showed that they were willing to open up the purse strings again.
What’s more is that the drafting of Caleb Downs amplified the move. Thompson has the ability to move wherever Parker commands and to help man the back of the defense. It goes without saying that he also provides a great running mate for Downs.
This represented a true change in disposition and that’s why it makes the list.
Tagging George Pickens (and the aftermath)
I’ll forever note that I was against trading for George Pickens to begin with in the name of showing my work, and while that was the case I immediately (after the trade happened) believed that an extension should have been worked out for him.
Things worked out (we are literally discussing this), but for context my thought then was how poorly extensions had been going for the team. They weren’t exactly good at it.
Many of us assumed that an offseason of contract drama awaited, especially as Pickens’ play on the field unfolded so well last year. To the Cowboys’ credit they landed the plane and (for their standards) in record time.
In thinking about it, one moment really stands out. During the team’s pre-draft press conference, well after Pickens had the franchise tag initially placed on him, Stephen Jones declared that Pickens would be playing the season out on the tag. It was a line in the sand. More notably, it was a move that the team was making. Even more notably, it was the team making the first move in this particular game of chess.
Proactivity doesn’t have to look the way we envision. For me it was getting an extension done last year as noted. But being the first to act helps in a lot of ways and the team did that in this situation and has benefitted from it.
Loading up on defensive backs
So much has been made about Caleb Downs (and Jalen Thompson), but we have kind of forgotten about players like P.J. Locke and Cobie Durant.
These two may not have the same potential to change the Cowboys defense, but the point here is that the front office gave their new defensive coordinator a ton of defensive backs to play around with. Given that this position is his specialty it is particularly exciting.
Cobie Durant is easily the more exciting of the two. Durant has fallen out of favor with some because of how he has not given up his jersey number to Caleb Downs (the internet is a unique place), but he offers a real answer at the corner position. He may turn out to be one of the better signings of the offseason when all is said and done.
What do you think were the best decisions that the front office made this offseason?
Let us know in the comments below.
