The perception of the Dallas Cowboys front office among the fanbase is often filled with tension, frustration, and misunderstanding. Fans feel they know exactly what the team needs to do to win, yet the front office consistently moves in a different direction. Recently, Dallas Cowboys Vice President of Player Personnel Will McClay appeared as a guest on the Doin’ Alright podcast with Voch Lombardi and Bryan Broaddus. This interview provided a rare window into the mind of the man building the roster.
They asked questions that are right on the pulse of the fanbase, but McClay’s answers weren’t what people might expect. For fans looking for confirmation of some prior theories, his responses instead painted a different picture, but one we should all take a close look at. Here are five key reveals that everyone should take notice of.
Why aren’t the Cowboys spending money in free agency?
Broaddus was very blunt with his questioning, sugarcoating nothing. He said that sometimes the fanbase wants to scream at the Cowboys because they do not think the front office does enough in free agency. He asked for some type of explanation about why the team refuses to spend money on outside talent.
McClay responded by saying he understands it is a business and that everyone thinks they know what is going on, but added that he does not tell others how to run their checkbook. He continued with a subtle dig at armchair GMs, stating there are all of these self-proclaimed capologists who think they can find easy solutions, but everyone’s way of managing a roster is different.
Interestingly, he did not go into any specific details about why the Cowboys are so free agency averse, other than they can’t have the best at every position and have to make tradeoffs accordingly. It might also suggest that this is a strategic philosophy he wants to keep close to his vest. We have written ad nauseum explaining that heavy spending in free agency is a fool’s game. McClay seems perfectly content with letting others believe that overspending in March is the way.
What is the real truth on the T.J. Watt vs. Taco Charlton ordeal?
McClay has already corrected Broaddus on this specific topic in the past, but Broaddus is relentless. He believes in his heart that McClay was secretly fighting to draft T.J. Watt over Taco Charlton back in 2017, and that he simply fell on the sword for the Dallas draft team because that’s just the kind of guy he is. Broaddus used this interview as another chance to get him to come clean on what really happened.
McClay took the opportunity to explain his actual evaluation from that draft. He explained that he liked Watt for his high-energy, and he was highly impressed by how well Watt performed in drills and his ability to get to the quarterback in college. However, he admitted he was put off by what he perceived as stiffness in Watt’s movement at the time, which created some doubt that this style was sustainable at the NFL level.
When Broaddus countered by saying Watt seemed like his kind of player, McClay quickly responded with a definitive no. He explained that they took Charlton over Watt because they put grades on those players and that is simply how things stacked up on their board. His stiffness and scheme fit were factors in the grade. While he admitted in hindsight that he was wrong and will learn from it, he 100% owns that decision. Any alternative narrative about him being overridden continues to have very little support.
Why do the Cowboys struggle in the middle rounds of the draft?
He was asked about why the Cowboys struggle in the middle rounds of the draft despite knocking them out of the park in early rounds. They wanted to know what McClay’s explanation was for this drop-off in success.
McClay quickly reminded them that a lot of NFL teams do not even get it right in the first and second rounds. He stated that “our blessing is our curse,” indicating that the massive success the team has enjoyed early in drafts has created unreasonably high expectations for the later rounds. He pointed out that historical data shows the success rate of later picks is naturally much lower across the league, hinting that this perception of Dallas being bad late in the draft is being overstated by fans. He also noted that certain positions, like offensive linemen, have completely different development windows. Expecting a mid-to-late round guy to step in and immediately contribute is not always fair to the player’s developmental path.
Do media narratives bother him and make his job harder?
Broaddus asked if there are things the media says that bother him, and if those reports ultimately make his job harder.
McClay quickly responded with a definitive yes. He stated that they are in a business of secrecy and they ideally do not want to let other teams know what they are doing. He provided an example of when they bring a free agent into the building. The moment everyone finds out about it, it compromises their leverage, whereas he would prefer to have some alone time with the player before other teams start calling the agent’s phone. He also stated that young players are human beings with emotions who are constantly attached to their phones. These players get a regular dose of media scrutiny, creating outside noise that upper management and the coaching staff have to actively work around.
Would McClay be better served if he ran his own team?
Broaddus cringingly stated that he wants to see McClay run his own team, insisting that if he were a traditional general manager elsewhere, he would do it the right way. That’s obviously not in the best interest of the Cowboys if you are a fan of McClay, but we understand what Broaddus was getting at with this question. He believes in his heart that if McClay ran his own team, he would be even better than Los Angeles Rams general manager Les Snead. That’s high praise.
McClay was appreciative of the high compliment but then turned around and interjected that the Cowboys are one of the few teams you have to worry about in the league. That is what he truly believes, and he believes it because of the way the staff works together within the organization. This is an important distinction. He does not feel this is a work environment where he is being strong-armed or overridden in roster decision-making by ownership. He made it clear that what they are doing in Dallas is exactly what he wants in a player personnel role.
McClay stated that “you are only as good as the people you are surrounded by,” concluding with how badly he wants to win a Super Bowl for the Cowboys. He believes if you win in Dallas, “that is the golden ticket,” and “doing everything within his power to achieve that is of paramount importance” to him.
This interview with McClay serves as a reminder that NFL front offices operate in a different world than the average observer. While fans rely on rumors, media narratives, and retrospective analysis, McClay and the rest of the Cowboys’ front office are managing the complicated business of winning football games. The belief that the front office is fractured by internal power struggles is false according to McClay.
McClay is exactly where he wants to be, running the department the way he chooses, and owning both the hits and the misses.
