At new head coach Brian Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference, Jerry and Stephen Jones claimed the Dallas Cowboys were going to evaluate their free agency approach and change some things if they needed to.
Dallas finished with a 7-10 record in 2024 after three consecutive 12-5 seasons from 2021 to 2023. A key component to that result was being decimated by injuries and almost exclusively relying on young players they drafted, including multiple rookies, to make an impact after spending an NFL-low $20.47 million in free agency, per OverTheCap.com, since the last Super Bowl was played. Jerry Jones’ “get it done with less” approach didn’t work.
“We’re obviously evaluating where it didn’t go right in terms of this drought that people say we’re in in terms of a championship game or a Super Bowl. We just have to continue to make this roster better,” Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said at Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference. “Certainly we’ll do a real deep dive on putting some personnel together whether it be through the draft, free agency. I know typically that’s not been the way we’ve done this team, but we’ll certainly look at it. … We’re going to take a long hard look at how we’ve looked at free agency. And if we need to change some things there, we will.”
Just 10 days after Stephen Jones’ opening the door to the possibility of change, Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones slammed the door shut on there being changes Thursday night from the red carpet of the NFL Honors award show in New Orleans. He declared Dallas spent enough money last offseason because they re-signed Dak Prescott to a four-year, $260 million extension hours before kickoff in Week 1 at the Cleveland Browns. Expect a similarly frugal approach to external free agents from the Cowboys front office in 2025. Doing that again would also mean Jones will reward his own in four-time All-Pro edge rush Micah Parsons, who enters 2025 on his fifth-year option, the final season of his rookie deal.
“Well, we spent the most money of anybody in the NFL on a player last year,” Jerry Jones said, via The Fort Worth Star-Telegram, on Thursday. “If we can do that again, that’d be pretty good. I think you ought to look at free agency, not so much the criticism we got last year, but look at in years past and how we’ve done it will probably be more in line.”
Parsons himself has spoken multiple times this offseason about wanting to be paid like the “the best in business” , and he has said he wants to get his deal done before free agency in order for the Cowboys’ front office to be able to budget to sign other players. Parsons even revealed he would take less on his second NFL contract to fit money for 2023 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett into the Cowboys’ salary cap, should they make a trade for him. Based on Jones’ latest comments, expect the same avoidant approach to external, veteran player acquisition Dallas has put on display the past few seasons.
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Author: Garrett Podell
February 7, 2025 | 2:25 pm
