How NFC playoff teams, especially Rams, could show Cowboys the way back to prominence

“In essence, we’re seeing a couple of teams that have had some real success putting it all out there and paying for it later, in Philadelphia and Los Angeles.” — Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, February 2023.

It was just a few days before the Eagles lost the Super Bowl to Kansas City that the Cowboys’ owner and general manager made this particular statement. It’s not the only time he has questioned the wisdom of trading draft picks for veteran players to achieve instant success, but it’s instructive as we move into the divisional round weekend that this was Jones’ view three years ago.

Since that time, the “pay for it later” Eagles have: Gone to the playoffs as a wild card and lost to Tampa Bay, which caused them to fire both coordinators and start fresh; won the Super Bowl rematch with the Chiefs, at one time leading 40-6; become the first team to repeat as NFC East champs in 21 years (since they last did it) before losing to the 49ers in the wild card round. GM Howie Roseman has kept it rolling in Philly.

The “pay for it later” Rams, who had won the Super Bowl following the ‘21 season and then missed the playoffs in ‘22 to bolster Jones‘ point of view, have: lost in the wild card round in ‘23; lost in the divisional round in the snow in Philadelphia, coming closer than anyone else to beating the Eagles in the playoffs in ‘24; reached the divisional round where they will face the Chicago Bears on Sunday.

Cowboys

Paying for it later feels kind of fun.

The Eagles are the Cowboys’ constant problem as a twice-a-year opponent, but it is the Rams’ presence in this year’s playoffs that begs the question of whether Jones knew what he was saying three years ago. Yes, the Rams had traded future picks for veteran players like Von Miller, had traded a younger quarterback in Jared Goff for the veteran Matthew Stafford to get to and win that Super Bowl. Yes, general manager Les Snead had worn a Super Bowl parade T-shirt that read “F Them Picks.”

But putting aside the point of whether it’s such a bad thing to trade the future in order to win a Lombardi Trophy (Cowboys’ fans would take it in a heartbeat after 30 years of waiting), the Rams didn’t really give up on the draft. They just executed it to perfection.

Without a first- or second-round pick in 2022 after beating Cincinnati in the Super Bowl, the Rams got current starters at cornerback (Cobie Bryant, 4th round), running back (Kyren Williams, 5th round) and nickel back (Quentin Lake, 6th round) to refuel. A year later without a first-round pick, LA got a starting guard in the second (Steve Avila), starting linebacker and defensive end (Byron Young and Kobie Turner) in the third and then blew everyone away in the fifth round with Puka Nakua, arguably the best wide receiver in the NFL.

They followed that with the 2024 Defensive Rookie of the Year (Pro Football Writers) in linebacker Jared Verse in the first round and their sack leader, defensive end Braden Fisk, in the second last year.

The point: If you’re really good at what you do, you don’t have to pay later for every big investment you make in veteran players.

This is not to mention that the teams playing Saturday night represent entirely different problems for the Cowboys‘ future hopes of getting to a Super Bowl. In San Francisco’s case, it’s true that the 49ers have not yet won a Super Bowl under Kyle Shanahan. They have been to two and lost one in overtime. One of the most brutal injury lists in the league has not stopped them yet in 2025. They are one victory away from their fifth NFC championship game in seven years under Shanahan.

Fifth.

If they don’t get there, it’s only because the Seahawks, who won the Super Bowl after the 2013 season, then gave one away to New England in 2014, have made the long climb back with a different quarterback, defense, head coach, the works. It’s a group that includes DeMarcus Lawrence, playing the way he did in Dallas for 10 seasons whenever he was healthy.

The only similarity with the Cowboys is Seattle has a general manager who never leaves. Actually, John Schneider just got there in 2010 and has a contract through 2031 and is one of the most respected in the league, so he probably won’t surpass Jerry in years on the job. He has a leg up in Super Bowls this century already with maybe another one to come this year.

Cowboys fans can hope their team hits on this year’s two first-round picks (12 and 20) and that it adopts more than Stephen Jones’ “selectively aggressive” approach to free agency. But will they learn from watching what these other teams, in particular, the Rams, are doing and have done in recent years?

Going all in, swinging for the fences, whatever cliche you choose to use, none of them necessarily mean your team is headed for the cellar a year or two later. Success can still be achieved and sustained in the NFL if management knows what it’s doing.

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