PHOENIX \u2014 Considering all of the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 defensive needs entering the offseason, an argument can be made that they improved in some areas. No argument can be made for inside linebacker.<\/p>\n
Not only do the Cowboys need an immediate impact starter, they need depth. There are only three on the roster: DeMarvion Overshown, Shemar James and Justin Barron. That\u2019s a very thin situation for a defense making the move to a 3-4 scheme.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook, we made a run at some guys in free agency,\u201d Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer said Monday at the NFL\u2019s annual meetings at the Arizona Biltmore. \u201cSometimes it works, sometimes it doesn\u2019t. What do you do? You adjust. It\u2019s something we\u2019re working on 365 (days), 24-7. We\u2019ve got a good plan. We\u2019re not done. We\u2019re always open for business.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognize that we need to fill some holes there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Cowboys made attempts to sign three veteran free-agent inside linebackers. Devin Lloyd signed a three-year, $41.9 million deal<\/a> with the Carolina Panthers. Former Georgia teammates Quay Walker (three years, $40.5 million) and Nakobe Dean (three years, $36.03 million) signed deals with the Las Vegas Raiders.<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t say disappointing,\u201d Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Monday. \u201cAny time you\u2019re in the hunt for something you\u2019d like to think things could work out, but we also look at every situation differently. Obviously in those particular cases, they just didn\u2019t work out.\u201d<\/p>\n Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in January that there is \u201cincentive\u201d to \u201cbust the budget\u201d to try to improve their defensive roster. It sounded good at the time. Dallas was fresh off arguably the worst defensive season in franchise history.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll do some dramatic things,\u201d Jerry Jones added. \u201c\u2026 Finances are no object.\u201d<\/p>\n But the closest thing to budget-busting moves have been trading a fourth-round pick to the Green Bay Packers for edge rusher Rashan Gary<\/a> and signing veteran safety Jalen Thompson<\/a> to a three-year deal worth up to $36 million.<\/p>\n Why didn\u2019t they bust the budget to sign any of the linebackers?<\/p>\n \u201cHey, we were trying,\u201d Schottenheimer said. \u201cAnd if they don\u2019t take the money, they don\u2019t take the money. I felt like the offers we made were very, very fair. They were big numbers. We were very competitive. It\u2019s hard to compete with a couple of former teammates (Walker and Dean) that wanted to go play together. And there\u2019s different reasons about why you lose these guys. But we were very competitive in those deals. But that\u2019s the business. \u2026 We\u2019re far from being done.\u201d<\/p>\n No. 2 wide receiver was a significant need last year at this time. Had Tetairoa McMillan been available at Pick 12, he would\u2019ve been a Cowboy. But he went eighth overall to the Panthers. Dallas responded by trading for George Pickens two weeks later. The Cowboys maintain they have plans in place in case they are wiped out at the inside linebacker position after next month\u2019s NFL Draft.<\/p>\n \u201cThe plan is to add skill at that position,\u201d Stephen Jones said, \u201cwhether it\u2019s the draft, whether it\u2019s free agency, whether it\u2019s a trade, or a combination of all of the above, we\u2019ll look at all avenues. \u2026 A lot of moving parts to it, but obviously we\u2019re looking at that linebacker spot. It\u2019s on our radar. But for the most part, I do feel like we checked a lot of boxes in terms of what we needed to do on the defensive side of the ball.\u201d<\/p>\n The type of player they\u2019re missing is more than just an off-the-ball linebacker. They need one who can be the quarterback of the defense. That has been Sean Lee and then Leighton Vander Esch in the past. It was Kenneth Murray last season and Eric Kendricks in 2024. A long-term solution is needed and that could mean the best scenario is drafting one with one of Dallas\u2019 two first-round picks. The Cowboys believe the right draft prospect could handle that responsibility.<\/p>\n Ohio State\u2019s Sonny Styles is probably the best at the position in this year\u2019s draft class. But according to most mock drafts, he will be gone by Dallas\u2019 first pick, No. 12 overall. Next up would likely be Georgia\u2019s CJ Allen. Pick No. 20 could be the spot for him. No. 12 is probably too rich. The Cowboys\u2019 goal is to avoid drafting for need. They don\u2019t want to reach for a position. Just because inside linebacker is clearly their biggest roster hole, they can\u2019t just take the best available linebacker when they\u2019re on the clock.<\/p>\n That means they could potentially get wiped out at the position, leaving their best plan of attack to search the trade market after the draft. Perhaps a team that finds itself deeper at the position after adding to its roster. Either way, Dallas is in a tough spot with the draft less than a month away and all of the notable free agents already signed.<\/p>\n The last thing you want to give new defensive coordinator Christian Parker is a huge question mark at one of his most important positions.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think it has to be before the draft,\u201d Stephen Jones said Monday. \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s any timing on that. I go back to player acquisition is 365 days a year. We\u2019ve gotten good players after the draft in terms of players that have played in the league. There\u2019s always opportunities for trades. We\u2019ll continue to look at every avenue. Obviously the draft is one of them as well.<\/p>\n \u201cAt the end of the day, I think we checked a lot of boxes. I think we really improved our football team. I feel really good about what we accomplished. Between trades, between negotiations, between signing our own guys, doing things we felt were needed, I think we got a lot done.\u201d<\/p>\n But one glaring area of need remains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PHOENIX \u2014 Considering all of the Dallas Cowboys\u2019 defensive needs entering the offseason, an argument can be made…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":848810,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2066],"tags":[230,229,257,2461,7,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-848809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dallas-cowboys","8":"tag-cowboys","9":"tag-dallas","10":"tag-dallas-cowboys","11":"tag-dallascowboys","12":"tag-football","13":"tag-nfl"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116334010794928029","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848809"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848809\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/848810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}