{"id":903917,"date":"2026-05-28T23:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/903917\/"},"modified":"2026-05-28T23:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-05-28T23:39:14","slug":"wasnt-the-right-fit-espn-analyst-condemns-cowboys-33000000-move-after-missing-playoffs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/903917\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Wasn\u2019t the Right Fit\u2019 \u2014 ESPN Analyst Condemns Cowboys\u2019 $33,000,000 Move After Missing Playoffs"},"content":{"rendered":"

To catch the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a> and return to the playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys<\/a> made roster moves. Dallas hasn\u2019t made the playoffs since a Wild Card round exit ended their 2023 season. With that in mind, owner\/general manager Jerry Jones committed millions to roster construction. An ESPN writer checked in to criticize one of the Cowboys\u2019 biggest moves.<\/p>\n

Cowboys\u2019 Decision to Re-Sign OL Terence Steele<\/a> Criticized by Bill Barnwell<\/p>\n

Last season, Steele landed at No. 76 in the PFSN NFL Player OL Impact Rankings<\/a>, which account for production and effectiveness. Dallas brought Steele back into the fold, signing him to a three-year, $33 million deal. ESPN writer Bill Barnwell panned the move, stating:<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhile Steele was once a glowing example of Dallas\u2019 ability to develop offensive linemen, the former undrafted free agent hasn\u2019t been the same since suffering a multi-ligament knee injury at the end of the 2022 season.\u201d Barnwell wrote. \u201cSteele is tough and hasn\u2019t missed a game over the ensuing three seasons, but he has struggled badly with speedier, twitchier edge rushers like Bryce Huff<\/a> and Jonathan Greenard<\/a> over the past two years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Week 14 of that season, Steele tore the MCL and ACL, and Barnwell believes that injury continues to haunt the Texas Tech product.<\/p>\n

\u201cSteele is not a bad player, but this probably wasn\u2019t the right fit for a team that needs to squeeze every bit of surplus value possible given how much it is paying its top five players,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

BE AN NFL GM: PFSN\u2019s Ultimate GM Simulator<\/a><\/p>\n

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According to Spotrac,<\/a> Dallas has committed close to $133 million this season on five players (Dak Prescott<\/a>, CeeDee Lamb<\/a>, Tyler Smith<\/a>, Quinnen Williams<\/a>, and Kenny Clark<\/a>). Meanwhile, another integral part of the roster, George Pickens<\/a>, will demand a payday. In order to keep him, the Cowboys will not only need to give the receiver a raise but also add years to his deal.<\/p>\n

Last year, the Cowboys ended the season on a down note, losing six of their last ten games. Worse, the defense allowed 28 points seven times. However, they traded for pass rusher Rashan Gary<\/a> and drafted safety Caleb Downs<\/a> to compete with the Eagles. However, improvements to the New York Giants<\/a> and Washington Commanders<\/a> could make the NFC East even tougher.<\/p>\n

BE AN NFL GM: PFSN\u2019s Ultimate GM Simulator<\/a><\/p>\n

New York hired John Harbaugh as their head coach. Washington scrapped Kliff Kingsbury\u2019s scheme in favor of David Blough<\/a>, who takes the reins of the offense. On top of that, the team signed pass rusher Odafe Oweh<\/a> and linebacker Leo Chenal<\/a> while drafting Ohio State linebacker Sonny Styles<\/a>.<\/p>\n

If he plays well, Steele\u2019s contract could be considered a bargain. If he doesn\u2019t, will the Cowboys regret his deal as money that could have gone elsewhere?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"To catch the Philadelphia Eagles and return to the playoffs, the Dallas Cowboys made roster moves. Dallas hasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":903918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[21637,6731,613,1121,230,1370,257,22531,12,7,467,2883,8041,5394,2892,56,6,84,1822,109,6736,3996,5314,2239,12730,1119,1498,111],"class_list":["post-903917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl-playoffs","tag-bill-barnwell","tag-bryce-huff","tag-caleb-downs","tag-ceedee-lamb","tag-cowboys","tag-dak-prescott","tag-dallas-cowboys","tag-david-blough","tag-espn","tag-football","tag-george-pickens","tag-jerry-jones","tag-jonathan-greenard","tag-kenny-clark","tag-leo-chenal","tag-new-york-giants","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-playoffs","tag-odafe-oweh","tag-philadelphia-eagles","tag-quinnen-williams","tag-rashan-gary","tag-roster-moves","tag-sonny-styles","tag-terence-steele","tag-the-cowboys","tag-tyler-smith","tag-washington-commanders"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116654844360202469","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903917","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=903917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/903917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/903918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=903917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=903917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=903917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}