Dallas Cowboys

Should Cowboys have made more moves during NFL offseason?

Published Apr. 12, 2022 5:19 p.m. ET

From an additive standpoint, the Dallas Cowboys' offseason has been strikingly quiet.

After falling short of lofty expectations following a disappointing collapse against San Francisco in the playoffs last season, the Cowboys have done little to retool their roster as they gear up for next year.

In fact, the squad has arguably lost more than it's gained in the months that followed the letdown.

Pro Bowlers Randy Gregory and Amari Cooper parted ways with the team early in the offseason, and the former left after a shocking contractual dispute in which he discovered additional language had been added to his previously agreed-upon deal. The latter was sent to Cleveland to free up cap space in lieu of other free agent targets.

Longtime right tackle La'el Collins linked up with Cincinnati's fiery offensive forge shortly thereafter, while one of Dak Prescott's favorite targets from a season ago, Cedrick Wilson, ventured to Miami.

And then there was the Demarcus Lawrence ordeal, which nearly ended in Dallas' dependable DE deciding to leave the team after his own lengthy contractual debate.

Despite suffering tremendous losses, the Cowboys weren't entirely inactive during the offseason's initial months and did execute a few under-the-radar deals to add depth at a number of key positions.

Those include one-year deals with LB Luke Gifford, WR Noah Brown, TE Jeremy Sprinkle, LB Leighton Vander Esch, DL Carlos Watkins and LS Jake McQuaide, all of whom played with the squad last year. They also brought in WR James Washington from Pittsburgh and LB Dante Fowler Jr., who's familiar with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn from their Atlanta days together.

The one-year category was by far the most abundant for the troupe, but Jerry Jones and crew weren't entirely frugal this offseason.

Among players who received longer-term deals were WR Michael Gallup (five years, $62.5 million), safety Jayron Kearse (two years, $10 million), Pro Bowl punter Bryan Anger (three years, $9 million), DE Dorance Armstrong (two years, $13 million), and safety Malik Hooker (two years, $8 million).

But the squad remained largely in shallow waters as a whole, opting not to make a big splash in the pool of some of football's biggest available names, like Von Miller, Bobby Wagner, Chandler Jones and Za'Darius Smith.

Their cautionary spending preferences have equated to full-bore failure in Shannon Sharpe's eyes.

"I'd give [their free agency] an F," Sharpe said Tuesday on "Undisputed."

"We've been saying they've gotten worse since they lost to San Francisco in the first round. To replace Amari Cooper, they got James Washington, who averaged 27 yards a game in his four-year career. They replaced Randy Gregory with Dante Fowler, who has five sacks in his last 20 games. And Cowboys nation is excited about those acquisitions? You got Chandler Jones, Von Miller, Bobby Wagner – guys that can make an impact on your defense – and you're like, ‘Nah, we're good.'"

Sharpe's cohost took the criticism a step further.

"I'll give you one even better: I'll give it a G for godawful, for good lord," Skip Bayless said.

At this point, Dallas' focus presumably has to be zeroed in on the draft, which looms right around the corner in April.

Maybe then, they can raise that ‘F’ and that ‘G’ to a respectable letter grade.