Dave Helman on the Cowboys bargain hunting in free agency (again), top NFL Draft needs

KRLD-FM / 105.3 The Fan

Once again, the Cowboys have looked for the cheapest possible options in free agency to fill out their roster. Though they have signed more players than usual, can we give them any sort of credit when this strategy hasn't worked ever? Dave Helman from FOX Sports joined the GBAG Nation to talk about their bargain bin strategy, what position he'd like to see the Cowboys come away with in the first round of the NFL Draft, and more.

Transcript

00:00You know, I feel like we've been doing this for a decade now.

00:17I think Greg Hardy was the last signing of an outside team of any significance, and that

00:23was still a pretty small one.

00:25But what do you make of this approach, David?

00:27Is there any way, like, playing devil's advocate, maybe they're kind of getting it right by

00:31plucking off some of these bargain-free agents in the $5-6 million range?

00:37I don't feel particularly inclined to play devil's advocate for something that, you're

00:44right, we've seen play out for a decade now.

00:46I mean, the names change, the strategy remains the same.

00:49Like, on the surface, it's all defensible, you know, plugging up your depth charts, signing

00:56guys who can play a role for you, but you're hoping that your drafted players are better

01:02than them.

01:03Like, that's what the Cowboys do, is they sign free agents that can play a role, but

01:09the hope is that their homegrown guys take those jobs and are the better guys that you

01:14can rely on.

01:17Why is it our responsibility to be excited about that or defend it after a decade of

01:23this strategy producing, at best, disappointing results?

01:28Maybe not outright bad.

01:30I mean, the Cowboys have made some free agent signings that truly worked out in this period,

01:36to be fair to them.

01:38But the end result is not anything that is overly exciting, and I'm not going to put

01:44my name on trying to sell that hope, because, I mean, you're right, Greg Hardy, which I'm

01:51glad you said that, Gavin.

01:53I mean, people bring up Greg Hardy as the last big signing, but even that was, I don't

01:59remember the details of it off the top of my head, but it was like a $6.5 million signing

02:04that had incentive bonuses per week and with SAC milestones built in.

02:10So even the big money was all contingent on how he produced, obviously, because he was

02:15radioactive because nobody else in the league wanted him.

02:18So even giving the Cowboys credit for that is a bit of a reach, in my opinion.

02:23So yeah, it's been more than a decade, I would say.

02:25It's probably been Brandon Carr since they were really willing to do anything in free

02:29agency that is worth really having a deep conversation about.

Category

Transcript

Recommended