This is the final pre draft issue of the Cowboys report. This is much confusion in Cowboy Nation as nobody really has a clue as to what the strategy is for this team. It is unclear as to whether they remain committed to Dak Prescott going forward. If they were, one would have expected them to have signed him to an extension rather than allow him to hit free agency next season and end up with only a compensatory pick in return. He does have a no trade clause but that can often be waived in the right situation, so one would think if they wanted to move on from him, they would have tried and traded him. They have not made any serious moves to create cap space and as a result they were not active in free agency. In addition to not adding substantial pieces, they allowed several players to leave that played integral roles on their team such as their center, left tackle, starting cornerback starting running back, third wide receiver, an edge rusher, starting defensive tackle and a starting linebacker who retired. They traded their fourth round pick for Trey Lance, who is not under contract past this season. Actually they do not have any quarterbacks that are under contract for next season.

They go into the draft with fewer picks than needs and they have done nothing of substance to fill those needs. They also do not have a fourth round pick so really they only have 3 premium picks and they need a defensive tackle, a left tackle, a center, #3 wide receiver, a starting running back and a linebacker. The draft class is solid for offensive linemen and wide receivers and there are running backs they can get on day 3 that could actually start in the NFL although they do not have significant upside. It has been shown that a team can win without a star running back but this would require a solid offensive line and a strong passing game. The draft is very weak in defensive tackles and they really have nobody to be a nose tackle at this time.

I think the best strategy for this team would be to trade down from the 24^th pick and try and get an extra day 2 pick. If they can come out of the first 3 rounds with a defensive tackle, a center, a wide receiver and a left tackle, they can get their running back and linebacker in day 3. This would require moving down from 24 in order to have 4 picks in the first 3 rounds. I am not sure if there is a willing trade partner.

On the other hand, given their lack of activity so far, they may not be interested in filling all their holes this season and go into this season without the expectation of winning. As a result it is very confusing. Most pundits cannot figure out what the Joneses are planning and perhaps the reason we cannot figure out what their master plan is would be because they might not actually have a master plan. Maybe we will not even have a better idea after the draft.

End.