This is all strictly hypothetical …
When last season ended, I had it in my head that the Cowboys should use every single resource — that isn’t being “direct deposited” into Dak Prescott’s newly stuffed bank account — completely pushed into improving a defense that has not been very good for most of the last two seasons.
https://theathletic.com/2484201/2021/03/31/hypothetically-amari-cooper-michael-gallup-and-kyle-pitts-are-tied-together-to-fix-the-cowboys-defense/
Much like we did last weekend when the Cowboys brought in the veteran strong safety (and soon to be part-time linebacker) Keanu Neal, this week we thought we would take a good look at the two signings they made last week that will help completely rebuild that position on the depth chart. They went back to the Atlanta Falcons’ well to grab their young and playmaking free safety Damontae Kazee on Thursday after signing the special-teams stalwart and depth play Jayron Kearse from Detroit the previous day. Because they sort of fit as a three-man signing overhaul, let’s cover Kazee primarily, but to a certain extent, Kearse in this quick overview of the situation.
https://theathletic.com/2480990/2021/03/28/cowboys-continue-their-budget-conscious-rebuild-of-their-secondary-with-damontae-kazee/
As this series begins its second half and as we march closer to draft day, it is time to tighten the circle.
The first 30 players of the “Sturm 60” have the best players at the positions of need. We will continue to wander down that path for a few more weeks, but then we have to become fine-tuned with the names of players of great interest on Days 1 and 2 of this draft for the Cowboys.
https://theathletic.com/2473213/2021/03/25/dallas-cowboys-draft-digest-five-more-cornerbacks-to-consider-as-dallas-has-four-picks-inside-the-first-99/
We have been breaking down the Cowboys’ list of needs periodically here in the last few months. The dust has mostly settled one week after the window opened in free agency and as we warned you, the Cowboys largely sat out the big spending period. Plenty of work is expected to be accomplished in the weeks yet to come, but getting on the board with Keanu Neal on Saturday is certainly a decent move to start. Here’s an updated look at where the roster stands with the draft five weeks away.
https://theathletic.com/2467788/2021/03/22/cowboys-roster-reset-will-dallas-move-to-upgrade-its-secondary-in-week-2-of-free-agency/
Dallas looks to have finally added a starter to the mix when it agreed to a one-year deal with former Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal. The terms of the deal appear to be for $5 million, a source tells the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Cowboys have signed several other pieces in this first week of free agency, but this signals the first that will go right into the lineup as a full-time piece and the first with new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s fingerprints all over it. Quinn was the head coach and had final say in personnel matters when Neal was drafted in the first round out of Florida in 2016 and part of the core of that team ever since.
https://theathletic.com/2466149/2021/03/20/cowboys-sign-safety-keanu-neal-and-finally-move-the-defensive-needle-in-free-agency/
It would not be a stretch to say the very worst position on the Cowboys roster as we type these words is defensive tackle. They simply have not built much here at all, and in 2020, it was there for all the world to see.
https://theathletic.com/2454605/2021/03/18/dallas-cowboys-draft-digest-defensive-tackle-crop-looks-light-in-high-end-prospects/
The project has been obvious for all to see. Aside from the national shows pontificating about the relative merits and buying power of having Dak Prescott under contract with the Cowboys, there is no bigger project than dealing with a defense that needs to be improved and then improved again for this entire operation to work properly.
https://theathletic.com/2448679/2021/03/15/biggest-project-for-the-cowboys-fixing-the-defense-again-and-that-begins-monday/
Given that we have no idea how to handle the NFL with a shrinking and temporary salary cap, we are left to wildly speculate what lies ahead in the NFL silly season. Perfect.
https://theathletic.com/2434722/2021/03/11/the-cowboys-should-have-a-chance-to-get-a-strong-and-cheap-free-agent-safety/
Twenty-six months later and with tens of millions more dollars tacked on, we have a deal.
The Cowboys finally realized this situation was not going to fix itself and that the man across the table was not going to fall for this particular mind-trick.
If you wanted the signature, you would simply have to play ball like everyone else.
And Monday night, they did. Dak Prescott is signed to a deal that appears to be roughly four years at $160 million.
Let’s have a few philosophical discussions today as we discuss this group of safeties. In fact, as a change-up, we won’t make one of our discussion points the fact that the Cowboys still appear to have not violated their “we promise to never invest in safety ever again” mandate that went into place the moment they realized their high-first round pick (No. 8 overall in 2002) of safety Roy Williams from Oklahoma went really off the rails around 2006-2008.
https://theathletic.com/2423567/2021/03/04/dallas-cowboys-draft-digest-is-this-the-year-they-finally-go-strong-at-safety/
It nearly happened this season. The top-paid quarterback in the NFL almost won the Super Bowl. But, maybe it didn’t happen because he made too much money. If only he would have been a poorly paid quarterback like the guy who won it all the year before.
https://theathletic.com/2419336/2021/03/03/the-cowboys-should-pay-dak-prescott-because-paying-qbs-the-going-rate-is-necessary-part-of-winning/
