The Dallas Cowboys have a little bit of salary cap space and a lot of hope they’ve already done enough to land back in the playoffs. It’s been two seasons since the franchise has seen the postseason, and though they didn’t make any earth-shattering free-agent signings, the organization is highly hopeful they made the right decisions this offseason.
On Monday, two major datelines occurred. The club began Phase 3 of their offseason program with their first Organized Team Activities (OTAs) on the same day of the NFL’s key salary shedding date of June 1. On this date, teams are no longer going to absorb future years of amortized (bonus money that’s already been paid, but spread over future salary cap years) cap hits for players traded or released. In that vein, the Cleveland Browns traded away two-time defensive player of the year Myles Garrett, sending him to the Los Angeles Rams.
And though he’s hardly a major player anymore, superstar wide receiver Odell Beckham landed back with the New York Giants on Monday. The Cowboys made an acquisition, too, signing UDFA wideout Romello Brinson after a morning workout.
These three things are not the same.
The Cowboys hopefully had zero interest in Beckham, but he’s certainly a newsworthy move based on his flamboyant career. The real stickler here is that the Cowboys have made several moves over the last calendar year at the edge rusher position. The Myles Garrett trade is easily being compared to what Dallas has done, beginning with their trading away of the much younger Micah Parsons last August.
Parsons was traded to the Green Bay Packers for two first-round picks and veteran DT Kenny Clark. The Cowboys flipped one of those picks and their own 2026 second to acquire All-Pro DT Quinnen Williams, and then used the other to draft UCF’s Malachi Lawrence this past April.
The Browns saw a return of two-time Pro Bowler and 2024 defensive rookie of the year Jared Verse, along with the Rams first-round pick this year, second-round pick in 2028 and third-round pick in 2029.
Let the haul comparisons commence.
The Cowboys, who hope to be competing with the Rams for NFC supremacy this season, will head to Los Angeles following their Week 14 bye week to take on Garrett on December 20. The Texas native is a five-time First-Team All-Pro, with two more Second-Team nods in his nine seasons. He’s won two of the last three Defensive Player of the Year awards, finishing third in the other.
He’s the standard at the edge rusher position, and most observers feels that the Cowboys could still improve their group that is headlined by early-spring trade acquisition Rashan Gary, second-year second rounder Donovan Ezeiruaku and Lawrence. Dallas could still look to make a move, with many speculating they may be in the mix for Arizona’s Josh Sweat.
But one has to wonder if they were willing to pay the price necessary for Garrett, or if they even had the ammunition it would’ve taken, considering Verse’s proven on-feild impact in addition to the probably-late-in-the-round draft picks.
This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys tend to flock as big names Garrett, Beckham land elsewhere
Reporting by K.D. Drummond, Cowboys Wire / Cowboys Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
