The Dallas Cowboys started addressing free agency by locking in Dak Prescott to a long term contract on Monday. 

NFL free agency officially opens up with the “tampering” period on Monday March 15th and then free agents will officially be able to sign on Wednesday. 

The Cowboys have a nice list of their own free agents that they will have to make decisions on and I decided to go through that list and make my own decisions on who should stay and who can go. 

Because there is a long list of free agents, I am not going to go over all of them but I will give my opinions on a few of the more important ones and tell you if I want them back or if they should be hitting the streets. 

Joe Looney 

Offensive line depth is something that has become somewhat of an issue for the Cowboys these last couple of years due to injury. Keeping a vet that can play both guard and center would be a wise decision for the Cowboys. I think there will be a market for Looney so he could end up out of the Cowboys price range. 

C.J Goodwin 

One thing that was underrated for the 2020 Cowboys was the play of their special teams. You give a lot of credit to new special teams coach Jim Fassel, but having a player like Goodwin also helps. Goodwin received a ton of praise for his play and I would like to see him stick around. 

Xavier Woods, Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis

I lumped these three together because none of them should be back in 2021. However, because you have to field a complete roster and it would be tough to let all of them go and replace them without sacrificing the “best player available” draft philosophy. 

If I had to rank them, I would keep Jourdan Lewis first. Then Chidobe Awuzie. Then Xavier Woods. I am completely over the Woods experiment, though. 

Cedrick Wilson

As much as I want to keep Cedrick Wilson, at this point I feel he is a luxury as the #4 receiver on the team. I think Wilson will get more from a team on the open market than the Cowboys would be willing to pay. 

Aldon Smith 

Aldon Smith started the season on fire with 4 sacks in the first three games, including 3 against Seattle in Week 3. He only had one sack for the rest of the season and there was rumblings later in the season on how much he wanted to remain in Dallas past the 2020 season. Because of that, I wouldn’t expect him to return in 2021. 

Tyrone Crawford and Sean Lee 

These two guys are career Cowboys but in both cases, it is time to move on for the Cowboys. Both are injury prone and older and I could see both heading into retirement this offseason. 

Andy Dalton 

Andy Dalton signed with the Cowboys last offseason for a one year, $3 million deal as the backup. Dalton ended up starting 11 games and threw 14 touchdowns and 8 interceptions after he was forced into action after Dak suffered his season ending ankle injury. When the offseason first started, I thought that Dalton would be able to find a starting job somewhere else. However, as we sit here today I don’t see that happening and I think he’ll be spending another year at home in Dallas.