The NFL off-season continues to churn along towards the NFL Draft, the highlight of all football fans year outside of the actual season.  Cowboys’ fans are actually excited about it since the front-office has been pulling out some great drafts in recent years.  This year is going to be even more special thanks to bargain spending of Stephen Jones.

The Cowboys entered the off-season with multiple positions that needed to be addressed and with a lot of cap room, it seemed like they could be big players in free agency.  Yet, Cowboys VP and COO Stephen Jones doesn’t operate like that.  He is far different from his father in many ways.  While they do share the Arkansas twang in their voice, their styles are drastically different.  Jerry would be out here wheeling and dealing trying to make the one move to have everyone talking.  Stephen likes to keep it quiet and get the best deal possible.  Think of it as Jerry loves to shop as Versace and Stephen loves shopping at Ross.

Today, Stephen has the keys to the car and is going to Ross now and that’s how it’s going to work.  Instead of spending big, Stephen went out and addressed needs with second-tier players that were willing to come play on low one-year deals.  Guys like Kerry Hyder, Christian Covington, Randall Cobb, George Iloka and Robert Quinn are brought here to be stop gaps and fill in the holes of need for this team.

Now the team can focus on their draft board and take the best player available, which is how you should always try to draft.  When building a team, it is important to get the most talented and young players to be the foundation of your roster.  The problem arises when you have multiple holes and then are forced to reach for guys because they fill a need.  That is how a team’s decline starts, reaching for need rather than the talented player.

So while the Cowboys and Stephen Jones are in the wrong right now because of the Demarcus Lawrence contract negotiations and how contentious it has become, they are doing right with how to build this roster for the future.  Bring in cheap free agents and then focus on the best player available during the draft.  It’s how the best teams always stay relevant and why this Cowboys team continues to have a talented roster year after year in recent memory.  Now they just need to sign Tank Lawrence and they will get the cherry on top.