After watching the Dallas Cowboys throughout the Jason Garrett tenure it is easy to get the feeling that we have seen something similar to the revamping of the defensive secondary once before. The way the front office is treating the defensive back situation is remarkably similar to how they treated the youth movement on the offensive line.
To steal a phrase from the late Yogi Berra “It is like deja vu all over again”.
Fans remember the team jettisoning the large contracts of aging and/or underperforming lineman in favor of younger athletes. In addition to being younger and less costly the Cowboys also hoped that they would be higher performing as well.
With the secondary having been a position of concern for several seasons it is reasonable to want to upgrade. The offense is set which will allow the team to focus on the defense in the draft. It is, coincidentally, a deep draft for the team to focus in that direction.
It will not be a one-year fix. The offensive line took a few seasons to build as well, but it did get to the point to where it is dominant. Look for the same with the secondary. Rome was not built in a day, but the foundation has been set. Byron Jones was the first piece. Dallas will look to add a long-term solution or two in this draft. The goal at this point is improvement.
Dallas will continue to build the secondary going forward. Garrett has sold the Jones family on the process. His offense is built and now he has turned to the defense. High dollar players and those who are not meeting the level that the team wants have been allowed to move on. The team is now looking for better players and better value through the draft.
The blueprint is similar to how the offense was built. It is still a process. There will be a learning curve, but if things follow the plan it will not be long before the Cowboys have a secondary to match their offensive line.