/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/63843209/usa_today_12003496.0.jpg)
It’s been just over four months since the 2018 Dallas Cowboys season ended at the hands of the Los Angeles Rams. On one hand it’s felt like forever since then and on the other hand these four months have somewhat flown by.
We’re kind of at the midpoint of the Cowboys offseason as approximately four months from now we’ll be in the 2019 season. No big deal. Just wait four more months!
In the spirit of looking back over what’s gone on over the last 150 or so days we decided it was time for some reflection. Which move that the team has made over the offseason made you the most pleased? Appropriately, here are four options.
Signing DeMarcus Lawrence to a long-term extension
The Cowboys waited longer than some would have liked but they ultimately landed their prized pass rusher to the richest deal in franchise history. That’s good.
There were some people who weren’t so thrilled about Lawrence getting all the money in the world, but conventional wisdom is that you pay the guy who has performed for you and that certainly describes Tank.
Dallas fortified the state of their defensive end group for the foreseeable future by locking down Lawrence. His presence on the outside is something that you simply cannot replicate which is why the Cowboys refused to even entertain the idea of letting him go.
It feels like this will be a lot of people’s choice.
Trading for Robert Quinn
Ensuring that Tank Lawrence would be around for a long time was hardly the only move that the Cowboys made at defensive end this offseason. They were initially met with a bit of a speed bump when Randy Gregory was suspended, but they quickly did an about face and found someone to replace him in Robert Quinn.
The Cowboys have been connected to Quinn in the past so seeing the two finally get together was more of a “finally!” sentiment for some people. There were definitely a few people who initially thought that his presence might mean Lawrence was in fact expendable, but the Cowboys decided that both was better than one.
Honestly this move is the one that has the potential to be the biggest difference-maker when we look back at this team a year from now. Establishing a legitimate threat on the opposite side of one of the NFL’s most-feared pass rushers certainly will never hurt.
Drafting Trysten Hill with their first pick
The Cowboys did not have a first-round selection thanks to trading it away for Amari Cooper, and it took forever for the 58th overall pick to finally arrive on the second day of the NFL Draft.
There was a lot of thought that Dallas would take a safety if the right one fell to them, and considering Juan Thornhill and Taylor Rapp were both on the board it made sense to do it. Like most years though the first Dallas pick was fairly telegraphed and they took the player who they’d been most-connected to... defensive tackle Trysten Hill out of UCF.
Hill’s selection is in a lot of ways about Rod Marinelli as Hill was his guy all along. This one is a bit more difficult to compare to the field given that we don’t know exactly who Hill will be in the NFL.
We can only hope.
NOT signing Earl Thomas in free agency
It’s been a minute since we’ve discussed Earl Thomas here at BTB, last year any time he moved was seemingly in a direction towards America’s Team.
Thomas was finally a free agent this offseason. If he and the Cowboys were ever going to be joined in holy football-mony it was seemingly going to be in 2019. That did not happen though as Thomas left for the Baltimore Ravens and the Cowboys settled for George Iloka.
Earl Thomas signed a four-year, $55M deal with the Ravens that has $32M of it guaranteed. That is a lot of money to give to a safety and while Thomas’ reputation is what it is, his age was a point of concern for a lot of people.
You have four options, BTB. Choose.
Poll
What has been your favorite move of the offseason for the Cowboys?
This poll is closed
-
28%
DeMarcus Lawrence’s long-term deal
-
37%
Trading for Robert Quinn
-
6%
Drafting Trysten Hill
-
27%
Not signing Earl Thomas to a 4-year, $55M deal