Cowboys 2021 free agency: With the compensatory pick deadline coming, free agent signings are slowing

The Dallas Cowboys front office knows that the more picks you have, the more draft capital you have to move up for a player. Or they can stay put and draft multiple players in an effort to find players that can contribute in a multitude of ways on the team. So their strategy has been pretty simple: sign their own players, sign free agent players that aren’t going to break the bank but are valued by the team. While they do this, they allow their own former players they believe will command more money to test the market, and if another teams signs them they know that some will bring compensatory picks next season as long as they stick to their plan.

Courtesy of Spotrac.com

The compensatory pick deadline is April 27, meaning they can sign anyone after that date and it won’t affect the compensatory formula. And if we look at what they’ve done so far this season, we could see possibly two compensatory picks coming back to the Cowboys in 2022 after losing Chidobe Awuzie to the Cincinnati Bengals and Andy Dalton to the Chicago Bears. Other players that left like Xavier Woods, Cameron Erving, and Joe Thomas have potentially been cancelled out after the Cowboys signed Tarrell Basham, Keanu Neal and Damontae Kazee.

Now that they’ve seemingly gone through their free agency process after signing tight end Jeremy Sprinkle and punter Bryan Anger, there are still two positions haven’t really addressed yet, linebacker and cornerback. It just so happens that the Cowboys have been linked to two veteran players at those positions, Richard Sherman and K.J. Wright. Both are former Dan Quinn standout players and while there have been rumors of contact between the Cowboys and Wright in the news, nothing has happened. Sherman has said he probably won’t sign until after the draft.

You have to wonder why the Cowboys, who know they need help at these positions, haven’t signed players that would immediately be able to come in and add talent to the roster, but also be on the field coaches that can help the younger players and Cowboys defenders learn Quinn’s defense.

It all seems to point to the Cowboys waiting until that April 27th deadline before they make a push to sign new players allowing them to protect their possible compensatory picks. There is also the draft, which could change their thinking on any potential free agent signing.

While they have gone out and signed other previous Quinn players, they were players coming off of injuries so they would going to be easier to sign and would be more cost effective, thereby keeping their opportunities for higher compensatory picks in 2022 mostly in tact. Wright and Sherman, on the other hand, are healthy but a little longer in the tooth in football years. They will be able to generate more money which is why teams may have either passed or are waiting to sign them after the compensatory pick deadline.