Why the 2020 NFL draft is so critical for the Dallas Cowboys’ return to relevancy
While we’re on the cusp of the NFL draft, it is critical to re-emphasize the importance of drafting well in the salary cap era.
And it’s especially key for the Dallas Cowboys, who already have committed a great majority of the salary-cap pie to eight players.
Tackles La’el Collins and Tyron Smith, guard Zack Martin, running back Ezekiel Elliott, receiver Amari Cooper, linebacker Jaylon Smith, defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence are on their second or third contracts and among the highest-paid players at their respective positions.
Quarterback Dak Prescott is currently on the franchise tag of roughly $28 million, and even though that would be a one-year deal, that salary would give him the team’s highest figure against the cap. And the long-awaited, long-term deal that could make him one of the NFL’s highest-paid players ever is still on the way.
With this type of business structure, there is only so much money to go around and it means that the Cowboys must supplement its roster with young, inexpensive players and bargain-basement free agents.
It’s the reason the Cowboys let cornerback Byron Jones, defensive end Robert Quinn and receiver Randall Cobb walk in free agency following big money offers from other teams around the league.
And it’s the reason the Cowboys must draft well to keep a competitive roster around their high-priced stars.
The 2020 draft will be a new frontier for the Cowboys, with the team looking for players to fit the offensive and defensive schemes of new head coach Mike McCarthy.
That the majority of cap money is tied up in players who were original picks of the Cowboys speaks well of the team’s overall knack of drafting well. But that fact only makes it more paramount for them to be even better than they have been in more recent years.
A quick review of the last five drafts, which should be the foundation of the 2020 Cowboys, reveals that only eight of their 44 picks are certain to be starters heading into the season. Of the remaining 36 picks, 14 are backups with the team, while 10 are on other teams and 12 are out of the league.
And that includes none from the 2015 class, whose biggest success story is Jones, the former first-round pick who has taken his talents to South Beach to become the richest cornerback in NFL history.
Only the suspended defensive end Randy Gregory, picked in the second round, has a chance to salvage a future with the Cowboys. But he has been the draft’s biggest disappointment, playing in just 14 games since 2016 due to multiple NFL suspensions.
The Cowboys’ best draft came in 2016 when Elliott, Prescott and Smith were the headliners in what is arguably one of the best draft classes in franchise history.
Prescott, a fourth-round selection who went on to start every game over the last four years and is being offered the richest contract in NFL history as the team’s franchise quarterback, is easily the best pick of the era.
Elliott, picked fourth overall, has lived up to all expectations with two rushing titles and the most yards of any back since 2016. Smith was a second-round gamble on an injured player who paid dividends with a trip to the Pro Bowl following the 2019 season.
The 2017 draft featured the biggest disappointment in first-round pick Taco Charlton, who had four sacks in two seasons with Cowboys before being traded to the Miami Dolphins two games into the 2019 campaign.
Charlton was a bad pick from the beginning. The Cowboys bypassed better players because they felt he was a better fit for their scheme, however, his attitude never meshed with the coaching staff and his production was minimal.
The other 2017 draftees — cornerbacks Chido Awuzie (second round) and Jordan Lewis (third round) and safety Xavier Woods (sixth round) — are the only players left from that class with defined roles, and they may find themselves ousted after the 2020 season. All are in the final year of their contracts and none are guaranteed to get extensions beyond the season without much-improved play.
Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch remains the star of the 2018 draft after leading the team in tackles and making the Pro Bowl as a rookie. However, there is concern about the former first-round pick’s future due to a congenital spine injury that forced him miss seven games in 2019 and undergo offseason neck surgery.
Connor Williams, the Cowboys’ second-round pick in 2018, has started at left guard for the majority of the past two seasons though his play has been inconsistent.
Receiver Michael Gallup has been the biggest surprise since coming in as a relatively unknown third-round pick from Colorado State. After notching 33 catches for 507 yards and two touchdowns as a rookie, he broke out with 66 catches for 1,107 yards and six touchdowns in 2019 and ended the season as the team’s most reliable target.
While any grading for the 2019 class is still incomplete, the first glance leaves a lot to be desired. Defensive tackle Trysten Hill was the team’s top pick at No. 58 overall in the second round after the Cowboys traded their first-round selection to the Oakland Raiders for Cooper. Hill has played in just seven games and registered five tackles. Third-round pick Connor McGovern (guard) missed his entire rookie season due to injuries.
And while fourth-round pick Tony Pollard has played in every game as primarily a backup to Elliott, he didn’t have as many splash plays in spot duty in the passing game or as a return man. As of now, no one else from the 2019 class is being counted on to make an impact.
The bottom line is that the Cowboys must draft well given the way their contracts are structured. And they must draft better than they have as of late if they intend to return to the role of being a contender in the NFL.
Dallas Cowboys 5-Year Draft Breakdown
2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
TOTAL PICKS 9 9 9 9 8
STARTERS 0 3 2 3 0
BACKUPS 0 2 2 4 6
OTHER TEAMS 2 2 3 2 2
OUT OF LEAGUE 7 2 2 0 0
This story was originally published April 20, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
