As free agency dawns, Dallas Cowboys have already made major upgrade with DC Dan Quinn
The legal tampering period for free agency begins Monday with the deals officially able to be consummated on Wednesday when the new NFL year begins in earnest.
The Dallas Cowboys may not be major players early on in free agency when the big money is doled out.
It’s not that they don’t have cash, as the Cowboys have $19.4 million in cap room. They simply would prefer not to overpay for free agents, which typically happens in the first week.
The Cowboys also believe they have already made an addition as big or bigger than anything they could do in free agency with the hiring of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in January.
He replace Mike Nolan, who was fired after directing one of the worst defenses in franchise history in terms of performance, implementation and design.
The Cowboys defense allowed a franchise-record 473 points in 2020 while finishing second in club history with 6,183 total yards allowed and 2,541 rushing yards allowed.
The Cowboys will look for personnel upgrades in free agency and the upcoming NFL Draft at cornerback, safety, linebacker and defensive tackles to improve the defense.
But the addition of Quinn addresses the scheme and coaching issues that played a huge role in the historically woeful performance on defense last year.
“We’ve already taken a major step with Dan Quinn,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “I think he’s going to be very special. When we did our diligence, figuring it out with coach [Mike] McCarthy and Jerry [Jones] and myself, what he would be like as a defensive coordinator, it was nothing but rave reviews. His players want to lay it on the line for him. They want to play hard for him.
“I think we’ve got a lot of great players on defense. There’s a lot to work with there, and I think he’s going to get it out of them. I think he’s going to put a system in where they can play hard and fast and confident in what they’re doing. And then if we go do our work in the offseason in terms of improving it, I think we’re going to check that box.”
Quinn was the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons the past six years. But in 2013 and 2014, he was the defensive coordinator with the Seattle Seahawks. His defense ranked first in the NFL in points and yards in both seasons and was the foundation of teams that made back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl.
Team owner Jerry Jones loves Quinn’s background. He said Quinn will be heavily involved in helping the Cowboys choose the players they want to add to the defense.
“Quinn, in my view, has some great skins on the wall,” Jerry Jones said. “We have a lot of tape, so to speak, if you were talking about a player. We’ve got really a lot of information to look at to decide how he fits us. He was absolutely perfect for us in this situation to come in here. He’ll be extraordinarily influential in how we put together our personnel on defense. I think he’s got that kind of credibility.”
For those reasons and more, linebacker Jaylon Smith is ready to get to work with his new coach and put the performance of the 2020 unit in distant memory.
“I’m excited to get after it, man,” Smith said of Quinn. “He’s a guy around the league that everyone loves, very energetic. He’s proven that he can win. And he’s going to get some guys that are locked in and ready to bounce back.”
