One of the concepts I kept hearing and reading about during draft season was “building through the draft”; how important it is, how it’s the key to success in the NFL, how dynasties are built off it and so on.
Is ‘building through the draft’ still a relevant concept today, or is it more or less a relic from pre-free-agency days? Also, what exactly is the alternative to building through the draft?
Building through free agency?
Bill Jones of CBS Sports Dallas keeps a running tally of the Cowboys’ offseason moves, and he’s showing 14 players that were acquired by the Cowboys from other teams, either via free agency or via trade, which feels almost like a record haul for the Cowboys, who have traditionally been averse to spending money in free agency. But not all of those 14 players will be franchise-defining players, just making the team will be a high hurdle for some of them.
To solve the issue about the composition of the team, I looked at the 15 most expensive players on the 2026 Cowboys roster to see how many of the top players joined the Cowboys via free agency or via trade after playing for another NFL team. The metric used is the cash value the team spends on each player to rank the top 15 players because it best represents the team’s investment in each player. Cap hit is just an accounting number that’s easy to manipulate, and average annual contract value often exaggerates the value of a player because it can contain extra or void years that will never be paid out.
Surprisingly, especially given the Cowboys’ relative “signing spree” this offseason, the Cowboys have just six players in their top 15 that arrived in Dallas via trade of free agency.
Here’s an overview of 2026 and an overview of how those numbers have evolved since 2023:
2023
2024
2025
2026
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Dak Prescott
QB
31.0
Dak Prescott
QB
87.8
Dak Prescott
QB
47.8
Dak Prescott
QB
40.0
Trevon Diggs
CB
21.1
CeeDee Lamb
WR
39.2
CeeDee Lamb
WR
27.7
George Pickens
WR
27.3
Zack Martin
G
18.9
Zack Martin
G
18.0
DaRon Bland
CB
23.4
CeeDee Lamb
WR
26.0
Terence Steele
RT
16.3
Trevon Diggs
CB
12.0
Osa Odighizuwa
DL
22.3
Tyler Smith
G
24.2
DeMarcus Lawrence
DL
15.0
DeMarcus Lawrence
ED
10.0
Tyler Smith
G
17.6
Quinnen Williams
DL
21.8
Brandin Cooks
WR
12.0
Brandin Cooks
WR
8.0
Terence Steele
RT
14.0
Kenny Clark
DL
21.5
Michael Gallup
WR
11.4
Terence Steele
RT
8.0
Tyler Booker
G
13.9
Caleb Downs
S
18.4
Stephon Gilmore
CB
11.0
Tyler Guyton
LT
7.2
Jake Ferguson
TE
13.4
Rashan Gary
ED
16.0
Tony Pollard
RB
10.1
Donovan Wilson
S
6.3
Quinnen Williams
DL
8.3
DaRon Bland
CB
13.0
Malik Hooker
FS
9.7
Trey Lance
QB
5.3
Kenneth Murray
LB
7.5
Terence Steele
RT
13.0
Donovan Wilson
S
8.2
Eric Kendricks
LB
3.4
Donovan Wilson
S
6.9
Jalen Thompson
S
12.5
Mazi Smith
DL
7.4
Osa Odighizuwa
DL
3.1
Dante Fowler Jr.
ED
6.0
Malachi Lawrence
DE
12.1
Tyron Smith
LT
7.3
Bryan Anger
P
3.0
Malik Hooker
S
5.7
Brandon Aubrey
K
10.0
Dorance Armstrong
DL
5.5
Micah Parsons
ED
3.0
Kavontae Turpin
WR
5.5
Javonte Williams
RB
8.8
Jourdan Lewis
CB
5.0
Jourdan Lewis
CB
2.8
Donovan Ezeiruaku
ED
4.9
Jake Ferguson
TE
8.0
Total Cash
189.7
217.1
224.7
272.5
Via FA/Trade
3
4
4
6
The Cowboys have long considered themselves a draft-and-develop or build-from-within team, and the numbers from 2023 to 2025 seem to bear that out. And this was possible because the Cowboys drafted fairly well in the prior years and could therefore limit their acquisition of external players (at least the expensive kind). But a spotty draft performance since 2023 may have forced their hand in 2026.
Mazi Smith (1st, ’23) and Trysten Hill (2nd, ‘19) should have been the answer at DT.Two second-round pass rushers (Marshawn Kneeland (RIP), ‘24, and Sam Williams, ‘22) should have been the answer at DE.Marist Liufau (3rd, ‘24) and Shemar James (5th, ‘25) should have been the answer at linebacker – and still might be, though the odds are getting longer and longer.
In fairness though, an increase from four to six external guys doesn’t seem that big of a deal. But are six players a high or a low number relative to the rest of the NFL? To find out, I repeated the exercise for the three other NFC East teams to get a feel for how they compare to the Cowboys.
Giants
Eagles
Commanders
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Arvell Reese
LB
32.1
Jalen Hurts
QB
51.5
Laremy Tunsil
LT
34.4
Brian Burns
ED
25.6
A.J. Brown
WR
29.0
Odafe Oweh
ED
30.0
Francis Mauigoa
T
19.9
Jonathan Greenard
ED
25.2
Sonny Styles
LB
24.4
Paulson Adebo
CB
18.0
Lane Johnson
RT
23.0
Daron Payne
DL
22.4
Andrew Thomas
LT
17.4
Jordan Davis
DL
20.5
Samuel Cosmi
G
16.5
Kayvon Thibodeaux
ED
14.8
Zack Baun
LB
17.0
Terry McLaurin
WR
14.3
Isaiah Likely
TE
14.5
Saquon Barkley
RB
16.8
Javon Kinlaw
DL
12.9
Jermaine Eluemunor
RT
14.0
Landon Dickerson
G
15.5
K’Lavon Chaisson
LB
11.0
Jevon Holland
S
13.5
DeVonta Smith
WR
14.0
Chig Okonkwo
TE
10.0
Darius Slayton
WR
13.0
Cam Jurgens
C
13.3
Dorance Armstrong
ED
9.4
Tremaine Edmunds
LB
13.0
Jordan Mailata
LT
13.0
Frankie Luvu
LB
9.0
Jon Runyan
G
9.3
Makai Lemon
WR
12.5
Leo Chenal
LB
8.8
Greg Newsome
CB
8.0
Tariq Woolen
CB
12.0
Amik Robertson
CB
8.0
Colton Hood
CB
6.7
Dallas Goedert
TE
7.0
Tim Settle
DL
7.9
Chauncey Golston
ED
5.5
Dontayvion Wicks
WR
7.0
Marcus Mariota
QB
7.0
Total Cash
225.1
277.2
225.8
Via FA/Trade
10
6
11
The Eagles have a similar roster structure to the Cowboys with six players added via FA/trade in the Top 15, while the Giants (10) and Commanders (11), whether by choice or by chance, have both built rosters that rely heavily on external player acquisition. This can be a viable option of course, as it doesn’t say anywhere in the NFL rule book that you have to build through the draft.
In fact, when we look at the last two Super Bowl participants, they both share a similar, free-agent heavy roster, each with a double-digit number of players acquired externally.
Seahawks
Patriots
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Charles Cross
LT
43.1
Milton Williams
DL
23.0
Jaxon Smith-Njigba
WR
36.5
Romeo Doubs
WR
20.3
Sam Darnold
QB
27.5
Mike Onwenu
G
17.5
Rashid Shaheed
WR
23.0
Carlton Davis
CB
14.5
Leonard Williams
DL
16.7
Dre’Mont Jones
ED
14.5
Cooper Kupp
WR
13.5
Alijah Vera-Tucker
G
14.0
Uchenna Nwosu
ED
11.5
Christian Barmore
DL
13.5
Jadarian Price
RB
9.6
Harold Landry
ED
12.5
DeMarcus Lawrence
ED
9.5
Caleb Lomu
OT
11.1
Josh Jobe
CB
9.5
Robert Spillane
LB
9.5
Julian Love
S
9.0
Hunter Henry
TE
8.5
Ernest Jones
LB
8.8
Morgan Moses
RT
7.5
Abraham Lucas
RT
7.6
Christian Elliss
LB
7.4
Jarran Reed
DL
6.0
Kevin Byard
S
7.0
Jason Myers
K
5.4
Julian Hill
TE
6.5
Total Cash
237.0
187.3
Via FA/Trade
11
12
As Cowboys fans, we are naturally inclined to say that whatever the Cowboys are doing is the best, and certainly better than whatever it is the Giants or Commanders are doing. But that may be a little shortsighted in this case.
Even with the constraints of the salary cap, it is possible to build a team entirely out of free agents, and there’s no reason to think adding free agents to your team is a bad thing.
An often mentioned downside to this approach is that free agent acquisitions share one defining characteristic: their old team did not want to re-sign them, at least not for the price the player demanded. But that didn’t stop the Seahawks and Patriots from making the Super Bowl and may just be one lazy argument that’s been bandied around since the introduction of the salary cap and hasn’t gotten any better over that time.
There are teams that have a reputation for building through the draft. The Packers have built an entire franchise mythology around retaining their own players, and historically didn’t bring in a lot of outside players. Former Packers GM Ron Wolf explained this back in 2015:
“In the long run,” Wolf said, “it’s better to keep your own players. So I guess you could say that, in my opinion, it’s better to build through the draft. When I was here [in Green Bay], I used trades and the waiver wire quite a bit. Once we kind of got it settled, we did everything in our power to keep our own.”
For the Packers, that approach has gone the way of the horse-cart, Pac-Man, and the former Soviet Union, just as it has for the Patriots (see above) who were also once considered a build-through-the-draft team, but that was when Betamax-aficionado Bill Bellichick was still in charge of things in New England. The Ravens under Ozzie Newsome were also long considered a build-from-within team, but Newsome’s last year as GM in Baltimore was in 2018. Here’s what the Packers and Ravens look like in 2026:
Packers
Ravens
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Jordan Love
QB
51.0
Lamar Jackson
QB
52.0
Micah Parsons
ED
40.8
Trey Hendrickson
ED
31.0
Jayden Reed
WR
21.2
Nnamdi Madubuike
DL
22.0
Aaron Banks
G
18.1
Ronnie Stanley
LT
22.0
Sean Rhyan
G
14.0
Kyle Hamilton
S
20.0
Xavier McKinney
S
13.4
Roquan Smith
LB
20.0
Javon Hargrave
DL
13.0
Marlon Humphrey
CB
19.3
Devonte Wyatt
DL
12.9
Olaivavega Ioane
G
15.0
Josh Jacobs
RB
11.5
John Simpson
G
12.0
Zaire Franklin
LB
9.0
Derrick Henry
RB
11.0
Zach Tom
RT
6.1
Mark Andrews
TE
10.6
Christian Watson
WR
5.8
Travis Jones
DL
7.5
Keisean Nixon
CB
5.0
Rashod Bateman
WR
6.5
Benjamin St-Juste
CB
4.8
Zion Young
ED
5.5
Brandon Cisse
CB
4.2
Chidobe Awuzie
CB
5.0
Total Cash
230.7
259.3
Via FA/Trade
8
5
Like the Cowboys (6) and Eagles (6), the Ravens (5) seem to have drafted well enough to not have to go to the free agent market for help, while the Packers have gone with the times and went heavier on free agents/trades.
Which raises the question of whether only teams that draft well can afford a hands-off approach to free agency.
Last year, Nick Baumgardner of The Athletic ranked the best-drafting teams of the previous five years. His top five all have a relatively low number of players added via FA or trade:
Lions (4)Chiefs (5)Ravens (5)Buccaneers (5)Cowboys (6)
Here are the Lions, Chiefs, and Buccaneers tables:
Lions
Chiefs
Buccaneers
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Player
POS
Cash
Jared Goff
QB
55.0
Patrick Mahomes
QB
56.8
Baker Mayfield
QB
27.0
Aidan Hutchinson
ED
29.9
Chris Jones
DL
35.1
Tristan Wirfs
LT
26.0
Amon-Ra St. Brown
WR
28.1
Mansoor Delane
CB
27.8
Chris Godwin
WR
22.0
Alim McNeill
DL
24.0
Trey Smith
G
20.0
Luke Goedeke
RT
22.0
Penei Sewell
RT
20.0
Nick Bolton
LB
15.0
Antoine Winfield Jr.
S
19.5
D.J. Reed
CB
15.0
Jaylon Moore
RT
15.0
Vita Vea
DL
18.0
Jameson Williams
WR
13.5
Creed Humphrey
C
14.5
Rueben Bain Jr.
ED
14.6
Blake Miller
T
13.3
Kenneth Walker III
RB
14.4
Zyon McCollum
CB
14.6
Kerby Joseph
S
11.5
Travis Kelce
TE
12.0
A’Shawn Robinson
DL
10.0
Derrick Barnes
LB
8.0
George Karlaftis
ED
11.2
Cade Otton
TE
10.0
Cade Mays
C
8.0
Peter Woods
DT
10.4
Alex Anzalone
ED
9.0
Sam LaPorta
TE
5.8
Kristian Fulton
CB
10.0
Ben Bredeson
G
7.5
Brian Branch
S
5.8
Alohi Gilman
S
7.5
Kenneth Gainwell
RB
7.0
Derrick Moore
ED
5.7
Khyiris Tonga
DL
7.0
Josiah Trotter
LB
5.3
Larry Borom
RT
5.0
R Mason Thomas
ED
6.2
Anthony Nelson
ED
4.5
Total Cash
248.4
262.8
217.0
Via FA/Trade
4
5
5
The (admittedly limited) data here suggests that when you succeed in drafting talent, you can focus on re-signing your own talent and you can then use free agency to improve the depth across your roster. By sheer force of numbers, the draft remains the main source of new (and cheap!) player material.
However, that does not denigrate or even invalidate free agency as a valid roster-building tool. In fact, the discussion should probably not be about either drafting or free agency, but about the best way to combine both.
Get it right in the draft and you have a leg up on your competitors. Get it right in free agency as well and you may have a championship-caliber team.
Also, because questions are going to pop up, here are last year’s playoff participants and their number of FA/trade acquisitions.
Seed
AFC
NFC
1
DEN (8)
SEA (11)
2
NE (12)
CHI (10)
3
JAC (9)
PHI (6)
4
PIT (9)
CAR (9)
5
HOU (9)
LAR (12)
6
BUF (4)
SF (7)
7
LAC (9)
GB (8)