Nick: Well, I don’t think the Cowboys have changed their philosophy of building through the draft. They’re still with that mindset that you draft and develop and try to re-sign their own, young players, rather than overpay for free agents with other teams.
But I think the change we’ve seen is that other teams, particularly the Rams, are winning with that style of play. And Jerry Jones definitely noticed, as he pointed out in the opening press conference of training camp. Yes, it’s always been a “copycat” league so in recent years, when teams are finding Super Bowl success from the hired guns of free agency, everyone has to take notice.
The Cowboys see that and this year, they’ve done something about it. But it’s also easier to change your stance somewhat when you put out one of the worst defenses in NFL history. There’s no way any team could come back the next year and not try to flip the script.
So all that said, the Cowboys have definitely shown more aggression this year. I think knowing the offense was pretty good but the defense needed so much work, it forced the Cowboys to be more active because they couldn’t just rely on the draft alone to fix it in one year.