1) Dallas Cowboys
Additions: DE Dante Fowler Jr., WR James Washington
Subtractions: DE Randy Gregory, WR Amari Cooper, OT La’el Collins, G Connor Williams, WR Cedrick Wilson Jr.
FA: TE Blake Jarwin
This offseason has been one to forget for Jerry Jones and company.
After losing in the Wild Card round to the 49ers in what was ultimately a disappointing season for a team that had Super Bowl aspirations, the Cowboys found themselves in a brutal cap predicament heading into the league year.
As a result, Dallas had to cut La’el Collins, their 28-year-old starting right tackle for the better part of six seasons. They had to let Connor Williams, their 24-year-old starting left guard for the better part of four seasons, walk in free agency. Additionally, they dealt Amari Cooper, their 27-year-old leading wide receiver for the past 3.5 seasons, to the Browns for a 5th round pick and a 6th round pick swap.
In all, three quality starters from their offense are gone, not to mention breakout wide receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr. heading to the Dolphins in free agency. Perhaps the worst loss they suffered was Randy Gregory, who they seemingly had a five-year contract in place with before he spurned them for the Broncos.
With all of that being said, this is decisively the best team in the division. They have the best quarterback in Dak Prescott, the best assortment of weapons in Ezekiel Elliott, CeeDee Lamb, and Dalton Schultz, and are returning two All-Pro defenders in Micah Parsons and Trevon Diggs.
The gap between them and the rest of the division has surely shrunk, but no other team has made enough improvements to close the gap enough to put into question which roster is the best to this point in the offseason. The Cowboys likely won’t finish as the best offense in the league like they did last year, but this is still a team with enough talent to repeat in what is one of the weakest divisions in the league.