2024 was “The Season of Stale” in Cowboys Land. Not only did Dallas allow the vast majority of their internal free agents to depart unopposed, but the Cowboys turned up their noses at virtually every noteworthy outside option as well.

Citing fiscal restraints as the reason, the Cowboys chose to fill their ever-growing list of needs with rookies and supposedly-opportunistic post-draft bargain finds. The results were rather predictable, with the Cowboys entering the season with enormous talent deficiencies at both ends of their once-impressive depth chart.

The front office’s offseason inactivity was explained by Stephen Jones as a necessary step in order to afford high-cost re-signings like Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb. Publicly available contract numbers begged to differ, showing multiple avenues to free up spending cash without resulting in crippling damage down the road.

Alas, the front office stood strong and fielded a roster worthy of their efforts. With the Cowboys 5-8 and on track for their first losing season since 2020, there was hope the front office had learned their lesson, that fans have weathered the storm, and better days are ahead in the coming offseason. Based on recent statements from Jones, those hopes appear to be misplaced.

“I think we knew we were going to have a challenge this year and next year,” Jones said of his ability to spend. “It’s going to be really, really tight because we still have some money left over from some guys who aren’t here today. And you’re going to have some other guys that won’t be here in the future that you still have their cap count.”

The dead money Jones alludes to is certainly a concern. According to Over the Cap the Cowboys have $27,323,246 in dead money this season. It’s a noteworthy amount but by no means a number other teams haven’t dealt will. Based on a November report there are 26 teams with more dead money than Dallas. It’s not exactly the albatross Jones is making it out to be.

Even if the Cowboys cut players like Terence Steele in 2025 and take on the dead money ramifications as a result, they’ll be in far better shape than the majority of the NFL. Simple adjustments to veteran contracts and a new contract to Micah Parsons could easily free up north of $100 million over the offseason. It would allow the Cowboys to properly build a roster around Dallas’ most talented players and do so without pushing too much money into the future.

Of course, the front office would have to want to spend that money for this to be a reasonable option for them and based on past behavior and recent statements, there is no indication they want to spend money.

The Cowboys are once again the most valuable franchise in all of professional sports so it’s understandable they

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