OUTBID: Cowboys Free Agency MISTAKE? Losing Nakobe Dean, Devin Lloyd | How Can DAL Save Offseason??

Summary

Locked On Cowboys Podcast - Episode Summary

Episode Title: OUTBID: Cowboys Free Agency MISTAKE? Losing Nakobe Dean, Devin Lloyd | How Can DAL Save Offseason??
Date: March 11, 2026
Hosts: Marcus Mosher & Landon McCool

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Episode Overview

This episode dives into the Dallas Cowboys' underwhelming results early in 2026 NFL free agency, focusing especially on their inability to address linebacker needs after being outbid for primary targets like Nakobe Dean and Devin Lloyd. The hosts discuss what went wrong, evaluate new roster additions, and debate strategies for salvaging the offseason through possible trades and draft picks. The tone alternates between concern and pragmatic optimism, reflecting frustration but noting the front office's at least increased aggressiveness compared to years past.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Cowboys Struck Out on Linebackers (03:10)

• Main Concern: Cowboys’ attempts to sign quality linebackers (Quay Walker, Nakobe Dean, Devin Lloyd) were unsuccessful—all outbid by other teams (notably the Raiders).
• Analysis:
  • Offers were competitive, especially for Dean, but players chose other destinations (often for more money or different situations).
  • Cowboys seem to have drawn a line at how far down their target list they’d go, choosing not to overpay for uninspiring options.
  • Likely pivot: Commit to the draft to address linebacker needs.
• Quote:
  • “At a certain point, if you didn’t get the several different targets you were looking at, there’s a point where you probably regroup and don’t just necessarily slide down to the next guy.” — Landon McCool, 03:10

2. State of the Linebacker Room (04:27)

• Current Depth: Only DeMarvion Overshown (in contract year), second-year Shamar James, and Justin Barron remain; no solid starters.
• Draft Pressure: Now nearly forced to draft a linebacker in Round 1, which reduces flexibility.
• Concern:
  • “You could almost lock in the Cowboys drafting a linebacker in round one because there’s just no way you can go into the season with this linebacker core.” — Marcus Mosher, 04:27
• Market Reality: Most starter-caliber free agents (like Bobby Wagner, Dre Greenlaw) are either well past their prime or have major injury risks.

3. Three Major Needs, Not Enough Picks (06:54)

• Needs: Linebacker, edge rusher, and cornerback are all glaring holes.
• Draft Capital: Only two picks inside the top 120, making it hard to address all three.
• Strategy: Hosts promote the idea of targeting at least one position via trade/free agency to avoid being boxed in at the draft.

4. Evaluation of Secondary & Defensive Depth (07:50)

• Secondary Worries:
  • Bland might not return to form after injury; only Ravel and a handful of question marks remain.
  • Need for another outside corner is urgent.
• Host Anxiety:
  • “Corner’s a spot that terrifies me, to be honest with you. ... Those are two injured guys that I feel like they desperately need one more outside corner.” — Marcus Mosher, 07:50
• Free Agency Dilemma: Because they missed on linebackers, they may now be forced to draft at both LB and corner, stretching resources dangerously thin.

5. Is Linebacker Actually a Priority? (09:37)

• League Trends: Some successful playoff defenses did so without elite linebackers (e.g., Robert Spillane, Ernest Jones).
• Relative Value: Easier to “get by” with average/below-average LBs than at other spots.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

“There’s a reason that [Sam Williams] keeps kind of being brought up... Felt like he was a breakout candidate... It just felt like he was never able to kind of put it together.” — Landon McCool on Sam Williams, 13:19

“I think it’s unfair to… I think it’s hard to know, right?... I feel like they didn’t make the big move that we were expecting. But it wasn’t because of lack of trying, which it had been in the past.” — Landon McCool on the overall free agency period, 25:07

“I didn’t expect the Raiders to go spend huge money on two linebackers. There’s just—some of the ways these things played out... It’s just, it’s unfortunate. But it doesn’t mean that it’s over.” — Landon McCool, 27:54

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Important Segments & Timestamps

03:10 — Analysis: Cowboys missing on linebacker targets, market dynamics, and strategy going forward.
04:27 — Cowboys’ linebacker depth chart realities, forced draft needs, options left in free agency are unappealing.
06:54 — Addressing three big needs (LB, edge, corner) with minimal draft resources; urgency for help before/during the draft.
07:50 — Deep dive into cornerback worries and potential draft/free agency strategies.
09:37 — How crucial is linebacker? Is it the spot to worry about, or can “average” suffice in today’s NFL?
13:19 — Breakdown and reasoning behind retaining Sam Williams (DE), potentially only as a camp body.
16:01 — Signing of safety PJ Locke: Familiar face for new coaches, likely a depth/rotational/special teams fit.
18:29 — Signing of Otito Ogbonnia (DT): A “space-eating” depth body, not a pass rusher, but can help in specialized situations.
23:26 — What’s left for the Cowboys in free agency; chances of adding real contributors or just depth at this point.
25:07 — Discussion: Did the Cowboys “fail” in free agency, or just get unlucky with the market? Evaluating effort vs. results.
27:42 — Continued discussion about overall team-building approach and worries about defensive depth.

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Defensive Free Agent Signings Recap

1. Sam Williams, DE (Retained)

• Contract: 1 year, $2.5M (only $1M guaranteed)
• Analysis: Super cheap, chance to prove himself with new position coaches/system. No roster lock (13:19–15:41).
• Quote:
  • "It's just a guy that's...going to be part of a rotation. He may not even make the final roster by the time we get to August." — Landon McCool, 15:30

2. PJ Locke, S (From Denver)

• Contract: 1 year, $5M (structure details TBD)
• Role: Depth/rotational safety, probably not a starter but can play multiple roles and special teams.
• Value: Smart pickup for a tight safety room; doesn't preclude drafting a safety in round 1 (16:01–17:46).
• Quote:
  • "He's played a lot of good football for Denver. Christian Parker has a lot of familiarity here. It just makes sense..." — Landon McCool, 16:01

3. Otito Ogbonnia ("Double O"), DT (From Chargers)

• Contract: 1 year, $3M ($1.5M guaranteed)
• Role: Rotational DT/nose tackle, space-eater, little pass rush; likely backup/situational fit (18:29–20:29).
• Quote:
  • "If you need a space eating nose tackle that can give you 15–20 snaps, I think he can do it at an adequate level." — Marcus Mosher, 19:23

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What’s Next? Remaining Free Agency & Draft Strategy (23:26+)

• No More Starters Expected: Unless via trade, most “impact” free agent signings are off the board.
• Possible Moves: Rotational pass rusher (7–10M price range), another CB, maybe low-end RB or TE for depth.
• Draft Is Now Pivotal: Must draft a LB, likely need to hit on secondary/edge picks just to be competitive in 2026.
• Assessment of Offseason So Far: More aggressive than usual but missed top targets. Defense improved at certain spots but not “overhauled” as hoped; significant risk remains due to shallow depth at key positions.

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Hosts’ Closing Thoughts

• Cowboys didn’t “fail” in terms of effort but fell victim to bad luck and tough market swings (notably Raiders’ spending spree on LBs).
• The urgency is on the front office to find trade targets or nail the draft—otherwise, the defense may still be below average.
• Fans shouldn’t panic yet, but roster construction is entering a crucial phase.

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Summary for the Uninitiated

If you missed the episode: The Cowboys were active but unlucky in free agency, losing top linebacker targets despite solid offers. They brought back edge rusher Sam Williams (cheaply), added versatile safety PJ Locke, and picked up run-stuffing tackle Otito Ogbonnia—but none is a lock to meaningfully raise the defense’s floor. With glaring holes at linebacker, corner, and edge, all eyes turn to trades (if possible) and a draft in which they’re almost forced to address those needs with few top picks. The mood is realistic but not wholly pessimistic: more work is ahead, and success now hinges on home-run draft picks or a creative trade.

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For further discussion and daily Cowboys coverage, join the Locked On Cowboys Discord and check back for tomorrow’s episode!

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Transcript

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[Marcus Moer]

of the Olympics and Paralympic Games, the Dallas Cowboys completely missed out on the linebacker market. We'll tell you what they do next. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network. Your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast, part of the Lockedon Podcast network. Your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network. I am your host, Marcus Moer. He is Landon McCool and on today's show we'll talk about the Cowboys making three defense almost said big defensive signings, but not really three defensive signings. On Tuesday we'll talk about what's next for them in free agency. But I want to start at the linebacker position because Landon, this is a spot that the Cowboys were clearly hunting players. They were interested in Quay Walker, that they ultimately got outbid by the Raiders. They were interested into Kobe Dean. They coincidentally enough got outbid by the Raiders. They were in on Devin Lloyd to a point. It sounds like they missed out on him And I thought for sure on Tuesday that they would go out and sign somebody, whether that's a Alice from Atlanta, whether that was a Leo Chanel from Kansas City. No, they done. All the linebackers have been signed. What's going on here?

[Landon McCool]

I think that they just missed out on the guys that they were interested in at this point. And, you know, they put in, you know, good offers, it feels like, to Nakobe Dean. I. I've. We've heard reports that they put in money offers for. For. For Devin Lloyd as well. And I. I think that they were sniffing around some other guys, but it just sounds like they got outbid on a couple different situations and. And I don't think they were even in on some of these other situations that maybe, you know, I guess they determined weren't necessarily worth the cost. So I don't. I think at a certain point, like, if you didn't kind of get the several different targets that you were looking at, there's a point where you probably regroup and don't just necessarily slide down to the next guy and. And reevaluate the process. I think at this point, they're probably going to pivot to trying to commit to getting a linebacker in. In the out of the draft, which, you know, isn't the worst idea, simply because you're probably guaranteed to get a very good one with one of those picks. But I. I think, you know, a lot of it. I don't think this was necessarily bad strategy. I think it was. There may have been some bad strategy. Maybe they could have offered a little bit more here or there. But I think overall this is mostly a case of bad luck, especially in the case of Nakobe Dean, where they offered more money and he decided to go to the Raiders anyways.

[Marcus Moer]

It's a bummer because you don't feel great about the linebacker core right now. You've got demarvi Noversion on last year of his contract. You've got a really green Shamar James, who I believe is only 21 years old, and that's kind of it. Like, I think Justin Barron is the only other linebacker on the roster. It's a really, really tough room. And I agree with you. Like, this is a really good linebacker class coming up. But you also don't want to be forced to draft somebody in round one because you've got a massive need. And unless they go out and, you know, trade for somebody, you could almost. You could almost lock in the Cowboys drafting a linebacker in round one because there's just no way you can go into the season with this linebacker core.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, and I, I don't think going into the season with this linebacker core is the plan. I think the plan is, is to regroup and see what's available. And you know, I would not be shocked if they do sign another linebacker. But maybe, I mean, obviously at this point the name kind of starter, guaranteed type linebackers, they're off the market for the most part or, or at least it doesn't seem like the Cowboys are necessarily interested in their services. So they need bodies here. So I wouldn't be, you know, they're going to sign probably some free agent linebacker. I wouldn't look for it to be the starter necessarily because I have to imagine that the plan at this point is probably to go into the draft and get one.

[Marcus Moer]

Well, let's just be honest. There's. There's no starters left on the market. I mean, you could, you could hope to bring in someone like Bobby Wagner who's pretty shot at this point. You could sign a Dre Greenlaw who's dealt with injuries. These are all guys that have massive, massive red flags that you don't want to be, I was say long term starters, but even really weekly starters for you. And I wouldn't be surprised if they do something like that. But yeah, it's going to have to be the draft and I think we'll talk about what's next for the Cowboys. But you have holes now at edge rusher, linebacker and corner. Right. Like those are the three big needs as we stand here recording nine o' clock here on the east coast on Tuesday. You only have two picks inside the top 120. Right. That's going to be really hard to fill those three needs. You can do it by trading down, but you also need a willing dance partner. That's why I would like to see them address one of those needs in free agency through a trade. So you don't have to be so tight with how you draft.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, I think with the work they've done in the defensive backfield, they don't have to get too much further here. Right. I think if they get one more kind of they could get one more slot defender, one more maybe an outside corner and they could feel probably pretty good. But I also feel like they could if they wanted to solve both of these issues in the draft with, you know, one of the first round picks. I think edge rusher is really interesting because, you know, that's also an area where you probably want to get a first Rounder. Right. Like, just because of the, the talent that you want that's infused with the, with the rotation of the guys that you have, you probably need more of a top end talent. So it does become a, like a, A difficult needle to thread. I think what you're going to end up doing is probably continue to spend a little bit at one of these spots in free agency to make yourself feel a little bit better about that opportunity and then just hope for the best when it comes when you get to the draft.

[Marcus Moer]

So, you know, corner's a spot that terrifies me, to be honest with you. Like, I, I could squint and see the edge rush room and be like, okay, I, you know, you can, you can. Oh, man, I hate to sound like Matt Eberflus. You can find ways to scheme pressure. I, I don't know what you're doing at corner because I, maybe I'm being too pessimistic here. I'm just under the assumption that Duron Bland might never be the same player after multiple foot surgeries. You've got Savon Ravel coming in off of a rough rookie year. Maybe he'll be healthier in year two. And that's really it that you have in the secondary. I mean, and that's. Those are two injured guys that I feel like they desperately need. One more outside corner that you even feel somewhat decent about.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And I think it's still possible. And it's. It's just. It's become a little bit more narrow because of the whole situation of not being able to get a linebacker in the way you wanted a free agency. I think it, it makes you. It's weird that that's the case, but you just kind of felt like if you could raise the floor enough at linebacker in free agency, you could feel good about, you know, if you needed to, going into the draft and maybe getting a combination of a corner and a defensive end in the first round. They still have some work to do to kind of make that, make one of those situations, you know, tolerable. And again, I think trade is still on the table here for linebacker or corner, so. So, you know, be on the lookout for that. So I just think that as it stands right now, they missed out in the linebacker market. It's unfortunate situation. I will say though, of the situations that you have to kind of find a way to cobble together a situation, linebacker is definitely the position to have it at. Just because there's. They're gonna have options. They may just may not be needle moving options necessarily.

[Marcus Moer]

And to be fair, you look at like the starting linebackers in the championship games this year, like Robert Spillane and Ernest Jones are probably the best two linebackers of the four remaining teams. Like honestly prob. But Drake Greenlaw was one of the ones that was starting. He got cut with a failed physical. I think he was a June 1 cut. Like you could have a really good defense without having top tier linebacker. So I agree with you there. I have just more concerns that you've got to figure out corner, you've got to figure out edge rusher. I I like the safeties in the strapped. I wouldn't completely ignore the safeties in round one either. But I almost wonder can you even afford to do that considering where the state of your roster is at? I don't know.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, we still got work to do, that's for sure. And like, and I think that's, that's what we still need to see is what's to be, what's to be focused on for the rest of the free agent period, which again can include trades. And then that's going to probably tell us what their, what their draft strategy is going to be.

[Marcus Moer]

Well, luckily it's not going to be the 1 trade from Pittsburgh that I was freaking out about. But that's okay. It's. We're fine. There's other linebackers out there that you can go out and get. Let's talk about what the Cowboys did on Tuesday, including three signings on the defensive side of the ball. We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by FanDuel. College basketball is non stop. Big games, tight spreads, momentum swings every single night. From early tip offs to late night west coast shootouts, there's always action on the board. And now FanDuel is giving you a way to turn that energy into an even bigger potential win with a college basketball parlay Profit boost. You can build any college parlay that you want with rivalry games, ranked matchups, whatever fits your read. Then you can mix totals, spreads, player props, whatever you want to see how the slate is going to play out. Then you apply the profit boost and instantly bump up the potential payout. So go safe. Go bold. Ride with the team that you've been following all season long. It's your parlay. It's your style now with more upside behind it. Head over to FanDuel.com to get started. That's FanDuel.com FanDuel play your game.

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Learn [e-mail] Sapphire Reserve cards issued by JP Morgan, Chase bank and a member FDIC subject to credit approval. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Free agency is officially here now that we're on the Wednesday. But we never stop. We're always talking free agency, we're always talking moves here in the Locked on Cowboys podcast, get one month free of the Everydayer club with promo code free agency, no spaces now through March 15th go ad free and keep this conversation going on discord. Join locked on cowboys.supercast.com all right, let's talk about some of the signings and I want to start with the guy that they actually retain. That's Sam Williams. One of the most shocking deals I saw all week, partially because I just thought for sure he wasn't coming back. It was, it was really rough, especially down the, you know, down the stretch. I thought Christian Parker would want to bring in his own guys, but he's back on a one year deal worth, I think two and a half million.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, again, very, very small money. Not super, a large commitment to anything like, you know, so this is a situation where you can bring him in and see if he has any better success with this new system playing. I mean, he's going to play outside limber. He's gonna be an edge guy. So a little bit different job description than what he's used to. And again, like I, we've talked about it before, there's something there. Like there's a reason that he keeps kind of being brought up and there's a reason that we, you know, over several course of several years felt like he was a breakout candidate, you know, going into each new year. And it just felt like he was never able to kind of put it together. And it does feel like it's about consistency and about technique, consistency. And so maybe a guy like Brandon Jackson can get in here and really work with Sam Williams and, and get him to use his hands a little more consistently. Because if you remember us talking about him last year, he just kind of would put his head down and burrow into guys a little bit, and it was just the same thing over and over again. He has the athleticism. He has the toughness and the strength. He's a playmaker. He's shown us that he makes plays for both sides of the ball. Oddly enough, if he can just play with a little bit better discipline and a little bit better technique and just consistent technique, that's a maturity thing. And if the Cowboys can tap into that, finally, maybe they can get a player out of this guy and do it for a really cheap price.

[Marcus Moer]

It's 1 million guaranteed. So this is nothing. You cannot complain about the deal at all.

[Landon McCool]

Right.

[Marcus Moer]

I think this is a signing to cover you until Donna Vanessa Raku gets back to training camp. Right. Because you just didn't have any edge rushers like you. You needed more bodies. He's got flaws. He can play on special teams if, you know, worse comes to worst. I don't think the biggest thing for me is this deal tells me that he is not a lock to make the roster at all. It's $1 million. You caught him. It's no big deal. They're giving him a shot to show that he can maybe be a better fit in this defense than he was under Matt Eber Floose, under Dan Quinn, and then under Mike Zimmer. We'll see. My expectations aren't all that high, but that's okay. You're paying him nothing.

[Landon McCool]

Exactly. You don't need to have a high. Any expectations for this guy. It's just a guy that's coming in and going to be part of a rotation. He may not even make the final roster by the time we get to the, you know, August.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, let's talk about the. The signing that a lot of people anticipated. That's PJ Lock, the safety from. I think it was at Texas before, now went to Denver. This is one that we kind of talked about before on the show. More of a depth player, rotational player. What do you think of the signing?

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I think it's. This is the kind of signings that we, you know, the Cowboys need on defense. Not, I mean, not, you know, for. To fix everything, but they need lots of these kind of guys who are borderline starters. Right. That aren't going to necessarily be the guy that get announced at the beginning of the game, but will play snaps for you throughout the game, you know, and probably throughout the season and on special teams. So this is a guy that's. That you know, he's played a lot of good football for Denver. Obviously Christian Parker has a lot of familiarity here. It just makes a lot of sense to kind of add a guy like this who can come in with, with the level of familiarity and again give you not starter level snaps necessarily, but you know, will come in and play on in some packages and, and won't get you beaten. Could be a plus player at times.

[Marcus Moer]

Yeah. And we should mention it was a reported. I always want to make sure we're clear here. One year five million dollar deal. We'll see what the actual numbers are because when you see 1 year 5 million, that kind of assumes that that guy is going to be like a starting safety or a, like the number three safety. I don't think that's necessarily the case. I wouldn't be surprised if he is, but I think this is a guy that they, they knew they liked. He played well in the playoff game. He actually had an interception on Josh Allen on an unbelievable play. He's played special teams. I think you're looking at somebody that's going to replace Wanye Thomas, who we actually haven't even talked about. Yeah, the Cowboys did not tender him, so they've got a need for more safeties. You know that Donovan Wilson's a free agent, Thomas is a free agent. But now that you have Hooker, you've got Jalen Thompson and you can bring in someone like PJ Lock. I think it just helps round out the room. But I don't think it takes you out of the safety market if you love Caleb Downs or Dylan Thieman or my guy Emmanuel McNeil Warren in round one. Yeah.

[Landon McCool]

Absolutely not. I mean, I think that's the thing about both of the safeties you signed is that they both were incredibly versatile. I think you laid it out earlier in the pod. We just played a bunch of different snaps at a punch, a bunch of different spots at slot down in the box and at free safety, both of them. So you can kind of, you know, pick and choose where you want to play them and move them around a little bit. And if you want to go out and get another safety, it's easy to kind of just shift the roles a little bit to accommodate that. So yeah, again, that's why I really like. I mean, you need versatile defensive backs in this system. So far the Cowboys have gotten two. That's going to be a real help to their system.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, you're going to have to help me with the last one here. The Cowboys signed the Chargers defensive tackle from ucla. Give it to me because you're better at pronunciations than I am.

[Landon McCool]

I think it's Otito Ogbonoi.

[Marcus Moer]

And from now on we are calling him Double O for the rest of the time. Although we already.

[Landon McCool]

Well, rumors, rumors. There's rumors that he may not be on the team for much longer, but we'll talk about.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, so tell us about Double O and how he fits into this defense.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean a guy played for the Chargers last year was kind of a part of a rotation, you know, a 6, 4, 3, 20 kind of guy. So he could play a little bit of nose for you if you need. But I think he could also play anywhere between at a 4i or, you know, if you needed him at 3, I think he could probably do that. But yeah, just another kind of depth piece, maybe a little bit of a bigger body. You know, maybe this is Toya insurance. Right. Because I don't think that you necessarily love what he saw from him.

[Marcus Moer]

This guy is way better than Joy J. Toya. He doesn't offer much. He doesn't offer anything as a pass rusher. I think he had three pressures last year. But I think if you need a space eating nose tackle that can give you 15, 20 snaps, I think he can do it at an adequate level.

[Landon McCool]

The odd thing to say out loud, and I can't believe I'm saying is that the Cowboys don't necessarily need any more pass rushes at defensive tackle. They've got plenty of those guys. They actually did the, you know, look, if you want to play a multiple front that will include sometimes where you're going to have a big nose who is doing some more kind of two gap like, you know, interesting stuff inside. So you need one of those body types on the, on the thing. And if you don't want to rely on Jay Toya to do that for you, this is the kind of signing that gives you that versatility that yeah, he could do the other stuff that we talked about, the four I, the zero that maybe is still one and a half gapping, but he can also, if you need to, in a pinch, you could put him in the zero. You could put him as a, as a one and he could two gap if you need him to. He can do a little bit of everything. So he gives you that versatility that you still needed along the defensive line.

[Marcus Moer]

It's not a game changing signing or anything. A 1 year 3 million is the same deal. I think they're paying him one and a half million guaranteed, not a lock to make the roster. But we, I, I remember talking a couple weeks ago, we thought maybe the Cowboys could use a more traditional nose tackle just in certain situations, right, where, you know, you want to have Quinn and Kenny split out a little bit. You want to give Kenny Clark a little bit of a rest. I think this guy can give you. I think he's like a snap eater, which is exactly what you want from a nose tackle. It's not going to get you killed, not going to give you pass rush. He can help you on short yardage. He can help you on goal line more than fine with it.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, you have more defensive tackles on the field potentially at once. You're going to need more bodies to back them up and rotate in and out for them. So you needed probably one more of these guys, and it's nice that they got a guy that's a little bit different body type than the the rest of them.

[Marcus Moer]

All right, let's, let's talk about what's next for the Cowboys in free agency. They did make some moves on Tuesday. I know it wasn't the most exciting thing in the world, but what can they accomplish on the official start of free agency? We'll get to that next. This episode is brought to you by Five Hour Energy. Welcome to the Five Hour Energy flavor draft. With 18 different flavors to choose from, including new options like Confetti, Craze, fruity rainbow or cotton candy. There's something for everyone. The board is set, the flavors are ready, and I've got my number one pick for the five Hour Energy Draft. I like all the flavors, but honestly, cherry has been my favorite. It's got this bold, like cherry candy style flavor. It's sweet with a little bit of a tart edge to it. It's got a bright and punchy taste, but clean and it has a slightly tangy finish. I absolutely love it. It's unbelievable. Five Hour Energy shots give you a boost with zero sugar. And five Hour Energy has a lot of upcoming flavor innovations planned. So go check them out. Find your new favorite flavor of five hour energy shots available online at 5hourenergy.com or on Amazon. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter? Right? And the best part?

[Landon McCool]

They accept Discover.

[Marcus Moer]

Except Discover in a little place like this. I don't think so. Jennifer.

[Landon McCool]

Oh yeah.

[Marcus Moer]

Huh? Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby. Get with the times. Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants. These are making a comeback. I think. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit Cards nationwide, based on the February 2025 Nielsen report. Welcome back to the Lockdown Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen every single day. Landon, we're going into the first official day of free agency. What do you think the Cowboys can do? What do you think they will do the rest of the way?

[Landon McCool]

What they will do is unpredictable at this point, especially with the way that the, this whole thing has gone down. What they can do is they can still kind of get a couple more of these pieces. I do think that, you know, going to get a starting linebacker is probably out unless you're going through a trade situation, right? But I still think you can go get another rotational pass rusher, another guy to add into the pass rusher maybe. I don't know what the price that they'll be looking at, but there's still some guys that are kind of in that 7 to 10 million dollar range potentially that if you wanted to kind of get a third body just to feel better. But overall about the pass rush, I think those guys are still available. I think corner is obviously, like you mentioned, a spot that they'll potentially look at a little bit. I wouldn't be shocked if they added a free agent tight end at some point just because they need bodies at the spot from what looks like. And running back is this position that I think if they decide to maybe get one more veteran guy, a cheaper deal, right, Real cheap to kind of go in and maybe have some competition, I wouldn't be shocked if they did that. But they may wait on, on going into the draft for that situation and see if they come out with, with the running back there.

[Marcus Moer]

Let me ask you this because for the most part free agency is over like it really is. There are going to be a couple guys that get signed, but they're probably going to be more the, the variety of like Sam Williams and PJ Lock, like lower, you know, lower end of the roster compete for a role and that's fine. Those guys have value. But if this is what the Cowboys have done in free agency, trading for Rashan Gary, signing Jalen Thompson and picking up some players like this, do you think it's been a successful free agent period for them?

[Landon McCool]

I think it's unfair to. I think it's hard to know, right? Like it's, I'm saying if this is

[Marcus Moer]

it, outside of a couple other little moves, like let's say there's no other big move happening and this is kind of it, how do you feel about it?

[Landon McCool]

I feel like they didn't make the big move that we were expecting. But I also think that it wasn't because of a lack of trying, which it had been in the, in the past. So I think that it turned out not what we had hoped for. But I, I, it's hard for me to get upset about, about some of these situations because I feel like they did make serious efforts along some of these headways and then a bunch of weird stuff happened. So I, I, I, I think it, it's, it's definitely not the big, you know, resounding fireworks that we were hoping, but at the same time, they did spend way more than they normally would. They got more free agents, and I think they will continue to add a couple more bodies. And, and I think, you know, everyone's kind of pointing to the busting the budget, you know, line over and over again.

[Marcus Moer]

I just stopped listening to Jerry. It's like, just stop.

[Landon McCool]

Well, there's that, obviously, but also, you know, to be honest, like, the budget is about what your self, you know, imposed amount of money that you want to spend on a particular thing is. And the Cowboys have spent, I would say, outside of their normal free agent budget. They have used the money to go get. It just hasn't been on one or two specific players. It's been on us on a variety of guys, and I think they're going to add a couple more folks. So I think that instead of, you know, going for the big hits, they hit a lot of singles and doubles and, and I think that that's not so sexy. And I think it's also hard to kind of gauge what that kind of collectively adds up to until you see it paired with what they end up getting with in the draft and adding beyond just now.

[Marcus Moer]

I guess my, you're not wrong, but I, my thing is we've been talking like they need five to seven starters on defense and really probably seven to eight contributors. We're just at the point in free agency where there's not very many starters left and maybe they poke around the edges and they find a couple. I think the defense is better than it was at points last year, but I'm not sure that it's good enough to be relevant. And I know the draft is coming and again, I get it, but they're, they have to nail those picks and I still wonder if they lack the depth at linebacker and edge, rusher and corner because they're, I mean, let's be honest, they're really shallow at a couple spots. That's My concern here.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah, I mean, look, they weren't going like we probably should feel that way even if they had signed Trey Hendrickson or Devin Lloyd. Right. You know what I'm saying?

[Marcus Moer]

100.

[Landon McCool]

Like, I, I, I think that, I don't know that, I don't know that I'm coming out of this situation feeling like Dallas screwed up free agency. I know. I think their hand, that it wasn't what they wanted or what everyone was hoping for, but I think it was more of a case of the market played the way it did. Right. Like, I didn't expect the Raiders to go spend huge money on two linebackers. Right. I, I, you know, there's just, there's some of these ways these things played out. It's just, it's unfortunate. It's, but it doesn't mean that it's like it's over that we know. It's just, it's just they have to go other routes.

[Marcus Moer]

I didn't expect the Cowboys to be the biggest spenders in free agency. That's foolish. But I did think they were going to overhaul their defense a little more than what they've had I've done so far. Again, free agency is not over. They can make some trades. The draft is coming up. I'm saying even with the draft picks, assuming that they hit on both those guys, I would still have some major concerns about this defense even being average. They've got time. We'll see what they do.

[Landon McCool]

Yeah. And again, I think, you know, they also have some players that I think will play better in the system that they're playing playing in. So, you know, there's, like I said, this was always going to be about a collective raising by, by, you know, pulling levers across several different areas. Do I think that they still need to do some work in free agency? Yes, I do. Did they get as much done as we hoped they would in free agency towards that goal? Maybe not. But that doesn't mean that they're that we're out of time necessarily.

[Marcus Moer]

That is it for today's show. If you never miss an episode. The everyday or club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only, discord access and so much more. Head over to locked on cowboys supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel. And on audio, make your second listen the Locked on NFL Draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter @McCool BCB I'm @Marcus Underscore Moser and we'll see you guys right back here tomorrow. Foreign.

[Landon McCool]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Landon McCool]

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[Marcus Moer]

Hey everyone, this is Ross Jackson, one

[Landon McCool]

of the hosts of the Locked On Podcast network. If your group chat's been a little quiet lately, I want to invite you to come and join ours. If you sign up for the Everydayer Club, you get access to the members only group chats for your first favorite teams, plus national chats for every sport. Personally, I love watching folks talk a little smack in the NFC South Trash talk chat. You also get an ad free version of your favorite Locked on show and a whole lot more. You can check it out by tapping the Everydayer Club link in the show notes.