Cowboys learning value of OL through free agency trends

[DrRage]

The Cowboys aren’t exactly lighting the world on fire with their free agent signings this offseason. While other teams are retaining and adding players left and right, the Cowboys are content just signing their long snapper for another season. Tyler Sieg news aside, the opening days of free agency are notoriously quiet for the Cowboys. The Dallas front office prefers to observe and assess. Bargains happen later in the process and the Cowboys are always hunting bargains. But just because the Cowboys are sitting this process out, doesn’t mean good information can’t be gleaned from free agency’s goings-on. The market is speaking and it’s instructing Dallas what sorts of investments can be made in free agency and what investments are better made in the draft. Tej Seth at Sumer Sports is monitoring which positions are hitting the market and which positions are staying at home. By looking at the top-15 players at each respective position, the exercise shows value and replaceability. Teams already know this exercise to some extent. Everyone knows top-10 QBs are at the top of the food chain, and as such, they rarely, if ever, hit the free agent market. It’s why teams overdraft the QB position year after year. A team may head into the offseason needing a LB just as badly, but since it’s much easier to find a good LB in free agency than it is a good QB, they target QB in the draft and LB in free agency. The same strategy can be applied to the offensive line. Outside offensive line positions are treated like gold while inside offensive linemen are treated almost like replaceable parts. the news today required a further look into this: even before today, most of the highest paid players at interior offensive line were free agent signings while top wide receivers were either drafted or traded article: https://t.co/VRb2gLh8La pic.twitter.com/FXTNOYJtlX — Tej Seth (@tejfbanalytics) March 11, 2024 The snapshot above shows 64.4% of the top-15 IOL in the league are found in free agency. It’s the highest percentage among all the position groups. OT on the other hand is one of the most prized positions, only touching the open market at 16.7% of the time (percentages subject to change as signings develop). One offensive line position almost requires a draft investment, while the other can be found fairly simply in most offseasons. The numbers are a year old but the lesson is the same – some positions are more valuable than others. Money talks and teams should target expensive positions early in the draft and less expensive positions in free agency and/or later in the draft. pic.twitter.com/ObdHRk554P — Reid D Hanson (@ReidDHanson) March 12, 2024 NFL salaries support this logic as well, with OTs making larger salaries than both OG and OC. OT is more valuable, therefore it’s harder to find in free agency and less likely to fall in the draft. It doesn’t mean teams should reach for OT prospects and ignore IOL prospects, but it should certainly tip the scale in that direction. 18 OTs have been drafted in the first round since 2020 compared to just 10 IOL. And keep in mind, IOL covers three starting positions while OT just covers two. It’s not that there are never good IOL prospects, it’s just that OT is more valuable. The market is speaking. Are the Cowboys listening? An offer for Cowboys fans For the best local Austin news, sports, entertainment and culture coverage, subscribe to the Austin American-Statesman. $1 for 3 months Why Dante Fowler leaving may be a good thing for CowboysCowboys among teams at Georgia's pro day, but top OL prospect sitting out7-round Cowboys mock draft: The All-in Edition Email Sign up Like this article? Sign up for the Cowboys Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning An error has occured Please re-enter your email address. Thanks for signing up! You'll now receive the top Cowboys Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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