Many experts assumed in the weeks leading up to the draft that the Dallas Cowboys would attempt to address their aging defensive line early on--if not in the first round, then certainly the second or the third.
Instead, Dallas didn’t draft a single defensive lineman. Apparently the Cowboys weren’t just posturing when, before the draft, they repeatedly said that they were happy with the group in place.
“The way I look at this, you look at where our resources are,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said, per the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “We’ve got two very high-paid pass rushers, we’ve got one great defensive tackle in Ratliff that’s been to the Pro Bowl that obviously is in his second contract. So you’ve got three guys like that in your defensive line.”
Of the Cowboys’ seven picks, four of them were spent on offensive players, including their top three selections. Jones says the team’s makeup led to the offense-heavy draft and offseason in general.
“We haven’t put those kinds of resources over there,” he said. “We got one tackle. Obviously, we’ve got a quarterback. And we’ve got Dez. We’ve got Miles in the back end of a contract. It starts to get into a little question mark or two from there.
“So if you really look at the balance of our team, I don’t think it was really unwarranted that we look at the offensive side of the ball.”
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