The Dallas Cowboys prides themselves in building their team through the draft.
Big-money free agents typically don’t pan out, the Cowboys have learned, and the draft is the best way to acquire and develop their own talent.
The Cowboys have plenty of areas to address going into this year’s draft. Jason Witten can’t play forever, right? The wide receiving corps had a down year across the board. And, of course, the defense can always use more talent.
Defense, at this early stage, seems to make the most sense for the Cowboys. They’ve invested several first-round picks on the offensive side in recent years (Ezekiel Elliott, Zack Martin, Travis Frederick, Tyron Smith, Dez Bryant) and not as much on the defensive side (Taco Charlton, Byron Jones).