Veteran pass rusher Dwight Freeney is making the rounds right now in search of a home for the 2016 season, but a stop in Dallas doesn’t look like it will be one of the tour dates.
Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said Thursday, via Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, that the team is not in the market for veteran help at defensive end despite a need to upgrade their pass rush from 2015 levels and a pair of players serving four-game suspensions to open the season. Jones said the team wants to see what younger players can do before potentially looking for an outside addition.
One of the young players that the Cowboys will be looking at is Randy Gregory, although anything he may show them will be mitigated by his status as one of the players facing a suspension at the start of the year. Jerry Jones said recently that “all thumbs are up” with Gregory and coach Jason Garrett says he’s seen progress, although he added plenty of unknowns remain.
“Just in everything he does, how he handles himself,” Garrett said, via the Dallas Morning News. “Again, it’s a work in progress. He has gotten better. But he has a long way to go. A lot of guys have a long way to go.”
The Cowboys have expressed confidence that a better offense will make the defense look better than it did last year, which may need to be the case because there hasn’t been much on the defensive side this offseason to suggest the unit is poised to make a leap of its own.