The Cowboys used the franchise tag on quarterback Dak Prescott and worked out a long-term deal with wide receiver Amari Cooper last month, but they weren’t able to keep cornerback Byron Jones in Dallas.
Jones signed with the Dolphins and the team’s only addition to the group in free agency was former Jets and Ravens backup Maurice Canady. The team does have Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis and Anthony Brown back, but Brown’s the only member of that trio signed beyond the 2020 season.
The makeup of the group led to a question on Tuesday’s conference call about whether the Cowboys must address the position. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said it all depends how the board stacks up when the team picks and executive vice president Stephen Jones concurred with that view.
“I just think it all depends on the board,” Jones said. “We try to, every year, in free agency do what we need to do to feel good about our team regardless of what we pick in the draft. I think we’ve done a good job of that. I’ve always said player acquisition is 365 days a year — it’s a lot more than just the draft so we just don’t feel the pressure to have to take a certain position early.”
The Cowboys shared video of their virtual meeting with former LSU corner Kristian Fulton and players like C.J. Henderson and Trevon Diggs could also be possibilities early in the draft if things break that way, but it doesn’t seem like the team feels they have to land one of those players for the draft to be a success.