Blogging The Boys
What grade would you give the Cowboys 2025 offseason?
The Dallas Cowboys have had a pretty busy offseason and a successful one by almost all accounts. They hired a new head and coaching staff, were more active than normal in free agency, made multiple trades, and had an excellent 2025 NFL Draft. Despite all of that though, they still only received a C+ offseason grade from Pro Football Focus (PFF).
DALLAS COWBOYS: C+
This grade comes down to what Brian Schottenheimer is as a head coach. The Cowboys waited a long time to make a move to hire him (and determine Mike McCarthy’s future), watching several good head coach candidates sign elsewhere in the meantime. They were also very quiet in free agency (not uncommon for them) when they had money to spend.
Dallas’ draft was a home run, though, especially the team’s first three picks. I remain worried about how their offensive and defensive lines will come together in 2025, with Zack Martin retiring on offense and the duo of Mazi Smith and Osa Odighizuwa, who earned PFF run-defense grades of 35.9 and 50.8, respectively, slated to start again.
While we share some of the concerns about the Cowboys after all of the offseason moves they've made thus far, we also believe he was a bit harsh with his grading. We prefer to look at the Cowboys offseason with a half glass full point of view instead of the half glass empty.
Sure there are some concerns about Brian Schottenheimer being a first-time head coach, but he surrounded himself with a really good coaching staff to help him. And, Dallas' OL and DL have a chance to be even better than they were a season ago after the additions they've made.
Tyler Booker was the best guard in the draft this year and will be a plug-and-play starter at RG for the Cowboys as Zack Martin's replacement. There's also reason to believe Tyler Guyton will take a significant year-two jump after struggling as a rookie last season. This is a young, talented unit that has a chance to be a dominant force in 2025.
As far as the Cowboys DL is concerned, retaining Osa Odighizuwa and drafting Jay Toia to pair with Mazi Smith at the 1-technique is an upgrade from last season. With Micah Parsons and the rest of Dallas' impressive group of pass rushers, as well as the upgrades they've made at linebacker, their run defense should be much improved in 2025 as well.
So yes, we strongly disagree with the C+ offseason grade the Cowboys received from PFF. They were much better than teams who receive similar grades. Five other teams received a C+ grade (Falcons, Bengals, Chargers, Dolphins, Tennessee), two with a C- grade (Packers, Steelers), two with a D grade (Texans, 49ers), and one with a D- grade (Saints).
And if you're wondering what grades Dallas' NFC East division rival's received; the Washington Commanders received a A+ grade, [Philadelphia...
