The Dallas Cowboys once again bowed out of the playoffs far earlier than many observers predicted. Jerry Jones looks to improve his roster and get back to a Super Bowl. Let’s look at some potential free-agent acquisitions that could help push Dallas towards this goal.

Before we get into these options, we must remember one caveat: The Cowboys are currently set to be roughly $13 million over the projected salary cap. Cuts will need to be made in order to sign any of these players.

3 Early free agent targets for the 2022 NFL offseason

3. Stephon Gilmore

The Cowboys excelled at taking the ball away from the offense this past season. However, there are too many variables to rely on that to be the saving grace of the unit. Dallas needs to improve their ability to shut down opposing offenses and prevent them from scoring. They cannot rely on a splash play. Forced turnovers is a high-volatility statistic that cannot be counted on from year to year.

If Dallas wants to get serious about improving their ability to shut down an opposing offense, a good place to start would be improving their secondary. Trevon Diggs had an excellent sophomore season. He earned Pro Bowl honors and came away with 11 interceptions, but he also gave up a lot of plays.

 

Similar to a home run or strikeout baseball player, Diggs is a boom or bust cornerback. When he’s not coming down with takeaways, he surrendered over 1,000 receiving yards by himself this season. Diggs is a great player, and this isn’t so much a knock on him as the overall style of defense. Dallas gets away with allowing so many receiving yards because they are adept at forcing turnovers, but they should look to become more balanced.

Enter Stephon Gilmore: Gilmore has consistently provided elite production in the secondary, and he is one of the best shutdown corners in the league. With this duo, Gilmore could lock down the opposing teams’ number one receiver, which would force more throws to the other receivers. These receivers would be overmatched against Diggs, who could feast with takeaways while not giving up as many explosive plays.

2. Jessie Bates

Regardless of whether or not the Cowboys add a cornerback, they still need additional help with their secondary. They should look to the free safety market and add Jessie Bates. The soon-to-be-former Cincinnati Bengal had two interceptions and eight passes defensed this season, but he had three picks and 15 passes defensed last year. If the Bengals choose not to retain Bates, particularly coming off a somewhat-down year, it could benefit Dallas to swoop in and sign him away.

They could probably get him on the cheap as well.

1. Von Miller

In the NFL, there is no such thing as too many pass rushers. Led by DeMarcus Lawrence and Randy Gregory – along with the emerging versatile rookie superstar Micah Parsons, the Cowboys ability to get after the quarterback is plenty feared across the league. However, another true pass rusher would never be a bad thing. Lawrence and Gregory were both plagued with the injury bug. Lawrence had three sacks, six tackles for loss and seven QB hits in eight games played. Gregory had six sacks, four tackles for loss and 19 quarterback hits in 13 games played.

Enter Von Miller: Although he is past his heyday with the Denver Broncos, Miller is still a force to be reckoned with. Adding Miller to this defense would transform them into one of the most elite units in football, and Lawrence could slide inside on passing down to accommodate the three of them on the field at the same time.