Cowboys opportunistic draft advantage achieved at this important spot

A successful offseason requires a team effort. For the Dallas Cowboys that means working the trade market, free agency and the draft. Here in the second week of March, the Cowboys have dabbled in the first two categories while preparing for the third. The trade market has netted Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary, jettisoned DTs Osa Odighizuwa and Solomon Thomas, while free agency has brought in Jalen Thompson, among others.

It’s fair to say Dallas has successful added worthwhile talent to at least two positions of need: edge and safety. Gary and Thompson cleanly plug into the starting lineup and position the Cowboys a little less desperately as they head into the draft portion of the offseason.

Gary’s presence, specifically, makes a major impact on the Cowboys draft strategy. Prior to the trade, Dallas was disturbingly thin on the edge. They had Donovan Ezeiruaku, James Houston and the recently moved Marist Liufau and that’s about it. Gary doesn’t offer much in the way of pass-rush off the edge but he provides solid run stopping ability and can execute assignments.

The Cowboys edge situation isn’t ideal, by any means, but it’s survivable and puts them into position to handle the spot a little more opportunistically in the draft.

The linebacker position isn’t quite so lucky.

Dallas failed to acquire anyone of value and are now faced with a trade or forcing a draft pick to fill the need. They need a frontline starter, so options are limited and the standard is high.

The edge spot is situated much more comfortably. Even detractors of Gary have to admit he’s a viable starter who provides an acceptable floor to the position. The Cowboys certainly think so or else they wouldn’t have bailed on the Trey Hendrickson and Maxx Crosby bidding wars. If they roll into Week 1 next September with Ezeiruaku and Gary as the starters, they can survive.

It puts them in a powerful position in April. Even with the addition of the No. 92 pick, the Cowboys may deem it necessary to use one of their first-round selections on LB. They can use the other on a safety, cornerback or edge rusher, depending on best player available at these positions.

Rueben Bain and Cashius Howell are two prominent pass rushers who might slip below their expected draft slot after some disappointing combine testing. It’s perfectly possible Bain falls to 12 or Howell falls to 20. As long as the Cowboys ensure one of their picks goes to LB, they could opportunistically attack the edge spot. Best yet, they’re under no obligation to even make the pick. If a great safety or cornerback prospect falls to them instead, they can go that route. Leaving Ezeiruaku and Gary as the primary edge guys isn’t ideal, but it’s survivable.

One of the main objectives in free agency and the trade market is to fill major holes with adequate solutions. That’s what the Cowboys did at the edge spot. Gary isn’t so bad they MUST draft a pass rusher early just like he’s not so good that he prevents them from drafting a pass-rusher with an early pick. Linebacker is a major problem that still needs a solution but edge and safety were handled about as well as one could have hoped for.

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This article originally appeared on Cowboys Wire: Cowboys opportunistic draft advantage achieved at this important spot