If the Cowboys' signing of Alfred Morris doesn't do anything for you now, give it a little time.
Like, another month, when we see how it helps Jerry Jones in the draft.
Morris joins Cedric Thornton, a defensive tackle, and Benson Mayowa, a defensive end, in a free-agent class that wouldn't necessarily inspire Vince Young to call it a Dream Team, like he did in Philly. Probably a good thing, considering how that worked out for the Eagles. Adding Patrick Robinson, the cornerback, won't change the perception, either.
For that matter, the news probably won't affect what the Cowboys do with the fourth pick overall. Only a signing on the level of Olivier Vernon could have done that.
But the moves the Cowboys are making now should help them make better decisions after the first round. That, along with the quality and quantity of their picks this year, bodes well, as blasphemous as it sounds.
For the 13th time in his rollicking tenure as owner, Jerry will have at least three of the top 75 picks. Believe it or not, it's mostly worked out fine.
We'll get to the history in a minute. First, consider the draft in front of us.
Had the Cowboys signed Vernon, as I lamented recently, they'd be under no pressure to take Ohio State's Joey Bosa with the fourth pick. We can all agree that defensive end is a premium position, the most important on defense. But that's not the question. The question is whether Bosa is worth the fourth pick, not his position.
Maybe the Cowboys will decide Bosa is all that. If so, then take him. Or Florida State's Jalen Ramsey, the draft's best defensive back. Or a quarterback, Carson Wentz or Jared Goff.
Or, gasp, even Ezekiel Elliott.
No, I don't believe the Cowboys will draft the Ohio State running back. They probably wouldn't take him even if they hadn't signed Morris. What Morris' addition means is that the Cowboys probably won't take Alabama's Derrick Henry with the 34th overall pick.
Frankly, I'd have been fine with taking Henry in the second round if he were available. He's a big, fast, hard runner who would be a perfect fit in the Cowboys' zone-blocking scheme. Morris isn't as big, but here's betting he has the same kind of resurgence in Dallas that Darren McFadden enjoyed last year behind the Cowboys' moving vans.
Signing Morris, along with the return of Lance Dunbar, means the Cowboys could put off drafting a running back.
So that means they can spend more draft picks on defense, right?
Not necessarily.
There's no question that the balance of talent on this roster tilts to offense. Rod Marinelli has done a great job making a radio out of a coconut. Think what he could do with some Pro Bowl talent.
Still, fixing one side of the ball shouldn't come at the expense of passing up difference-makers no matter where they play. If he fills a need, even better. But it shouldn't rule the day and won't this year.
Signing Morris and Thornton and Mayowa means that if, say, TCU's Josh Doctson is available in the second round, they could take him. He'd complement Dez Bryant better than Terrance Williams and improve the Cowboys' red-zone grade.
Or maybe it means that in the third round, instead of taking a defensive end such as Penn State's Carl Nassib, they go with Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard, a threat as a wide receiver and returner.
The more quality options you have, the better your chances of getting it right. Certainly that's Jerry's history, as hard as it may be to believe.
A dozen times he's had as many as three top-75 picks. With the exceptions of 2008 (Felix Jones, Mike Jenkins, Martellus Bennett), '96 (Kavika Pittman, Randall Godfrey, Clay Shiver) and '95 (Sherman Williams, Kendell Watkins, Shane Hannah), he's done pretty well with those opportunities.
We all give Jimmy Johnson most of the credit for those Super Bowl rosters, which drives Jerry crazy. But in fact the odds were wildly in Jimmy's favor.
Thanks to some bad records and the Herschel Walker trade, Jerry and Jimmy had five top-75 picks in '89, three in '90, seven in '91 and five in '92. Those players included Troy Aikman, Daryl Johnston, Mark Stepnoski, Emmitt Smith, Russell Maryland, Alvin Harper, Dixon Edwards, Godfrey Myles, Erik Williams, Kevin Smith, Robert Jones and Darren Woodson.
Pretty good nucleus for those Super Bowls, no?
Jerry's draft odds won't be quite as good next month, but they'll be better than usual, thanks to Romo's bum clavicle and some groundwork in free agency. Now it's just a matter of not screwing it up.
