Former NFL GM suggests Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs will be nonexistent in free agency

By Jason Burgos

·Updated: March 8, 2024

A former general manager who now serves as an analyst for ESPN believes NFL free agency in 2024 will be underwhelming for Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs fans.

The Cowboys and Chiefs were two of the best teams in the NFL last season, however, their campaigns ended in very different fashions. Kansas City went on to win a second straight Super Bowl title while the Cowboys were a huge disappointment when they were eliminated in the Wild Card Round after a 12-win season.

Nevertheless, both teams have the same goal when free agency opens on March 11, and that is to maintain their high level of play and hopefully improve their rosters for 2024. Both rosters have several major players set to test their value on the free-agent market, including team greats like Tyron Smith and Chris Jones.

As of this week, both organizations are just over a million dollars under the salary cap for the new league year (via OverTheCap). Their limited means, as well as the fact that both will look to retain star free agents, could mean a quiet next few weeks for the Chiefs and Cowboys, according to ESPN analyst and former Jets and Chiefs executive Mike Tannenbaum.

“The Chiefs have three key free agents in Jones, Donovan Smith, and Willie Gay, and they have Sneed on the tag. Almost all of their resources will go toward re-signing these players, and they probably can’t retain all four,” Tannenbaum wrote on Friday. “So I expect them to be quiet in terms of acquiring new players and making splashes in free agency.”

As for the Cowboys, the former GM claims the team has the resources to lock up stars Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons to new long-term deals. Plus they must decide if they will try and re-sign Tyron Smith, Tony Pollard, and Stephon Gilmore. This means they are also expected to be quiet in free agency as they focus on retaining the players they already have.

It may not be what Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs want to hear but keeping key players from a winning team is a sound offseason strategy for both organizations.