The Cowboys have a new catch phrase for how they’ll approach this offseason and it’s no better than last year’s.


Dallas Cowboys v New Orleans Saints | Jonathan Bachman/GettyImages

During the 2024 NFL offseason, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones told the media the team was going “all in” in its approach to free agency and the draft. Fast forward to the end of the season and Dallas finished with a 7-10 record with a suboptimal cast.

Now, fans are hearing a similar message from team brass and it’s feeling like deja vu all over again.

Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones, also the son of owner Jerry, told reporters Monday the team will be “selectively aggressive” this offseason.

“We’re going to look at everything we can, we’re going to be selectively aggressive,” Jones said. “Obviously, you know, there are things in this league you have to have certain amount of resources they allow you to have, you know, we’ll look at that. We’re going to try to improve our football team — not try, we’re gonna improve our football team and we expect to have success next season.”

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If the 2024 season was any proof of concept, the Jones’ approach to spending money and putting together a competitive team hasn’t been conducive to success. Going “all in” last year translated to giving quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver CeeDee Lamb a combined $376 million over four seasons. That move practically mortgaged the team’s future on a duo that has yet to see the NFC Championship Game after five seasons together.

In addition to that investment, the team decided to dive into the bargain bin for players like RB Ezekiel Elliott to round out the roster. There were clear offensive deficiencies last season and not spreading the wealth around to better players cost the Cowboys dearly.

Fans probably don’t want to know what “selectively aggressive” means this time around, especially with the connotation the phrase offers that the Joneses could be more conservative in spending and draft strategy.