Less than a month into the Dallas Cowboys‘ offseason, fans haven’t received many reasons to be excited about what lies ahead for the franchise.
Sure, a large portion of the fanbase wished Mike McCarthy gone. But his replacement, Brian Schottenheimer, is unlikely to represent the drastic change fans might’ve hoped. More than Schotty himself, the Cowboys’ unserious search for their next head coach is what does little to inspire confidence, even if Jerry Jones went out of his way to frame it as a big-time risky move during Schottenheimer’s introductory press conference.
But Cowboys fans received a reason to smile and get excited on Wednesday when the team announced VP of player personnel Will McClay is staying in Dallas for a few more years.
McClay is one of the most important people in the entire organization, spearheading the Cowboys’ draft process, which is what keeps the team relevant in this era of limited free agency spending from the front office.
Though fans might be upset at one or two specific draft picks every year (Mazi Smith being the most evident one in recent memory), McClay’s department keeps the Cowboys in the picture on a yearly basis. Though the team doesn’t do well enough complementing its “draft and develop” strategy through free agency and trades, the drafting and developing is usually first-rate in Dallas.
Think about some Day 2 and Day 3 draft picks that have become important contributors in Dallas: Cooper Beebe, Marist Liufau, DeMarvion Overshown, Jake Ferguson, DaRon Bland, Osa Odighizuwa, among others.
And draft picks aren’t where it stops. The Cowboys are considered one of the best teams in the league when it comes to undrafted free agency and their signees prove it. Rico Dowdle, Hunter Luepke, and Brock Hoffman are a few examples.
McClay has often been considered a top GM candidate in the NFL world but the Cowboys, credit where credit is due, have done a great job retaining him at every turn. Perhaps they should consider themselves lucky McClay doesn’t seem to be interested in the glamour of having a “General Manager” title. As long as that remains the case, McClay is likely to keep on returning.