8. Dallas Cowboys trade for Robert Quinn, keep DeMarcus Lawrence
The Dallas Cowboys’ slow start to free agency was already touched on, but it wasn’t just adding new players that was moving at a snail’s pace. Dallas was also dragging its feet in negotiations with defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence.
After playing on the franchise tag in 2018, Lawrence was looking for a long-term deal and the Cowboys weren’t ready to just give him a blank check. While that was dragging along, they started negotiations with the Miami Dolphins about Robert Quinn. Miami even allowed Quinn to travel to Dallas to see if he was comfortable being traded there and eventually he was added for a late-round pick.
While the addition of Quinn sounded great, this all felt like the previous offseason when the Cowboys added Allen Hurns and then moved on from Dez Bryant. Hurns was a decent wideout for the Jacksonville Jaguars, but wasn’t a No. 1 wideout. The Cowboys tried to throw him into that role, and it had terrible results.
There was a fear among the fanbase that Quinn joining was going to lead to a trade of Lawrence, giving them a decent pass rusher at one defensive end spot, but no other legitimate threats.
That ended up not being the case, as Dallas finally came to terms with their top pass rusher on a five-year deal. Doing so gives the Cowboys two potent edge rushers which will make an already strong defense even better this year.