What can be expected of this Cowboys’ free agent class? According to the last 8 years, not much. - The Dallas Morning News

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Projecting what this free agent class will do for the Cowboys is a bit like bragging you know what Elon Musk is going to say or tweet next.

You might as well try to convince people your grandmother walks around singing that Cardi B song, the one she performed with Megan Thee Stallion at the Grammys.

First of all, this class is incomplete. Safety Keanu Neal signed a one-year, $5 million deal Saturday to bump the number of players to six. This group will likely swell in the coming days as the club decides whether or not to add at least one other player who, like Neal, played under defensive coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta.

Second of all, there’s no way to know how injuries and draft picks will impact the contribution of this class.

But if you look back over the last eight years of Cowboys free agency to collect clues, if you embrace those findings to determine your level of excitement …

Well, you don’t expect much.

None of this should be taken as a blanket indictment of defensive tackle Brent Urban, swing tackle Ty Nsekhe, long snapper Jake McQuaide or anyone else in this group. Contributions will be made. Frankly, it will be surprising if Neal doesn’t start.

But there’s a reason Cowboys fans have grown indifferent to the personnel moves their team usually makes in March.

Dallas signed 29 players in this phase of free agency over the previous eight years. Eight never made it to the field for a regular-season game. Four were cut, and another retired before the season was complete.

If that percentage holds, at least one member of the current class won’t make it out of training camp and another should be gone before Thanksgiving.

Five of the last eight free agent classes failed to produce double-digits starts in that season. Combined.

Six of those classes failed to yield 35 games played.

Defensive end Jeremy Mincey is the only player to start in all 16 games during his first season with the club.

Center Joe Looney and running back Darren McFadden are the only two who stayed around for more than two consecutive seasons.

McFadden was arguably the most productive member of this collection, rushing for more than 1,000 yards in his first season with Dallas. Randall Cobb caught 55 passes for 828 yards and three touchdowns in his one season in a Cowboys uniform. Greg Zuerlein kicked 34 field goals and scored 135 points last season.

A few others had decent seasons or moments. But those are outliers. How many of those free agents started half of the season (eight games) in the year they signed with the Cowboys?

Three. Mincey, McFadden and defensive end Greg Hardy, who missed the first four games of that season as he served a suspension.

None of the free agents taken since 2016 started more than six games in their first season.

A line was drawn in the sand after 2012. The Cowboys knew they had overpaid to add cornerback Brandon Carr and decided to alter their approach going forward.

No more money would be spent to lure the players at the top of the market, where prices were inflated. Dallas would take a more judicious route. It would wait and shop from the bargain bin.

The strategy is to cover weaknesses so the club doesn’t have to take any one position in the first two days of the draft. The belief is this allows the club to put together a board that’s pure and resists elevating one player over another due to positional need.

The Cowboys drafts have improved and been more consistent since this philosophical shift. Try to keep that in mind when you’re overcome by indifference with what the team has done in free agency.

Dallas isn’t done. Two more safeties — Malik Hooker and Damontae Kazee — are scheduled to visit The Star in the next few days. One of them is expected to sign, which would equal the largest class since ’12 when Dallas added seven players.

Will this wind up being the best free agent class in nine years? Maybe. Let’s face it, the competition hasn’t been that fierce.

Little to show

The Cowboys haven’t gotten much production from recent free agent classes. Here’s a look at the players taken in the previous eight years and the number of games they played and started in the first year of their contracts.

Class of 2020

Position	Player	Games/Games started	Comment
S	Ha Ha Clinton-Dix	0/0	Cut before season began.
CB	Maurice Canary	0/0	Opted out of season.
DT	Gerald McCoy	0/0	Season-ending injury first day in pads.
TE	Blake Bell	16/2	Strong blocker who caught 11 passes for 110 yards.
K	Greg Zuerlein	16/16	Made 34-of-41 field goals and scored 135 points.

Class of 2019

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
WR	Randall Cobb	15/6	Key part of offense with 55 catches for 828 yards and three touchdowns.
DT	Christian Covington	16/6	Part of defensive tackle rotation with Antwaun Woods.
S	George Iloka	0/0	Released before start of the season.

Class of 2018

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
WR	Deonte Thompson	8/4	Caught 14 passes for 124 yards before release.
G	Marcus Martin	0/0	Tore ligament in toe and placed on injured reserve
OT	Cameron Fleming	14/3	Swing tackle who stuck for a couple of seasons.
DE	Kony Ealy	0/0	Released before start of regular season.

Class of 2017

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
OT	Byron Bell	12/2	Signed as depth in wake of Doug Free’s retirement.
S	Robert Blanton	0/0	Released before season.
CB	Nolan Carroll	2/2	Signed 3-year deal but played only six quarters before release.
DE	Damontre’ Moore	3/0	Backup who have five tackles before his release.
DT	Stephen Paea	4/4	Retired due to a degenerative knee condition.

Class of 2016

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
G	Joe Looney	16/3	A key backup who wound up with a nice career in Dallas.
DE	Benson Mayowa	13/6	Had six sacks and a forced fumble.
RB	Alfred Morris	14/0	Rushed for 243 yards and two touchdowns.
DT	Cedric Thornton	13/0	Rotation player who finished with 22 tackles and 1.5 sacks.

Class of 2015

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
LB	Jasper Brinkley	0/0	Lost job on depth chart in training camp.
LB	Andrew Gachkar	16/1	Backup linebacker who contributed on special teams.
DE	Greg Hardy	12/12	Collected six sacks and 20 quarterback hurries after suspension.
RB	Darren McFadden	16/10	Took over as starter and finished with 1,089 yards and three touchdowns.

Class of 2014

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
DT	Henry Melton	16/3	Rotation player who came up with five sacks
DE	Jeremy Mincey	16/16	Led the team in sacks with six, forced two fumbles and recovered two more.

Class of 2013

Position	Player	G/GS	Comment
S	Will Allen	5/2	Cut in October after having just nine tackles and one interception.
LB	Justin Durant	13/0	Reserve who finished with 49 tackles and a sack.

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