There’s no such thing as too much OL depth in the NFL and as long as all the Cowboys additions at guard work out, it’s money well spent on their OL
The Dallas Cowboys entered the 2025 offseason with a moderate need at guard. Perennial All-Pro Zack Martin officially hung up his cleats in retirement, and for the first time in a decade the right guard position laid vacant. Luckily, the Cowboys had internal candidates as potential options. T.J. Bass, 26, had five career starts on his resume where he showed plus-level strength and long-term promise. Brock Hoffman, 25 and recently re-signed, had nine starts of his own and recently impressed while filling in for Martin in 2024.
Since replacing a legend is no small task, the Cowboys felt some extra pressure to make sure they got this position right. Therefore, in case the homegrown options didn’t work out, Dallas looked outside the organization as well, signing veteran Robert Jones to a one year $3,750,000 contract. As if that wasn’t enough, they added fellow 26-year-old Saahdiq Charles to the mix on a one-year, $1,170,000 deal.
The Cowboys invested so much over the free agent portion of the offseason it seemed they had the situation settled by April. Then the Cowboys did something no one was expecting. They used the No. 12 overall pick in the 2025 NFL draft on an offensive guard.
Tyler Booker’s selection came as a surprise to most. Booker didn’t have the outside versatility that most early first round offensive lineman possess. He’s a guard, only. Given the size of the investment, it’s safe to say Booker will be the starting right guard for Dallas this season.
It makes one wonder why did the Cowboys invest so much time and energy addressing the guard position in free agency if they were just going to fill it with a blue-chip prospect in the draft?
It’s pretty evident they didn’t know they were going to use their most valuable draft pick to address RG when they were busy signing free agents. The over $6 million invested in Hoffman, Charles and Jones was made with the intent one of them would become the starter. But now that it’s rather obvious none of the three will be starters, it feels like a lot of money has been spent on backups.
It’s fair to be critical of this given the Cowboys ongoing needs at other positions, but it’s still money well spent. Offensive lines suffer injuries, and it is important that teams with postseason aspirations employ ample depth in the trenches. The investment on the interior also keeps alive the emergency option of moving left guard Tyler Smith to left tackle.
Ideally Smith would stay where he plays best, but if Tyler Guyton can’t handle things at LT, it would be better to have Smith outside than employing a turnstile on Dak Prescott’s blindside. All of that depth at guard makes such a Plan B possible.
The Cowboys invested heavily in a position they thought important. They re-signed their own, they signed new players, and they used their top draft pick all for the same spot. One could say this is over-investment for a relatively low value position. But in the grand scheme it’s not that much cap space and if injuries hit or Guyton fails, it’s something they may come to appreciate down the road.
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