Stephen Jones says Cowboys are prepared to lean on young players in 2024

The Dallas Cowboys have made it clear with their free agency moves so far this offseason that they won’t be replenishing their stores with experienced playmakers for the 2024 season. Executive vice president Stephen Jones confirmed as much on Tuesday while discussing the departures of starting offensive linemen Tyron Smith and Tyler Biadasz.

Jones discussed how the team expects younger players to step up this year during his interview on 105.3 The Fan.

“At some point there, you’ve got to make a tough decision that we can have him go to another team, and we can replace him hopefully and have a center who’s better,” Jones said, via Michael Gehlken. “We like the young guys that we’ve brought in over the years, not unlike Connor McGovern. [He] stepped up after being a backup for three years. He stepped up and played really good at guard and then got awarded a contract in Buffalo.

“We have guys like [Matt] Waletzko and Asim Richards — young players who are on the come up. T.J. Bass played really well for us last year. Obviously, they are guys that our fans aren’t as acquainted with as much because they hadn’t played as much, but we feel they can step up, not unlike Tyler did as a rookie at center and play really well.”

Jones and the front office could take an offensive lineman, or two, early in the 2024 NFL Draft, but either way, they’ll be relying on less experienced players to take on roles formerly filled by a couple of the best linemen in the league.

Cowboys hoping for big jump from Mazi Smith

The Cowboys have found a lot of success with their first-rounders in recent years, but it wasn’t the case in year one with defensive tackle Mazi Smith. The former Michigan star was a rotational piece for Dallas and finished the 2023 season with 13 tackles in 17 games. He recorded his first sack in a December loss to the Bills but it was still an underwhelming start to Smith’s career with the Cowboys. Jones opened up about how Dallas’s new defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer can get the first round pick more involved this year.

“He didn’t play as much as we would have liked (last season),” Jones said. “I think it was a learning process with him, learning what Dan (Quinn) wanted out of the defensive linemen. We knew when we drafted him out of Michigan that he was asked to play the one-technique a little different than Dan likes to see it played.

“I think the way (Mike Zimmer) is going to ask these guys to play is probably a little more in line with what he did at Michigan. But we feel really good about Mazi.”

Unfortunately, Smith had to undergo surgery this offseason on his shoulder, so he’s losing some time for that. The timeline for his recovery puts him back on the field by training camp, however.

On top of the shoulder injury, the former Wolverine also dealt with unexpected weight loss during the season. The Cowboys have a plan to pack the pounds back on his 6-foot-3 frame before the 2024 season, which, according to Mike McCarthy, will give him “a lot more opportunities.”