Cowboys VP admits team's defense got worse in free agency

Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has the same opinion of his team's free-agency period as many fans: the Cowboys got worse.

"I would agree with that," Jones told the Star-Telegram's Clarence E. Hill Jr. about the Cowboys' step back in free agency.

The Cowboys saw several key defensive players sign elsewhere, including cornerbacks Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne, safety Barry Church, and defensive end Jack Crawford.

With it appearing unlikely the Cowboys will be able to trade Tony Romo for any substantial return, it's difficult to see the team entering 2017 with a stronger roster than last season. That is, unless young defensive players like Jaylon Smith can make significant strides forward.

"People say our biggest issue and the thing that keeps us from winning a championship is the lack of (defense)," Jones said. "We didn't have the players to be a great defense.

"Hopefully we can address that (in the draft). Now I am not going to say we are going to sit here and pick for need. But I will say before we started free agency we took a snapshot of the draft and knew that it was deep in the defensive line, deep in the secondary. We knew that was the ability to really improve ourselves there."

Jones also suggested the players the Cowboys lost weren't worth paying to retain, since the team's defense struggled to pressure opposing quarterbacks in 2016.

"What we have to do better on defense is we have to get pressure on the passer. And we have to make plays on the ball. We have to do that better," Jones said.

"Obviously we haven't been doing that with the guys we got. So how do you get better if you keep paying the guys you got who aren’t making plays on the ball a lot of money?"