The Cowboys employ scouts.
Maybe they should start hiring porters. In addition to paying scouts to find the players, the Cowboys need porters to carry all their baggage into that sparkling new practice facility in Frisco.
That's been one of the shortcomings of Jerry Jones in his capacity as general manager and personnel guru of the Cowboys. He's always been a sucker for a bargain. His personnel decisions are based exclusively on on-the-field ability rather than any potential off-the-field headaches. If you have talent, Jones will ignore your baggage.
Another headache hit Valley Ranch on Thursday with word that linebacker Rolando McClain would be suspended for the first 10 games of the 2016 season for violation of the NFL's substance abuse policy. Yeah, the same Rolando McClain who skipped the club's offseason program.
The Cowboys signed McClain on the cheap. He was once the eighth overall pick of an NFL draft. But he washed out with the Oakland Raiders after only 41 games and then walked out on the Baltimore Ravens, who offered him a chance to resurrect his career. Unemployed and unwanted by teams that place a premium on character, the 25-year-old McClain found a home with the Cowboys in 2014.
So did DeMarcus Lawrence. The Cowboys closed their eyes to his off-the-field issues that led to a suspension at Boise State and traded up into the top of the second round of the 2014 NFL draft to claim this elite college pass rusher with sliding value.
The Cowboys did it again in 2015 with Randy Gregory. The Cowboys closed their eyes to his baggage-a failed drug test at the combine-and gleefully grabbed a first-round pass-rushing talent at the close of the second round.
Now none of them will be available for the month of September this season-and McClain won't be around for October and most of November, either. All arrived in Dallas as bargains and now the Cowboys must pay a steep price for those gambles.
But we've seen it before, haven't we? Charles Haley was a troubled soul acquired by the Cowboys who was able to turn around both his life and his career, helping the Cowboys win three Super Bowls in the 1990s and securing his own bust in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Dez Bryant was another sliding value who arrived with baggage but has managed to make a positive contribution to the Cowboys.
But for every Haley, there's an Alonzo Spellman, Dimitrius Underwood and Greg Hardy. For every Bryant there's a Ryan Leaf, Quincy Carter and Pacman Jones. The trio this go-round is Gregory, Lawrence and McClain. The most important part of ability is availability. At some point, a franchise must realize that these players are chances that aren't worth taking.
Now the Cowboys are in a bind. Defense was a problem on this team a year ago. The Cowboys ranked last in takeaways with an NFL record-tying low of 11 and 25th in sacks on the way to a 4-12 collapse. The Cowboys did little to address those defensive woes this offseason, using a couple of mid-round picks on defensive linemen and also signing a tackle (Cedric Thornton) and end (Benson Mayowa) in free agency-veteran players with a combined six career sacks in eight combined NFL seasons.
Lawrence and Gregory are the two best pass rushers on the Cowboys and McClain the best run defender. Lawrence led the team with eight sacks in 2015 and McClain led the front seven with 87 tackles in 2014 on a team that finished 12-4 and a defense that finished eighth against the run.
But when the Cowboys need them come the start of a new season, they will not be around. That's a gamble the Cowboys took when they signed these players. And, once again, it's a gamble they lost.