Cowboys chat recap: Why the DB disconnect?

On Wednesday I had my first chat of the offseason, and it’s something we hope to feature weekly. In case you missed it, click here to take a look at what was asked and what was answered.

HappyGilmour (yes, I know that’s not his real name, but he’s asking good questions in our chats) said the Dallas Cowboys haven’t had a good secondary since they had Deion Sanders, and wonders if it is that hard to evaluate cornerbacks and safeties.

Here’s what I said:

You can't say they haven't tried. They drafted Roy Williams in the first round and paid him a big contract. They gave Ken Hamlin a big deal after he made the Pro Bowl. Neither one of those contracts worked out. They drafted Terence Newman in the first round as well as Mike Jenkins and traded up to get Mo Claiborne. They signed Anthony Henry and Brandon Carr to big-time contracts. They've tried but the results have not always worked out ... or still are in the process of working out. It should not be that hard to evaluate corners and safeties, but switching schemes and having corners with certain attributes playing a different style might not have been the smartest decision.