Secondary is the Last Thing Holding Cowboys Back From Super Bowl Contention

It's an annual tradition for the Dallas Cowboys and their fan base to blindly claim that they will win the Super Bowl next year. The thing is, "next year" hasn't come since the beginning of 1996, when the team hoisted their last Lombardi Trophy at the end of Super Bowl XXX. Even the biggest Cowboy hater can't help but feel a bit confused that a team with so much talent over the years never seems to be able to get the job done.

Entering this 2020 league year, the Cowboys have made a plethora of major moves, including franchise-tagging quarterback Dak Prescott and to re-signing wide receiver Amari Cooper to a long-term contract. On paper, the Boys look like the kind of team that can compete for an NFC title.

But there's one thing holding them back from that dream: their secondary.

By locking in Cooper and Prescott, Dallas had to make the ultimate sacrifice in letting top cornerback Byron Jones enter the open market. Jones proved himself to be one of the better shutdown corners in the game behind only the likes of Stephon Gilmore of the New England Patriots, and the Cowboys let him walk away for nothing in return, forced to watch him sign on with the Miami Dolphins.

The Cowboys had to find a way to replace the production of Jones, which is unfortunately impossible. They opted to bring back Anthony Brown on a three-year contract, but he's an average corner at best. That means Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis will have to pick up the slack, and it's unknown if both can become a anything resembling a lockdown duo in the defensive backfield.

And then, there's the safety position. Xavier Woods is a quality starter, and the Cowboys opted to pair him up with Ha Ha Clinton-Dix for 2020. The problem, though, is with their depth, as they only have Darian Thompson and Donovan Wilson behind them.

In all fairness, those two jsut aren't difference makers. As a result, fans in Big D have every right to feel uneasy about this defensive backfield entering the new campaign.

The Cowboys have always had trouble in forcing interceptions. Just look at last season, during which they recorded just seven picks, which tied for the last in the entire NFL alongside the lowly Arizona Cardinals and Detroit Lions. Entering 2020, the Dallas secondary is sadly even more depleted.

If the Cowboys don't add difference-making defensive backs with their top picks in the upcoming NFL Draft, the closest they'll get to the Super Bowl is by playing franchise mode in "Madden NFL 20." And for such a hungry fan base, that's never gonna cut it.