After the first week of free agency, it appears the Dallas Cowboys are continuing a very exciting trend: a transformation towards being one of the younger teams in the NFL.
More: PFF Grades Cowboys Free Agent Moves
The process started last year, as the team jettisoned some of the older members of the franchise right before training camp started, with the release of veteran offensive linemen Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo and Andre Gurode.
This year, they are straight up replacing the mileage-worn vehicles of past contests with low-tread players that have a lot of game left in their tanks:
| 2011 | 2012 | |||
| POS | Player | Age | Player | Age |
| DB | Terence Newman | 33 | Brandon Carr | 25 |
| LB | Keith Brooking |
36 | Dan Connor | 26 |
| FS | Abram Elam | 30 | Brodney Pool | 27 |
| FB | Tony Fiammetta | 25 | Lawrence Vickers | 28 |
| OG | Derrick Dockery | 31 | Mackenzy Bernadeau | 26 |
| QB | Jon Kitna | 39 | Kyle Orton | 29 |
| OG |
Kyle Kosier |
33 | Nate Livings | 30 |
| Average | 32.4 | Average | 27.3 | |
Hat Tip to One.Cool.Customer of BTB for the original age comparisons that I tweaked just a bit.
Averaging a five-year youth movement per player is a huge number. Most importantly, none of the roster moves seem to be in a backwards direction.Many think the guard signings are lateral at best, but I'm not so sure.
Add 4-6 draft picks between the age of 21 and 23 and the front office finally seems to be setting up the Cowboys up for the long haul instead of planning for a 2-3 year window of contention.
For more coverage of the Dallas Cowboys and their free agency activities, check out Blogging The Boys.