It's OK to root for the Cowboys

I know what your thinking, "Queler, you've gone soft," but hear me out.   There is a very real reason to root for the Cowboys.

From the Incomparable Mike Lombardi:

However, final eight teams in an uncapped year are only allowed to replace players they lose to free agency and cannot add any new players. So had the Patriots won the game and lost in the next round, their ability to be proactive in the free agent market would have been hindered. If you can’t win the Super Bowl with your current roster, which clearly the Patriots could not do, then losing in the first round is the place to be.

In an uncapped year, free agency will look vastly different to fans. Players will need six years of service before making it to the market, which will cut down the number of good players available; also, teams will be restricted in who they can sign and for how much.

Teams will also have more designations to place on players, thus restricting their movement. My sense of free agency this offseason is that we’ll see players who are terminated by their current teams because of their high contract status and failure to perform to the level of those contracts. Teams will dump these players, allowing them to get rid of their future signing bonus proration without it affecting their salary cap. The market will be filled with players who have been cut and sent packing with no one from their former team offering many complimentary words about their play, and teams will have to rely on their ability to clearly evaluate their play.

So that's right, assuming the Cowboys don't win the Super Bowl, they've already hindered their free agency (assuming the uncapped year happens).  But wait, it gets better.

The rule will restrict the final eight teams in the playoffs from signing free agents. The final four teams shall not be permitted to negotiate and sign any unrestricted free agent to a player contract except for players who acquired their status by being cut or were on the final four team when their contract expired. Playoff teams five thru eight get a break to sign one player with a salary of $4,925,000 or more and any number of players with a first-year salary of no more than $3,275,000 and an annual increase of no more than 30 percent in the following years.

Hurray!!! We're mediocre!