Cowboys’ offensive line depth thins out after Hoffman not replaced

Football games are won and lost up front.

So when a team’s most important position group starts showing cracks before the season even kicks off, it’s worth paying attention.

That’s exactly where Dallas finds itself right now.

The Cowboys chose not to tender Brock Hoffman as a restricted free agent this offseason, letting the 26-year-old interior lineman walk without compensation.

Hoffman didn’t wait long — he landed in Pittsburgh on a one-year, $1.75 million deal to reunite with former Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy.

It seemed manageable at the time. It doesn’t look that way anymore.

Subtraction Dallas didn’t properly account for

Dallas signed veteran Matt Hennessy to step in behind third-year starter Cooper Beebe at center, attempting to plug the hole Hoffman left.

Hennessy never got his shot. He’s already on season-ending injured reserve with a neck injury, unavailable before the year even starts.

What looked like a clean position swap turned into a net loss at the one spot the Cowboys can’t afford to be shorthanded.

T.J. Bass — who received a second-round tender this offseason — is now Beebe’s primary backup at center while doubling as the team’s top interior reserve at guard.

Bass is arguably the better overall player, but Dallas could’ve kept both. Declining to tender Hoffman required a new contract to bring him back, and that conversation never happened.

What Hoffman offered wasn’t stardom. Just dependable interior versatility.

Over three seasons in Dallas, he logged 684 snaps at center and 452 at right guard, per Pro Football Focus, while allowing just two sacks across 695 pass-blocking snaps.

For a backup rotating between positions, that’s exactly what depth is supposed to look like.

Offensive line can’t absorb too many more surprises

Nobody’s faulting Dallas for Hennessy’s injury. But the cushion Hoffman provided — affordable, versatile, proven — doesn’t exist on this roster anymore.

The Cowboys are one Beebe injury away from a real problem at the position that matters most on offense, and there’s no obvious roster remedy waiting in the wings.

The Steelers, meanwhile, have a 26-year-old lineman with three years of Dallas experience for $1.75 million. That’s a reasonable return.

For the Cowboys, it’s a quiet offseason call that’s getting louder by the day.

Key takeaways

• Dallas declined to tender Brock Hoffman as a restricted free agent, and he signed a one-year, $1.75 million deal with Pittsburgh to reunite with Mike McCarthy
• Matt Hennessy — signed specifically to replace Hoffman’s depth role behind Cooper Beebe — is already on season-ending IR with a neck injury
• T.J. Bass is now the primary backup at center, leaving Dallas thinner than expected at football’s most critical position group