Dan Orlovsky sets ceiling on 2024 Cowboys hopes from low to underground depending on NFL draft picks

The Cowboys have a lot riding on the 2024 NFL Draft, as the potential successor to Dak Prescott could be lying in wait. In addition, several key pieces of the roster could succeed or fail depending on how the team drafts in 2024. However, looking at the sum of its parts regardless of the result, NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky appears to be teetering on being out on the team this season.

Speaking on "First Take," Orlovsky reminded fans that there are only three major opportunities for the team to strike gold in the 2024 NFL Draft.

"If they take a quarterback, then they've just given up on the season ... They only have three picks in the top 175 picks of the NFL draft. Even if they hit on all three of those players, they're still down two positions when it comes to being a playoff-contending football team."

Of course, while it is true that the Dallas Cowboys have additional draft picks beyond the first 175 picks, history has shown that the vast majority of those selections will amount to dust in the wind. The higher on the draft board a team selects a player, the more likely they are to have a lucrative career in the league.

Undrafted free agents provide last gasp of scheduled hope for 2024 Cowboys offseason

Tony Romo at Super Bowl LVIII - San Francisco 49ers v Kansas City Chiefs

Undrafted players arguably have a larger chance of producing one talented player than the last several rounds of the draft. That is because those selected in the NFL draft often took part in the Combine or various Pro Days and events. Those invitations are drawn up by committees that can't have eyes under every rock in the country.

As such, some players slip through the cracks and emerge as undrafted free agents in the days following the final pick of the draft.

Players like ex-Cowboys QB Tony Romo and RB Philip Lindsay have emerged from the primordial muck of the post-NFL draft free agency window. Teams that sign those players look like geniuses in retrospect, but those are also the same franchises that failed to locate talent in the draft as well.

In other words, talent can come from anywhere. Could another undrafted free agent provide an unforeseen boost for Jerry Jones?

If any of the above quotes are used, credit "First Take" and H/T Sportskeeda.