The Dallas Cowboys already-strong offensive line got even stronger Thursday when the team signed former LSU tackle, La'el Collins.
Collins, a first-round talent many expected to go in the top half of the 2015 NFL Draft's initial round, joins an offensive line group already comprised of former first-rounders Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zach Martin.
Collins seems likely to slot in at either left guard or right tackle, meaning one of two presumed Cowboys starters, tackle Doug Free and guard Ronald Leary, are likely to be riding the pine come the start of the 2015 season.
Would this newfound offensive line depth push Cowboys owner/GM Jerry Jones to consider a trade of one of the team's numerous building blocks up front?
Don't count on it.
"No," owner Jones said recently, per Drew Davison of The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "We're going to have some great competition. I'm so excited. ... We've got a chance to really have our depth there. And if we should have done well there, we've really got a chance to put together something very special relative to an offensive line."
Jones is right, of course, to be excited about the monumental depth Dallas now boasts up front and, further, to balk at the notion of potentially shipping out any of that depth in order to shore up another spot - even if that other spot happens to be running back.
Success NFL teams have notoriously had a strength - a strength that they hone and stick to and look to utilize in the game's biggest moments.
For the Cowboys and their limited running back talent and aging signal-caller, Tony Romo, having a stout offensive line that can withstand the act of attrition that is an NFL season and keep Romo upright and whoever ends up toting the rock on a regular basis from remaining untouched until they reach the second-level of the defense may be their best bet at repeating at NFC East champs and reaching the NFL postseason.
Of course, things could change between now and the regular season and it sure doesn't hurt to have potential trade bait should a major injury occur, creating a roster hole which requires a preseason deal to fix.
