So far the Cowboys have focused on their restricted free agents, including Austin.

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ARLINGTON, Texas - Jerry Jones has been a busy man this week.

Before attending Wednesday's final pre-fight press conference ("The Event: Pacquiao vs. Clottey) at Cowboys Stadium, the Cowboys' owner/general manager spent several hours discussing "potential free agent activity" with front-office personnel at Valley Ranch.

There's no timetable for a move to be made, Jones said, but the first wave of free agency has given the team a clearer picture of who might be the best fit among the available players.

Other than offering one-year tenders to 12 of their restricted free agents, the Cowboys haven't been active since the free agent/trading period began six days ago. Jones still expects to be opportunistic, though, in finding sensible deals that would improve last year's playoff roster.

"We will be active, but I'm anticipating some value and opportunity that is not necessarily there right now - can be there but if the process hasn't let us get there," Jones said. "Now, if that doesn't show, that'll limit what I do."

The Cowboys' limitations in the 2010 uncapped season are well-documented. As one of the "Final Eight" teams in last season's playoffs, they can sign only one unrestricted free agent to a starting salary of at least $5.81 million and an unlimited group at less than $3.86 million (those restrictions don't apply to released players). There's a talented crop of free agents, but most require some level of draft pick compensation.

And until a new collective bargaining agreement is struck, teams are uncertain of the long-term financial ramifications for spending extravagantly this year. So far, few have.

Jones has said all along he will not be complacent this off-season. A divisional-round berth doesn't mean his team as presently constructed is guaranteed to improve in 2010, though there are few glaring needs.

Some improvement should come through the draft. But Jones is also hoping for the right free-agent deal to present itself. The Cowboys signed three quality starters - Igor Olshansky, Gerald Sensabaugh and Keith Brooking - to contracts totaling less than $30 million last year.

Now that the market has begun to settle, that right deal could come sooner than later.

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