Will Cowboys' offseason haul be worthy of gold club or fraud section?

When the Dallas Cowboys signed undrafted offensive lineman La'el Similar Collins last week, they in essence added their third first-round talent from the 2015 NFL draft. In addition to their selection of cornerback Byron Jones at No. 27 overall, they nabbed linebacker Randy Gregory late in the second. Gregory, of course, would have been a first-rounder if not for a failed drug test prior to the NFL scouting combine and subsequent concerns about his maturity and reliability.

Take these three rookies, add in veteran free-agent signee end Greg Hardy and the Cowboys have had one of the best offseason hauls during the NFL's free-agency era – on paper.

Of course, that paper will be balled up in disgust if a couple of the aforementioned newcomers flame out and Dallas falls far short of winning a Super Bowl in the next 3-4 seasons.

Here's a look at five teams that struck gold with its offseason mixture of acquisitions (free agents, trades and draft picks) in the past 22 years … and five clubs whose collections turned out to be fraudulent:

Gold club

1994 San Francisco 49ers (Free agency: CB Deion Sanders, LB Rickey Jackson, LB Ken Norton; NFL draft: DT Bryant Young)

The 49ers went all out on defense to get over the hump against the Cowboys, who were coming off consecutive Super Bowl victories. The biggest and splashiest signing was taking away future Hall of Famer Sanders from the division-rival Falcons.

"Primetime" lived up to the billing, returning three of his six INTs for TDs and winning NFL Defensive Player of the Year honors. Norton, a member of those championship teams in Dallas, joined Sanders and another future Hall of Famer, Jackson, in the Bay Area. They added Young through the NFL draft.

With the upgraded defense to go along with an explosive offense featuring Steve Young and Jerry Rice, the Niners claimed their fifth and final Super Bowl following the '94 season.

1995 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Free agency: WR Alvin Harper; NFL draft: DT Warren Sapp; LB Derrick Brooks)

Before we get to the good, first we'll recall the bad. Harper was so underwhelming in his two years with the Buccaneers that he publicly admitted late in the '96 season that he didn't expect to return for a third season. He was right. Fortunately for Tampa Bay, it drafted a pair of future Hall of Fame defenders in the '95 offseason – Sapp and Brooks.

The defenders, along with safety John Lynch, were the key ingredient in turning Tampa from the Yuccaneers and leading the franchise to its first and only Super Bowl win to cap the 2002 season.

1996 Baltimore Ravens (Free agency: RB Bam Morris, TE Eric Green; NFL draft: LB Ray Lewis, OT Jonathan Ogden, WR/KR Jermaine Lewis)

Baltimore's second incarnation as home to an NFL franchise couldn't have started much better … at least as it pertains to the draft. The Ravens dabbled in free agency and came up with a couple of decent finds in Morris and Green. But the home runs came atop the first round of the draft where Baltimore landed 2013 Hall of Fame inductee Ogden and Lewis, a surefire Canton member once he's eligible in 2018. They were joined in the draft by fifth-rounder Jermaine Lewis, who made two Pro Bowls in his six-year stint with the club. All three players played prominent roles in Baltimore winning Super Bowl XXXV with Lewis capping his career with another championship 12 years later.

2005 New York Giants (Free agency: WR Plaxico Burress, OT Kareem McKenzie, LB Antonio Pierce; NFL draft: DE Justin Tuck, RB Brandon Jacobs)

One year after maneuvering to acquire QB Eli Manning during the draft, the Giants utilized resources to give him protection and a big-time target. McKenzie, at seven years for $37.5 million, was one of the biggest signings of the offseason. The value of his deal was a little more than that of Burress'. Under the radar was Pierce, who was coming off his best year with the Redskins. In the draft, New York acquired a pair of major contributors – Tuck and Jacobs. Collectively, the group had its imprints all over a pair of championship seasons (2007 and 2011) with Burress catching the game-winning TD in Super Bowl XLII, and Tuck, Jacobs and McKenzie playing major roles for both title-winning clubs.

2006 New Orleans Saints (Free agency: QB Drew Brees, LB Scott Fujita; NFL draft: RB Reggie Bush, WR Marques Colston, G Jahri Evans, S Roman Harper)

At the time, only two players acquired that offseason would have sparked much enthusiasm: Brees and Bush. And New Orleans landed the pair in large part because of extenuating circumstances – Brees had limited suitors that offseason after coming off a serious shoulder injury and Bush had been projected as the No. 1 pick in the draft until news was reported of a brewing scandal at USC. Brees has elevated himself into a future Hall of Famer who engineered the team's only Super Bowl title during the 2009 season. Bush didn't live up to the "once in a generation" hype, but he was solid in five seasons with New Orleans. Meanwhile, defensive captain Fujita along with Harper, Evans and Colston emerged as major contributors for the Super Bowl-winning club.

Counterfeit collection

2000 Washington Redskins (Free agency: QB Jeff George, CB Deion Sanders, DE Bruce Smith; NFL draft: LB LaVar Arrington, OT Chris Samuels)

Folks undoubtedly recall the big-name free agents who didn't quite pan out: Sanders (retired after one year with the Redskins), Smith (24 sacks, $23.5 million over four seasons) and George (seven starts in two seasons). What many people may not recall is that the Redskins also had the second and third picks in that year's draft. Samuels, taken at No. 3 overall, lived up to expectations by earning six Pro Bowl nods in 10 seasons. The same wasn't true of Arrington, who registered 22.5 sacks in six seasons after going No. 2. Not only did Washington miss the playoffs in 2000, but the franchise didn't appear in the postseason again until the '05 season's playoffs.

2003 Arizona Cardinals (Free agency: RB Emmitt Smith; QB Jeff Blake; FS Dexter Jackson; NFL draft: WR Bryant Johnson, DE Calvin Pace, WR Anquan Boldin)

There are a couple of highs, then a bunch of lows with this group. Smith, by then the league's all-time leading rusher, later admitted to crying upon his return to Dallas as a Cardinal. The Bidwill family probably sheds some tears too when it reflects back to Smith's two-year stint. Unfortunately, that wasn't the only miss for Arizona that offseason. Blake and Jackson, coming off a Super Bowl season with the Bucs, were both one and done. The saving grace is that the Cardinals, who experienced a 10-year playoff drought until their Super Bowl XLIII run after the 2008 season, at least hit with Pace and Boldin … after taking Johnson with their first selection in the draft.

2008 Oakland Raiders (Free agency: OT Kwame Harris; DT Tommy Kelly, WR Javon Walker, S Gibril Wilson; Trade: CB DeAngelo Hall; NFL draft: RB Darren McFadden)

Given all of the misses in free agency (Larry Brown in '96, Desmond Howard in '97) and the draft (JaMarcus Russell in 2007) for much of the past two decades, the Raiders could probably fill this whole section by themselves. But the worst of the collection has to be in '08, when Al Davis polluted the roster every way imaginable. Via trade (Hall's addition was so bad that he was gone by midseason), re-signing their own high-prized free agent (seven years, $50 million for Kelly) and going bust on other teams' free agents (Walker: six years, $55 million; Wilson: six years, $39 million; Harris: three years, $16 million), it was one miss after another. McFadden, the team's first-round draft pick, was far from a home run, unless you compare him to the other moves. Oakland went into the 2008 season having missed the playoffs five straight years – the streak is now 12.

2011 Philadelphia Eagles (Free agency: CB Nnamdi Asomugha; DE Jason Babin; DT Cullen Jenkins; Trade: CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie; NFL draft: G Danny Watkins; DB Jaiquawn Jarrett)

After winning the NFC East in 2010 season and losing a tough wild-card game to the eventual Super Bowl champion Packers, the Eagles figured bulking up their roster would put them over the top.

What they did was flush a lot of money down the toilet on what may stand the test of time among disappointing free-agency classes. Asomugha, aka Mr. Kerry Washington, was the most coveted free agent on the market (agreeing to a five-year, $60 million). His time with the Eagles ended after two seasons and four INTs. However, he was far from alone in terms of overwhelming disappointments acquired after the lockout ended. Babin, Jenkins and Rodgers-Cromartie all made their way to Philly … and were gone within two years. To make matters worse, the Eagles' first two draft picks that year evoke the response, "who?" First-rounder White and second-rounder Jarrett were both cut loose after just two seasons as well. Philly has missed the playoffs in three of the past four years.

2013 Tampa Bay Buccaneers (Free agency: S Dashon Goldson, PK Nate Kaeding; Trades: OT Gabe Carimi, CB Darrelle Revis; NFL draft: QB Mike Glennon; CB Johnthan Banks)

The worst part of the Buccaneers' haul is that it's the middleground of a messy three-year run featuring flops in 2012 (S Mark Barron, G Carl Nicks, DT Amobi Okoye, CB Eric Wright) and 2014 (CB Mike Jenkins, DE Michael Johnson, QB Josh McCown, S Major Wright). The biggest black eye of the 2013 collection is trading away their '13 first-rounder to acquire Revis. However, Revis is now on his second team since leaving Tampa (and with a Super Bowl ring to boot). Second-rounder Banks has been solid, overcoming the staph infection outbreak and nabbing seven INTs in two seasons. But then there's third-rounder Glennon, the highly coveted QB of former coach Greg Schiano. Glennon lost his job as starter in 2014 to Josh McCown and will now hold the clipboard behind Jameis Winston. Meanwhile, the Bucs also went wrong with Goldson, Carimi and Kaeding, who never played for the Bucs after suffering an offseason groin injury. Tampa Bay's playoff drought has now reached seven seasons.