The Cowboys are trying to put fans at ease during a puzzling offseason that followed a renaissance 13-3 year.

The team has been criticized for letting members of their defense leave in free agency without much resistance. Are they weakening a unit that was torched by Aaron Rodgers and the Packers in the playoffs, or making room for improvement in the draft? Depends whom you ask.

“There is a little bit of method to the madness here,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones told the Dallas Morning News from the owners meetings in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Sunday.

The “method’ has included letting cornerbacks Morris Claiborne (Jets) and Brandon Carr (Ravens), along with safety Barry Church (Jaguars), walk in free agency, while only adding Nolan Carroll to help the secondary.

“Right now, going into the draft, we feel really good about our numbers,” Jones said. “But at the same time, we feel this is going to be a great opportunity for us to improve on the defensive side of the ball. It just so happens we feel the draft is inordinately strong on the defensive side of the ball.”

In total, according to the Morning News, the Cowboys have let 10 players go in free agency — seven who played on defense. Last year, the Cowboys built up their offense in the draft, taking running back Ezekiel Elliott and quarterback Dak Prescott. That combo led them to the NFC East title, but their defense let them down against Green Bay in a 34-31 loss in the Divisional Round.

“Players we want to keep, we keep them,” Jones said. “Most of these players, I’m not going to single out guys, but most of them we were ready to let move on. Now, there were a few, if they would have been for the right price, we would have done it. But we certainly didn’t want to get into overpaying for anybody.”