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Dallas Cowboys: Re-signing Doug Free a good deal

By Stephen Forsha

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Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports

The Dallas Cowboys made a good move this past week by re-signing offensive lineman Doug Free to a three-year contract, keeping the Cowboys offensive line in-tact, allowing them to have more continuity for the 2015 season and beyond.

This deal keeps the Cowboys’ offensive unit together for the foreseeable future, giving the Cowboys a sense of steadiness for the next few seasons which is what every team wants.

The deal isn’t a bad one for the NFC East champions. As Todd Archer of ESPN Dallas-Fort Worth reported, Free will receive $15 million for three years with $6 million guaranteed.

Archer wrote: “Free is considered the leader of a Cowboys offensive line that features three Pro Bowlers – Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin. He had offseason surgery on his left ankle but he is expected to be at full health for training camp.”

That is maybe the best part about this deal. Free has the ability to be a Pro Bowler just like his aforementioned three teammates. But more than that, this unit will be staying together for a few more seasons. With Free returning from his ankle injury from this offseason, the hope is that helps improves his overall game to even a level higher than before.

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Meanwhile, CBS Sports staff writer Jared Dubin noted that there were four things things to know about the signing, with one of them being Jermey Parnell, (Free’s replacement last season for 5 games) being all but gone from the Cowboys. NOTE: NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reported on Monday that Parnell was on the verge of signing with the Jacksonville Jaguars.

The Cowboys offensive line last season helped the team gain 2,354 yards rushing and average 4.6 yards per carry on 508 attempts. The line also helped the club gain 147.1 rushing yards per game and Cowboys runners totaled 19 plays of 20-plus yards. Dallas also allowed just 30 sacks in 2014, a slight improvement from the previous season.

Back to Free. David Moore of The Dallas Morning News wrote about how Free was one of the big three priorities for Cowboys COO Stephen Jones this offseason.

"“Free has started 82 games since moving into the starting lineup against Washington in November of 2009, missing only five regular season starts during that period due to injury.”"

With all of that said, this was a smart, cost-effective move by the Cowboys. They managed to keep their veteran leader up front and have kept together maybe the best offensive line in all of the NFL.

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