3 Free agents Dallas Cowboys can sign before camp begins

2. Reshad Jones, Strong Safety

With Rod Marinelli as the defensive coordinator for the past six seasons, the Cowboys criminally underrated two positions — safety and defensive tackle. Fans grew weary of hearing how ‘ol Rod could coach ’em up as the team signed bargain bin safeties and undrafted free agents at each position.

When they did make a decent investment at either, it would be like they did in 2019 when they used a second-round pick on defensive tackle Trysten Hill who was full of questions but Marinelli fell in love with his physical traits and untapped potential. They made this move despite there being several starting-caliber safeties on the board, and so far it looks to have been a mistake.

Thankfully, the team has turned a corner in this philosophy. Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, and Neville Gallimore offer up three solid defensive tackles. At safety, they also invested in Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who will join Xavier Woods. The only problem is, both Woods and Clinton-Dix are better fits at free safety than in the strong safety role.

In the end, this isn’t a huge issue as teams don’t typically play their strong safety exclusively in the box as they used to. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to have someone capable of playing closer to the line of scrimmage, which is why Reshad Jones would make a lot of sense.

A two-time Pro Bowler, Jones has been with the Miami Dolphins since 2010 but has yet to find an NFL home for 2020. At 32 years of age, he wouldn’t be a long-term investment but bringing Jones in on a one-year deal would help improve the Cowboys secondary.