The Dallas Cowboys could add some free agent help as training camp starts.
This offseason was an active one for the Dallas Cowboys front office. They had a lot of tough decisions to make when it came to not only their personnel on the field but also their coaching staff.
After 10 seasons with Jason Garrett as the head coach, Dallas allowed his contract to expire and with him went the defensive coaching staff as well as the special teams unit. Mike McCarthy was hired as Garrett’s replacement and he too made a tough decision.
McCarthy, who is an offensive-minded coach, decided to keep Kellen Moore on the staff following a strong season as a rookie offensive coordinator. He then added his new defensive coordinator and filled out the rest of his positional coaching staff.
From there, they had to make more decisions in regard to pending free agents. They kept Anthony Brown, franchise-tagged Dak Prescott, and gave Amari Cooper a massive extension. They didn’t retain Byron Jones, Randall Cobb, or Robert Quinn — who all signed multi-year deals elsewhere.
This was all before the 2020 NFL Draft which was easily their best since the 2016 draft that landed them Prescott, Jaylon Smith, and Ezekiel Elliott. With all this behind us, the Cowboys are ready to get their training camp started, but they could get their players on the field and decide they still need to add a piece or two.
Should that be the case, they could look back to the free agency market where they could find one of these four players ready to find a home for the 2020 NFL season.
4. Charles Clay, Tight End
When Jason Witten retired following the 2017 season, the Cowboys weren’t prepared for his departure. At that time, they had Geoff Swaim as the most experienced option as well as a second-year undrafted player in Blake Jarwin. Dallas had always been high on Jarwin, but no one expected him to be ready for a huge role in year two.
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Then there was rookie fourth-round pick Dalton Schultz and Rico Gathers, the former basketball player from Baylor who was taken in the sixth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. Unsurprisingly, this position ended up being a weakness for the Cowboys who welcomed Witten back in 2019 when he decided to un-retire.
Witten is now gone again and while Jarwin is much better suited to be the starter, there’s not a lot behind him. The Cowboys No. 2 tight end appears to be Blake Bell who was signed away from the Kansas City Chiefs. Schultz is there to be the third tight end, but he has yet to prove he can take on a big rile should something happen to Jarwin.
With all that being said, the Cowboys could get into camp and realize they need to add a veteran to help out. If so, they could try and land Charles Clay who is still without an NFL team after spending the 2019 season with the Arizona Cardinals.
Clay entered the NFL in 2011 with the Miami Dolphins before joining the Buffalo Bills in 2015. He was with each of those teams for four seasons before joining Arizona last year. For his career, Clay has 357 receptions for 3,868 yards and 24 touchdowns.
He’s also an excellent blocker who actually started his career with the Dolphins as a fullback. Adding him would give Dallas some insurance but he also wouldn’t be a progress stopper for Jarwin the way Witten had become.
3. Larry Warford, Guard
Right now, the Dallas Cowboys are starting Zack Martin and Connor Williams at guard. Martin is one of the best in the NFL but Williams has yet to really hit his stride. A second-round pick in 2018, Williams moved from tackle to guard and struggled as a rookie.
He improved in 2019 but then missed time due to an injury. He now enters 2020 with a new coaching staff which means they’re not as invested in him as the Jason Garrett-led staff was. That could lead to some trouble for Willians with Connor McGovern right behind him. It could also lead to the new staff wanting to find an improvement if they’re not satisfied with how things look when they get a better look at training camp.
If that’s the route they take, someone such as Larry Warford would be worth kicking the tires on. The 29-year-old Warford was a solid starter last season for the New Orleans Saints but lost his job when they drafted Michigan interior offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz.
With Ruiz in town, the Saints were able to make a salary cap move and go with the younger player. That could leave the door open for Dallas to bring in the veteran who would be an upgrade considering he’s coming off his third consecutive Pro Bowl appearance.
Of course, it all comes down to price. Dallas isn’t as flexible as they could have been, but they could still offer a decent one-year salary for Warford and have him help them get the most out of the 2020 season as they possibly can.
2. Eric Reid, Safety
Dallas was reportedly in the recent trade discussions for Jamal Adams, the disgruntled New York Jets safety who was requesting a trade. In the end, they didn’t want to give up the two first-round picks New York was demanding. The Seattle Seahawks were fine doing that and they made the blockbuster trade.
Even though the Cowboys weren’t willing to give up the massive haul Seattle was (which was smart on their part), that doesn’t mean they can’t still add another safety. In fact, there’s one former Pro Bowler sitting on the free-agent market right now that could come in and help improve their secondary.
Eric Reid was a first-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers and spent the first five seasons of his career there before joining the Carolina Panthers in 2018 on a one-year deal. He recorded 71 tackles and a pick that year which earned him a three-year, $22 million deal ahead of the 2019 campaign. Reid then registered a career-high 130 tackles and four sacks but was released when Ron Rivera was replaced as the head coach by Matt Rhule.
Still looking for a home, Reid would be a good option as a strong safety next to Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Having said that, he would only make sense if the team believes he would be an upgrade there over Xavier Woods, who will be moving from free safety to strong. Should the coaching staff not be thrilled with his transition, Reid would be worth calling.
1. Everson Griffen, EDGE
Dallas really wanted to retain Robert Quinn after he led them in sacks last season with 11.5. That became unrealistic for them when the Chicago Bears came in and gave him a five-year, $70 million contract. With him gone, the idea was they could look to the draft, and K’Lavon Chaisson seemed to be an ideal fit.
The problem was, once they were on the clock at No. 17, they found someone available they rated higher than Chaisson. Oklahoma wide receiver CeeDee Lamb was the sixth-highest player on the Cowboys draft board and they gladly took him. The problem was, skipping on Chaisson meant they would be thin at right defensive end.
Currently, they’re set to start Tyrone Crawford and the primary backups could be Dorance Armstrong and Aldon Smith. Armstrong is unproven and Smith, who was amazing when he first entered the NFL, hasn’t played in more than four years.
For that reason, the Cowboys could decide to add another veteran capable of starting and one perfect fit is Everson Griffen. A 10-year veteran, Griffen was released by the Minnesota Vikings this past season despite him making the Pro Bowl following a 41 tackle and eight sack season.
Dallas doesn’t have a lot of wiggle room to play with when it comes to the salary cap but they could find a way to give Griffen a one-year contract that would buy them time to draft their next young stud to play opposite DeMarcus Lawrence.
Griffen landing in Dallas would be very similar to the situation they had last year with Quinn, which would be very beneficial for them. And as we saw with Quinn, it could be even more beneficial for the player.