10 NFL free agency signings for 2021 that could backfire

9. Keanu Neal, Linebacker, Dallas Cowboys

Keanu Neal isn’t a bad player by any means, that’s not why he makes this list. The reason he makes the list is that the Dallas Cowboys elected to go after a player at their greatest position of need only to make him change positions — to the most crowded one they have.

Neal is an in-the-box safety who excels in run support which gave the Cowboys the idea to move him into a hybrid linebacker role. The problem is, they already have a ton invested in Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch.

Making matters worse, they then drafted Micah Parsons and Jabril Cox this season as well. So now, Neal will be fighting with an overpaid Smith (who the front office still seems to think is better than he has been), two first-round picks in LVE and Parsons, and Cox who was a fourth-round pick but should have gone much higher.

They could make the argument that Neal was brought in with the intention of moving on from Vander Esch and Smith — which is why many believe they took Parsons and Cox in the same draft — but even that makes little sense considering Neal is on a one-year deal.

Again, Neal isn’t a bad player at all but this move could end up hurting the Cowboys since they could have taken the money they dedicated to signing Neal and used it to strengthen the safety position — which they also ignored in the draft.