Category: 2022 free agency

16 Free agents Cowboys should heavily consider, but likely won’t

There is value in free agency, whether Stephen Jones wants to admit it or not. A look at several candidates in the trenches, tight end and at safety. | From @KDDrummondNFL

We know this story. The Dallas Cowboys can create as much salary cap room heading into the next league year as they need to do things. The Dallas Cowboys will not create that room to sign any high-priced free agents. The trend has been clear over the last decade since Stephen Jones took over pulling the purse strings of the organization away from his father Jerry.

Dallas avoids big spending and likes to use their cap room to being able to re-up on the wonderful draft finds of VP of Player Personnel Will McClay. It’s not a bad strategy overall, teams are continuously burned by doling out big money to players who performed well in one scheme but don’t translate to the new environment. Dallas has been one of those teams, but the inability to find the perfect match that is actually worth spending the money is a flaw that keeps the Cowboys from climbing to the mountaintop.

Still, fans can dream, right? Here’s a look at some of the top free agents who could fill those holes in the Dallas roster. If only they’d try.

News and Notes: Cowboys’ Parsons, Diggs dominate skills competitions, free agency paths to take

Micah Parsons lining his shelf with accolades while Stephen Jones sets the stage for uneventful free agency period in Dallas, again. The latest news, from @StarConscience.

Micah Parsons has racked up just about every honor a rookie linebacker can receive. He added to his plethora of achievements this week by being named the 2021 Butkus award winner given to the NFL’s top linebacker. Stephen Jones is the puppet master of the Dallas Cowboys’ finances, much to the dismay of the franchise’s fan base. 2022 looks to be more of the same as with free agency only a month away.

Amari Cooper is the Cowboys’ top option at wide receiver. However, with cap space being scarce in Dallas, trading of releasing him could be an option the Cowboys explore. Kicker Greg Zuerlein, who struggled mightily this season, was put on notice this week with the signing of Chris Naggard to a futures contract. Potential draft prospects, Parsons winning the NFL’s Fastest Man race, whether or not the Cowboys will follow the Los Angeles Rams and their “All In” philosophy next season, and much more take center stage in the news and notes for Thursday.

5 players the Saints should sign to early contract extensions in 2022

The Saints have a handful of players whose contracts aren’t up just yet, but who should be considered for extensions ahead of schedule:

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The New Orleans Saints have a handful of players whose contracts aren’t up just yet, but who should be considered for extensions ahead of schedule. Their 2019 draft class is now eligible to sign contract extensions, and they have some other players who are technically restricted free agents in 2022 — meaning they can be retained at little cost, effectively giving the team contract control for another year. But sometimes it’s worth going for a long-term deal sooner rather than later.

We’ve already discussed the top Saints unrestricted free agents and which of them may or may not re-sign with New Orleans. With few salary cap resources to work with right now, the Saints are going to be tempted to use their usual maneuvers — restructuring contracts and handing out prorated signing bonuses — to reach cap compliance, but they can also get under the cap while hammering out multiyear extensions with some players. It’s just a question of whether the timing is right. Here are five candidates:

Stephen Jones enjoys ready-made excuse for Cowboys’ free agent frugality

Citing salary cap concerns is a tried and true message coming from the Cowboys front office which accomplished historic playoff ineptitude with their recent wild-card ouster. | From @BenGrimaldi

The 2022 offseason isn’t officially underway yet, but the Dallas Cowboys, and specifically executive vice president Stephen Jones, are already in peak form. Making the playoffs for the first time in three years, the Cowboys were eliminated from the postseason in the wild card round proving there’s still work to do.

Part of Dallas’ to-do list this offseason includes deciding what free agents they want to re-sign, which ones they let go and which ones they can afford to bring in. As it always is with Jones, it’s the last part that drives Cowboys fans crazy as they became the first team in NFL history to not make the conference championship game over their last 11 playoff appearances.

As free agency is set to open next month, it’s important to remember the Cowboys are unlikely to make a splash on a big-name player or invest in significant money on outside talent. The franchise has 21 free agents of their own to sign, so decisions must be made.

It’s also unlikely Dallas will be re-signing all their options, which includes any of the high priority players. Jones has already put fans on notice with his annual no-money explanation.

Just when fans feel they can’t stand Jones any more than they already do, he comes along with the same rhetoric he provides every year. It’s a built-in excuse of why the Cowboys can’t be bidders on the best talent available in free agency, and why the team likely won’t be able to bring back some of their own top-tier free agents.

Savvy fans know it just isn’t true. The salary cap is real but compliance can be finessed to help teams acquire any talent they want.

Stephen Jones is Dallas’ financial wizard in charge of working the salary cap to ensure the team stays inside the NFL’s cap restraints. And while other teams work their ‘magic’ to sign quality talent outside of their respective teams during free agency, Jones routinely works to add bargain basement players at positions of need. The Cowboys think of it as addressing a hole on their roster, when in reality it’s just adding a “guy” at a position of need.

What Jones did say is correct, there is work for the Cowboys to do. The team is currently over the salary cap but they have moves already planned out to get under the threshold by the time the league year arrives.

More financial moves must be made to get the Cowboys under the cap so they can get to work in free agency. Fans just shouldn’t expect much. With some prominent pieces from this year’s Cowboys about to hit the open market, Jones has made it blatantly obvious Dallas won’t be able to retain some of them.

Among some of the big names the Cowboys will have to make decisions on include defensive end Randy Gregory, tight end Dalton Schultz, wide receiver Michael Gallup, safety Jayron Kearse, left guard Connor Williams, and punter Bryan Anger. The Cowboys aren’t likely to re-sign all these key contributors and will lose some in free agency.

And when a few of them leave, who is going to replace them? If Jones isn’t going to spend to keep these solid players around, he also isn’t likely to sign guys with similar talent in free agency because they won’t have the money to do so, according to Jones.

The draft can bring help and Jones loves to point to it as an avenue to restock talent, but it’s not easy replacing known commodities for the crapshoot of the draft. The Cowboys will love the 2023 compensatory picks they get for losing some of their best free agents, but the help for the team isn’t immediate. With the Cowboys trying to capitalize on what they did 2021 and build momentum towards 2022, they’ll need to bring talent back, not just replenish with the unknown.

Yet that’s what Jones is already selling to the masses of Cowboys fans. That they can’t re-sign all their best free agents or spend big money on quality players outside the organization.

The excuse has grown tiresome and it’s disappointing to watch other teams with “cap problems” continue to go out and be aggressive in talent acquisition. The Los Angeles Rams are the poster boys for being aggressive against cap woes and eschewing draft picks for known talent, look where it’s gotten them in the past four years. They have two more Super Bowl appearances than the Cowboys, which has apparently yet to set alarms off for Jones.

The fan base for the Cowboys already had a disdain for Stephen Jones and he just provided more ammunition for that hatred to continue.

You can chat with or contact Ben on twitter @BenGrimaldi.

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Cowboys should consider re-signing defensive tackle Brent Urban a priority

The Cowboys run defense took a significant dip after defensive tackle Brent Urban was lost for the season @StaConscience believes that should make him a priority free agent.

One of the main adjustments the Cowboys needed to make in 2021 was to improve their run defense which finished 31st in the season before. Specifically, they needed to get better production from their interior defensive line, and that’s why the signing of defensive tackle Brent Urban in free agency was a sneaky good one.

The Cowboys’ run defense was very solid over the first six games of the season, only allowing 86.1 yards per game. A big reason for that was Urban’s presence on the interior. Despite not putting up big numbers, Urban was a force up the middle against the run prior to his season-ending injury and seeing as he won’t cost a lot to bring back, the Cowboys should strongly consider bringing him back in free agency in 2022.

After spending the previous two seasons with the Chicago Bears, Urban was focused on being that run-stuffing anchor on the interior for Dallas in 2021.

“I do a good job being stout up front, taking on double teams and doing the dirty work to allow those guys to run free,” Urban said back in June, via the team’s website. “That’s part of the reason I came here. It seemed like the perfect opportunity for me to continue to do that and help elevate this defense and allow the athletes to be athletes.”

Unfortunately for Urban, he suffered a triceps injury in October and was placed on injured reserve. In November, Urban had season-ending surgery. The Cowboys’ run defense would suffer tremendously over the last 11 regular-season games without Urban clogging up the middle by allowing 127.3 yards per game with eight consecutive games of giving up over 100 yards from Week 8 through Week 15.

Urban had been a stout run defender for quite some time before he came to Dallas. According to Pro Football Focus, he posted a 79.7 run defense in 2018 which jumped up to 83.7 in 2020 which was the third-best for all interior defensive linemen. His 2021 grade though was much lower, 44.3, but while his grade wasn’t impressive, the difference in the performance of the run defense when he wasn’t in the rotation was evident by the raw numbers.

In the five full games Urban played, four of those opponents failed to reach 100 yards. In the next 12 contests, 11 opponents reached beyond the century mark, some well beyond. Only Washington, in a 56-14 drubbing, failed to break 100 ground yards.

The Cowboys would be wise to grab another piece on their defensive interior during the upcoming NFL draft in April. However, Urban should also be in their offseason plans for Dallas. With Neville Gallimore, Trysten Hill, and Quinton Bohanna in the mix, bringing Urban back would set the Cowboys up to have a solid rotation at defensive tackle for next season.

Dallas has a lot of free agents to make decisions on. Urban may not be one of the first names mentioned, but with what he brings to the table against the run, he needs strong consideration for a second-go-round with the Cowboys.

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3 Cowboys free agents whose future impacted by Dan Quinn’s return

Dan Quinn is returning as defensive coordinator, and that may help persuade Cowboys free agent defenders to stay with Dallas. | From @AsaHenry_55

Despite speaking with half a dozen NFL teams about filling their head coaching vacancy, Dan Quinn decided to stay on with the Dallas Cowboys as the defensive coordinator.

Quinn played a part in revamping the Dallas defense schematically and personnel wise, helping transform the unit from one of the league’s biggest liabilities in 2020, to a fiery group that led the NFL in takeaways and was just seventh in total scoring defense.

Judging by the reaction when it was announced Quinn was coming back to Dallas, it’s clear the majority of Cowboys defenders thoroughly enjoyed working with the former Falcons’ head coach, and his return may give the club an inside track on retaining the following free agents.

3 most important Cowboys’ 2022 free agents

The Cowboys have 21 free agents to make decisions on and these three players sit at the top of the list. | From @StarConscience

The Dallas Cowboys have a lot of questions to answer going into the 2022 season. After a letdown in the wild-card round against the San Francisco 49ers, Dallas blew an opportunity to make a serious run at the organization’s sixth Lombardi trophy and their roster will be completely different going forward than currently constructed.

Dallas has 24 free agents that they have to make decisions on. There’s always a pecking order in terms of importance to these types of situations, and these three players, in particular, sit atop the priority list for the Cowboys.

 

Report: Cowboys assistant Joe Whitt expected to interview for Steelers DC job

Three teams have now shown interest in Joe Whitt as their defensive coordinator; if Dan Quinn leaves Dallas, he’d be a candidate there, too. | From @ToddBrock24f7

Cowboys defensive passing game coordinator and secondary coach Joe Whitt Jr. seems to be on a clear trajectory to a defensive coordinator job. It’s the landing spot that’s still uncertain.

The Pittsburgh Steelers have joined the list of teams looking to speak with Whitt about their DC position, according to Gerry Dulac of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in a report Wednesday.

The Seattle Seahawks and Baltimore Ravens have already inquired about the 43-year-old assistant, who was hired in Dallas in January. Having worked previously with both head coach Mike McCarthy in Green Bay and coordinator Dan Quinn in Atlanta, Whitt’s reunion with both men in Dallas helped transform a Cowboys unit that had been historically bad in 2020 into the league leader in takeaways.

Longtime Pittsburgh assistant Keith Butler retired following the Steelers’ season, leaving an open coordinator position on head coach Mike Tomlin’s staff. The team is looking internally at assistant Teryl Austin, but also reportedly speaking with former Giants DC Patrick Graham and Saints defensive backs coach (and former Cowboys assistant) Kris Richard.

Whitt has called the role of Cowboys defensive coordinator a “dream job” for him. He could soon be just one phone call away from that possibility coming to fruition, with Quinn talking to a handful of teams about a head coaching position. He’s been named a finalist for two of them thus far. If Quinn departs Dallas, Whitt would likely be on a list of candidates to assume that title for the Cowboys.

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Multiple Saints players named top free agent targets for other teams

Saints players Marcus Williams, Terron Armstead, and Kwon Alexander have been named top free agent targets for other teams:

It’s going to be tough for the New Orleans Saints to keep their core together with so many important players on track to reach free agency in March. Navigating their own complicated salary cap situation is only part of the challenge — these players figure to have active markets and should draw interest from teams looking to open their pocketbooks.

In a survey of managing editors from across USA Today’s NFL Wire network, three different Saints free agents came up as high-priority targets: free safety Marcus Williams, targeted by two different teams, as well as left tackle Terron Armstead and linebacker Kwon Alexander. Here’s what was written about each match:

One free agent each NFL team should want to sign in 2022

Every team gets better or worse in the offseason. If each team were to sign this one free agent, they’d definitely improve.

There are only four teams left fighting for Super Bowl LVI, which means 28 teams are deeply engrossed in the Business Season of the NFL. The first major tentpole event of that season is free agency, which begins at 4 p.m. ET March 16. Teams are aware of the salary cap for the 2022 season, and are planning to build out their rosters accordingly.

We’ve decided to give them some help. Cap and negotiations aside, we’ve determined one pending free agent (as of the time of publication) that isn’t currently on each team for each team.

Based on our results, expect hot markets for CB J.C. Jackson, WR Mike Williams and DT Akiem Hicks — none of which should be considered a surprise for anyone. There are interesting names that might not be the first considered in such an exercise, but compelling arguments are made.