The noon bells chimed at the league’s New York offices on Monday, signalling the official end of many players’ contracts. With a single clock tick, any and all interested teams were instantly within their rights to reach out to free agents from other organizations to begin wooing them to new cities.
Many Cowboys fans had held out hope that the front office would see the importance of retaining a guy like Pro Bowl cornerback Byron Jones and write the last-minute check that made it binding. But that ship has sailed, and the Cowboys appear to be ready for a change at the position.
ESPN’s Josina Anderson is reporting that the club may already have their eye on Jones’s replacement.
I'm told the #Cowboys, #Bills, #Jets and #Raiders are among the teams showing interest in impending free agent CB Chris Harris, per source.
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 16, 2020
Harris finds himself in the same boat as Jones, suddenly without an employer after his own nine-year stint with the Broncos ended on Monday. The 30-year-old Harris was an undrafted free agent out of Kansas in 2011 and has been to four Pro Bowls. He has 20 interceptions, six forced fumbles, and four defensive touchdowns on his pro resume.
He’s shorter and older than Jones, but is he cheaper? And by how much? And does he have enough left in the tank to be a viable replacement for Jones? Those are the questions the Cowboys are almost certainly weighing right now.
Adding to the intrigue is this. Over the weekend, Harris followed some new accounts on Instagram. Was he just plucking guys from around the league… or building bridges early with a soon-to-be-teammate?
Who is the last person that soon-to-be free agent cornerback Chris Harris followed on Instagram?
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. pic.twitter.com/BLzJwfYoxt
— RJ Ochoa (@rjochoa) March 14, 2020
Dallas won’t be the only team kicking the tires on Harris. In fact, several of the same teams who are calling Byron Jones this week are also doing comparison-shopping on Harris, according to Anderson.
I'm told the #Dolphins, #Jets, #Raiders, #Eagles are among the clubs that have discussed interest in impending free agent CB Byron Jones, per source.
— ig: josinaanderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 16, 2020
It’s all just talk for now. Monday kick-started the league’s recognized legal tampering period, but teams cannot actually ink a new deal with free agents until Wednesday. Make no mistake, though, the NFL has officially thrown open the doors to its annual shopping spree.
Check out our 2020 Offseason Manifesto, where we replace Jones with our own candidate, as well as sign free agents across both the offense and defense.
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