The Dallas Cowboys have been busy locking up their offensive players but they should go all-in to sign free agent Jadeveon Clowney.
After locking up Amari Cooper and Blake Jarwin to shore up the offensive playmakers, the next move the Dallas Cowboys make in free agency should be signing Jadeveon Clowney.
Football fans in the state of Texas are very familiar with the former No. 1 pick of the Houston Texans who was traded last September to the Seattle Seahawks. Now, Clowney is a free agent and hasn’t been met with a ton of offers in the first week of free agency.
That could leave the door open for Jerry Jones to swoop in and make the three-time Pro Bowler an offer to join the Cowboys and make a run for the NFC East division title. Philadelphia Eagles fans will not want to see Clowney twice a year. Neither would the rest of the NFC East and neither would offensive linemen who have to play the Cowboys.
Dallas already has a stud defensive end with Demarcus Lawrence one of the best at the position and a pair of Pro Bowl linebackers in Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, but the addition of Clowney would make them a dangerously scary unit in 2020.
It’s a move future Hall of Famer and current NFL Network analyst Joe Thomas thinks should happen.
The Cowboys have about $24 million in salary cap space, according to Over The Cap. They can sign Clowney and if Clowney really wants to be in Dallas, the team can restructure some contracts to free up more cap space.
It’ll all be worth it if it results in a Super Bowl.
Signing Clowney comes with a likely high price tag and with some risk.
As talented as Clowney is, he’s also a player with a history of injury, including a sports hernia surgery in the offseason. When he’s been healthy, and he’s been mostly healthy the last four years, he’s been one of the best players on the edge.
Clowney is excellent against the run, but he hasn’t quite had the perennial double-digit sack seasons that was expected of him after his All-American career at South Carolina and what he flashed during his time with the Texans.
Clowney is coming off a three-sack season last year. He could slide right in and fill the void left by Rober Quinn who signed a five-year deal worth up to $70 million and $30 million guaranteed with the Chicago Bears earlier this week. Quinn had 11.5 sacks in a resurgent year — his only year — for the Cowboys as he found a lot of one-on-one matchups with Lawrence attracting a lot of attention on the other side. But even when Quinn faced double-teams, he often beat them.
The defense needs to replace his presence and production otherwise Lawrence could see a ton more attention and his impact could be somewhat muted as a result.
With Dak Prescott likely to play this year on the franchise tag, the Cowboys should do everything they can do maximize their chances of winning the Super Bowl. Who knows if Prescott will be in Dallas for the long haul or not. If Clowney can be the missing piece to help the team win the Super Bowl, it’ll be nearly impossible to envision a scenario where Prescott isn’t re-signed to a massive contract.
If Clowney can help Prescott be a Cowboy for life and bring a Super Bowl with him, it makes all the sense in the world for the team to go all-in and sign him in free agency.
If they don’t, they could see Clowney be the one knocking them out of the playoffs next year.
For more NCAA football news, analysis, opinion and unique coverage by FanSided, including Heisman Trophy and College Football Playoff rankings, be sure to bookmark these pages.