DALLAS —
The Dallas Cowboys organization doesn’t appear to be as big a fan of Byron Jones as the rest of the football world, choosing to let the stud cornerback hit free agency. After meeting with Jones’ representatives at the NFL Combine in Indianapolis, it was reported that the team will let Jones test the open market.
That sound you heard was Cowboys fans everywhere pounding their fists on the ground in anger. Why would a team who needs to rebuild the defense not want a Pro Bowl cornerback who is in his prime?
The easy answer is Jones’ lack of interceptions. The 2015 first-round pick has just two picks in his five years of service, neither of which have come since he’s moved to CB full-time before the 2018 season.
However, that’s a total that sticks out for a Cowboys’ defense that hasn’t produced enough turnovers in the last half-decade. Former defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli and passing game coordinator Kris Richard preferred their corners to play through the receiver, rather than looking back at the ball and intercepting passes. Their philosophy was to prevent big plays, rather than going for takeaways, and Jones excelled in that system.
That’s about the only knock on Jones, because he’s been fantastic otherwise. According to PFF, Jones graded as the 15th best CB in 2019 and seventh in 2018. Jones also allowed the second-fewest yards, after second-team All-Pro Richard Sherman, as an outside corner last season.
The Cowboys also often talk about one of the best abilities a player can have is the availability and few have been more durable than Jones, who has missed just one game in his five seasons.
Good cornerbacks don’t grow on trees and the Cowboys are dangerously close to letting one escape the building. The draft could surely bring another solid CB, but why do that when you have one in-house that you know can do the job?
Without Jones, the team is thin at the position. The only veteran players still on the roster who have played significant snaps at corner will be Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis, both of whom can be free agents after the 2020 season.
Awuzie struggled mightily in 2019, but he has the size and skills that made him a second-round pick in 2017, so the team isn’t ready to give up on him. His counterpart, Lewis, finally played significant snaps last year and turned in an admirable performance in his third season.
The hope is that new defensive coaches Mike Nolan, Maurice Linguist, and Al Harris have seen enough in these two corners to see a better fit in their system than the one that they displayed under the previous regime. Dallas wouldn’t likely be as comfortable letting Jones go if they didn’t have some faith in Awuzie and Lewis.
Perhaps the team also looks at bringing back Anthony Brown, who is a free agent and was lost to a season-ending triceps injury last year.
The money, of course, is a big factor as well. As a free agent, Jones will command a contract north of $15 million annually, something the team doesn’t appear willing to pay. With QB Dak Prescott, WR Amari Cooper and possibly DE Robert Quinn all free agents, the team has prioritized where they want to spend and Jones isn’t high enough on their list.
The Cowboys don’t want to set the market at CB after doling out big contracts last offseason, and with big contracts to ink this year too.
Whatever their reason, it’s clear the Cowboys are fine with the knowledge that they could be moving on without Jones. Nothing is set in stone, but the team will likely be rebuilding their defense this spring without a Pro Bowl corner.
Do you think the Cowboys would be making a mistake by letting Byron Jones walk in free agency? Share your thoughts with Ben on Twitter @BenGrimaldi.
