Cowboys Ink Veteran Offensive Lineman to New Contract

Getty Offensive lineman Joe Looney (73) keeps things light for the Dallas Cowboys.

Joe Looney has put pen to paper on his third free-agent contract in five years with the Dallas Cowboys.

The team announced Thursday it has re-signed the veteran center to a one-year deal, worth $2.437 million, according to Spotrac.com. Looney received $1 million guaranteed and a $137,500 signing bonus.

Looney will earn $2.3 million in base salary for 2020, more than double what he made last season ($1 million), and a step up from the two-year, $2.1 million extension he inked in 2018.

A 2012 fourth-round pick of the San Francisco 49ers, Looney joined Dallas in 2016 and has since appeared in all 64 regular-season games, starting 20. He was the club’s first-string pivot man in 2018, replacing Pro Bowler Travis Frederick, who was diagnosed with (and since overcame) Guillain–Barré syndrome, an autoimmune disorder.

Frederick returned to the Cowboys last year, and Looney, who’s also capable of playing guard, reverted to his primary backup role.

Looney’s retention coincides with the loss of swing tackle Cameron Fleming, whom the New York Giants — led by new offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and offensive line coach Marc Columbo, both ex-Cowboys coaches — signed to a one-year, $4 million pact. Dallas declined Fleming’s option earlier this week, sending him to the open market.

The Cowboys also witnessed the defection of key interior lineman Xavier Su’a-Filo, who took his talents to the Cincinnati Bengals.

Looney, 29, is among a handful of in-house free agents brought back by the Cowboys, along with tight end Blake Jarwin, linebacker Sean Lee, cornerback Anthony Brown, long snapper L. P. Ladouceur and kicker Kai Forbath.

In out-of-house moves, the club thus far has signed defensive tackle Gerald McCoy and CB Maurice Canady.

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