Getty Former Chiefs OL Cameron Erving
The Kansas City Chiefs and Dallas Cowboys have crossed paths on three transactions in the past week.
First, the Chiefs surprised the football world on Sunday by acquiring free agent DL Taco Charlton, the Cowboys’ 2017 first-round draft choice. In order to make the signing official, Kansas City was forced to waive a pair of players, including Dallas 2019 seventh-round pick RB Mike Weber, to clear spots on the roster. Now the defending Super Bowl champions are reportedly losing one of their own free agents to Big D.
According to multiple reports and later confirmed by the team, the Cowboys have agreed to terms on a 1-year contract with ex-Chiefs OL Cameron Erving.
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The 27-year-old was one of two dozen impending free agents for the Chiefs this offseason, however, the club declined to exercise its 2020 option on the sixth-year swing lineman — a move that saved $3.25 million in cap space for the financially strapped franchise.
Erving originally entered the league as a first-round draft pick (No. 19 overall) of the Cleveland Browns in 2015 before being traded to Kansas City in August 2017 in exchange for a 2018 fifth-round pick. The 6-foot-5-inch, 313-pound blocker spent the past three seasons in a Chiefs uniform after signing a two-year, $8.27 million extension just days prior to the start of the 2018 regular season. During that span, Erving started 25 of 40 games and played a total of 1,694 regular season snaps for Kansas City, including a personal-high 830 snaps (79 percent) during his most productive season in 2018.
Dallas Swaps a Cam For a Cam
Erving provides the Cowboys with positional flexibility with experience at both the guard and tackle positions, but has struggled with penalties throughout his career despite primarily serving in a key reserve role. The Florida State product has accounted for 31 total accepted flags over five seasons (12 of which came in 2018 alone) but saw improvement in 2019 with only four accepted infractions on 611 regular season snaps.
He is expected to help fill the role of fellow swing tackle Cameron Fleming, who recently signed a free agent deal with the New York Giants. However, some analysts believe the veteran may be “just a camp body.”
Early indications, including that from Dallas Morning News reporter Michael Gehlken, point to Erving assuming the OT3 spot behind LT Tyron Smith and RT La’el Collins on the Cowboys depth chart.
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