Getty Damon Harrison vs. Cowboys
Although hungry for a top defense, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is resisting sustenance from “Snacks.”
Jones confirmed in a radio interview Friday that Dallas is uninterested in adding free-agent defensive lineman Damon Harrison.
“We’re pretty satisfied with what we have on our roster,” he said on 105.3 The Fan, via The Athletic.
A popular target among the fan base, 350-pound Harrison is a former undrafted free agent who once upon a time was among the elite NFL run-stuffers. The 31-year-old has tallied 393 tackles (200 solo), 37 tackles for loss, 11 sacks, and 10 pass breakups across 117 career games (111 starts) split between the New York Jets, New York Giants, and Detroit Lions.
Harrison’s best season came in 2016, his first with the Giants, when he collected a personal-best 86 tackles (55 solo), six TFLs, four quarterback hits, 2.5 sacks, and a forced fumble, earning first-team All-Pro honors.
He spent the last two years in Detroit, who released him in February. It was reported after his departure the Cowboys were “doing their homework” on FA DL Harrison, Ndamukong Suh, Mike Pennel, and Dontari Poe, whom they signed along with Gerald McCoy and Everson Griffen.
Harrison languished on the open market before contemplating retirement. He recently decided to play in 2020 and now is aiming to find a new home, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Thursday. Schefter named the Bears, Packers, and Bengals as potential landing spots.
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Why is Dallas so reluctant to bring aboard more defensive help? Despite the receipts he produced, Jones has been impressed by the play of Poe and second-year DT Trysten Hill.
“Poe is just really performing at a higher than expectation leve,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan, via the Dallas Morning News. “You’re seeing a young Trysten Hill. You’re seeing a guy that’s performing at where we thought he would be when we drafted him in the second round.”
It’s a surprising rationalization considering Poe and Hill have combined for nine tackles over two games. No sacks. No TFLs. Not much of a notable impact. Which can be said for the entire Cowboys defense — the same defense that Jones put on notice heading into a likely Week 3 shootout with the Seahawks.
“We’ve got a lot of work. We’re not taking a football team into Seattle that’s hitting on all cylinders at all,” he said Tuesday on 105.3 The Fan. “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You saw it defensively, we’ve got some serious work to do. We’ve got alignments to work on, we’ve got basic defensive technique to work on. We’re still working through the kinds of things you might be working through midway through training camp. Now other teams are too. And so, we’ve got a lot to work on, but that’s the good news.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL