Getty Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
The Dallas Cowboys are setting up for some major free agency moves, and one decision could bring a Philadelphia Eagles star to Arlington, Texas.
The Cowboys have various areas of need, but the situation at the corner position is a prevalent one. Dallas rotated through several corners last year to find a pairing for CB1 Trevon Diggs, but never found something that worked consistently.
With that in mind, SB Nation’s Mark Schofield is now predicting the team to make an eye-catching move: landing Eagles corner James Bradberry.
“Heading into the offseason, the Dallas Cowboys have needs at wide receiver, and cornerback,” Schofield wrote in a March 11 story. “They would be wise to add Bradberry and put him across from Trevon Diggs, giving the Cowboys a very solid 1-2 punch in the secondary. Then they can add to the wide receiver room via the draft.”
Bradberry has been one of the best corners in the NFL over the past half-decade with the Eagles, New York Giants and the Carolina Panthers. This will likely be his last major contract in the league as he approaches 30 years old, and the Cowboys could be the one to give it to him.
James Bradberry Excelled with the Philadelphia Eagles
Very few corners consistently surpass more than 15 passes defended in a season. Diggs has been tremendous for Dallas over the past three years, but even he has crossed that mark only once (in 2021.)
Bradberry has hit that total four of the past five seasons. He also put up 18, 17 and 17 PDs over the past three seasons. Bradberry is the definition of a ball hawk.
And he doesn’t just register PDs; he also forces turnovers. The Eagles star has totaled at least three interceptions in each of the past four seasons, catching four in 2021.
His Achilles heel comes in his tackling, as he has 38 missed tackles over the past four seasons. That can be a concern for Dallas, as Diggs’ weakness is also in his tackling, but the two of them in the secondary would be a scary proposition for opposing QBs.
Cowboys Set Up to Spend
As Heavy’s Jonathan Adams recently covered, Dallas now has a much bigger wallet to approach this offseason with after the team restructured the contracts of quarterback Dak Prescott and guard Zack Martin.
Dallas officially announced the restructuring on March 10, opening up $30 million more in cap space. Considering the Cowboys were in the hole by about $17.6 million after the franchise tagging of RB Tony Pollard, that now means the team has $12.4 million to spend according to Spotrac.
That’s not exactly a treasure chest in terms of funding, but it should allow the team to maneuver further when free agency opens March 15. Plus, Dallas can always open up more funding with the release of players like RB Ezekiel Elliott.
However, the current cap space may not be enough to fit Bradberry. Spotrac projects a salary average of $15.1 million for the 29-year-old on a three-year deal. Obviously, Dallas can potentially afford Bradberry, but it’s going to be a costly decision.
Dallas does need a second corner, but Bradberry may be slightly out of their price range.