Should the Cowboys keep this free agent as insurance?

We will discuss what the Dallas Cowboys plan on doing with one of their high profile free agents, and whether he fits into their plans for 2016.

The Dallas Cowboys officially started their off-season by tendering two of their players that were scheduled to hit free agency.

The Cowboys placed the second round tender on offensive guard Ronald Leary worth $2.553 million, while also placing a tender on safety Jeff Heath worth $1.67 million.

Personally, I like the fact that the Cowboys chose to tender both players.

Although Heath has received a lot of flak for his play, he is one of the Cowboys best special teams players and is a serviceable backup safety if someone goes down with an injury. He may never be a starting safety in the NFL but teams need role players that can contribute on special teams and that is exactly why he is on the roster.

I can even see a scenario where the Cowboys offer Heath an affordable long-term contract so that his cap hit is less from year-to-year.

Ronald Leary’s future with the team is somewhat interesting considering the fact that he lost his starting job at left guard to rookie La’el Collins and would be not much more than a backup for the Cowboys.

Here’s the thing that bothers me, though: the Cowboys generally like their backup interior offensive lineman to play both guard and center, but Leary has never played center in his entire career. That kind of puts into question the reason why they decided to place a second round tender on him.

Honestly, I believe they did it to receive some sort of compensation for him and that we will see him playing for a different team in 2016.

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I’m not going to say that it’s not possible, but I don’t really see a team willing to give up a second round draft pick for Leary. I think a more likely scenario would be that the Cowboys work out some kind of trade where they can receive some kind of draft pick compensation.

The question is what would Leary’s market value be if he actually hit the open market and what kind of compensation would the Cowboys want in return.

Starting caliber offensive lineman don’t come around every day and in my opinion it’s one of the more difficult positions to evaluate and draft.

I think the Cowboys could possibly get as high as a fourth-round draft pick as compensation and be happy with that, but realistically I think a fifth or sixth round draft selection is what they’re more likely to receive.

Leary was signed as an undrafted free agent and guaranteed more than $200,000 in 2012. He started 31 of 32 games in 2013 and 2014 before losing his starting job to La’el Collins in 2015.

In 2014, Leary was a key member of the Cowboys offensive line that helped pave the way for the league’s leading rusher in DeMarco Murray when he ran for a career-best of 1845 yards.

Leary’s demotion in 2015 was due more to the fact of the Cowboys commitment to Collins than his poor play. That is why I believe he will be starting for another team once the 2016 season kicks off.

Ultimately, I think the Cowboys made the right decision to tender both Ronald Leary and Jeff Heath and I’m interested in seeing how this entire scenario works itself out.

Of course that’s just my opinion. Let me hear your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Next: Six Lost and Found Free Agents the Cowboys might sign

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