How good can the Dallas Cowboys defense be in 2020?
By Matt Aaron
Cowboys Defense: The Free Agent Conundrum
The truth is that the upcoming season is much more unpredictable due to free agency. Dallas has a ton of defensive free agents on its defensive unit, including several of their best players. Given the budget, it doesn’t look like they’ll be able to sign them all. Let’s take a look, one unit at a time.
Along the defensive line – The Cowboys have six free agents, including four of their five best: Robert Quinn, defensive tackles Maliek Collins and Antwaun Woods, and the jack-of-all-trades lineman Michael Bennett.
That’s three of their four starters, and two of their top three sack leaders, in Bennett and Quinn. Contributing linemen Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder also have expiring contracts.
In the secondary – Two of the four cornerbacks, both starters, are free agents: Anthony Brown, and Pro Bowler Byron Jones. Plus, three of the four safeties will be on the market as well: starter Jeff Heath, backup Darian Thompson, and special teams ace Kavon Frazier.
The linebacking corps – Here, the team isn’t in quite the same dire situation. Both of their young stars, Smith and Vander Esch are under contract, but none of the rest of the squad is signed up. Sean Lee, Joe Thomas, Justin March, and Ray-Ray Armstrong are all free agents.
That’s twelve free agents on the defensive unit, three of them Pro Bowlers, with many other key players. In short, at this point, it’s impossible to say what the Cowboys defense will even look like in 2020.