Dallas Cowboys: Why signing Ha Ha Clinton-Dix is a can’t lose situation
The Dallas Cowboys coasted through the first big wave of free agency, addressing a few areas of known need. One signing is a can’t lose scenario.
The Dallas Cowboys made a few splashes in free agency. In the midst of bringing on Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy, they also brought on ball-hawking safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix.
While Clinton-Dix will now be joining the fourth team of his NFL career, that doesn’t exactly scream what it might typically scream about a player in this scenario. Here’s why the Cowboys are in a can’t lose situation with the Clinton-Dix signing.
When your first look at the deal between the Cowboys and Clinton-Dix, the first thing you notice is the price tag. For a quality and guaranteed starter in a position of major need, the Cowboys only had to give up $4 million dollars with $2.5 million of it guaranteed.
That, among other reasons, was probably one of the main reasons that Mark Schofield of USA Today considered this deal one of the best deals and biggest steals of NFL free agency thus far. It was also the first reason why this signing is a can’t lose deal for Dallas.
The next thing to look at is how he fits in with what the Dallas Cowboys want to do. They have looked to acquire someone of his particular skill set over the past few years, flirting with Earl Thomas at times, as they lacked someone who could do what he could do. He brings a bit of the hard-hitting and playmaking element to the Cowboys at that position, while his predecessors were more of the hard-hitting variety only.
When looking closer at the deal, it provides the Cowboys a valuable opportunity to asses whether this is a cooperation that they may want to invest in long term. With his former head coach in Green Bay now being the head guy in Dallas, who knows, perhaps Clinton-Dix may want to stick around.
This particular deal gives them a relatively very cheap way of getting an up-close and personal look at him for themselves, while also getting what he brings as far as performance on the field the whole while.
The last reason then is that it gives them an opportunity to figure out if they have the guy there, if he is the guy, or buys them the time to start to acclimate a player if they go get another guy for any number of reasons. To be specific, it gives them a longer window to see if the guy they drafted last year in Donovan Wilson is a future starter or key reserve at the safety position.
It, as we mentioned, gives them a long hard look at Clinton-Dix. It also gives them the opportunity to work in one of the many talented safeties from this year crop of rookies if they chose to go that route. A name we have mentioned in the past like Grant Delpit of LSU fits right in here, who has potentially seen his NFL draft stock drop, which could play well for the Cowboys’ opportunity to scoop him up.
Next. Dallas Cowboys 15 best free agent acquisitions of all-time. dark
No matter which way you approach it or view it, the Dallas Cowboys can’t lose with this Ha Ha Clinton-Dix signing. At worst, he’s a quality starter of a different look than they have had over the past few years that acts as a stopgap guy while figuring out who the next permanent guy is.
At best, he’s a starting Cowboys safety for the next 3-5 years or better. This is why signing Clinton-Dix was a can’t lose situation for Dallas.