Dallas Cowboys: 3 available bargain free agents that could help in 2020

Tony Jefferson, S

The Cowboys could use some safety help. And while the depth chart of Xavier Woods, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Darian Thompson, and Donovan Wilson seems serviceable, this is basically the same unit that created just 17 total takeaways in 2019, which was tied for 27th in the NFL. And their interception total of seven picks was tied for dead last.

I wish I could say there was a ball-hawking playmaker available in free agency that the Cowboys could plug-in and instantly start creating those turnovers. But there’s not. Instead, looking through the list of available safeties in free agency, the name Tony Jefferson stands out.

Jefferson was a salary cap causality earlier this year as the Baltimore Ravens were due to pay him due $11.6 million in 2020. And the only reason he’s not currently on another NFL roster right now is he’s recovering from an ACL injury that limited him to five games last season.

Still only 28-years old, Jefferson is heading into the prime of his career. In 2018, he was part of a Ravens’ defense that finished number one in the NFL in yards allowed. That season Jefferson racked up 74 tackles, six tackles for loss, six pass deflections, one interception, and a sack as a 14-game starter.

Why shouldn’t the Dallas Cowboys take a one-year flier on a safety like Tony Jefferson? Someone who might be able to come in and win a starting role, if healthy, and bring some of that Ravens’ defensive swagger to a secondary that desperately needs it.