Dallas Cowboys: 5 most important free agents in 2021
By Connor Green
2. Chidobe Awuzie, Cornerback
The 25-year old cornerback Chidobe Awuzie was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round back in the 2017 NFL Draft. Since joining the Cowboys he has been a relatively consistent starter for the team since his second year in the league. He started at least 14 games each of his previous two seasons.
Awuzie has had a reasonably solid start to his career in Dallas. In 2019 he led the team in pass deflections with 14 and has managed to get three interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery in his first three seasons.
He has shown flashes of promise and headed into this season with the chance to potentially earn himself a significant pay raise. That effort started off on the right foot when he managed to get an interception in the teams’ first game of the season against the Los Angeles Rams.
However, the young cornerback then suffered a hamstring injury in the organizations’ week two matchup against the Atlanta Falcons. Awuzie was not activated from the injured reserve until last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Having missed most of the 2020 season thus far it is hard to gauge Awuzie’s performance at this point in the year. However, the young cornerback’s comeback has seemed to correlate with the teams’ recent improved defensive play.
The Dallas Cowboys are in desperate need of help in the secondary and they would be foolish to let a young, talented player like Chidobe Awuzie walk. He will likely not be that costly moving forward and should be brought back to prevent the secondary from getting any worse.