5 cheap additions for the Dallas Cowboys this offseason

Injuries to Dallas’ linebackers have been an issue. Sean Lee is one that is often injured but might become a coach for the team next season. The other is Leighton Vander Esch. The Cowboys need to find a reliable linebacker that can fill in if an injury occurs.

Luckily for the team, there is a former 100+ tackle linebacker in Nick Vigil. The 27-year-old only had 50 tackles this season with the Los Angeles Chargers, but that was while playing only 30 percent of the defensive snaps.

Rewind to his years with the Cincinnati Bengals, and you will see Vigil’s numbers pop out. He eclipsed 100 tackles in 2019 and finished with around 80 tackles while playing 11 games in 2018 and 2017.

Having a linebacker that the team trusts to rotate in will go a long way. Look at the impact Lee had in 2019 when he played. While the defense as a whole wasn’t the best, they were better with Lee out there calling the shots.

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Now, Vigil will not have the impact that Lee had. Lee impacted the team with his football IQ. Unfortunately, his body hasn’t been able to keep up with his mind this season.

With Lee on the sidelines, he can spread his knowledge to the team. The Chargers did not use Vigil right, and that showed in his stats. He likes to sit back and make reads, much like Dallas’ linebackers are supposed to do.

While signing the former Utah State product will help the team, it will mean nothing if the coaches don’t pull everything together. The linebackers will play poorly once again. If Lee works on the sidelines, then the linebackers will return to their dominant form.

Vigil is coming off a one-year contract paying him $2.4 million. Jerry Jones can find a couple of million dollars to pay someone capable of starting. That is especially if the team does not trust linebacker Joe Thomas.

The Dallas Cowboys need to improve their team, but the salary cap dropping makes it difficult. The team desperately needs to save money. That means one or two notable names could be moved or forced to restructure their contracts.

Finding players that will be cheap is the best bet for this team. You can argue Dallas doesn’t need to sign new players; they need their injured players back.

Regardless, they need to save some salary cap, and that will call for cheaper replacements. That can be through the draft or cheap signings. Similar to last season, the Dallas Cowboys have an intriguing offseason ahead.

Contract information courtesy of Spotrac
Dallas Cowboys injuries/transactions courtesy of CBS