Cowboys top-10 free agent additions under Will McClay’s guidance

9. Cam Fleming, OT, 2018

If this sounds familiar, it’s only because it should. The Cowboys were in need of a swing tackle to give themselves some insurance behind Tyron Smith, who hadn’t played a full season since 2015.

Smith had just missed three games in 2017 and one of those was against the Atlanta Falcons. In the first game of a seven-game suspension for Ezekiel Elliott, the Cowboys were asking second-year quarterback Dak Prescott to step up his game but that was impossible since he never had time to pass.

Chaz Green, a former third-round pick from Florida, started for Dallas and surrendered five sacks to Adrian Clayborn. Blake Bell finally replaced Green and gave up one more to Clayborn who had six for the game.

In an effort to ensure that never happened again, Dallas signed Cam Fleming to a one-year deal worth $3.5 million. As was customary at the time, Smith missed three games and that led to Fleming making three starts at left tackle.

He wasn’t the same caliber player Smith is but Fleming was more than serviceable as a starter. Once the season was over, he agreed to a two-year, $7.5 million extension. Fleming was released when Mike McCarthy took over and they found an undrafted option in Terence Steele. Even so, Fleming was better than expected and has been a regular starter since leaving Dallas.