Dallas Cowboys: To keep Byron Jones or not…

One of the hottest topics for the Dallas Cowboys off-season has been whether or not to keep Byron Jones. This conversation promises to continue until a decision is made.

Spend about an hour talking to a group of Dallas Cowboys fans and the topic off Byron Jones will come up. Half of the people will tell you he is elite and should return, and half will tell you he needs to walk. The case to keep him is stronger than the case not to, but until the Cowboys decide, the conversation will continue.

Ask those who are for letting Jones walk and the first thing they will point to is the lack of interceptions. It is true, Jones has not created turnovers with only two in his career to this point. But the reality of this is, no corner during the Jason Garrett era had five or more interceptions in a season. The last player to have four or more was linebacker Bruce Carter with five in 2014. The last corner was Terrance Newman with four in 2011, Garrett’s first year.

What this shows is that instead of putting a finger on Jones and lack of interceptions, maybe the problem was the coaching and philosophy. The first thing many will say to counter the lack of interceptions was the method of face up, man up, hands up, that was being displayed by the entire secondary over the past few years. A new staff should allow for at the very least some philosophy and scheme changes.

This is the fight – are interceptions the sole reason for not keeping Jones on the team? Short answer is no, however, the longer answer gives a better picture as to why. First, if Jones walks the Cowboys are left with Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis as their two top corners. Sure, they could look in free agency or the draft, but it will be hard to find all of the other things Jones does right away.

Byron Jones, last year, had a 53.1% completion percentage against him, for perspective Stephon Gilmore had a 50.5% and Joe Haden had a 53.7%. That places Jones in an elite range of cornerbacks. Byron also gave up less yards than both and better yards per completion than Gilmore and only .5 yards less than Haden. Not only did teams throw less at Jones, when they did he was among the best in the league in coverage.

For more perspective, Chidobe Awuzie had a 59.8% completion and Lewis had 68.8% completion. Jones was not only the best corner on this team, he was far and away the best. Replacing him isn’t as simple as interceptions. Teams search for years for a corner who can cover like Jones.

If you want to still replace Jones because of the one stat of interceptions, then let’s look at the replacement options. Anyone you draft will be a rookie and while they could be good, usually do not have the impact season one. That means free agency would be the most likely place to land a starting cornerback.

Jones is widely considered the top cornerback and a top ten free agent this off-season. Josh Norman, Chris Harris, Johnathan Joseph, and Jimmy Smith are all on the wrong side of 30 and are no where near the player some remember. The next group would be Eli Apple and Bradley Roby.

Apple has two interceptions in his career, and had zero last year with a 63.2% completion percentage last year, Roby had two interceptions with a 60.3%. Much of the market this year is slot corners and Jones is by far the best corner on the market this year. Letting him walk, puts the Cowboys in the position to need at least one corner and probably two this off-season.

The battle on what to do with Jones will continue until a decision is made. There is a stronger case to keep him than some want to admit. Interceptions will always be the one stat many will point to, but no Cowboy corner has been an interception creator. Jones is an elite cornerback, no matter if they keep him, or let him walk.