Dallas Cowboys: Expect wholesale changes in defensive personnel
By Reid Hanson
The Dallas Cowboys Secondary Changes
Pending free agents: Chidobe Awuzie, Jourdan Lewis, C.J. Goodwin, Steven Parker, Xavier Woods
Here’s where the churn will be at its most apparent. Chidobe Awuzie is projected to demand a contract in the $10M per year range. That’s not something the Dallas Cowboys are likely to offer. While it’s possible his injury-ravaged 2020 season has tanked his value and put him in line for a 1-year prove-it deal in Dallas, I suspect someone will be happy to offer more than Dallas.
Jourdan Lewis is going to seek out the best opportunity to start as a nickel back somewhere and that place isn’t Dallas. The Dallas Cowboys committed to Anthony Brown last season and have always favored Brown to Lewis.
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Safety has been a mess this season so we should fully expect Xavier Woods to walk. He’s played with little disciple or desire this year and after DT, I think safety is the place Dallas turns most of their free agent attention to. Of all these free agent CBs, C.J. Goodwin has the best chance of re-signing. He’s an ace on special teams and shouldn’t cost an arm and a leg to re-sign.
Expect a ton of new faces next year in the secondary. Dallas will need to bring in free agents and draft picks to fill their roster. Chances are we’ll see a rookie starting alongside Trevon Diggs and Anthony Brown at CB. There’s also a good chance Dallas signs a proven veteran safety for the first time since forever since the free agent market looks fairly bullish.
Wholesale changes
All in all, there will probably be two new starters at DT, changes from LB3-LB6, two new starting safeties, and one new starting cornerback. It wouldn’t be shocking to see 5 of the 11 starting spots on defense turnover this offseason (roughly half of the starters and most of the depth). All under a new defensive coordinator and all playing a different scheme. That’s wholesale changes, folks.
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Expect to see a much different Dallas Cowboys defense next season because the coaches, scheme, and personnel all need to be churned out.