The Dallas Cowboys have addressed one of their biggest offseason needs by signing Brandon Carr to a 5-year, $50.1 million deal contract. The move had been widely anticipated, even before the Cowboys flew Carr in for a no-expenses-spared overnight trip to Dallas. Minutes ago, the confirmation came via Adam Schefter that Carr has been signed to a deal that looks almost identical to the deal Cortland Finnegan signed yesterday:

Cowboys sign CB Brandon Carr to a 5-year, $50.1 million deal.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 14, 2012

Carr was the team's primier free agent target and should be an immediate upgrade for the much maligned Cowboys secondary. Earlier, the Cowboys released veteran cornerback Terence Newman to create some cap space, and Brandon Carr is expected to more than just fill the hole that Newman's departure has caused.

The Cowboys had also been linked to the other top free agent cornerbacks in this year's free agent class, among them Cortland Finnegan, Eric Wright and even Stanford Routt. Of note, all three have signed contracts with CB-needy teams who draft above the Cowboys in the 2012 draft: Wright went to Tampa Bay (#5), Finnegan to St. Louis (#6) and Routt to Kansas City (#11). The Cowboys will continue to look for additional cornerbacks to shore up a depleted secondary, and the draft will be one place they'll do that.

This is the signing Cowboys fans have been waiting for quite a while. The Cowboys will continue to use free agency over the coming days to fill up holes in their roster, but this will likely have been their biggest and only big-name free agent signing this year.