Cowboys Will Get 72 Hours To Re-Sign Doug Free, Own FA's - After That It's Open Season

Going into the current CBA negotiations, one of the many things the owners wanted was some kind of a right-of-first refusal for this year's free agent class, meaning teams would have a right to match any offer one of their own free agents would receive from another team.

Effectively, this would have been a double whammy for some of this year's free agents who were already restricted last year. And per a twitter report from ESPN's Chris Mortensen, it looks like that is off the table.

In fact, owners have now abandoned the right of first refusal issue on this year's free agents. They'll have 72-hour period to re-sign.

Instead, it looks like teams will get three days to re-sign their own free agents. After that, it's open season on any and all free agents. It will be a busy three days for the Cowboys front office, who are looking to re-sign Doug Free, and are hopeful they'll also keep Kyle Kosier, some of the DE free agents and perhaps some others in Dallas. Stephen Jones indicated that re-signing LT Doug Free is the team's "highest priority" of the offseason:

"I don't want to speak for Doug, but hopefully he's enjoyed being here," team executive Stephen Jones said. "He's obviously a priority for us. We want to sign Doug back. We think he's a very productive offensive tackle for us. He'll be our No. 1 priority when things start up ... to get him signed up."

Doug Free could easily be one of the most sought after free agents this year. Do you remember the last time a 27-year old, top-quality left tackle was available in free agency? Me neither.

You've got three days, Stephen.