What had earlier been speculation is now been widely confirmed: The Cowboys have re-signed five-year veteran defensive end Jason Hatcher to a three-year deal worth $6 million with a $2.5 million signing bonus.
The Cowboys had said earlier that they were looking at the possibility of adding an additional signing to a defensive line that already features recent signing Marcus Spears and Kenyon Coleman. Last season, the Cowboys used him sparingly, with Hatcher seeing 'only' 257 defensive snaps (31% of total defensive snaps), but that was because the Cowboys used him more on pass rushing downs and often had him rush from the interior in the nickel package. In that role, he would often rotate with Bowen.
Jason Hatcher had been to visit the Denver Broncos late last week, but according to his Twitter account that didn't work out as the Broncos ran into salary cap problems.
Hatcher likely moved up the Cowboys' priority list after fellow free agent DE Stephen Bowen signed with the Washington Redskins. With the signing, the Cowboys now have a solid rotation at defensive end with Spears, Coleman, Hatcher, Igor Olshansky and Sean Lissemore.