The Dallas Cowboys have signed former Cincinnati guard Nate Livings to a contract. According to Adam Schefter, the deal is for five years, $19 million with $6.2 million guaranteed. Livings has been with the Bengals for four years and has been their starter at guard for the last two. His is listed at 6-5 and 332 pounds.
Dallas is trying to beef up its interior line in free agency, especially after having problems at that spot in the 2011 season. But so far, they're resorting to players with question marks instead of sure-fire starters. This is probably due to the economics involved. The hope seems to be with the Livings and Mackenzy Bernadeau signings that line coach Bill Callahan can do the proverbial "coach 'em up". Livings was graded poorly by Pro Football Focus for last year, with this quote about his standing among the Bengals line.
Worst Player: Left Guard Nate Livings (-10.4) had some fine moments (especially his shut down of Antonio Smith in Week 14), but was all too often capable of being beaten like a drum. Ahtyba Rubins’ handling of him in Week 12 is a solid example of this.
They also noted a more mixed-bag with this: Livings was an adequate pass blocker last season, 0.5 grade, and a -9.1 in run blocking with some notable ups and downs in 16 games.
Those are not exactly ringing endorsements, so it seems the Cowboys will go with a competition scenario along the interior, with the likelihood that a few more guys will be added through the draft.