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If you thought that the Cowboys waited until the second wave of free agency just to sign some guys you liked and that was the end... think again.
Dallas is still working to improve their roster ahead of this month’s draft (yes, this month, finally). Who’s the latest name they are looking at? Defensive end Kony Ealy, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.
#Jets free agent DE Kony Ealy is slated to visit the #Cowboys early this week, sources say. He’s also remained in discussions with NYJ over the past few weeks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 2, 2018
Kony Ealy is a name that’s been linked to the Cowboys before. Stephen Jones admitted way back when that had the Cowboys not traded up to take DeMarcus Lawrence in 2014 that Kony Ealy would have been their pick (Ealy wound up going 60th overall to Carolina). From the mothership back in 2014:
“I would say that Ealy was probably our next pick. Sometimes what you read isn’t always true, in terms of the Jernigans of the world and people like that – we really didn’t have him in that mix. We really felt like we needed some help at the right end after losing DeMarcus (Ware).”
Ealy has had a weird year of sorts. On March 10th of last year he was traded (along with a third-round pick) to the New England Patriots in exchange for a second-round pick. Many viewed this as a classic move of New England’s (akin to Danny Shelton this year), taking on a high-pedigree player in the final year of his contract; however, five months later, the Pats cut him.
The New York Jets came calling and Ealy played well throughout last season. For what it’s worth he even hauled in an interception thanks to a batted-down pass from future-AFC-Championship-Game-participant Blake Bortles, but he is far more well-known for making a play of a similar variety in Super Bowl 50 against Peyton Manning.
Surprisingly, people are somewhat confident in the stable of pass-rushers the Cowboys have. That’s not even considering Randy Gregory, who the Cowboys can hopefully get something out of in 2018. Adding Kony Ealy to the group that includes the guy Dallas actually drafted ahead of Ealy could be fun.
Allen Hurns, who the Cowboys already acquired in free agency this offseason, was also in talks with the Jets when he signed with Dallas. Maybe that luck will hold true again.