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The NFL’s legal tampering window opened up on Monday and not a whole lot has happened for the Dallas Cowboys. Sure they’ve placed the franchise tag on Dak Prescott and locked down Blake Jarwin to an extension, but those things were somewhat predictable. For so long we’ve been wondering what the deals with Amari Cooper and Byron Jones are going to be.
It has long seemed that Cooper will return to the Cowboys and that things are just a matter of price. Similarly the eventual result of Byron Jones’ free agency felt known in that he’d be playing elsewhere, but where exactly remained a bit of a mystery.
Byron Jones is headed to the Miami Dolphins
We no longer have to wonder where Byron Jones will play football in 2020 and beyond. According to NFL Network, he is set to become the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL thanks to the Miami Dolphins.
This deal is large. Sounds like $17M a year or more. https://t.co/GcOHaD24By
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 16, 2020
Moments before news of Jones joining the Dolphins emerged it was reported that the New York Giants landed cornerback James Bradberry for $15M per year. They were in the race for Jones and seemingly lost to Miami.
Jones joining the Dolphins is honestly the best possible result that the Cowboys could have hoped for. Dallas just played Miami in 2019 so, barring any wild changes when a 17-game season is put into place, they won’t meet again (outside of a Super Bowl matchup) until 2023. This is far more preferable than Jones ending up with a division rival.
Five years flew by. All the best to Byron Jones in his career with the Miami Dolphins.
Update: 7:17pm ET
Terms for Byron’s deal with the Dolphins are out. Spoiler alert, he got paid a lot of money!
Byron Jones’ new contract with the Dolphins will be a five-year, $82.5 million deal, including $57 million guaranteed, per source. It includes $40 million in first two years.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2020