Cowboys make a big splash during training camp, sign pass rusher Everson Griffen

The Cowboys have received strong reviews for their offseason moves: hiring Mike McCarthy, adding Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe back in the spring, and then killing the draft. The only big negative — aside from watching Byron Jones head to Miami — was not getting a deal done with quarterback Dak Prescott.

Dallas made another big move on Wednesday evening.

During a relatively quiet and uneventful night in the National Football League, news broke that the Cowboys made a big, impact signing. NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport tweeted the news that the team has inked four-time Pro Bowl pass rusher Everson Griffen.

The deal is a one-year contract with no performance incentives, according to DMN’s Michael Gehlken. It does not get too much more team-friendly than that.

Griffen has been on the free agent market for quite a while and many have been hoping that his new home would be in Dallas. While it appeared to be unrealistic, it turns out that Griffen will be playing in the DFW after all, joining the likes of McCoy, Poe and DeMarcus Lawrence in the trenches.

DMN’s John Owning has been on the Griffen-to-Cowboys bandwagon the entire offseason, even writing that the former Vikings star, not Jadeveon Clowney, should be the defender that Cowboys fans should want.

The real reason why Griffen would be a better fit with the Cowboys is his pass-rush ability. With Tyrone Crawford’s return from injury and the acquisitions of defensive tackles Dontari Poe and Gerald McCoy, the Cowboys have invested enough resources in improving their ability to stop the run — where Clowney makes his biggest impact. What the Cowboys have yet to do is replace the pass-rush ability of Robert Quinn, which is why Griffen is more enticing.

Over their careers, Clowney has averaged 9.42 snaps per pressure while Griffen comes in at 8.70 snaps per pressure. Additionally, Griffen has done a much better job of converting his pressures into sacks, averaging 6.6 pressures per sack while Clowney averaged 8.6 pressures per sack (using Pro Football Focus’ pressure data along with the NFL’s official sack data).

NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported that the two sides have been talking for a while and that Griffen believes he has a chance to win a Super Bowl while playing for McCarthy and America’s Team.

The addition of Griffen immediately gives the Cowboys an impressive group of defensive linemen and pass rushers for Mike Nolan and Jim Tomsula to work with. Considering the questions in the secondary, that is definitely good news.

Also, shoutout to our own Connor Livesay for writing about the potential of a Griffen signing earlier this month. You can read his story on how Griffen “would ease many concerns” on the defensive side on the ball.

Welcome to Dallas, Everson!