The Dallas Cowboys should absolutely be interested in free agent cornerback Adoree’ Jackson

It really does feel like the 2017 NFL Draft was just yesterday, but as the latest round of roster decisions throughout the league will tell you, it was, in fact, a long time ago. That class continues to only look worse for the Dallas Cowboys. Tuesday highlighted yet again just how badly they missed as Chidobe Awuzie left in free agency to the Cincinnati Bengals and Taco Charlton re-upped with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Time will tell what will ultimately happen to the likes of Jourdan Lewis and Xavier Woods, Noah Brown isn’t going anywhere for now at least, but needless to say it was a class that the Cowboys wish would have turned out differently.

What if the Cowboys actually had a chance to sort of re-visit what they wanted to do that year? The opportunity may have just presented itself for such an idea.

The Dallas Cowboys should absolutely be interested in free agent cornerback Adoree’ Jackson

While there are plenty of players in the NFL finding new homes there are also some who are suddenly looking for work. One player who fits this mold is former Titans cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, who Tennessee released on Tuesday.

The Titans took Jackson with the 18th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft, the same year that the Cowboys assembled the group that we just discussed. Jerry Jones reportedly thought quite highly of Jackson as a cover man at USC as well as returner, and we all know what happens when Jerry thinks highly of a player.

The Cowboys were set on drafting one of two positions with this pick — defensive end and cornerback. Originally, the team had its crosshairs set on USC cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, as owner Jerry Jones fell in love with his playmaking ability as both a man coverage defender and punt returner. However, the Tennessee Titans surprised the Cowboys by taking Jackson with the 18th overall pick. That prompted Will McClay and the Dallas front office to pivot to Plan B.

Plan B didn’t exactly work out well for America’s Team, but we can move on from that and focus on the here and now. Adoree’ Jackson is available and the Cowboys need help at cornerback. The math here is already simple enough, but when factoring in that Jackson is someone whom Jerry Jones himself has been fond of, the numbers are even easier to add together.

The last two seasons haven’t been kind to Jackson which is likely why Tennessee felt it best to move on. Between 2019 and 2020, he played in only 14 games, but prior to that was having a nice start to his career.

In many ways Jackson is the perfect candidate to be a Dallas Cowboys acquisition in free agency. He is a player that they have been linked to before in terms of liking him, he passes the Jerry Jones test, and as someone who was released he will not impact the compensatory pick formula that matters oh so much to the braintrust at The Star.

With Awuzie officially gone the Cowboys’ depth at corner is even more acute than it was before, in terms of there not being much. Dallas has Trevon Diggs and Anthony Brown as far as players that they can rely on in 2021 (in a literal sense). It would behoove the team to add a veteran, bringing back Jourdan Lewis as well wouldn’t hurt, even if they do plan to use the 10th overall pick on Patrick Surtain II or Caleb Farley.