Cowboys 2021 free agency: One more veteran corner would do the trick

Coming into free agency, it could have been argued that cornerback was the Cowboys biggest need after settling issues with Dak Prescott. Given that the NFL is a pass-oriented league and that you really need three starting corners plus one for depth, it’s a tough position group to fill. Supply doesn’t always meet demand and the position’s elite can command top dollar.

The Cowboys are currently facing a crunch at the position. When the free agency tampering period dawned, Dallas has two players signed to the roster that you would trust in an actual game, Trevon Diggs and Anthony Brown, and Brown isn’t exactly a sure-thing. It was then revealed that Chidobe Awuzie, one of their free agent corners, was heading to Cincinnati. At the same time, the Cowboys did bring back C.J. Goodwin, but he is a break-glass-in-case-of-emergency corner who is really a special teams-only guy.

Then, on Wednesday, they re-signed Jourdan Lewis on a three-year deal. That, at least, gave them three guys they could roll out as corners although both Lewis and Brown seem better suited for the slot corner position, meaning one of them would have to cover the outside in spite of their limitations there. It’s apparent the Cowboys have more work to do at the position.

One player the Cowboys fanbase was pondering was Patrick Peterson, the once elite, but now aging, corner from Arizona. That option is off the table.

Then there is Richard Sherman who has been linked to the Cowboys since they hired Dan Quinn as their defensive coordinator. His services are still available and he discussed how things are going for him on his recent podcast.

“Well, it’s been slow motion, so far,” Sherman said, via NBCBayArea.com.” “I’ve gotten a couple of feeler calls where they’re like, ‘Hey, what are you willing to take?’ Or, ‘What are you willing to do? What are you trying to do?’ And what’s my bottom number? What’s my top number?’ Et cetera, et cetera. But nothing crazy. No firm offers or anything. I think they’re waiting for all the young guys to figure out where they’re going. Shaq Griffin, he just signed with Jacksonville, so I think it’s all about to fall out once he and William Jackson get off the floor.”

Both Griffin and Jackson are now signed, but Sherman is still available. But he’s not the only one. There are quite a few serviceable cornerbacks still on the market and it’s very likely the Cowboys are waiting for prices to fall before they add one. Players like Troy Hill, A.J. Bouye, Brian Poole, Xaver Rhodes, Adoree’ Jackson, Desmond King and Bashaud Breeland are all still on the market (at the time of writing this). These players have had different levels of success in the NFL and some of them may be more slot-oriented, but it just shows that picking up one more veteran corner is a very doable procedure for the Cowboys.

If they do that, it will give them total flexibility in the upcoming draft. With the current configuration of the secondary, taking a corner at pick #10 would seem to be a high probability. If they brought in one more veteran, then they could choose when to pick up another corner in the draft and still feel good about the corners they would be putting on the field. That’s not to say they wouldn’t go ahead and draft a Patrick Surtain or Caleb Farley, but they would certainly have the option to do something else.