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Cowboys news: Free agent Bobby Wagner visits his first team, and it’s not Dallas

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Detroit Lions v Seattle Seahawks Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Report: Bobby Wagner visiting Rams - Josh Alper, PFT

Hope may be running out for this player ending up in Dallas.

Shortly after Bobby Wagner was released by the Seahawks earlier this month, word surfaced that other teams in the NFC West were interested in signing the veteran linebacker.

Nothing materialized immediately, but it looks like things may be developing with one of those teams. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that Wagner is visiting the Rams on Wednesday. It’s the first known visit for Wagner since his release.

The report adds that there’s mutual interest in a deal that would fit with the Rams’ history of big-name additions to the roster in recent seasons.

Dorance Armstrong Back To Work For “Open Spot” - Rob Phillips, DallasCowboys.com

Dorance Armstrong sees an opportunity to be a starter ahead of him.

Randy Gregory’s free-agency switch from Dallas to Denver leaves a question mark at defensive end.

Dorance Armstrong is back to compete.

“That’s an open spot,” he said Wednesday. “You’ve got to come in and work for it.”

The Cowboys re-signed Armstrong to a new two-year deal worth a reported $13 million last week after he finished out his rookie contract. He said he received interest from “a few places” when free agency began but decided to return to Dallas and continue playing in defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s scheme.

“It felt being drafted again,” Armstrong said about the free agent process. “You just have to sit back and wait until your name is called. That’s kind of how it was.”

Carlos Watkins Comes Back On New Deal - David Helman, DallasCowboys.com

Cowboys trying to solidify the middle with a returning player.

One of last year’s successful signings is back for another go-around.

As the free agency period continues, the Cowboys confirmed that they’ve agreed to a one-year deal with veteran defensive tackle Carlos Watkins.

The move keeps Watkins in place for 2022 after a successful stint as one of last year’s better free agency signings.

Watkins was originally drafted by the Houston Texans in the fourth round of the 2017 NFL Draft, off the strength of an impressive 10.5-sack season during his senior year at Clemson. He had mixed results in Houston’s 3-4 scheme, totaling just 74 tackles and four sacks in four years.

Expectations were low when Watkins signed with the Cowboys, but he pleasantly exceeded them. He started 14 of 17 games on the season, finishing with 32 tackles –

almost half of his four-year total with the Texans. He also added five tackles for loss, a sack, and of course his 2021 highlight: a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown against New Orleans.

Miami Dolphins acquire Kansas City Chiefs WR Tyreek Hill for five draft picks, give him four-year, $120 million deal - Adam Schefter, ESPN

The NFL has changed. This offseason is proof. Trades are the new currency.

The Kansas City Chiefs traded six-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Tyreek Hill to the Miami Dolphins for five draft picks: a 2022 first-round pick (No. 29), second-round pick (No. 50) and fourth-round pick, plus fourth- and sixth-round picks in the 2023 draft on Wednesday.

The trade is pending a physical, the Dolphins said.

The Dolphins also are giving Hill a four-year, $120 million extension, including $72.2 million guaranteed and also including $52.535 million at signing, agent Drew Rosenhaus told ESPN.

The deal makes Hill the highest-paid wide receiver in NFL history. The $72.2 million total becomes fully guaranteed at the start of the 2023 league year. The three-year total of the deal is $72.5 million.

How $40M QBs like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and Dak Prescott are losing the offseason - Charles Robinson, Yahoo Sports

This is an interesting debate.

Jerry Jones said it best — and apparently said it for many — when he summarized the Dallas Cowboys’ playoff disappointment in January with a warning: “We all know how it goes in the NFL. The whole thing is set up to take away from the best and add to the ones that need improvement.”

We can argue the whole “best” thing in that analysis, but it’s clear the broader point Jones was making. Good rosters end up losing good players, or in some cases, great players. And it seems to be happening frequently this offseason to a trio of rosters locked into top-end quarterback salaries. Specifically, the Cowboys, Kansas City Chiefs and Green Bay Packers.

All three of those teams are less talented today than they were when each was bounced from the playoffs this past season. All three also have quarterbacks that are top-five, in terms of average annual value, in percentage of salary cap dedicated to a quarterback. As it stands this week, Aaron Rodgers’ AAV is first in the league, taking up 26.1 percent of Green Bay’s cap, while Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is third at 23.3 percent and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott is fifth at 20.7.

That’s leaving teams with some choices to make with their rosters, and it’s leading to a sliding scale of talent drain on the depth chart. Some of which is going to directly impact that trio of quarterbacks. Consider the attrition among them.

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