Re-signing S Jayron Kearse named as Cowboys’ best offseason move by The Athletic

The NFL writers for The Athletic got together to identify the best offseason moves for all 32 teams around the league. For the Dallas Cowboys, Jon Machota chose the re-signing of safety Jayron Kearse as the best offseason move for America’s Team.

Here’s what he had to say:

Dallas Cowboys

Re-signing safety Jayron Kearse to a two-year, $10 million deal in March. The Cowboys didn’t make many significant additions, but keeping Kearse was important. Kearse was Dallas’ leading tackler a year ago and a key piece in the one-year turnaround on defense. It’s also notable because of how little the Cowboys have gotten from the safety position over the past decade. By re-signing Kearse, 28, they kept a valuable playmaker in the prime of his career and brought stability to a position that for too long had been arguably Dallas’ biggest weakness. — Jon Machota

Considering the Dallas Cowboys were relatively quiet this offseason, choosing to re-sign their own and only bring in three outside free agents, naming Jayron Kearse as the best move for them is almost a given. Minus Micah Parsons, No. 27 was arguably the best defensive player for them in 2021 and plays a vital role in Dan Quinn’s defensive scheme.

While re-signing Kearse is without a doubt the Cowboys best offseason move, it’s the move they weren’t able to complete that might pay off just as much. Believe it or not, but missing out on Randy Gregory could end up being just as important as the re-signing of Kearse is for not only the 2022 season, but for the foreseeable future as well.

The money Dallas saved by not locking up Randy Gregory long-term allowed them to re-sign Dorance Armstrong and sign free agent Dante Fowler, a two-for-one deal if you will. In Armstrong and Fowler, they have two players who should be able to be just as productive, and arguably more dependable, as Gregory was during his time in Dallas.

In addition to Armstrong and Fowler, the Cowboys also added Sam Williams, this year’s second-round draft pick. He may or may not have been added to the mix if they had already re-signed Randy Gregory, but an argument could be made the depth is much better without Gregory now than it would have been if he had been brought back.

All in all, even though they didn’t make many offseason moves, Jon Machota is absolutely right by naming Jayron Kearse as the best for the Cowboys. He should pick up right where he left off last year and maybe even be better in his second season in Dan Quinn’s system. At least, that’s what we and the Cowboys are hoping anyway