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Take no chances in 2023; The Cowboys need to sign a veteran kicker - Shane Taylor, Inside the Star
After Brett Maher’s inexplicable collapse in the postseason despite being mostly reliable this past season, the team has likely seen enough of Maher and are poised to seek elsewhere for options at kicker. Here are a few names to take note of as possible replacements.
Matt Gay
Gay has played 41 regular season games with the Rams, and he’s been money. He’s gone 74/80 on his field goal attempts and 17/23 from 50 yards or more. In his six postseason appearances, he is 12/14 on FG attempts and 15/15 on extra point attempts!
If the Rams don’t re-sign him, that is the first guy I would consider signing if I were Jerry and the ‘Boys.
Mason Crosby
Crosby is a close second. It pains me to say I want him on the team as often as I watched him send the Cowboys home in the Divisional Round of the playoffs.
Crosby made 37 of his 39 extra-point attempts and 25 of 29 field-goal attempts in 2022. He also only missed one kick from less than 50, which is pretty good for the 16-year vet. He also played under Mike McCarthy during his tenure there. They won the 2010 Bowl together.
We all have no idea what is next, but as I noted all year, the kicker was going to matter at some point. The Cowboys’ window is closing, and they need to bring in a proven veteran that you can be confident in sending out for a field goal.
Cowboys Rumors: Ezekiel Elliott’s Agents to Determine RB’s Contract Value at Combine - Adams Wells, Bleacher Report
Ezekiel Elliott’s future with the Dallas Cowboys is at this moment looks murky at best. Despite Elliott’s reported desire to remain in Dallas, Elliott’s representatives will need to be hard at work to come to a contractual agreement to ensure that Elliott remains with the club for the upcoming season.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported on NFL Live that Elliott’s camp will use the combine to “figure out [Elliott’s] value to other teams” before making any decisions about his status with the Cowboys.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and executive vice president Stephen Jones told reporters earlier this month they want Elliott back next season, but Stephen noted it would have “to work financially” for both sides.
Elliott is owed $10.9 million in base salary with a $16.7 million cap hit in 2023, but the Cowboys can save $4.9 million if they release him.
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio noted the Cowboys could also take a lesser $5.8 million cap hit in 2023 if they designated Elliott as a post-June 1 cut, but doing so would also come with a $6.2 million cap hit in 2024.
One big problem for Elliott in trying to determine his value around the NFL is there are a lot of high-level running backs set to become free agents this offseason. Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, Tony Pollard, Miles Sanders and David Montgomery could all be available.
Dallas Cowboys: Expect Terence Steele to return in 2023 - Reid Hanson, Sport DFW
The team endured a devastating loss last season when Terence Steele suffered a torn ACL against the Houston Texans. The Cowboys run game that was effective earlier in the season careened into a ditch once Steele was out for the season. Although Steele will be uncertain to be healthy before the start of the 2023 season, expect the Cowboys to retain his services.
Terence Steele is a free agent and coming off a significant knee injury, but the Dallas Cowboys are almost guaranteed to bring him back in 2023.
While Steele is a free agent, it’s of the restricted variety, meaning Dallas can tender him to a deal and have the right to match any outside offer. It’s the leverage afforded them under the current CBA since Steele, and undrafted free agent, is entering his fourth season.
The Dallas Cowboys have three tendering options at their disposal: First round, second round, or no round. All tendering options come with the right to match any offer, but the first two come with draft pick compensation.
Obviously the price increases with the higher the tender. A first round tender cost $6 million, a second costs $4.3 million, and the last costs $2.6. Since most teams would kill to have an elite run blocking 25-year-old tackle, the last option really isn’t an option. Teams would poach him in a heartbeat. But the upper two come with high enough compensation teams would shy away from making Steele an offer.
As far as Steele’s injury, he’s fully expected back in time for training camp. So any worries of a Michael Gallup-like season don’t fully apply. All things considered, the Dallas Cowboys would be fools to not bring Terence Steele back in 2023. Whether they do it with a top-two tender or offer a multiyear deal, remains to be seen. But Steele is far too good and too affordable to let walk out the door for nothing.
5 current Cowboys who should be future Hall of Fame members- Brandon Loree, Blogging the Boys.
Cowboys greats Demarcus Ware and Chuck Howley were selected to be inducted into the Hall of Fame last week where they will join elite company in Canton. However, there are a few Cowboys currently on the team that may also see themselves fitted for a gold jacket when their careers are over.
4. Trevon Diggs, CB
The Cowboys have struggled to find a No. 1 cornerback for a while. Alabama’s Trevon Diggs was waiting for Dallas to take him in the second round of the 2020 draft. Even though the team struggled mightily on defense during Diggs’ rookie season, he showed flashes of what he could become with the right coordinator.
While Diggs didn’t duplicate his interception total from last season to this season, opposing quarterbacks didn’t look in his direction and he shut down many of the NFL’s elite wide receivers. Diggs’ 2022 production still earned him a second Pro Bowl nomination.
If Diggs were to stay on this path and be a Dallas Cowboy for life, he would be up there with names like Herb Adderley, Mel Renfro, and potentially Deion Sanders, who played corner for the Cowboys.Here are comparable numbers to other Hall of Fame corners in their first three seasons in the NFL.
First Three Seasons in the NFL:
Trevon Diggs - 45 games, 169 tackles, 17 interceptions, 49 passes defended, 2 TDs
*Deion Sanders - 47 games, 138 tackles, 14 interceptions, 3 TDs, 1x Pro Bowl
Champ Bailey - 48 games, 192 tackles, 13 interceptions, 48 passes defended, 1 TD
*Ronde Barber - 33 games, 152 tackles, 4 interceptions, 18 passes defended, 0 TDs
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