Multiple Key Cowboys Playing in Contract Year

In recent years, the Cowboys have placed more emphasis on building and reloading the roster through the draft, while sprinkling in lower mid-tier free agents along the way.

It could be argued that the new Cowboys model of doing business started in 2013 when they let go of a few older marquee names like Jason Hatcher and DeMarcus Ware. DeMarco Murray was set for a big pay day and the Cowboys stood pat and let him test the market.

You have to wonder if the Cowboys will ever keep their own free agents anymore; and to this, I would say the Cowboys will take each player into consideration, but the days of huge pay days are done in Dallas. Chasing big ticket free agents and handing out bloated contracts are days of the past — thank god.

This year the Cowboys will face some more challenges with the roster moving past the 2015 season. Here are the players playing in a contract year:

• Dez Bryant, WR (26) franchise tagged
• Morris Claiborne, CB (25)
• Greg Hardy, DE (26)
• Mackenzy Bernadeau, OG (29)
• Rolando McClain, LB (25)
• Jeremy Mincey, DE (31)
• Lance Dunbar, RB (25)
• Corey White, CB (25)
• Tyrone Crawford, DT (25)
• Kyle Wilber, LB (26)
• James Hannah, TE (25)
• Keith Rivers, LB (29)
• Jack Crawford, DE (26)
• Brandon Weeden, QB (31)
• Tyler Clutts, FB (30)
• Danny McCray, S (27)

— Restricted Free Agents

• Chris Jones, P (25)
• Jeff Heath, S (24)
• Ron Leary, OG (26)

— Exclusive Rights Free Agents

• Cam Lawrence, LB (24)
• Darrion Weems, OT (26)
• Keelan Johnson, S (25)

Will the Cowboys re-sign any of their own free agents and which ones?

At this point of the offseason it’s way too early to know, but let’s try some absurd predicting. Let’s start with the big name guys.

Dez Bryant still has an open dialogue with the Cowboys in hopes of landing a long term deal. From the Cowboys side, they would be fine with Dez playing this year under the franchise tag, and the Cowboys could turn around and do it again in 2016, but at that point there could be a serious rift between the player and team. To me, if the Cowboys did a back-to-back franchise tag, he would probably hit free agency in 2017 as his age by that point would be on the wrong side of his 20s to give him a long term deal. If Dez is going to be a Cowboy for life, the contract needs to happen this season, in my opinion. At the end of the day, I think the Cowboys get a deal done soon, but new deals for Demaryius Thomas, A.J. Green, or Julio Jones could speed things up if they had a better gauge of the market for this tier of young receivers.

Mo Claiborne is a bust, let’s stop the tippy-toeing, we whiffed bad on the selection and he’ll hit free agency. I’d even say he’s in serious trouble of even making the team this year. Knowing how the player has responded to injury, physically and mentally, it’s not beyond the realm of thinking that we may not see him in training camp or the preseason.

Greg Hardy is the hired gun, he will be looking to showcase his pass rushing skills when he comes back from suspension, and that’ll be good news for the Cowboys come the final stretch of the season. Financially, he’ll probably play himself out of the Cowboys pay range for free agency. The Cowboys will be hoping Randy Gregory, DeMarcus Lawrence, and Ryan Russell will be the new faces of the defense, but let’s reap the skills of Hardy for this year.

Mackenzy Bernadeau will be interesting. He’s at the point of his career where he’s a serviceable reserve player. Question will be whether or not he can go out and find starter money; if not, Bernadeau could re-sign for cheap and give Cowboys good depth as a swing guard for another season or two.

Rolando McClain will probably be a hired gun of sorts the rest of his career only because teams are still extremely reluctant on taking the risk on him. This past offseason the Patriots were considering signing McClain, but he decided to stick around Dallas for another season. At 25, McClain still has a good amount of football to play.

Jeremy Mincey was a nice find for the Cowboys and should have another solid season this year, but the Cowboys will likely let Mincey test out free agency next year. He could return on another minimal deal if he ends up not finding another suitor that pays more. Mincey gives the Cowboys nice position flex at right end and as a nickel DT, plus his leadership has not gone unnoticed. Ultimately, at 31, the Cowboys may move on either way, but we’ll see.

Tyrone Crawford will be the player I want to see what Dallas does on this front. Do you let Crawford play out the year and risk him playing lights out and out or do you roll the dice and give him a new contract before the season starts or somewhere during the season? At 25, Crawford would be a player the Cowboys would like to bring back, but there could be a nice market for Crawford especially if he has a solid year, which he probably will. If you franchise tag Crawford next year, you’re looking at $10 for the cost to tag a DT, and that may be too rich for the Cowboys.

Ronald Leary has the most intrigue to me. Will there truly be competition at LG between him and Collins? There should be, and it’ll be a fun battle to watch. The Cowboys plan to start the best five lineman, but if Collins does beat out Leary, there will be teams calling with trade offers, no doubt. Barring any trades, and assuming Leary is part of the rotation this year, the Cowboys will have another decision in offering Leary a tendered offer for 2016 as he’ll be a restricted free agent or will they let Leary hit free agency like they decided to do with Sterling Moore this past offseason.

Jack Crawford is a player the Cowboys like, and I would not be surprised if the Cowboys re-sign him sometime during the year at a very decent price. They like Crawford’s position flex at left end and at DT. So, if you’re looking at keeping either J. Crawford or Mincey, then Crawford may be the player the Cowboys extend as he’ll be a younger version of Mincey.

Who do you think the Cowboys will re-sign?