Top-level NFL cornerbacks are a rare commodity. The Dallas Cowboys have 'em, in a sense. Should they keep the ones they have?
The Houston Texans are being mentioned as a free-agency destination for Chidobe Awuzie, the Cowboys corner ready to hit the market. Houston is set at one spot with Bradley Roby (starting in Week 2, anyway, as he must sit out one more game due to his six-game suspension from the 2020 season). Elsewhere, there are questions. Cornerbacks Vernon Hargreaves and Gareon Conley are free agents. Rookie John Reid has promise, but last year's coaching staff was slow to hand him much responsibility.
And, speaking of the NFL Draft, Houston, lacking a first- and second-round pick, doesn't figure to get much immediate help at the position via that path.
So maybe free agency is their path. And .. according to ESPN, the Texans ought to come up to Big D to find one.
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It's writer Jeremy Fowler who believes Awuzie would provide help to Houston. Says Fowler:
Houston needs help all over the depth chart — and a viable corner opposite Bradley Roby. Awuzie missed half the season due to injury but will have a market due to his speed, size and coverage skills. Also watch out for New Orleans, where Kris Richard, Awuzie’s coordinator in Dallas for two seasons, is joining the staff.
Fowler has it right when it comes to the Texans' needs. We're not sure, however, that he has great insight into Awuzie's failings in Dallas.
And while we're at it, we're not sure Pro Football Focus does, either.
PFF predicts that Awuzie will be re-signed by the Cowboys for three years and $27 million ($9 mil APY), with $15.5 million total guaranteed and $10 million. Good for Chido, but ... That goes contrary to our understanding of Dallas' view of the former 2017 second-round pick from Colorado, who has never developed into the shut-down cornerback the Cowboys hoped for ... and in the view of some inside The Star was slow to recover from injury.
Dallas is short-handed at the position, with Awuzie and nickel corner Jourdan Lewis both coming free. (Trevon Diggs and Anthony Brown are under contract.) But it's hard to let go of the fact that they didn't think Byron Jones was worth $15 mil APY, so ...
Fowler's suggestion that old friend Richard will have a great influence in the Saints' free-agency decisions seems premature; he's the new secondary coach in New Orleans, still unpacking his bags after a year out of the NFL. As it regards Houston, the same "connect-the-dots'' game is almost as easy to play here, as Rod Marinelli was Awuzie's defensive coordinator in Dallas - and is best friends with new Texans defensive coordinator Lovie Smith.
But we don't think this is going to be about "connections.'' Or about paying a middle-of-the-road corner $9 million APY. We doubt the Cowboys are truly going to get into that level of bidding war for Chidobe Awuzie. ... meaning the search to find a running mate for budding star Trevon Diggs is about to commence.
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