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Nakobe Dean #17 of the Philadelphia Eagles could be headed to the Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys have been making some big promises when it comes to the impending NFL free-agency window, which opens on March 11 when the new league year begins. After saying earlier in the month that the Cowboys will be willing to “bust the budget,” Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is now saying that Dallas will spend as much in free agency as he ever has. He concedes, too, that the spending will mostly be on the defensive side of the ball, where the Cowboys are in need of an overhaul.
Now, we have seen the Cowboys enter free agency before and emerge with a washed-up $3 million linebacker and a retread running back making the league minimum. If Jones says he is going to set a personal record on free-agent spending, be warned: It is a low bar.
But there are targets out there that make eminent sense for Dallas to pursue, and one that has already come up is now gaining some traction as a real target: Nakobe Dean, the Eagles starting linebacker.
Cowboys Will ‘Pursue’ Nakobe Dean
At first, the links between Dallas and Dean were purely speculative. The Cowboys need a linebacker–badly–to play alongside DeMarvion Overshown, and Dean is a smart veteran who is heading into free agency. More than that, he comes from the Vic Fangio Eagles defense, which is where the Cowboys just hired their new defensive coordinator, Christian Parker.
Speculation has turned to real reporting, though, with longtime veteran Cowboys beat reporter Clarence Hill of DLLS Cowboys saying the Cowboys plan to make Dean an offer. Hill wrote on Twitter/X: “Look for the Cowboys to pursue Eagles linebacker Nakobe Dean in free agency. He knows Christian Parker’s scheme.”
GettyDallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones
New Report Says Nakobe Dean Leaving Eagles
The temperature on a Cowboys pursuit of Dean got hotter on Friday, when NFL insider Mike Garofalo of NFL Network added that the Eagles and Dean are due for a divorce.
“I’m 100% convinced that Nakobe Dean is hitting the market and headed elsewhere,” Garofalo said.
That does not necessarily mean that Dean is heading down to Dallas. The Packers have also been reported to be in the mix on Dean. But the Cowboys have the Parker connection and can certainly make Dean a competitive offer.
Cowboys Promising Big Spending
Because he is a linebacker, and the market on linebackers is generally short-changed, financially, the Cowboys could get a decent deal on Dean. According to Spotrac, his market value sits at $7.9 million per year, with a four-year contract reaching $31.6 million.
Dean does have a red flag because of injuries–he played 17 games as a rookie but only 30 in the last three seasons as he dealt with injuries, especially a torn patellar tendon in the playoffs more than a year ago. But Dean was the green dot linebacker for Fangio this past season, and could fill that role of the Cowboys.
If Jerry Jones is ready to spend.
And, as he said, “I am excited about doing everything we can now to have a better record than we had last year, a better team than we had last year. That’s why we have been doing what we’ve been doing with the coaching staff.
“I would bet that we will spend more money in free agency than we have.”
Sean Deveney is a veteran sports reporter covering the NBA, NFL and MLB for Heavy.com. He has written for Heavy since 2019 and has more than two decades of experience covering the NBA, including 17 years as the lead NBA reporter for the Sporting News. Deveney is the author of 7 nonfiction books, including “Fun City,” “Before Wrigley became Wrigley,” and “Facing Michael Jordan.” More about Sean Deveney
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