The Cowboys are checking in on an old friend. They brought in veteran cornerback Brandon Carr for a visit Friday, Field Yates of ESPN.com tweets.
A Cowboys starter from 2012-16, Carr spent the past three seasons with the Ravens. Despite Baltimore’s deep cornerback group, Carr continued his start streak — one that now sits at 192 games. Baltimore declined Carr’s 2020 option.
Dallas lost Byron Jones but still has contract-year corners Jourdan Lewis and Chidobe Awuzie. The team also used second- and fourth-round picks on corners — Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson — and signed Daryl Worley. Slot corner Anthony Brown is also back in the fold, following a new deal in free agency.
Carr, 34, has also seen time at safety. The Ravens used him there at points last season, and the Cowboys have a sudden need after making Ha Ha Clinton-Dix a surprise cut. Carr’s ex-teammate, Earl Thomas, has not been connected to the Cowboys in several days.
Carr certainly brings more experience than any current Cowboys defender — and just about any active NFL DB — and is among the most reliable players of his generation, availability-wise.
Pro Football Focus has viewed Carr’s work as average to slightly above average in recent years, but he still played 76% of the snaps for a strong Ravens defense last season. With the Cowboys, Carr lived up to his iron-man reputation. He never played fewer than 94% of Dallas’ defensive snaps in any of his six seasons with the team.
This seems like a pretty innovative idea. While Carr has certainly lost a step or two with age, he was still more than capable in coverage for a ferocious Baltimore secondary. I think Carr’s intelligent enough to make the transition to safety and could follow the footsteps of Woodson, Hall, and Newman in prolonging their careers
Salary cap ramifications not withstanding, you have the captain of the varsity sitting out there waiting to play for you.
I thought that this was one of those:
On this date in history ….