Stephen Jones On Cowboys' Defensive Losses
- The Cowboys have seen notable defenders in Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Barry Church, J.J. Wilcox, Terrell McClain and Jack Crawford leave in free agency this year, but CEO Stephen Jones doesn’t expect those to be crippling departures. “Even though we lost some numbers on defense, some of them we were ready to move on from,” Jones told David Moore of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter links). Jones also noted that this year’s draft “is inordinately strong on the defensive side of the ball.” Based on Jones’ comments, the Cowboys figure to target a defender with their top pick, No. 28 overall.
Cowboys Interested In Jordan Willis
- The Jaguars have visited with Kansas State defensive end Jordan Willis, reports Pauline, and the Eagles, Buccaneers, Dolphins, and Cowboys all plan to meet with the edge rusher, as well. Even with that level of interest, Willis will still likely end up being selected at the beginning of the second round rather than at the end of the first, writes Pauline. The Saints have already put Willis through a workout.
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Cowboys To Visit With Taco Charlton
- Michigan edge defender Taco Charlton has visits lined up with the Buccaneers, Cowboys, Dolphins and Saints, Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com reports. Registering 9.5 sacks during a season in which he played with a high ankle sprain, Charlton believes he’s a top-15 player. He met Thursday night with the Steelers, Ravens, Titans and Saints. There’s definitely one team that appears to be interested here, if the overlap is any indication.
Cowboys To Sign Byron Bell
Byron Bell‘s visit to Dallas today led to the veteran tackle signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys, David Moore of the Dallas Morning News tweets. Bell has not played since the 2015 season but will now step into a possible role on arguably the league’s best offensive line.
Doug Free‘s retirement opened a spot at right tackle, and Bell will assuredly factor into the competition for that vacancy. Free had manned the Cowboys’ right tackle spot for most of this decade and was a starter for Dallas dating back to the 2009 season. The Cowboys will go about replacing two starting linemen from last season, and Bell’s signing gives an indication of how they plan to do that.
La’el Collins now looks likelier to slide back to the left guard position he occupied prior to a foot injury derailing his 2016 season. Ronald Leary‘s defection to Denver opens up that spot again. Dallas brass said earlier this offseason Collins could be a right tackle option. Bell has spent most of his six-year career at tackle, serving as the Panthers’ right-edge protector for three seasons before moving to the left side in 2014. He played both tackle and guard for the Titans in 2015, but with Collins having only seen time at guard, Bell’s 2017 spot looks like it will be right tackle.
Prior to visiting the Cowboys, the 28-year-old Bell met with both the 49ers and Packers. He missed all of the 2016 season due to a foot injury sustained during OTAs last year. He ranked as PFR’s No. 7 tackle option left on the market. Bell stands to compete with 2015 third-rounder Chaz Green for the starting right tackle gig.
CBS, FOX Courting Tony Romo
There has been a lot of speculation about where Tony Romo will play in 2017, but there exists the possibility that he doesn’t play at all. Both FOX and CBS are interested in adding the Cowboys quarterback to their broadcast teams, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com tweets. 
After months of speculation about where the Cowboys quarterback could end up and how he’ll get there (trade or release), he remains in limbo. There is no realistic scenario in which he remains in Dallas to hold the clipboard for Dak Prescott. By the same token, the Cowboys are still hoping to get something to get something in return for him via trade, if possible. A trade would also allow them to dictate Romo’s landing spot. A wink-wink deal between the quarterback and Dallas owner Jerry Jones could steer him away from rival clubs, but a swap would give the Cowboys a level of certainty that a CBA rule-breaking handshake would not.
Of course, it’s not 100% clear that Romo wants to continue playing in the NFL. Now on the cusp of his 37th birthday, Romo has more money than he could ever spend and plenty of nagging injuries to already deal with. After injuries effectively sidelined the veteran for two straight seasons, no one would blame Romo for transitioning to the broadcast booth.
Cowboys Host OT Byron Bell On Visit
Free agent tackle Byron Bell is visiting the Cowboys today, Clarence Hill of the Star-Telegram tweets. The Cowboys are in search of a right tackle after Doug Free retired earlier this month and Bell could be a candidate to replace him. 
Bell did not play last season after dislocating his ankle during Titans OTAs. In the previous season, however, he started 16 games at three different positions: eight at right tackle, seven at left guard, and one at left tackle. Right now, I have him down as the seventh-best tackle left in free agency.
Bell, 28, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Panthers. In his final season with Carolina, he was asked to play left tackle for the first time and things got ugly. He graded out as the second-worst offensive tackle in football out of 84 qualified players in 2014 with a -33.4 overall rating, according to Pro Football Focus. However, he showed his ability and versatility in 2015.
Cowboys Interested In McKinley, Moreau
- Prior to possibly injuring his pectoral while bench pressing on Tuesday, UCLA cornerback Fabian Moreau spent time with the Lions, Dolphins, Saints, and Bengals, reports Pauline. Additionally, Moreau met with Cowboys defensive backs Joe Baker, per Pauline. Rob Rang of CBSSports.com projected Moreau as a back-end first round pick (and the third-best cornerback on the board) before news of his injury broke.
- Moreau’s UCLA teammate, edge rusher Takkarist McKinley, will visit with the Browns in early April, per Courtney Fallon of NFL.com (Twitter link). After that, McKinley plans to meet with the Ravens, Steelers, Cowboys, and Lions, per Fallon. McKinley put up 10 sacks in 11 games for the Bruins in 2016.
Details On Kellen Moore's Contract
- Kellen Moore, QB (Cowboys): One year, $755K. $100K fully guaranteed (Twitter link via Adam Caplan of ESPN.com).
Cowboys' Kellen Moore Pact Worth $775K
- Kellen Moore‘s one-year Cowboys re-up is for $775K, Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports (on Twitter). Both Williams and the Telegram’s Clarence Hill report the Cowboys did not want to pay nearly what Josh McCown received from the Jets ($6MM fully guaranteed) to fill their impending backup quarterback vacancy. Dak Prescott will make $540K in base salary this season.
- Damontre Moore signed a two-year, $1.66MM deal with the Cowboys, one that contains a $100K signing bonus, Todd Archer of ESPN.com reports.
Josh McCown Signs With Jets
Josh McCown agreed to a one-year deal to join the Jets, according to the quarterback’s agent, Mike McCartney (on Twitter). McCown visited the Jets for multiple days last weekend. The Jets confirmed the move.
It’s a $6MM fully guaranteed deal for McCown, Albert Breer of TheMMQB.com tweets. That’s high-end backup money on the surface, but Breer adds another $7MM in incentives ($2MM in playing-time bonuses, $5MM in team-based bumps) could come his way. The team incentives aren’t likely to be earned, being associated with the playoffs and Super Bowl (per Breer, on Twitter), but McCown will receive $125K for eac
h game in which he plays 50 percent of Gang Green’s snaps.
Until the parties finalized this agreement, Jay Cutler was slated to visit the Jets this week, Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reports (on Twitter). Ian Rapoport of NFL.com adds a Jets/Cutler union is now off the table (Twitter link). The Jets reached out to both Cutler and McCown last week, but McCown was summoned for the initial visit. His asking price almost certainly wasn’t what Cutler’s is. The Jets paid Ryan Fitzpatrick $12MM last season after a lengthy impasse.
This agreement comes after the Jets brought in Chase Daniel for a visit today and have been linked throughout the offseason to Cutler. McCown profiles as a stopgap option, and it’s not a lock that this addition will stop the Jets from adding a younger veteran, but the team has two younger quarterbacks on the roster already in Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg. McCown looks set to have a great chance to start during what will be his 16th season.
Also connected to the Cowboys this offseason, McCown visited Dallas just before the new league year started. But the Cowboys weren’t willing to pay their next backup this much money, per Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). The Cowboys reunited with Kellen Moore earlier today.
McCown has history with Jets quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, working under him for two years as Cutler’s backup in Chicago. The 37-year-old McCown’s enjoyed a unique career arc, having spent many NFL seasons as a backup. But a strong showing in relief of Cutler on the 2013 Bears led to multiple agreements to serve as a starter. This could well be a third such commitment from a team.
McCown served as the primary starter for the 2014 Buccaneers and 2015 Browns. After an injury-plagued 2016 season in Cleveland, the Browns cut him with one year remaining on his deal. While the teams McCown’s quarterbacked during his late-career time as a starter have not enjoyed much success — McCown is 2-20 as a starter over the past three seasons — he has had stretches to generate intrigue. McCown completed nearly 64 percent of his passes for a Browns team that didn’t have Josh Gordon in 2015, throwing for 12 touchdowns and four interceptions in eight starts. For the ’13 Bears, McCown shined, completing nearly 67 percent of his throws and tossing 13 TD passes compared to just one INT in five starts of Cutler relief.
He will turn 38 in July. A Sunday-night PFR poll resulted in readers tabbing a McCown/Jets union as far less likely than the team deploying Cutler come Week 1. That could still happen, but it would likely require the Jets to carry four quarterbacks. Although the Jets aren’t particularly sold yet on the long-term viability of Petty or Hackenberg, it might be a rash decision for either to be cut out of training camp.
The Jets were also linked to Mike Glennon this offseason, but his $15MM-per-year price tag induced them to bow out. Brian Hoyer also intrigued Gang Green, but the 49ers added him.