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Film room: 2 needs the Cowboys should address in free agency over the draft, including an impact nose tackle

Dallas doesn’t need to break the bank, but it should throw a little more money at the nose tackle position.

February is an interesting time in the NFL media landscape. Now that the season is over, most of the focus shifts toward the draft and free agency, which begets an interesting conundrum: How can one guess what a team will do in the draft without first knowing what they did in free agency?

For example, one of the most common selections in the avalanche of mock drafts is the Dallas Cowboys selecting a safety -- LSU’s Grant Delpit or Alabama’s Xavier McKinney -- which makes sense right now given they are devoid of a second starting safety next to Xavier Woods.

But what if the Cowboys sign a starting-caliber safety in the early days of free agency (like Jayron Kearse)? That would likely throw a wrench in the plans of grabbing a talented safety prospect in the first round.

This is just a long way of saying things change, so what you’re seeing in mock drafts today will almost certainly be wrong once April rolls around. This doesn’t mean mock drafts are useless this early -- they are a great means for fans to get to know prospects in the early stages of the draft process. But they provide little predictive value in what teams are going to do once they are on the clock.

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This is especially true for the Cowboys, who love to use free agency to fill all their immediate needs so they aren’t beholden to drafting a certain position. In 2019, they signed Randall Cobb, Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder in an effort to improve the depth of the roster and fill needs. This doesn’t preclude them from improving one of those positions through the draft, it just removes the necessity of it, allowing Dallas to stay true to its board. Even with a new coaching staff, it wouldn’t be surprising if the Cowboys do something similar this year in free agency.

Assuming Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper return, the Cowboys’ most pressing needs, in no particular order, are defensive tackle (both at the nose and three-technique spots), defensive end, safety, cornerback, slot receiver and tight end.

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Now, it must be said that some of these needs can be easily filled by re-signing some of their own free agents before they hit the open market. For example, if Dallas re-signs Robert Quinn, defensive end is no longer a major need although that shouldn’t preclude the team from adding more pass-rush talent. A team can never have too many pass rushers.

But with so many needs, the Cowboys will need to use free agency to fill some of them. So, let’s take a look at a couple of positions the Cowboys would be wise to fill in free agency rather than the draft.

Nose tackle

While the draft is a good place to find a long-term fix (Leki Fotu, anyone?), nose tackles typically don’t contribute much in Year 1. The Cowboys desperately need to find a starting-caliber nose tackle who can contribute right away. Luckily for them, free agency should be chock-full with players who can help immediately.

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“Starting caliber” is the most important phrase there. The Cowboys would be unwise to once again fill the nose tackle position in free agency with a replacement-level player, as they did last year with Christian Covington. This doesn’t mean they need to break the bank, but they do need to throw a little more money at the position this time.

On the expensive end of the spectrum, D.J. Reader and Javon Hargrave would be perfect additions to help shore up Dallas’ interior defensive line. Both are impact players against the run who also provide value as pass rushers, as Hargrave finished 10th among interior defenders in total pressures (49) while Reader finished 21st (35).

Signing Reader or Hargrave would be a boon not only to the interior defensive line, but to the defense as a whole. The Cowboys don’t need to break the bank to improve and fill the need at nose tackle -- it’s one of the positions where you can find starting-caliber talent at a relatively cheap rate.

Danny Shelton and Mike Pennel are great examples of veterans who will be relatively cheap in free agency but still could provide valuable play. Both are wide-bodied nose tackles (330-plus pounds) who do an excellent job against the run but provide little-to-no value as a pass rushers. As we saw last season, the Cowboys desperately need nose tackles who can do exactly that.

Outside of Shelton and Pennel, there is a host of other options that can be had, including Ndamukong Suh, Michael Pierce, Timmy Jernigan, A’Shawn Robinson and Andrew Billings.

With so many options that can be had without breaking the bank, nose tackle is the easiest need the Cowboys can fill in free agency.

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Safety

As previously noted, safety is the position that has been most mocked to the Cowboys in the first round. But it would be unwise to marry yourself to that idea this early in the process.

First, the safeties everybody is mocking to Dallas -- Delpit and McKinney -- have very real concerns that could keep the Cowboys from selecting either at pick No. 17.

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Delpit appears to be an exciting free safety prospect because of his play-making ability as a deep safety. But he’s a poor tackler who missed 18% of his tackles in 2018 and an absurd 28% of tackles in 2019, according to Pro Football Focus. This could cause the Cowboys to pass on the talented LSU defender, as they were one of the poorest tackling teams in the NFL last season and are probably not looking to get worse in that area. McKinney is a more reliable tackler but lacks Delpit’s play-making ability in coverage, which would put the Cowboys in a tricky spot if they still had a glaring need at safety entering the draft.

While fans may dream of a trade that nets Jamal Adams to upgrade the safety position, the sheer volume of starting-caliber safeties in free agency makes it a much more feasible option than a blockbuster trade.

High-priced options like Jimmie Ward, Justin Simmons or Anthony Harris deserve consideration, but the Cowboys’ front office has been shy to dole out big money to free agents. And even though the Cowboys are scheduled to be one of the teams with the most cap space, new contracts for Prescott and Cooper are sure to eat into a large chunk of that space.

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Fortunately for Dallas, there are also moderately priced safeties in free agency. HaHa Clinton-Dix has experience with Mike McCarthy from their time together in Green Bay and could be a nice veteran presence next to Woods. Damarious Randall and Tre Boston are other realistically priced veterans who could entice the Cowboys.

If none of those options tickle your fancy, the Cowboys could opt to sign a bargain-bin, high-upside safety like Kearse or Adrian Phillips.

Kearse, 26, was stuck behind legitimate Pro Bowl-caliber talent in Minnesota (Harrison Smith and Harris). In 2019, Kearse was a playmaker when he did see the field, posting four pass breakups in limited snaps. For comparison’s sake, Woods and Jeff Heath had eight combined pass breakups while playing full-time. If Byron Jones departs in free agency, Kearse provides the added benefit of being able to match tight ends and big slots inside -- a role Jones played in recent years.

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Phillips, 28, missed much of 2019 with a broken arm, which is why he could be a bargain in free agency. He is essentially a better version of Heath -- a phenomenal special teams player (first-team All-Pro in 2018) who does his best work in and around the box when on defense.

So, even though everyone and their neighbor is predicting a safety to the Cowboys at No. 17, don’t be surprised if they fill that need in free agency instead.

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