You already know the top two Dallas Cowboys free agency targets in 2020 and both are already in North Texas. Job numero uno is to lock down an extension on quarterback Dak Prescott, the team hoping to avoid having to utilize the franchise tag to buy themselves time to hammer out the details. Next, they'll look to secure Amari Cooper, but they're more willing to tether the Pro Bowl wide receiver to a tag -- be it franchise or transition -- if it comes to that.
But what about Byron Jones, or Robert Quinn? I'm glad you asked.
With both set to become free agents, it's not a question on if the Cowboys can afford both along with Prescott and Cooper, because having nearly $100 million in cap space this offseason says they can, but they'll need to decide if they want to. Both deserve to, but if the Cowboys force themselves into choosing one or the other, Quinn might come out victorious, because elite edge rushers are always going to be more valuable than elite corners.
Simply put, you build a defense from front to back, because dynamo pass rushers shrink coverage windows and allow cornerbacks and safeties to take more risks that lead to more pass break ups and takeaways.
That's the science.
The club has interest in retaining both, but something's going to have to give. Quinn, who is entering free agency for the first time in his near decade-long career, is coming off of a resurgent season that saw him deliver a team-high 11.5 sacks despite having missed the first two games due to suspension. He plays complement to DeMarcus Lawrence on the opposite edge, and it's yet unknown if Randy Gregory will be a returned player in 2020, as he works toward filing for reinstatement (date having yet to be determined).
Additionally, while there's talent at the position in this year's draft, there isn't a consensus fawning over the current crop of edge rush prospects; and that's more leverage in Quinn's pocket when it comes to what the Cowboys will offer him to stick around. Expect him to play the market, given he's been waiting nine years to do so, before making his final decision, but Mike McCarty and the front office is going to go hard at keeping him in Dallas.
When it comes to Jones, however, I don't get that impression when speaking to those with knowledge of the situation.
Jones has yet to begin contract talks with the Cowboys, and that's a dramatically different stance taken by the team when compared to Prescott and Cooper, both of whom received offers multiple times and as early as May 2019. Despite Jones being named All-Pro in his first full season as a starting cornerback, and subsequently seeing his fifth-year option exercised because of it, the two sides didn't speak about an extension last year.
A source tells CBS Sports that will change very soon, and the Cowboys will indeed make an offer to keep Jones around, but the jury is out on if it'll be enough.
Let's set the stage here a bit.
While it's not Jones' fault he was flexed like an accordion the first three seasons of his NFL career, the former first-round pick must still deal with leverage lost due to lack of consistent impact during those years. He was able to recover some of that lost leverage in becoming one of the league's best shutdown corners the past two seasons, and he's also the most durable player on the team outside of Prescott and [free agent] Jason Witten, the cornerback having missed only one game his entire career -- coming on the back end of 2019. He's also the consummate professional, having never had any off-the-field transgressions and is a strong presence in the local community.
All of this matters.
From there, the question is: who has the most leverage in this equation? The Cowboys would like more takeaways from Jones but they know being a shutdown corner means more than that, and the regression on Chidobe Awuzie makes it more difficult to simply walk away from the best cornerback the Cowboys have had since Terence Newman. Sure, they can and likely will draft one, but keeping Jones while also doing that would be the wise play -- to combine them both with Jourdan Lewis -- but if Jones' asking price creeps too high, they won't break the bank for him.
Other teams will, though, and you can bet a CB-needy club like the rival Philadelphia Eagles or New York Giants or Washington Redskins would pay a pretty penny to get their hands on Jones, among others. Jones doesn't want to leave Dallas and has said so on numerous occasions, but he also had an affinity for Kris Richard -- who made the career-changing decision to put him at full-time corner in the first place -- and with Richard not being brought back, that chip is officially out of the cookie.
In the end, this will all come down to value. Quinn has more of it in the eyes of the Cowboys, and while they also value the presence of Jones, they feel it's much more difficult to replace the former than the latter.
Extending Prescott would leave available both tags, and that means one could be easily used on Jones, because there are no indications right now the Cowboys will tag Quinn. It's key to note the franchise and transition tag on a 4-3 defensive end in 2020 is a chunky $19.3 million and $16.3 million, respectively, and although he's surging, Quinn turns 30 in May and those are hefty numbers for a player that age whose market value, per Spotrac, is roughly $11.8 million.
They feel they can bid for him outright and win, but if Jones asks them to do the same as opposed to being flexible with his ask, he'll find the Cowboys not so willing to budge for a cornerback. For reference, the franchise and transition tag on Jones would be $16.47 million and $14.57 million, respectively, more palatable numbers over tagging Quinn. If Jones is amicable to a contract extension with an average annual value of roughly $12 million to $13 million, give or take, I believe that gets the deal done.
Anything more would "force" (note the air quotes) the Cowboys into deciding between one thing or the other, namely sliding money away from Jones in the hopes of retaining Quinn. Anything less would justifiably make Jones call a moving company.
Time will tell how it all plays out, but if free agency push comes to shove, Quinn enters the fight with weighted gloves.
