Dallas Cowboys Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch has recently undergone offseason neck surgery according to Todd Archer via twitter.
This isn’t exactly the news Cowboys Nation was wanting to hear in regards to Leighton Vander Esch. There have been concerns about his long-term health ever since he missed the final seven games of the 2019 season, and offseason surgery certainly doesn’t ease those concerns.
This puts the Dallas Cowboys in a precarious situation. With Sean Lee’s return up in the air and Joe Thomas as a free agent, the Cowboys have very little proven depth outside of Jaylon Smith. Counting on LVE to return to his former self after surgery is risky, meaning they may need to make a move or two to shore up the position in free agency or through the draft.
As Todd Archer reports though, Vander Esch is expected to be available for the Cowboys offseason program. That gives him about a five month recovery time. However, Dallas may not want to put all of their eggs in one basket. At the very least they need an emergency plan in place if LVE is unable to return to form.
I don’t know about you, but I’m going to cross my fingers and send any kind of positive juju Leighton Vander Esch’s way I possibly can. I don’t want this to turn into another Sean Lee scenario. It took him until 2019 to finally play all 16 games in the regular season. Hopefully that’s not the case with the Wolf Hunter.
