During the 2018 NFL season, the Dallas Cowboys cornerbacks took turns making their mark on the defense.
Byron Jones started hot, and continued his top-tier play throughout most of the season to earn All Pro honors. Chidobe Awuzie started slow, struggling when the ball was in the air, but he closed the season playing some of the best football of his young career. Anthony Brown emerged as a legit slot cornerback, and Jourdan Lewis impressed nearly every time he played, albeit in limited snaps.
And yet, there is reason for the Cowboys to consider drafting a cornerback with their first selection in the 2019 draft. It may seem crazy at first, but a deeper dive reveals how realistic this option actually is.
Let's start with the contract situations.
Byron Jones will play the 2019 season under the final year of his rookie contract. He earned the fifth year option from the team, keeping him around for at least one more year. Coming into 2018 there were doubts around whether or not the Cowboys would ultimately extend Jones, due to his inconsistent play at safety in 2017.
After moving to corner full time, Jones became an All Pro and played like one of the best cornerbacks in the league. He clearly outplayed his current contract, and if he continues on this career trajectory, he will earn CB1 money heading into 2020.
The Cowboys have a lot of guys to pay in the next two offseasons (see Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, Jaylon Smith, etc.), and while they have a ton of cap space to do so, they could decide they are better off allowing someone like Jones to walk in favor of all their other marquis free agents.
I don't really anticipate this being the case, but it's certainly a possibility. I'll also add that it should not be the case, as having a number one cornerback is more important to roster construction than a middle linebacker. But I digress.
Slot cornerback Anthony Brown will also be a free agent next offseason, and though he was a first round pick, he has earned a new contract through his play. It's also important to remember that Awuzie and Lewis do not have that fifth year option, and are eligible to become free agents quicker than if they were first round picks.
Plus, Lewis clearly does not fit the mold Kris Richard “likes” in his cornerbacks, meaning he could look for more long-and-strong type defensive backs this Spring.
Sure, in theory, they could keep all four of these guys around. But when you combine that they could lose one or two of these guys in the near future with the fact that you can never have enough good corners on their roster, taking one within their first two draft picks this year makes sense.
What's also important to remember is that outside of Jones, none of these Cowboys corners were drafted early on. Awuzie was a second round pick, but Lewis was taken in the third and Brown was taken in the sixth. At safety the Cowboys found Xavier Woods in the sixth round.
This team can clearly draft defensive backs, and can likely find value in the 2019 draft as well.
