A lot of Cowboys Nation were optimistic that the Dallas Cowboys would be able to bring in former San Francisco 49ers linebacker Navarro Bowman to help improve things on the defensive side of the ball. Unfortunately, as reported by Ian Rapoport, Bowman decided to stay in the Bay Area and sign a one-year contract with the Oakland Raiders.
Former #49ers LB NaVorro Bowman is signing a 1-year deal with the #Raiders, source says. That was fast.
Knowing the Oakland Raiders had the first crack to convince Navorro Bowman to sign with them meant it was a long shot he would ever make the Tuesday meeting with the Dallas Cowboys in the first place. And yet, Cowboys fans still held out hope the former star LB could be the saving grace for the run defense, because we all know Jerry Jones is a great salesman and rarely lets a free-agent getaway he really wants.
I don't know about you, but I'm personally not too upset the Dallas Cowboys weren't able to land Navorro Bowman. Now, before you all get upset with me, let me try to explain myself.
First off, Navorro Bowman isn't nearly the same type of player he used to be earlier in his career. If that was the case, the San Francisco 49ers wouldn't have been willing to let him go, even if they do have a young promising prospect waiting in the wings behind him.
Bowman's age and injuries have caught up to him and as a result, affected his play. He is still pretty good defending against the run, something the Cowboys need help with, but has really started to struggle in pass coverage. That means he would probably be nothing more than a two down linebacker who came off the field passing situations. Those types of LBs aren't that difficult to find.
Secondly, the addition of Navorro Bowman would have likely been a progress stopper for Jaylon Smith. Smith has had his up-and-down's through the first five weeks of the season, but there has been more positives than negatives.
With Anthony Hitchens and Navorro Bowman on the team at MLB, it doesn't leave a lot of playing time for the Dallas Cowboys 2016 second round draft pick. And, Jaylon Smith needs as much playing time as he can get in order to learn and gain more confidence in his mental/physical abilities. He is after all a future cornerstone player on the Cowboys defense.
The Dallas Cowboys need to get Jaylon Smith up to speed as quickly as possible and unfortunately Bowman's addition would have set him back in his development. And let's be honest, Bowman probably wasn't going to have that much of an impact anyways. This defense needs more help than just one player can provide.
So as you can see, even though the Dallas Cowboys missed out on Navorro Bowman, it might actually end up being a good thing in the long run. Jaylon Smith is the future of this organization and the Cowboys should be doing everything in their power to help in his development, not hinder it.
