Is cornerback more of a need for the Cowboys than is being talked about?
We’ve spent a ton of time talking about offensive linemen, linebackers, and defensive linemen for the Cowboys in this upcoming draft. While all those positions are a need for the Cowboys, and should provide value inside the top 100, the cornerback position is not being talked about enough. The Cowboys currently have good numbers at corner, with Trevon Diggs, Anthony Brown, Jourdan Lewis, Kelvin Joseph, and Nahshon Wright under contract for the 2022 season. But that’s likely to change over the next few weeks with NFL free agency kicking off, and the Cowboys needing to free up over $26 million in effective cap space.
A release of Anthony Brown saves the team $5 million in cap space, while a release of Jourdan Lewis saves the team just under $2.5 million dollars. While not advocating for this to be done, we know how Stephen Jones likes to operate, and it shouldn’t shock anyone if the team moves on from one, or even both of these guys this offseason. With it likely that at least one of the Cowboys 2021 starting cornerbacks playing elsewhere in 2022, how much faith do we have in Kelvin Joseph and Nahshon Wright to play significant snaps in their second years?
While Kelvin Joseph did some really nice things in his rookie season, the organization never really gave him much of a chance to play, unless forced to do so due to COVID protocols or injury. If the Cowboys don’t have faith in Joseph they could look to the draft to add another starting corner, and that wouldn’t be a terrible idea.
There’s a ton of talent at the cornerback position in this year’s class, and there’s a decent shot the best player available at the 24th overall pick could be a corner (Trent McDuffie, Andrew Booth Jr., Roger McCreary), and it’s not totally out of the realm of possibility to have one of the top guys in Derek Stingley Jr. or Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner fall due to the talent in this draft class at the offensive line and edge rusher position, and teams reaching for quarterbacks in the top half of the draft.
Names to know inside the top 100 heading into the draft are Ahmad Gardner, Derek Stingley Jr., Trent McDuffie, Roger McCreary, Andrew Booth Jr., Kaiir Elam, Kyler Gordon, Marcus Jones (slot), Coby Bryant, Derion Kendrick, and Mykael Wright (slot).