NFL Rumors: Dallas Cowboys Not Ready To Give Up On Morris Claiborne

NFL rumors have been swirling around the Dallas Cowboys secondary. Many felt that big changes were coming because the team simply has not gotten the production that they want from the cornerback positions. A lot of people believed that Orlando Scandrick would be the only one coming back because Brandon Carr and Morris Claiborne are out the door. According to NBC Sports, the Cowboys are not ready to give up on Claiborne just yet, so they signed to a one year deal.

Long gone are the days where Deion Sanders would step on the field for the Dallas Cowboys. The legendary cornerback was able to shut down one side of the field, so the quarterback became a lot more predictable. Very few in the NFL had that type of luxury. To his credit, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has attempted for years to field a dominant secondary because he feels that’s a necessary ingredient to being legitimate Super Bowl contenders again.

In March of 2012, Jerry Jones handed Brandon Carr a $50 million contract to leave the Kansas City Chiefs and join the Dallas Cowboys. Many were puzzled by the move because Carr wasn’t even as good as the other Chiefs cornerback, Brandon Flowers. The move was also a peculiar one because he didn’t exactly fit the scheme. Carr excelled at man-to-man coverage, while the Tampa 2 defensive scheme ran by Rod Marinelli and Monte Kiffin relied heavily on zone coverage.

With fear that the Minnesota Vikings or Tampa Bay Buccaneers were going to beat them to the punch, the Dallas Cowboys made a trade with the now-Los Angeles Rams to move up eight spots in the 2012 NFL Draft. The move cost the Cowboys their second round pick that year, a spot where NFL teams can usually find a quality starter. Morris Claiborne never lived up to the hype that came from being that highly-coveted by Jerry Jones.

The Dallas Cowboys didn’t want to be big spenders in free agency like the Oakland Raiders and New York Giants, which cost them the chance to acquire the services of Sean Smith and Janoris Jenkins, respectively. Jerry Jones had his eyes on bringing back Pacman Jones, but the veteran wisely opted to remain with the Cincinnati Bengals, the team that enabled him to resurrect his once promising career in the NFL.

With no option really standing out as being attractive, Jerry Jones decided that the Dallas Cowboys would take the safe route with their cornerback position. They decided to negotiate with Morris Claiborne on a team friendly deal. The former LSU Tigers star was given a one-year deal that is worth $3 million. Since the deal is just for one season, the belief is that the Cowboys are hoping that Claiborne can prove the NFL wrong and earn himself a bigger contract next season.

Going into the next season with just Orlando Scandrick and Morris Claiborne isn’t going to be enough to satiate Jerry Jones. He knows that the Dallas Cowboys need more than that if they’re going to make it back to the NFL Playoffs. Jones is going to use the draft to upgrade the position. Florida State Seminoles star Jalen Ramsey might some day become a shut down cornerback in the National Football League, and the Cowboys have a very good chance to select him with the fourth overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.

Second chances can be very difficult to come by in the NFL, especially since there’s hundreds of college football players coming out each year trying to take away your job. Morris Claiborne should feel fortunate that the Dallas Cowboys are letting him have one more chance.