And finally, free agency has officially started. While the whirlwind of news really took place last weekend and the early part of this week, the start of the NFL's new league year occurred late Wednesday afternoon.
What that means is no longer do teams have to "agree to terms" with players. The dotted line can be inked.
Here's a look at some of the latest developments for the Cowboys as of Wednesday:
- For starters, in a story that seems like old news by now, the Cowboys officially turned in the trade with Cleveland, sending Amari Cooper to the Browns. The Cowboys get a 2022 fifth-round pick in return and both teams also swapped sixth-round picks in 2022. The move will save the Cowboys about $16 million on the cap.
- As for Randy Gregory, the wild saga finally calmed down later on Wednesday when the defensive end decide to head to Denver to join the Broncos. The back-and-forth dilemma even spilled over into Wednesday when, according to sources, Gregory even had some second-thoughts again about signing with the Broncos. Obviously, he eventually stuck with that decision and now seems ready to officially sign in Denver. The Broncos will likely get to that announcement soon enough but just introduced Russell Wilson in a press conference on Wednesday.
- The Cowboys were set to pay Gregory the same five-year, $70 million deal that Denver is giving him. What that means is they at least have that much to spend on another player, if not two different guys. The Cowboys reached out to many of the big-name defensive players, including Von Miller, who agreed to a whopping $120 million deal in Buffalo. The Cowboys have also inquired about Bobby Wagner, Dante Fowler and even Za'Darius Smith and Chandler Jones, before they agreed to terms with other teams.
- Also in the mix still is their own free agent – defensive end Dorance Armstrong. With Gregory not in the mix, the Cowboys wouldn't mind keep Armstrong and have kept the line of communication going for both sides. Armstrong's value in Dallas certainly went up when the Cowboys lost out on Gregory.
- Safety Jayron Kearse remains a top priority for the Cowboys. The team's leading tackler in 2022 is weighing his options but has made it clear he would like to return to Dallas and reunite with DC Dan Quinn.
- Veteran tight end Jeremy Sprinkle was close to reaching an agreement with the Cowboys on Tuesday and the two sides spent Wednesday hashing out some of the details of the deal. Both sides could be exploring all of their options as well.
