The Cowboys are on the board in free agency.
Far from a splash, but the club did re-sign linebacker Ernie Sims to a one-year deal Monday for the league minimum, according to Cowboys VP Stephen Jones, who is in Arizona for the annual NFL Owners Meetings.
Sims, a former first-round pick of the Lions back in 2006, joined the Cowboys in midseason on Oct. 24 and played in 10 games, starting six.
He finished the year with 42 tackles and one sack. He had two straight games of seven tackles each against Washington and Philadelphia. But concussion issues plagued him for two straight games down the stretch.
Sims is likely to compete for the starting post at strong-side outside linebacker with Alex Albright and Kyle Wilber and anyone else the team acquires in the draft or possibly free agency, but it sounds like Jones is comfortable with the group he has.
"At that spot it'd be Wilber, also we've got Albright that'll try that spot out, and then we've got Ernie now," Jones said. "We think we're pretty good."
Sims was the ninth overall player taken in the 2006 draft out of the Lions, who were then coached by Rod Marinelli, who is now the Cowboys' defensive line coach. Sims played in all 16 games during his first pro season, registering 124 tackles with the Lions.
He played three years in Detroit but his career never turned the corner as the Lions traded him to Philadelphia for the 2010 season. He spent one year with the Colts in 2011 before being out of football until he joined the Cowboys last season.
