Cowboys news: Jourdan Lewis discusses his upcoming free agency

The latest news surrounding the Dallas Cowboys.

Jourdan Lewis not yet focused on NFL free agency, but wants to re-sign with Cowboys – Patrik Walker, DallasCowboys.com

One of Dallas’ most reliable defenders wants to stay with the team that drafted him.

FRISCO, Texas — With the 2024 calendar year now in the history books and the regular season nearing its conclusion for the Dallas Cowboys, it’s impossible to quantify the impact of certain players in a year that was decimated by all manner of adversity, and Jourdan Lewis is one such player.

Despite it all, the veteran cornerback has not only been a vocal mentor and leader within the locker room, but also one of the best players on any side of the ball in Dallas — turning his one-year contract extension into a Pro Bowl caliber campaign.

So it’s a no-brainer that the Cowboys want him to stay put when free agency arrives.

“Jourdan’s just an uber competitor,” said executive vice president and director of player personnel Stephen Jones. “He’s a guy who’s out of contract, and obviously a guy that we want to have back on this football team.”

Lewis is, to this point in his career, a lifer with the Cowboys who has proven to be, well, coordinator-proof.

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He’s not naive, though, which is to say Lewis knows what’s on the horizon and, as such, he’s not willing to play coy when it comes to where he’d like to play football next year, and possibly for the years that follow.

Lewis has only ever been a Cowboy, and he hopes it can stay that way.

“Always,” he said. “Dallas is my home. My kids were born here. We’d love to have another season here, or a few seasons here. My wife loves it.

“But I know it’s a business, and we don’t know what the front office needs.”

The good news is the front office has already stated their intentions, and that one player they definitely need is Lewis.

Ideal Ezekiel Elliott landing spot lets him stick it to Cowboys one more time – Mark Powell, Fansided.com

Zeke is still in search of a ring, and some rivals could give him that opportunity.

Still, Elliott and the Cowboys have a complicated backstory, but one of mutual respect. The Cowboys thanked Zeke on his way out the door on Tuesday in a statement from president Jerry Jones.

“Out of respect and appreciation for Zeke and wanting to provide him with an opportunity to pursue any potential playoff participation possible, we are releasing him from the Cowboys roster today,” Jones said. “As I have said many times previously, Zeke’s impact as one of the greatest to ever play with the Star on their helmet will never change and is etched in our record books and history forever. We thank him, love him and wish him the absolute best.”

Where will Ezekiel Elliott land? Why not the Detroit Lions

While that sounds fine and dandy, the Cowboys have no control over where Elliott lands. There are infinite possibilities, but one makes more sense than most, and that’s the Detroit Lions.

The Cowboys wouldn’t consider the Lions a rival, but after the infamous Dan Skipper game, Detroit fans might feel differently. Signing Elliott and turning him into a replacement-level backup would work in the Lions favor, as David Montgomery is out for the time being.

Montgomery hasn’t played since Dec. 15. Jahmyr Gibbs can handle the increased workload and will shine without Montgomery, but the Lions offense isn’t the same without its 1-2 rushing attack, otherwise known as Sonic and Knuckles.

Detroit could sign Elliott for relatively cheap and place him on the practice squad as a ‘break in case of emergency’ backfield option. Frankly, that is all Elliott is asking for – a chance to help a contending team. The Lions qualify as that and then some.

How cornerback has quickly turned into one of the Cowboys’ biggest needs this offseason – Matthew Holleran, BloggingTheBoys.com

Injuries and free agency have turned cornerback into a need.

This was just the beginning of Dallas’ injury woes at the cornerback spot. After Bland, nearly every impactful cornerback on the Cowboys’ roster has dealt with injury issues at some point this season. Trevon Diggs and Josh Butler were the worst victims of the injury bug, suffering season-ending injuries that will force them to miss a significant portion of next season.

Injury issues weren’t the only problem for Dallas’ cornerback group this season. Even when the group was relatively healthy, outside of Jourdan Lewis who has had an All-Pro-caliber season, the performance was disappointing. Caelen Carson was picked on with success consistently early on in the season, never getting his job back after a shoulder injury, and Diggs and Bland both showed some rust returning from different ailments.

As if all this didn’t create enough uncertainty about the future of the position group, the Cowboys currently have three cornerbacks (Bland, Diggs, out for at least half of 2025, Carson) under contract for the 2025 season.

Unless they have a shift in philosophy, it will be hard for the Cowboys to bring back Jourdan Lewis, who is a free agent at season’s end. With how he’s played this year, Lewis will almost certainly be offered a multi-year contract worth more money than the Cowboys will be willing to match. If Lewis does walk, Dallas would be down to just Bland and Carson as their starting corners until Diggs returns from injury late in the regular season.

After the performance he put on display this season, it would be very hard to envision the Cowboys trusting Carson enough to enter the season with him as one of their starting cornerbacks. If this is the case, it will almost force Dallas to spend one of the first three draft picks on a cornerback or acquire a starting-caliber corner that can play outside in free agency.

There are plenty of glaring needs on the Cowboys’ roster, but cornerback has quickly shot up toward the top of the list. With their best cornerback set to leave and injuries mounting at the position, cornerback has suddenly turned into one of Dallas’ biggest needs this offseason.

Cowboys predicted to finally replace Amari Cooper with First-Team All-SEC star – Aaliyan Mohammed, SportingNews.com

Dallas’ front office may be able to use their good drafting on a wide receiver.

The Dallas Cowboys traded Amari Cooper to the Cleveland Browns after the 2021 season. CeeDee Lamb is a superstar and has been great for the Cowboys. However, they have failed to find him an elite partner like Cooper once was.

The Cowboys will not be in the playoffs and have plenty of needs in the offseason. They could target a wide receiver in the draft to finally replace Cooper in the offense. FanSided’s Jerry Trotta predicted the team would draft the University of Missouri wide receiver Luther Burden III.

“The Cowboys’ roster has myriad holes, but getting Prescott and CeeDee Lamb a legit complementary option is arguably the biggest need. The front office has failed to replace Amari Cooper since they foolishly traded him for spare parts two years ago,” wrote Trotta. “Burden would be a terrific complement to Lamb. He excels in the intermediate passing game and creating yards after the catch, but can also win vertically. Despite being 5-11 and 210 pounds, he accumulated 22 contested catches in his three years at Missouri, per PFF.”

Burden was named First-Team All-SEC in 2023. This season he has 676 yards and six touchdowns. Last season he had 86 receptions, 1,212 yards and nine touchdowns. In the two seasons Lamb and Cooper played together, they combined for 4,016 yards and 24 touchdowns. Getting a target-like Burden to pair with Lamb would be a great addition to the Cowboys offense.

Here is the first injury report for the season finale against Washington.