NFL Rumors: Top Dallas Cowboys' Free Agent Could Join NFC East Rival In 2020, Raiders In Mix

The Dallas Cowboys will prevent Dak Prescott from hitting free agency. Amari Cooper could re-sign with the team before ever reaching the open market.

Dallas’ top defensive player that doesn’t have a contract for the 2020 NFL season, however, might be as good as gone.

Byron Jones is expected to officially become a free agent on March 18, and all signs indicate that he’ll sign with a new team. That new team could be one that the Cowboys play twice a year.

The Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants will reportedly pursue Jones. The secondary was Philadelphia’s glaring weakness in the 2019 season. New York had one of the worst pass defenses in the NFL.

The Eagles ranked 19th in the league, allowing a 90.8 passer rating to opposing quarterbacks. They might be the favorite to sign Jones.

The Giants were one of five teams that surrendered a triple-digit passer rating (101.4). New York’s top priority in free agency might be acquiring a pass rusher. The Giants selected cornerback DeAndre Baker in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft.

Philadelphia finished a game ahead of Dallas to win the NFC East. New York was in third place with a 4-12 record, losing more than 10 games for the third straight season.

According to both ESPN’s Adam Schefter and The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Vincent Bonsignore, the Las Vegas Raiders could be interested in signing Jones.

Schefter told 97.5 The Fanatic that Jones could earn $18 million a year with $60 million in free agency.

Miami Dolphins cornerback Xavien Howard is the NFL’s highest-paid player at his position with an average annual salary of $15 million. New York Jets cornerback Trumaine Johnson is second at $14.5 million per season.

Jones has played all but one game since Dallas made him a first-round pick in the 2015 draft. The 27-year-old was a 2018 Second-Team All-Pro selection in his first season after making the transition from safety to cornerback.