Looking at the Dallas Cowboys’ Free Agents

By Matthew Postins

It’s unclear how the Dallas Cowboys will approach this offseason. But they have plenty of question marks on their roster when it comes to free agency.

The Cowboys currently have 19 players that could become free agents at 3 p.m. CST on March 12.

Not all of them will reach free agency. But there is a process the Cowboys must go through, like all NFL teams, before those players reach the market.

The Cowboys can negotiate with their unrestricted free agents from March 9-11. They must also exercise any 2013 contract options, submit qualifying offers to restricted free agents and submit minimum salary offers to secure exclusive negotiating rights with players that have fewer than three years of NFL experience. The Cowboys must also be under the salary cap by that time, but that’s for another story.

Today the focus is on those players that could hit the open market on March 12. Research at several sources allowed us to compile this list of Cowboys free agents below. We’ll discuss who is likely to stay and who is likely to go as we get closer to March 12.

Pos          Player                                                 FA Status     

RB            Felix Jones                                      UFA

WR          Kevin Ogletree                             UFA

TE             John Phillips                                  UFA

P               Brian Moorman                           UFA

OG           Derrick Dockery                          UFA

DL            Kenyon Coleman                        UFA

DL            L.P. Ladouceur                             UFA

DL            Brian Schaefering                      UFA

LB             Victor Butler                                  UFA

LB             Brady Poppinga                           UFA

LB             Ernie Sims                                       UFA

LB             Anthony Spencer                        UFA

CB            Mike Jenkins                                 UFA

SS             Charlie Peprah                            UFA

FS             Eric Frampton                               UFA

C               Phil Costa                                        RFA

SS             Danny McCray                              RFA

CB            Sterling Moore                             RFA

LB             Orie Lemon                                    ERFA

UFA – Unrestricted free agent.

RFA – Restricted free agent. A player with three NFL seasons who has received a qualifying offer from his team. RFA’s can still negotiate with any team in the NFL, but if they receive a contract offer the player’s current team has seven days to match the offer. If they don’t, the player is allowed to join the new team. The player’s old team may receive draft-pick compensation, depending on the player.

ERFA – Exclusive rights free agent. A player with less than three NFL seasons. If an ERFA receives a qualifying contract offer from his current team, he must sign it in order to play in 2013.

Sources: Spotrac.com, Rotoworld.com, The Dallas Morning News

Tags Anthony Spencer Dallas Cowboys Feature