Cowboys sound like they'll let linebacker Hitchens walk in free agency

The Dallas Cowboys can’t sign them all.

They can’t keep them all.

And as strong as vice president Stephen Jones was about not letting free-agent defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence get away, he was equally soft in outlining the Cowboys future for free-agent linebacker Anthony Hitchens.

This what Jones said about Lawrence Thursday night, "We won't let D-Law not be a Dallas Cowboy next year. We'll get that straight right now. We'll do everything we can to try to make something work, and if we don't get it done then we'll franchise tag him. Then we'll go back to work. We'd like to not have that franchise tag hanging out there. We've got a big negotiation ahead of us. But we don't want DeMarcus Lawrence going anywhere."

However, regarding Hitchens, Jones, said, “I can’t say enough good things about him. He’s one of those guys who’s available, you can count on him. He’s the type of guy you want on your football team. Certainly, we’ve got some good football players there in Sean Lee, a great football player that I think a lot of in terms of his drive. And Jaylon Smith and what he can be for us. That’s going to be one that we certainly don’t want to get out of here, but we certainly also have to understand that this one big puzzle that we’ve got to put together.”

With 14.5 sacks during a breakout season in 2017, Lawrence is going to command top dollars in free agency and the Cowboys are seemingly willing to back up the Brinks trunk at all costs.

He will get $17.5 million franchise tag and will want a long-term contract averaging at least $17 million a season.

Lawrence is the big piece of the puzzle that Jones was alluding to. So is signing Pro Bowl guard Zack Martin to a long-term contract extension.

Hitchens is valuable. He is the team’s best linebacker, not named Sean Lee. He can play all three linebacker positions. He is also durable and can be counted on.

But as a former fourth-round pick in 2014, this is his first and arguably best chance get a legitimate payday.

For the Cowboys to keep Hitchens, he would likely have to take a team-friendly deal and shun big money elsewhere.

That is unlikely to happen, especially with former Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Ebeflus set up as the new defensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts.

The Colts have roughly $74 million in cap space available, compared to just $19 million for the Cowboys.

The Colts are moving from the 3-4 defense to Eberflus’ preferred 4-3 attack and need personnel changes to make the move successful.

Hitchens is a perfect target for Eberflus to help implement his scheme with the Colts.

The Cowboys understand this as well.

Hence, Jones’ quote about not wanting him to get out of here, but stopping short of guaranteeing he will be with the Cowboys next season as he did with Lawrence.

Jones’ mentioned Smith as answer, but they still don’t know Smith's upside.

The good news is the 2018 NFL Draft is filled with quality linebackers.

Hitchens’ impending departure will make that position a huge draft priority.

This story was originally published February 23, 2018 at 2:20 PM with the headline "Cowboys sound like they'll let linebacker Hitchens walk in free agency."