Is getting Dolphins DE Robert Quinn the key to Cowboys, Jerry Jones’ win-now mode?
Officially, Jerry Jones can’t talk about Dolphins defensive end Robert Quinn.
He received permission to visit the Cowboys as the two teams talk about a trade. But he is still the property of another team.
So there will be no talking publicly or on the record about Quinn.
But the Cowboys want Quinn, badly, according to sources.
They view him as the key off-season acquisition that puts them over the top in their win-now mode of moves since the end of the 2018 season.
It didn’t include signing a big ticket item like Earl Thomas but have relied on economic-but-strategic upgrades like tight end Jason Witten, defensive linemen Christian Covington and Kerry Hyder, receiver Randall Cobb and safety George Iloka.
Witten, Cobb and Iloka are potential starters. Covington and Hyder are rotational depth additions. All allow the Cowboys to approach the upcoming NFL Draft by taking the best player available and not having to force needs.
And Quinn would be the answer to the indefinite suspension of Randy Gregory, giving the Cowboys a proven pass rusher opposite DeMarcus Lawrence.
Now, the Cowboys still must get Lawrence re-signed. But they feel that is a matter of time.
Quinn is the key.
“Yes. I am pleased we have put ourselves in position to, whether it’s the next free agent or whether it’s who we draft. We have put ourselves in position to have total flexibility as to have taken care of the need. And we are in that spot,” Jones said from the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “We are certainly looking at, including DeMarcus, we are certainly looking at defensive line. We are still looking at defensive line. We got some option at tight end. We got some options at safety.
“When the season was over we had some options and flexibility. But as we sit here I am pleased we have made the decisions we made, gotten to sign the players we signed and it puts us right where I want to be with a lot of flexibility on our next free agent decision.”
Jones kept the theme of still looking at defensive line and the next free agent decision.
That was all about Quinn.
Not going after Thomas, who signed a four-year, $55 million contract with the Baltimore Ravens, has allowed them to focus on signing their own guys like Lawrence and possibly be in the position to add Quinn, per Jones.
Quinn is due $11.8 million in 2019. The Cowboys are hoping the Dolphins will pay a portion of the contract to facilitate a trade.
Jones likes the Cowboys chances and what the team has done.
“I don’t think that we’ve done anything that certainly hasn’t improved our chances to win now,” Jones said. “You might hear somebody say ‘Well, you haven’t done some things that would’ve improved your chances to win now.’ I take exception to that because some of the things we’ve done are going to allow us to do some things with the players we’ve got that is within that ‘win now’ time frame, the next two or three years.
“And so we’ve avoided, at this point, the big commitment. That is a win now. Because that’s going to have been necessary so we can, in most cases, keep the guys we want to keep and possibly be ready for a player. Again, I don’t want to talk about a player that’s on another team, if you see what I mean. But that has us ready to take advantage of that when we see it.”
The Cowboys are Jonesing for Quinn.
Now, you see what I mean.
This story was originally published March 26, 2019 at 11:12 AM.
