‘Contract year, baby.’ Dallas Cowboys CB Chido Awuzie playing to keep his job in 2020
It goes without saying that Dallas Cowboys cornerback Chido Awuzie is playing for his future in 2020.
The former 2017 second round pick is in the last year of his contract.
He has been the primary starter at left cornerback the past two seasons and that doesn’t include 10 starts as a rookie .
Yet, his future with the Cowboys is uncertain.
The team has not made signing him a priority and there has even been talk this off-season of trying him at safety to see if he is a better fit there.
It is also no coincidence that free agent addition Daryl Worley has been placed at left cornerback, sharing reps with Awuzie and competing with him for the job.
It all speaks to a less than solid foundation for Awuzie as a starter at cornerback in 2020, let alone the future.
Awuzie initially dodged pointed questions about having to compete for his job in the final year of his contract when he talked to the media for the first time at training camp.
“My goal is to compete,” he said. “We are all a room. We are all brothers. We all have the same ideas in terms of wanting to play and push each other. This defense has always been an ‘Each 1 Teach 1’. The goal is to master your craft. When you are in competitive situations that is what you want to do.”
Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said they value versatility and want players to be effective at two things at least. Of course, no one ever tried Hall of Fame cornerback Deion Sanders at safety when he was in his prime.
Awuzie said the Cowboys have not talked to him about moving to safety. But he will do whatever is asked.
“So far I’m playing corner with the 1s and then, me, you know I’m a ballplayer,” Awuzie said. “That’s what I do. Put me out on a football field and I adjust and make plays. That’s what I want to do. That’s what I came into the league as and that’s what I still am.”
Therein lies the problem. He has not made enough plays and has given up too many plays at cornerback.
He has three career interceptions, one in each of his three years, with only 14 pass deflections on a team-high 92 targets in 2019. Per Stats Inc, he was burned 53 times and allowed a team-tying three touchdowns last season.
Awuzie knows improvement is necessary. He said he went back to the basics this off-season, working with noted defensive backs trainer Clay Mack.
“You never worry about competition,” Awuzie said. “ You’re always competing against yourself. I’m my biggest competitor with who I was, who I am, who I am going to be tomorrow. In practice, or in the off season actually, I knew what I had to work on. Obviously, make big plays like any other corner and get the ball back and making my movements a little cleaner.
“I did all of that in the off-season. That’s what the off-season is for. I got back to ground zero, back to the true essence of what I’ve been doing my whole life.”
Awuzie also knows what’s on the line.
He didn’t need the Cowboys or the presence of Worley or first-round pick Trevon Diggs, who is being targeted for a starting spot on the other side, to light a fire under him for 2020.
It’s also why he never considered taking the COVID-19 opt-out.
“Nah. Contract year, baby,” Awuzie said with authority.
