Orlando Scandrick was the Cowboys defense, which was the issue

When the Dallas Cowboys selected Orlando Scandrick in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL Draft, then-SMU coach June Jones told then-Cowboys coach Wade Phillips that he got the steal of the class.

June was familiar with Scandrick from his days at Boise State. Turns out, June was right: Scandrick was a good player. For a fifth rounder, he was a great player.

That was the problem.

Over the weekend, the Cowboys finally got rid of Scandrick when they told him he will be a post-June 1 release. He posted this sincere farewell on his Instagram page.

The Cowboys tried to deal Scandrick this time a year ago and found no takers. Scandrick, 31, agreed to a two-year, $10 million deal with the Washington Redskins on Tuesday.

Few players embodied the Cowboys' defense over the last decade more than Scandrick: He was a good, hard-working pro and a decent player who did not realize he wasn't as good as he thought.

Scandrick strutted like he was Darren Woodson when he didn't realize he was Orlando Scandrick.

Scandrick lives and plays with an edge and attitude, which is one of the reasons he lasted 10 years in the NFL. He never did get over the fact he was selected in the fifth round of the 2008 NFL draft. He always felt the coaches at Boise State hurt his draft stock.

They may have. There is a good chance those coaches told NFL teams that Scandrick was a wee bit of an attitude, which he is. That he was moody, which he is. That he was a grouch, which he is.

Provided he's not your best defensive back, he's also worth the attitude. He may be able to squeeze out another year or two.

The problem, for the Cowboys, is that over the last decade is Scandrick was this team's second-best defensive player behind Sean Lee.

Scandrick played in 125 games for the Cowboys, intercepted eight passes and came up with 11.5 sacks. He was physical. He was a good tackler. He did not have the best hands. He was an effective blitzer.

He played hard. He cared. He wanted it.

He beat out, and outlasted, so many draft picks over the years, including Mike Jenkins, DeAngelo Smith, Michael Hamlin, Mike Mickens, Josh Thomas, Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, J.J. Wilcox, B.W. Webb, Ahmad Dixon and on and on.

Doing this says as much about Scandrick as it does about the Cowboys.

In Orlando Scandrick, the Cowboys stole a major player for a fifth round pick who was an effective player for nearly a decade.

He just should not have been their best, or second-best, defensive player, which was the problem.

This story was originally published March 19, 2018 at 12:59 PM with the headline "Orlando Scandrick was the Cowboys defense, which was the issue."