The Dallas Cowboys have had their eye on Defensive End Kony Ealy since the 2014 NFL Draft. They may finally get a chance to have him on the roster, as they are reportedly meeting with the free agent this week.
#Jets free agent DE Kony Ealy is slated to visit the #Cowboys early this week, sources say. He’s also remained in discussions with NYJ over the past few weeks.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) April 2, 2018
Back in 2014, the Cowboys traded up in the second round to take DeMarcus Lawrence with the 34th overall pick. They obviously don’t regret that decision now, after Lawrence’s breakout season last year.
At that time, Stephen Jones said that the team was targeting Kony Ealy with their original second-round pick (47th overall). He ended up falling to the bottom of the round — 60th overall — to the Carolina Panthers, but Ealy was never consistent for the Panthers.
He only had 4-5 sacks in each of his three regular seasons there. There were high hopes after a monster three-sack performance in Super Bowl 50, but his play the following year did not live up.
Ealy was traded to the New England Patriots in the 2017 off-season but was waived near the end of preseason.
Clearly, the Cowboys hadn’t forgotten him.
#Cowboys put in a claim for DE Kony Ealy. Ealy assigned to the Jets because of waiver priority, per source.
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) August 28, 2017
Kony’s one year with the Jets was far from spectacular, having just one sack in 15 games, but he was asked to transition to their 3-4 defense and joining the team in late August made that difficult. Now Ealy is a free agent and meeting with Dallas, who employ the 4-3 scheme he prefers and have needs on the DE depth chart.
Benson Mayowa was released last month and there’s no telling if guys like Charles Tapper or Randy Gregory can contribute. That leaves just DeMarcus Lawrence, Tyrone Crawford, Taco Charlton, and Datone Jones on the current roster.
The entire brain trust that liked Ealy in 2014 is still here, including Defensive Coordinator and D-Line guru Rod Marinelli. If he thought there was something to Kony then, he may still believe he can get something out of the 26 year old that other teams couldn’t.
If nothing else, Ealy would bring some experience and solid depth to the Cowboys’ reserves. Assuming the contract is minimal, it could be a nice pick up.
