Cowboys 'Have The Pieces To Win,' Says New DT Gerald McCoy

His 'America's Team' Dallas Cowboys 'Have The Pieces To Win,' Says New DT Gerald McCoy

FRISCO - If you are a Dallas Cowboys fan who thought "the sky was falling'' in those first hours of NFL Free Agency - after all, four starters from the 2019 defense are gone - you found yourself lifted in the Cowboys' three-year, $18.4million "get'' of six-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Gerald McCoy.

And McCoy himself shares your "lift.''

More McCoy to me this am: "I've always been a big fan of coach McCarthy. Had an opportunity to play for him at the Pro Bowl. Told him then how much of a big fan I was of him. My dad is a big fan of McCarthy. Got a lot of family in Dallas. It's going to fun 2b on America's team."

— JosinaAnderson (@JosinaAnderson) March 18, 2020

“I truly believe we’re going to have a great season,” McCoy said to ESPN's Josina Anderson. “We have all the pieces to win.”

The truth is, Dallas has been stripped of some pieces, most notably cornerback Byron Jones and defensive end Robert Quinn. But the 10-year veteran McCoy, at 32, provides a new anchor for a group that on paper still has talent in the form of defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence and more ... and of course, free agency isn't over and the NFL Draft is a month away.

McCoy has 59.5 sacks and 86 tackles for loss in his career, including five sacks, seven tackles for loss and 13 quarterback hits last season when the long-time Tampa Bay star spent a season in Carolina. McCoy remains one of the NFL's best at QB hurries from the interior and he's an ironman, as he has just missed eight games in the past eight seasons combined.

His motivation for coming to Dallas on a deal that pays him a base salary of just $6.1 million APY? (The same single-season salary, ironically, that the Las Vegas Raiders paid Maliek Collins to lure him from the 3-Tech spot that now belongs to McCoy?) McCoy grew up in Oklahoma and his son has just signed on to play for the University of Oklahoma Sooners, as Dad did before him.

And he views Dallas as "home.''

"I've always been a big fan of coach (Mike) McCarthy,'' McCoy said, mentioning another substantial Big D change. "I had an opportunity to play for him at the Pro Bowl (in the past and) told him then how much of a big fan I was of him. My dad is a big fan of McCarthy. 

"I've got a lot of family in Dallas. It's going to fun to be on 'America's Team.'''