Dallas Cowboys BREAKING: Shaq Leonard Leaves The Star To Visit Philadelphia Eagles; Signing This Weekend?

Dallas Cowboys BREAKING: Free Agent Linebacker Shaq Leonard Leaves The Star After Jerry Jones Lunch To Visit Philadelphia Eagles; Signing This Weekend?

FRISCO - Dallas Cowboys free agent target Shaq Leonard was here at The Star on Tuesday for a recruiting visit that included lunch with team owner Jerry Jones. And while the visit reportedly "went well,'' the deal has not been sealed, as the coveted three-time Pro Bowl linebacker is now headed for a similar visit with Dallas' top rival, the Philadelphia Eagles.

"(The Eagles) interest doesn't surprise me at all,'' Jones said on Tuesday morning on 105.3 The Fan. "But we've got an attractive situation here. Not only with the way we are playing, but just the aura of the Dallas Cowboys."

That "aura'' was on display on Tuesday, but as Jordan Schultz of The Score was first to report, it did not result in a "don't let him leave the building'' signing, as Leonard is now Philly-bound.

Schultz also suggests that a decision from Leonard, 28, who was curiously cut by the Indianapolis Colts last week, could come this weekend.

The linebacker was an All-Pro his first three seasons and was seemingly still a productive player on a 6-5 team chasing a playoff spot.

The Cowboys - coming off a Thanksgiving blowout of the Washington Commanders that improved them to 8-3 - could use depth at run-stuffing linebacker in the wake of the season-ending injury to veteran linebacker Leighton Vander Esch. Cowboys Malik Hooker and Stephon Gilmore both played with Leonard in Indy.

Shaq Leonard Arrives for Dallas Cowboys Visit, But Free Agent Schedules Philadelphia Eagles, Too

"With a player like Shaq, you don't have any questions about his contributions away from field," Jones said. "He's been a big positive on a team and has great respect and experience. That's a given. And with as long and as well as he's played, it's not a hard scouting job at all."

The "scouting job'' may be over. But the "sales job''? It might now just start heating up.