Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch 'Signed with Wrong Team'? Inside Story

National-media nonsense: "Vander Esch would have been better off playing on a one-year 'prove-it' deal elsewhere.''

FRISCO - A national media assertion that linebacker Leighton Vander Esch "signed with the wrong team'' this offseason by re-upping with the Dallas Cowboys demonstrates once again - with all due respect - the difference in "30,000-feet'' analysis of a team and "boots-on-the-ground analysis.''

According to Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine, Vander Esch signed with the “wrong” team this offseason. Why?

"Given his up-and-down career to this point, Vander Esch was likely going to have to sign a one-year "prove-it" deal regardless,'' Ballentine writes. "He just should have looked to "prove it" somewhere he could have a bigger role instead of staying in Dallas.

That's a helluva concept. Certainly everybody in the camp of the 26-year-old former Pro Bowler was rooting for a deal that would give him more pay and more play.

So .. why didn't Vander Esch do what Bleacher Report is suggesting and simply sign a better deal than the team-friendly one-year contract he signed to remain in Dallas?

Um ... is that really so hard to figure out?

CowboysSI.com broke the story of Vander Esch's signing, complete with an interview with Vander Esch himself.

"I'm excited to get back and play for DQ,'' Vander Esch said, citing Dallas defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. "I've jumped right back into training, so heading into training camp, I feel like this will be the strongest I have ever been.''

What we reported at the time: The Patriots and the Steelers were both interested in Vander Esch. And, sources told us, Pittsburgh was closing in on a proposal that would've paid Leighton far more than he ended up getting in Dallas ... until the Steelers realized they could get former Jacksonville Jaguars linebacker Myles Jack, and did so ...

With a two-year, $16 million deal that might very well have been on the table for Vander Esch.

But Bleacher Report does not know that. So it is left to speculate about "good decisions'' and "bad decisions'' without actually knowing what "decisions'' were available.

Vander Esch raved to us about remaining a part of coordinator Quinn’s system, and he comes back knowing that his chance to be Micah Parsons' running buddy at linebacker could be impeded by the growth of Jabril Cox.

Said Cowboys COO Stephen Jones of Cox, a 2021 fourth-round pick: "He is coming along great. Should be a big plus for us this year. Will fill right in where Keanu (Neal) left off. I think he has great coverage skills. ... We think a lot of him.''

Meanwhile ...

"Micah is obviously a special player,'' Vander Esch told us. "I think the reason my last six games were my best is in part because the more the two of us are together on the field, the more we can both make plays.''

Vander Esch - while conceding nothing to Cox - knows the score. He also knows that his career growth - and his free-agency value - is impacted by injuries. These are the realities of his fifth-year existence in the NFL. And bloggers can in no way have a better grasp of all of this than Vander Esch, his representation, and the Cowboys themselves do.

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