Cowboys 'Proposal': Sign Free Agent LB Anthony Barr?

Should the Cowboys add a four-time Pro Bowler to their defense?

Despite selecting a pair of linebackers in the 2022 NFL Draft in Damone Clark and Devin Harper, the Dallas Cowboys arguably still have a need at the position.

Do-everything defender Micah Parsons is a bonafide star, and 2018 first-round linebacker Leighton Vander-Esch has shown what he can do at his peak, with a second-team All-Pro under his belt.

However, with the position holding uncertainty behind Parsons, it's an area the team may look to improve on before the start of the season. Scanning the free agent pool, four-time Pro Bowler Anthony Barr might just be the right man at the right time.

Signing the 30-year-old Barr, who's been linked to the Cowboys throughout the offseason, has been named the one free agent acquisition the Cowboys should make prior to the start of training camp by Pro Football Focus.

Cowboys fans have been pushing for their team to sign Barr. Dallas’ need at linebacker is dependent upon how Micah Parsons splits his time between linebacker and the edge. - PFF's Doug Kyed

Given the fact that the Cowboys recently flirted with the idea of signing multiple-time Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner before he landed with the Rams, there is an acknowledgement of a need. Barr has been a star-caliber player for the Minnesota Vikings defense, and he's now 30 ... with a connection to the Dallas coaching staff ... and still unsigned.

Can there be a fit?

First off, of course - as always - is the money. Barr played at $10 million last year. Is that too much? Or, if you are a Super Bowl hopeful with a need and $22 million of cap room - and an owner in Jerry Jones who recently told CowboysSI.com that he's still willing to be a "reckless'' spender - is it just right.

There is the question of where he plays. Parsons is best-used as a chess piece; if there was another linebacker available, it would free him to be more of a pass-rusher.

Except ... that's actually what Barr, the former UCLA star who was taken as the ninth overall pick in the 2014 NFL Draft, is. In fact, as we recall, the Cowboys - who liked Barr in that draft - sort of thought of him as a pass rusher.

That's not a bad thing; in Barr's rookie season, he had 70 total tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles and a touchdown. And then in four consecutive seasons from 2015 through 2018, Barr made the Pro Bowl. (He did so, by the way, under the supervision of Minnesota defensive coordinator George Edwards, now a Dallas assistant.)

Inside The Star, sources have long acknowledged to CowboysSI.com interest in Barr while thinking that Barr qualifies as a Micah helper, or even as "Micah Lite.'' Weak-side linebacker. Rush the passer. Drop into coverage. Veteran presence. So yes, the Cowboys are aware.

And now along comes a "mailbag'' from DallasCowboys.com in which not one, but two writers, use the term "still on the table'' to describe the team's thinking on Barr.

He has been plagued by injuries as of late; that's why Barr got only a one-year deal last spring. It's likely why he's still on the shelf now. Still, the longer he stays on that shelf, the more viable an idea this becomes.

Dallas, for all the cap-related criticism it gets, is actually quite successful when it comes to cheap, short-term signings of vets trying to rehab their career. The Cowboys defense today features a host of those guys: Jayron Kearse, Malik Hooker, Vander Esch, Carlos Watkins, Dante Fowler ...

And you know what? We say this: As much as COO Stephen Jones wants a balanced roster and a balanced cap, with today's money earmarked for future in-house signings, part of the purpose of saving money on those guys - and on La'el Collins - should be to sign guys like Anthony Barr.

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