In what has to be considered one of their busiest offseasons in recent memory, the Dallas Cowboys have filled plenty of their biggest holes on both sides of the ball over the past few months.
That said, however, one need Jerry Jones & Co. haven't really addressed is replacing nickel cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who left America's Team after eight years to sign a three-year, $30 million deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars pretty much the moment free agency began back in March.
However, despite training camp being mere weeks away, the Cowboys still have an option at their disposal in this regard, one Bleacher Report's Matt Holder believes would be a phenomenal fit in Big D, that being veteran Mike Hilton, whom he called one of the most surprising players still available.
"Adding Hilton could keep DaRon Bland on the boundary while allowing the Cowboys to be patient with Trevon Diggs and rookie Shavon Revel Jr. as both recover from torn ACLs," Holder wrote.
Cowboys need to sign CB Mike Hilton before it's too late
That's a pretty spot-on assessment, and this is undoubtedly a move the Cowboys should make, especially seeing as how Hilton is extremely affordable and would assist the Dallas defense in fixing arguably its biggest problem from a season ago.
Over the course of his eight-year career with the Pittsburgh Steelers and Cincinnati Bengals, Hilton has never had the numbers to be considered a superstar but has been a consistent and reliable presence to a defensive unit.
Yes, he can be a little inconsistent at times in pass coverage but still has 13 interceptions and 56 passes defended to his name.
But he's long had a reputation for being one of the best at his position against the run. And the fact that his 91.7 run defense grade last season ranked first among all NFL cornerbacks is really all the proof you need in that regard.
Dallas was one of the worst teams against the run in 2024, allowing the fourth-most yards per game on the ground at 137.1, so the veteran would obviously help Matt Eberflus' unit in that department. Throw in the fact that Hilton has recorded 12 tackles for loss in each of the last two seasons, and the argument only gets stronger.
As Holder points out, one thing that could be scaring teams off is Hilton's age, as he turned 31 back on March 9. But the easy way to counter that is to just sign him to a one-year deal and see what happens. And it's not as if it would take all that much money, especially given where we are on the calendar.
During his four-year run with the Bengals, Hilton was averaging $6 million per season. Whether he's worth that right now is debatable, but even if the Cowboys signed him to a one-year deal for that figure, it's something they can afford, as they currently have more than $32 million in available cap space.
So, this is undoubtedly doable.
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