Jourdan Lewis #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars left the Dallas Cowboys last year.
Getty
Jourdan Lewis #2 of the Jacksonville Jaguars left the Dallas Cowboys last year.
It’s always interesting to get a view on how Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones sees things with his team and its roster construction, and one of the standout factors from last offseason was the way the team let defensive players bolt to other teams. Micah Parsons is the obvious one, going to Green Bay in a trade. DeMarcus Lawrence has also been prominent, as he just won a Super Bowl with the Seahawks.
But when Jones looks back on what went wrong in terms of picking players for last year’s defense, those are not the guys that seem to get Jones’ attention. No, his focus for months now has been on one player in particular: Jourdan Lewis, the nickel corner who signed with the Jaguars on a three-year, $30 million deal last March.
The Cowboys did not make a serious play on keeping Lewis, who had been coming off a very good year and went on to bolster the back end for a defense that was Top 10 in the league and, according to Pro Football Focus, Top 4 in pass coverage.
Jerry Jones Regrets Losing Jourdan Lewis
Speaking from the NFL combine this week in Indianapolis, Jones told Cowboys beat reporters that losing Lewis was a tough blow that taught him a lesson. Jones has vowed to be more aggressive in free agency this season, and already, we’ve seen the Cowboys move to sign running back Javonte Williams to a new deal.
“Our nickel, we let our nickel get out of here last year. We have a little more appreciation for where we are at nickel—or aren’t at nickel,” Jones said. “He wouldn’t get out this year. That’s how you learn right there.
“The bottom line is, we have the benefit of that, so let’s look at it. Those combination of things in my mind, put us where we are. Obviously, I can say no to anything. … I have a lot of input on what we do. Last year, if I had it to do over again, then we would probably, looking at the tea leaves, then we probably would have done some things in free agency.”
Cowboys Still Need a Slot Corner
That means keeping Lewis, who still needs to be replaced on the Cowboys roster. Obviously, that ship has sailed, but the Cowboys will have some options to fill that role. There has long been speculation that DaRon Bland would wind up in the slot, which would be surprising given that the Cowboys paid him (four years, $90 million) outside corner money.
But last year was a disaster in the defensive backfield for the Cowboys, as the Kai’ir Elam signing was a bust, rookie Shavon Revel did not get on the field until Week 10 as he recovered from knee surgery (and struggled badly when he did) and Trevon Diggs was never healthy.
Bland wasn’t healthy either, of course. The net effect was that the Cowboys only played Bland primarily in the slot in two of the 11 games he played, as he occupied a wide corner spot for most of his 2025 snaps.
Now, there are limited options in free agency when it comes to slot corners, though the Cowboys could fill the hole in the NFL draft.