Staff Writer Kevin Brady tried to warn you Thursday morning that free agency won’t be an exciting time for the Dallas Cowboys – but not to get disappointed. With that said, its hard to watch key players from a 13-3 Cowboys team sign elsewhere, and that is exactly what’s happened with left guard Ronald Leary who is on his way to the Denver Broncos.
Broncos to sign G Ronald Leary to a four-year deal worth $35m with $20m gtd, source says. Big money for a guy once lost in the shuffle.
— Mike Garafolo (@MikeGarafolo) March 9, 2017
Leary wasn’t expected to be retained by Dallas as they have La’el Collins ready to regain the starting LG position, and they also added former first round pick Jonathan Cooper late in the season for depth at guard.
Ronald Leary finds a deserving four-year deal in Denver, after stepping up admirably and starting for the Cowboys in 2016 following a summer of bad blood between him and the team. The Broncos are in desperate need of offensive line help, and by adding a member of the Space Cowboys, will they attract a new quarterback to run their offense?
The “Tony Romo following Ronald Leary to his new team” story line has been a well discussed one, and it was a topic brought up on our latest episode of The Star Podcast.
For now, the Denver Broncos are getting a solid new starter at left guard, as the Cowboys move through free agency expecting to see even more members of last season’s team trade in the star for a new logo.
Do compensatory picks interest anyone?
Glad to see him get paid.
Well deserving for sure, and we net another draft pick. With no starting spot left open in his absence.
He deserved a good deal. He earned it. However, I think Dallas would have been better off trading Collins, and resigning the better guard…a win-win.
“He was waived on August 30, 2012 and signed to the team’s practice squad”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronald_Leary
So at one time, Denver had a shot at him for peanuts… ;^)
$9 million per / not bad for a walk on. Nate Newton went undrafted also, although after getting cut by the Redskins he played 2 years in the defunct USFL, before the Cowboys signed him.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nate_Newton
Given how cap-poor the Cowboys are and how many players are getting poached, they are going to need another strike or two like that for this offseason and camp.
They obviously did not want to mess with dumping Free’s salary and paying to keep Leary, then moving Collins to right OT. Or there may have been no way to pay for it.
I think that was the best chance for overall OL improvement, and it may have allowed Collins to stay heathier with less banging than goes on inside. It’s not yet known if Collins is durable at G.