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The Cowboys lose their two starting corners to free agency in a matter of minutes.
Just minutes after it was announced that Brandon Carr is heading to Baltimore, ESPN's Adam Schefter reports that Morris Claiborne is heading to the New York Jets.
Former Cowboys' CB Morris Claiborne is expected to sign with the Jets, per league source. CB market now moving.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) March 16, 2017
Until very recently, the Ravens had been rumored to be interested in Claiborne, but apparently they balked at his demand for a $7.5 million contract, and only offered $5 million.
What the Jets are offering Claiborne is not known at this point, but it will likely be in the same general area as Carr, who signed a two-year, $12 million contract in Baltimore.
Morris Claiborne never really lived up to his draft pedigree in Dallas, which is why the Cowboys didn't re-sign him to a long-term contract when he first became a free agent in 2016. Instead, they signed him to a one-year contract worth $3 million dollars, and he entered the 2017 season as a free agent once again.
Claiborne is not a bad cornerback, far from it. When he's fully healthy, Claiborne is a confident, aggressive player who could be a starting corner on every NFL team. The problem is that he hasn't been fully healthy very often, only starting 28 of a possible 64 games over the last four years.
After an offseason at full health, Claiborne started out very strong in 2017 (PFF had him graded as the 12th-best corner last year), but he suffered a groin injury in the seventh game that kept him out for the rest of the regular season. The Jets are getting a good cornerback, but odds are they'll only get him for half a season.
The Cowboys have now lost both of their starting corners, and while they have two veterans on their roster with Orlando Scandrick and the recently acquired Nolan Carroll, along with last year's rookie sensation Anthony Brown, the team will have to continue to look for corners, be it via the draft or free agency.
Carr and Claiborne are the eighth and ninth free agents the Cowboys have let walk so far in free agency, virtually guaranteeing them four comp picks in the 2018 NFL draft.
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