Could Cowboys Lose Free-Agent LB Sean Lee To the Giants?

FRISCO - In our recent one-on-one interview with Sean Lee, he expressed his "love'' for the Dallas Cowboys and his desire to re-sign here. But the free-agent linebacker also told us he would be "exploring options.''

And it seems the New York Giants might represent one of those options.

Lee is open to playing for the Giants, reports Matt Lombardo of NJ Advance Media, who writes, "An individual familiar with Sean Lee’s thinking (says) ... that the 33-year-old would welcome the opportunity to sign with the Giants this offseason if he is not re-signed by the Dallas Cowboys.

“Who wouldn’t want to play at least one season in New York?” the person said.''

What did Lee tell us on Feb. 7?

"I'm still deciding,'' Lee said. "I'm waiting to kind of explore what some of my options are.''

The attraction to playing in New York, or any other city or with any other franchise, is in the eye of the beholder. In the eyes of Lee - a Philadelphia-area who played at Penn State - there may be some attraction to the East Coast. But it's just as viable to point out that the Lees have a family home in Southern California, too. And there are "attractive'' football destinations on the West Coast as well.

The Giants may be in the market for linebackers in free agency and the NFL Draft. But despite the Dallas presence of Jaylon Smith and Leighton Vander Esch, the Cowboys are involved in the same sort of search.

The point Lee made to us is the same point the Giants-related source is making: The assumption that he'll automatically return to the Cowboy is premature.

"I love it in Dallas and I love the Cowboys,'' said Lee, who in 2019 played in all 16 games for the first time in his 10-year career and wound finishing the season with 86 tackles, a sack and an interception. "I hope it works out, for sure.''