Dallas Cowboys vs. Eagles in Shaq Leonard 'Bidding War'? Free Agency Truth from The Star
FRISCO - We appreciate the frankness of Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones regarding the chase for free agent linebacker Shaquille Leonard, who visited the team earlier this week and then as scheduled did the same with the Philadelphia.
What is going to be the outcome here?
"I don't know," Jones said late Thursday after Dallas registered its 41-35 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. "They said they're going to get back with us this weekend, probably after Philadelphia plays (on Sunday against the 49ers), is my guess.''
That is simply the truth. No guessing. No fibbing. No manufacturing of hype. And that's why we've phrased this a "tug-of-war.''
The 28-year-old run-stopping linebacker, who once upon a time - before injuries chipped away at him - was a Pro Bowl performer - will simply choose the destination he feels is most attractive to him.
If Dallas gets him, good for Dallas. If Dallas' rival the Eagles get him, it should be a shrug of the shoulders for Dallas.
But just as we are offering calm reality and just as not even Jones is spewing hyperbole, somebody's got to stir it up.
Enter ESPN, which is using the phrase "bidding war'' to characterize what is going on behind the scenes. And in the strictest sense of that phrase, ESPN is wrong.
The Cowboys are absolutely not going to break the bank for this player; that we know from intel collected from here inside The Star.
Meanwhile, the Eagles' work in trying to assemble a linebackers corps, which has been a struggle for Philly this year, largely due to injury, has not been about being big spenders; we are told that in general, GM Howie Roseman views the position group as a place where in terms of the salary cap there can be some "give.''
In short, if Shaq Leonard is waiting until this weekend because he believes he's going to follow up his last contract of $98 million with the team that just cut him with another monster salary? He is about to be in for a long wait.
Let's call this our "educated guess'': Leonard is examining the Eagles at 10-1 vs. the Cowboys at 9-3 to assess which team gives him the best chance at a Super Bowl ring, as well as which team will give him snaps, something that was shriveling up in Indy.
“That’s when I kind of knew, and it sucked hearing that,” Leonard said earlier in November, before he was cut. “You’re already not playing on third (down); you’re taking (away) the reps on second down, too? So it’s very heartbreaking to get that, but it is what it is.”
And now "what it is'' for Dallas, Philly and Shaq? Not a financial "bidding war.'' Just a recruiting "tug-of-war.''
