Dallas Cowboys addressing concern, adding veteran wide receiver

The Dallas Cowboys are adding former Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver James Washington Jr. this offseason. After watching multiple players leave the franchise this offseason, the Cowboys have finally added a new piece of their own through free agency.

According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter Washington is joining the Cowboys on a one-year deal.

“ Former Steelers’ WR James Washington is going back to his home state of Texas and signing a one-year deal with the Dallas Cowboys, per his agents @DrewJRosenhaus and @RyanMatha,” wrote Schefter via Twitter.

Washington is a second-round pick of the Steelers from the 2018 NFL draft out of Oklahoma State. In Pittsburgh, he was a part of a stable of top-end talent young wide receivers, which included Juju Smith-Schuster and Chase Claypool. And now he heads to Dallas to help fill the void from the departures of Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson.

Dallas bringing back linebacker

The Dallas Cowboys have brought back one of their own. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Cowboys have agreed to a new contract with linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who explored the open market once NFL free agency opened this week.

“Source: The #Cowboys have agreed to terms on a 1-year deal with LB Leighton Vander Esch,” Rapoport tweeted. “Their former first round pick is back.”

Vander Esch played college football at Boise State, where he totaled 188 tackles across his three-year collegiate career. In his final year in 2017, Vander Esch played in 14 games, where he racked up 141 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, four sacks, two interceptions, four forced fumbles, and five passes defended. The Cowboys selected Vander Esch in the first round with the 19th overall pick of the 2018 NFL Draft.

As a rookie in 2018, Vander Esch burst onto the scene. In 2018, he totaled 140 tackles with two tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, and two interceptions along with seven passes defended. He was named a second team All-Pro and a Pro Bowler as a rookie. The next two years were plagued by injuries for Vander Esch, as he played in 19 games over the 2019 and 2020 seasons.

During the 2019 season, he totaled 72 tackles with one tackle for loss and one quarterback hit. In 2020, Vander Esch had 60 tackles with one tackle for loss and a quarterback hit. This past season, Vander Esch played in all 17 regular season games with the Cowboys, totaling 77 tackles, four tackles for loss, one quarterback hit, and an interception. He also had 13 tackles in the Cowboys playoff game this past year.