The Dallas Cowboys have been busy, shoring up their roster with returning free agents. They agreed to terms with Bryan Anger on Tuesday, bringing their total bring-back haul to 10 of their 23 free agents with three lost. Two of those 10 players were linebacker Leighton Vander Esch and defensive end Dorance Armstrong, two career-long Cowboys out of the 2018 draft class.
Now, the details of those deals have been established. Vander Esch’s deal is for one year, $2 million, with up to $1 million in playing time incentives. Meanwhile Armstrong’s two-year, $13 million pact includes a void year to help defer some of the cap hit.
In the first half of the 2021 season, Vander Esch’s was up in the air. As his play had regressed, a fate similar to what Jaylon Smith met in the first third of the season wasn’t out of the question. When Jabril Cox went down with a torn ACL, Vander Esch was thrust into extra playing time and improved towards the tail end of the year.
This is a prove-it deal…