Slater: Cowboys have had ‘initial conversations’ with LB Bobby Wagner
It will no doubt be a busy back-to-work Monday for the Cowboys front office. In addition to possibly negotiating with a few of their own before free agency kicks off on Wednesday, the club will likely be burning up the phone lines and taking advantage of the two-day negotiating window with impending free agents.
Word comes from one of the team’s most reliable insiders that Dallas has reached out to an eight-time Pro Bowler who just happens to have strong connections to a Cowboys coordinator and plays a position at which the team has a legitimate need.
The Cowboys have had “initial conversations” with linebacker Bobby Wagner, according to Jane Slater of NFL Network.
Wagner signed a five-year deal with the Los Angeles Rams last March, but was released in a mutual decision just a couple weeks ago.
Wagner played in Seattle for ten years prior to that, winning a Super Bowl under then-Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn for the 2013 season.
I can confirm #Cowboys have had what is described as “initial conversations” with LB Bobby Wagner but this is once again a “does the money and value make sense” situation for both parties per a source informed
— Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) March 13, 2023
The Cowboys were reportedly interested in reuniting Wagner and Quinn in 2022; Dallas was said to have made contact with the veteran last March but quickly dropped out of the running due to the financials.
Wagner went on to sign with Los Angeles, where he started every game, logged a career-best six sacks, was on the field for a team-best 99% of all defensive snaps, and received his ninth All-Pro nod… all at the age of 32.
But the cap-heavy Rams came to a decision, along with Wagner, to let the former second-round draft pick go, saving the club some money and allowing the veteran to have a say in where he plays next.
A news report late last week stated that Wagner was receiving interest from “several teams,” including the Cowboys, Chargers, and Seahawks.
Seattle general manager John Schneider told a local radio station that he and head coach Pete Carroll had had “a great, awesome, frank conversation” with Wagner about his potential return to the Pacific Northwest.
As for the Cowboys’ possible interest this time around, Slater says that “this is once again a ‘does the money and value make sense’ situation for both parties,” citing a source.
Current Dallas linebacker Leighton Vander Esch is set to hit free agency on Wednesday, and while it’s thought that the Cowboys would like to keep him in-house, it’s also not known what kind of interest he would garner if he were to reach the open market or what the Cowboys would have to offer in order to retain him.
