The Dallas Cowboys free agents of 2017 included four members of their defensive secondary with Barry Church, J.J. Hardy, Morris Claiborne, and Brandon Carr. Out of those four players, the most important to resign was strong safety Barry Church, and it looks like that won't happen. 247 Sports reported that the Jacksonville Jaguars have offered Church a long-term contract that Dallas wouldn't be able to match.
Barry Church and the Dallas Cowboys
The Dallas Cowboys picked up Barry Church as an undrafted free agent in 2010 after playing college in Toledo.
The concerns with Church was his speed but he proved to be a valuable pickup and a bonafide NFL starter. He played mostly special teams in 2010 and was a substitute in 2011. In 2012, Barry finally won the starting strong safety job and held it ever since. That was the year when the undrafted free agent finally cashed in and received his a four-year contract from the Dallas Cowboys. He led the team in tackles in 2013 (135) and 2014 (97), picking up the slack after star linebacker Sean Lee fell to injury. In 2015, he ranked second to Lee with 117 but fell slightly in 2016 with only 85, ranking third on the team.
Barry Church and the Jacksonville Jaguars
There is still a chance that Barry Church could return to the Dallas Cowboys but it seems unlikely that he will turn down a lucrative long-term deal with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The one thing that will hurt Church the most is that he will go from a team that had the best record in the NFL in 2016 to a team that finished with the worst record in the AFC South and has ranked at the bottom of the division for a very long time now. The Jaguars had a hole at the strong safety position and Barry is an immediate upgrade over Johnathan Cyprien.
The Jaguars have the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft and signing Church will allow them to look at a more valuable position with that pick now. Jacksonville will still struggle in 2017 though, and this is a downgrade for Barry Church at this point in his career.
