Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said Thursday that free agent LB Anthony Hitchens is someone they “certainly don’t want to get out of here.”
“That’s going to be one we certainly don’t want to get out of here,” Jones said of Hitchens, via David Moore of the Dallas Morning News. “But we certainly have to understand this is one big puzzle that we have to put together.”
Jones explained that while Hitchens may not be the kind of a player that gets a lot of accolades, he’s a very reliable player and the “type of guy you want on your football team.”
“First of all, Anthony Hitchens, I can’t say enough good things about him,” Jones said. “He’s one of those guys who is available. You can count on him. He understands this game is a tough game. He put himself in harm’s way out there when a lot of players wouldn’t do it. He’s the type of guy you want on your football team.
“At the same time, we all know he’s not the ‘quote, unquote’ Pro Bowl football player. He’s not the guy who’s getting all the accolades, but he’s the type of guy you want on your football team so it does make it hard.”
It’s going to be tough for the Cowboys to pay Hitches a market-value contract, likely franchise DE Demarcus Lawrence and sign G Zack Martin to a big-money extension.
The Colts have already been tossed out as a team to watch for Hitches now that they’ve hired former Cowboys coach Matt Eberflus as their defensive coordinator and plan to revamp their defense.
Hitchens, 25, is a former fourth-round pick of the Cowboys back in 2014. He played out the final year of his four-year, $2,654,864 contract and made a base salary of $1.838 million for the 2017 season.
Hitchens will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason.
In 2017, Hitchens appeared in all 12 games for the Cowboys and recorded 84 tackles, no sacks, a forced fumble and two pass defenses. Pro Football Focus had him rated as the No. 20 linebacker out of 87 qualifying players.
We have him featured in our Top 100 – 2018 NFL Free Agents list.
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