Cowboys Open To Re-Signing DE/OLB Anthony Spencer

Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones mentioned earlier in the week that they are open to re-signing impeding free agent DE/OLB Anthony Spencer this offseason.

“Anthony has been an unbelievable player for us,” Jones said, per Calvin Watkins of ESPN, “Very unfortunate what happened to him last year but very productive. Obviously a guy we think a lot of. We franchised him last year, of course, injuries happen in our game. But he’s the type of player you want on your team. We got our fingers crossed and I know he does too on that his injury comes along in the proper way.”

Spencer, 30, ended up injuring his knee this and needed to undergo microfacture surgery.  Because of this, Spencer is likely need to sign a one-year deal that includes performance incentives.

As things stand right now, the Cowboys are projected to be over the 2014 salary cap by a staggering $21 million or so. Even if they are able to free up some additional cap space by either releasing or asking players like DE DeMarcus Ware, ILB Sean Lee, TE Jason Witten and CB Brandon Carr to restructure their contracts it seems unlikely that would be a position to hand out a market value contract to a defensive end.

Clearly, the Cowboys are hoping that Spencer lowers his asking based on his injury and the fact that he’s spent several years in Dallas. Jones ruled out the franchise tag as an option on Wednesday.

In 2012, Spencer graded out as the No. 1 outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense in 2012, according to Pro Football Focus.

We currently have Spencer listed as the No. 38 free agent in our Top 50 Free Agents List.