NFC East Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

• ESPN’s Todd Archer points out the Cowboys have traditionally been one of the teams that invest the most in the backup quarterback position and the addition of QB Andy Dalton on a deal with a $3 million base value should be viewed in that context. 
• CBS Sports’ Jason La Canfora writes that Cowboys QB Dak Prescott has Dallas painted into a corner from a negotiating standpoint and can wait until mid-July to see if Texans QB Deshaun Watson or Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes ink new deals. 
• Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice outlines a few reasons WR CeeDee Lamb may have slipped to the Cowboys in the first round, including a lack of overwhelming physical traits, a minor medical red flag and a reputation for liking to party. 
• Per NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero, a Cowboys source said the signing of QB Andy Dalton has “zero” to do with QB Dak Prescott‘s contract situation. Prescott still hasn’t signed his franchise tag. 
• NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport adds Dalton wanted to come back to Dallas and the Cowboys saw an opportunity to add an experienced backup quarterback. 

Eagles

• According to 94 WIP’s Eliot Shorr-Parks, the Eagles are only tied to QB Carson Wentz through the 2021 season and could even potentially get out of his deal following this year if they wanted. 
• Using numbers from Over The Cap, Shorr-Parks says Wentz’s base salary for 2021 will become locked in this year and it would cost $33 million in dead money to trade him then.
• However, because it would only decrease Philadelphia’s available cap space by about $1 million and because they’d have second-round QB Jalen Hurts already budgeted on a cheap deal, moving on from Wentz in 2021 is technically possible per Shorr-Parks. 
• Dave Spadaro of the official team website says the plan is for Eagles WR Alshon Jeffery to be a major part of the offense in 2020. He adds Eagles GM Howie Roseman has been sure to get the word out that Jeffery is being counted on as he works to rehab from a Lisfranc injury that ended his 2019 season. 
• Jimmy Kempski of the Philly Voice thinks first-round WR Jalen Reagor and WR DeSean Jackson should start for the Eagles in 2020, with 2019 second-round WR JJ Arcega-Whiteside and WR Greg Ward battling to be the third receiver. 
• Kempski thinks Eagles DE Derek Barnett could parlay a healthy and productive 2020 into a contract extension in 2021 after Philadelphia exercised his fifth-year option. 
• He adds the Eagles moves to draft two tackles, along with the fact LT Jason Peters still has not found a new team, show they’re not completely comfortable with 2019 first-round LT Andre Dillard yet. 
• Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer says the Eagles are a team worth watching to potentially bring back Peters. 

Giants

An NFL executive tells Mike Sando of The Athletic that while some of the draft experts in the media had Georgia’s Andrew Thomas as their No. 4 tackle in this year’s draft, NFL teams were much higher on him as a prospect. 

“It’s funny that Andrew Thomas was kind of seen as the fourth tackle by media, but he was our No. 1 guy and I think he was most teams’ No. 1 guy,” the exec said. “You knew what he was, left tackle in the SEC, plug-and-play Day1 starter that is solid in both run and pass game. He was pretty much spotless. I like what the Giants did there.”

• Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com takes a look at the possibility of the Giants signing former Cowboys QB Cooper Rush, who was waived on Monday.
• Rosenblatt notes that Rush has played his entire NFL career for new Giants OC Jason Garrett and could compete with Alex Tanney for the team’s No. 3 quarterback job behind Daniel Jones and Colt McCoy.