NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants, James Bradberry

Cowboys

• The Athletic’s Jon Machota writes Cowboys first-round OL Tyler Smith is viewed as the left tackle of the future but will compete with Connor McGovern to start at left guard as a rookie. 
• Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News reports that the Cowboys had a strong interest in Florida A&M S Markquese Bell and amid competition signed him to a $200,000 guaranteed deal that includes a $15,000 signing bonus.
• Cowboys UDFA C James Empey‘s deal includes $110,000 total guaranteed with $100,00 of his base salary guaranteed and a $10,000 signing bonus. (Aaron Wilson)

Eagles

New Eagles LB Nakobe Dean slid down the draft board due to reports of pectoral and knee injuries, yet Dean says the injuries are minor and that he will be a full participant at the Eagles’ rookie minicamp.

“I’m healthy,” Dean said, via Pro Football Talk. “I’m ready to go. I know the minicamp is next week and I expect to be a full participant for that. Why I dropped? It’s not in my control. Nothing I can do. Nothing I could do to make them pick me earlier. I’m grateful and blessed that I have this opportunity. Things that were not true cost me a lot of money. That was the thing that was so surprising and mind-boggling. It was never, I went to doctors, got second opinions and everything, and nobody — nobody — said I should have surgery. Nobody had told me I had to have surgery. So, for that to come up and for teams to be saying that and waiting until the day of the draft to say something like that, that was kind of crazy to me. I feel like I got picked by a great organization. I’m just ready to work.”

• Eagles GM Howie Roseman concurred with Dean, saying that the team did medical evaluations on the rookie linebacker and that he currently has no surgeries scheduled: “People had concerns, but Nakobe Dean is going to be on the field for rookie minicamp.” (James Palmer)
• Eagles WR A.J. Brown said QB Jalen Hurts “put a bug” in Philadelphia’s ear about trying to trade for him. (Eliot Shorr-Parks)
• Brown doesn’t have any ill-will towards Tennessee: “I’m just sorry it couldn’t work out. It’s a business. Things happen. No bad blood w/the Titans appreciate what they did for me. They drafted me.” (Turron Davenport)
• Brown did not specify whether or not he requested a trade but said he wanted to look towards the future instead of backward. (Davenport)

Giants

Giants GM Joe Schoen said during a press conference that the team is still trying to figure things out when it comes to CB James Bradberry.

“We are going to work on that,” Schoen said, via Pro Football Talk. “We have had some conversations. I’ve talked to his representative. We’ll see where that goes. I don’t have a definitive answer on that right now, but we are working towards some contingency plans. . . . I’m not going to put a timeline on it as we are working through this. So I don’t know how long it will take, but we are working through some things.”

• The Athletic’s Dan Duggan looks at Schoen’s options with Bradberry, who has been pretty openly available via trade with no takers for his salary. 
• To avoid releasing Bradberry outright, Duggan says the Giants could restructure his deal for cap savings which the team needs to sign its draft class. However, that would push dead money into the future which Schoen has been reluctant to do. 
• Duggan notes the Giants could restructure other deals for players like DL Leonard Williams or WR Kenny Golladay. Both are bigger pieces of the team than Bradberry but Duggan still thinks Schoen would prefer to have flexibility in the future. 
• If the Giants were going to extend Bradberry to lower his cap hit, Duggan says they would have done it by now. That just leaves a release, which Duggan expects before camp.
• Clemson LS Jack Maddox was invited to the Giants’ rookie minicamp (Aaron Wilson)