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There was a high level of concern among Dallas Cowboys fans over who they would draft this April to help them at the cornerback position, as both injury and free agency left them a bit light at that spot for the 2015 season. And while they did address this need early on by taking Byron Jones out of UConn in the first round, the team already knew that they had a star at that position in the dependable but not flashy Orlando Scandrick.
Sure, the underperforming Brandon Carr had the higher salary of the two, but anyone who had followed the team closely for the past few years knew that Scandrick was the Cowboys’ best cornerback by far. He didn’t do himself any favors by testing positive for MDMA or Molly last year, but he was able to shake that off and perform at the high level that his coaches and teammates have become accustomed to.
It’s hard to believe that the 5-foot-10 corner is entering his ninth season in the league. While he has never put up big numbers as far as interceptions are concerned, he does have the ability to play every cornerback role on the field. When Carr was struggling early on last year, it was Scandrick who called upon to shut down the opposing team’s top receiver. And when the Cowboys needed to apply pressure with a blitz, it was Scandrick who was coming in from the secondary to create havoc in the backfield.
In a pass-happy league you need players in the secondary who can play multiple roles, and Scandrick can do that by moving over to the slot corner if there happens to be a mismatch in the slot receiver position.
Sure taking a pay cut last year was his decision, but it was done to help the team improve and actually become competitive again. And now that they are, it was time to reward him for his sacrifice and pay the best player the team has in the secondary accordingly. And that’s exactly what Jerry Jones and the Cowboys did.
Kelly Anderson is a blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @bgipp01 or add him to your network on Google.
