*Editor’s note: The following article has been updated to remove players who have agreed to deals since this originally published at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday -- Gerald McCoy (Dallas), Danny Shelton (Detroit).

Based on the slew of free agent deals reported during the NFL’s legal tampering period that started Monday, the Dallas Cowboys are going to look much different in 2020. They already lost Byron Jones, Robert Quinn, Jeff Heath, Maliek Collins and Jason Witten to various teams before the official start of free agency Wednesday. Dallas did re-sign Amari Cooper and Darian Thompson, but there is still a lot of work to do.

Don’t fret, though, because there is a plethora of available free agents that can help fill the litany of holes on the Cowboys’ current depth chart. Because of this, I have compiled all of my analysis on potential targets who are still available on the open market as of this writing. Enjoy.

Adrian Phillips, S

Another year, another offseason spent advocating for the Cowboys to sign safety Adrian Phillips.

Longtime readers should remember Phillips as a name frequently brought up as a potential replacement for Jeff Heath last offseason. The Cowboys didn’t listen then, but maybe they will now with Mike Nolan running the defense instead of Kris Richard and Rod Marinelli.

Phillips is the perfect replacement who won’t break the bank. On top of that, he is also one of the best all-around special teamers in the NFL, evidenced by being named a first-team All-Pro as a special teamer in 2018.

Unfortunately for Phillips, a broken arm limited him to just seven games in 2019. But in limited action, he demonstrated the traits necessary to be a capable starter at strong safety.

Listed at 5-11, 210 pounds, Phillips excels near the box, where he does an excellent job of sniffing out runs while also providing good coverage in the short-to-intermediate zones. He’s a reliable tackler who takes good angles in pursuit and understands the value of coming to balance when filling from space.

Phillips excels in zone coverage, where he can read the route distribution before matching the receiver in his zone. In a Week 17 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, Phillips did an excellent job of preventing some deep shots by taking away some of Patrick Mahomes’ deep and intermediate throwing windows in zone coverage.

Phillips lacks the quickness and change-of-direction ability to maintain stickiness in man coverage against quicker receivers, but he has the requisite straight-line speed to turn and run with receivers on vertical routes downfield.

Phillips is a fantastic option in free agency. Not only would he be an upgrade over Heath — both on special teams and defense — but he also won’t break the bank, giving Dallas more money to fill other needs and to re-sign more of their own free agents.

Mike Pennel, NT

It would be wise if the Cowboys made nose tackle the No. 1 priority in free agency, a position stacked with starting-caliber players. Javon Hargrave (Philadelphia) and D.J. Reader (Cincinnati) were the two best players on the market but have already agreed to lucrative deals with other teams.

With that in mind, Mike Pennel is an outstanding fit for the Cowboys in free agency. He’s not projected to break the bank and would provide a considerable upgrade over Christian Covington.

That's future #Cowboys DT Mike Pennel to you! Does a great job maintaining his gap discipline while expanding laterally with the zone run. Excellent footwork and hand use lead to block destruction and a tackle at the LOS. pic.twitter.com/IaSCsRGgL0 — johnowning (@JohnOwning) January 21, 2020

Listed at 6-4, 322 pounds, Pennel eats opposing run games for breakfast, lunch and dinner. He’s a linebacker’s best friend, as his ability to anchor and occupy double-teams enable linebackers to get off their spot and pursue the ball without being immediately encumbered by blockers.

Pennel’s upper-body strength enables him to stack blocks on the line of scrimmage, putting offensive linemen on their heels upon contact. If a blocker is on his heels, it eliminates their ability to create vertical displacement.

(Try it at home -- put all of your weight on your heels and try to walk forward. Now imagine doing that with a 320-plus-pound human pushing against you.)

Moreover, Pennel’s lower-body strength enables him to strain and anchor against single blocks and double-teams at the point of attack.

The box score scouts would certainly be in their feelings over signing Pennel, as the former Chief’s stat line is rather unimpressive. In the last two seasons, he has just 51 tackles, one sack and 20 total pressures.

But that ignores that Pennel’s skill set is complementary in nature and despite his modest stat lines, his presence has a huge impact on the team’s run defense as a whole. That is easily identifiable when looking at Kansas City’s splits on defense with and without him on the field.

Without him, the Chiefs allowed 5.12 yards per carry and a 53.8% run success rate. With him on the field, the Chiefs allowed just 3.73 yards per carry and a 31.3% run success rate, according to The Quant Edge.

That kind of impact would be a welcome addition to a defense that gave up more than 100 rushing yards in 11 of 16 games.

Emmanuel Sanders, WR

Finding a slot receiver in free agency who can replace Randall Cobb’s production will be tough, but one name who’d be a perfect fit is former Bronco, 49er and SMU standout Emmanuel Sanders.

Sanders is 33, which means he’d only be a short-term solution, so the team could still draft a slot receiver in the middle rounds who will sit behind and learn from Sanders before being forced into play.

Sanders is one of the most effective slot receivers in the NFL, posting a 76.3% catch rate to go with a healthy 1.78 yards per route run.

Sanders would provide Dak Prescott with a reliable threat who can provide consistent production throughout the season. Although his athleticism has waned a tad with injuries and age, Sanders’ route-running ability has allowed his game to age like a fine wine.

He also has the ability to beat press and win outside on top of being one of the tougher covers in the slot, which gives the Cowboys flexibility to modulate their formations and personnel usage to keep defenses guessing. They could find a lot of success moving Sanders around the formation to create mismatches against the weak link in opposing secondaries.

He’s one of the few free agent receivers who can provide an immediate slot upgrade over Cobb.

Jayron Kearse, S

For the entirety of Jayron Kearse’s NFL career, George Edwards has been his defensive coordinator, so it’d make sense if the Cowboys were interested in the young and talented safety to fill their need at safety.

Kearse, much like Shaq Barrett last year, is the rare free agent who is young (26) and has good tape, but should also come pretty cheap on the open market. Kearse has been stuck behind arguably the most talented safety corps in the NFL with Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris manning the starting spots in Minnesota.

But when given the opportunity in recent years, Kearse has played well enough to prove he deserves a chance to be an every-week starter. At 6-4, 215 pounds, Kearse is a long and lean safety who does his best work in the slot and around the box.

Watching Jayron Kearse’s final drive dubbed over “Don’t Worry Be Happy” is my new morning motivation #Skol pic.twitter.com/iOsbR5S6DN — Luke Inman (@Luke_SpinmanNFL) November 19, 2019

Don’t believe me? Just take a look at how he took over the game for the Vikings’ defense in the final three minutes to secure a victory in Week 11 against the Broncos (above clip). The Broncos tried to pick on Kearse repeatedly on that final drive to win the game, but he accumulated two tackles while allowing zero receptions despite being targeted four times in the final three minutes.

Although Kearse plays safety, his presence could help replace some of what Byron Jones did for the Cowboys. Kearse isn’t going to be some lockdown cornerback on the outside, but he can help the Cowboys match up with tight ends and big slot receivers – a vital role Jones played in the past.

Kearse is young, cheap and has a ton of familiarity with a prominent member of the Dallas coaching staff – and plays at a position of need. Signing Kearse almost makes too much sense.

Vonn Bell, S

Safety is a need for the Cowboys, and there are a number of capable free agents who could fill it.

We’ve discussed why Jayron Kearse and Adrian Phillips would be outstanding fits (with Kearse being my personal favorite), and there’s another safety who would be a great fit for the Cowboys in free agency: the Saints’ Vonn Bell.

His skill set would also be an upgrade over Heath. Plus, Bell has a connection with Nolan, the Cowboys’ new defensive coordinator, from their three seasons together in New Orleans.

Bell’s strong safety skill set also complements Xavier Woods’ very well. At 5-11, 205 pounds, Bell is very good against the run, showing the ability to play the run from depth, in the box or as an overhang defender (force player outside the box).

Bell was extremely effective defending the run against the Cowboys in last year’s Week 4 contest. He finished with a team-high 10 total tackles and forced a fumble by Ezekiel Elliott right before halftime, which the Saints turned into a field goal before the half expired that proved to be the difference in the 12-10 New Orleans victory.

There’s a reason Bell isn’t a high-priced free agent, as he is merely average in coverage. He tends to struggle when forced into man coverage situations against talented receivers and tight ends. Nevertheless, he’s no worse than Heath in that area and the Cowboys can give Woods the more difficult coverage assignments.

Bell isn’t the sexiest signing, but he’s young (25), fills a need, won’t break the bank and already has familiarity with Dallas’ defensive coordinator. Sounds like a pretty good fit to me.

Mike Daniels, DT

The Cowboys have a huge need at defensive tackle and impending free agent Mike Daniels could be a veteran they look to sign. Daniels is intimately familiar with Mike McCarthy’s coaching style from their seven years together in Green Bay, and he could help ease the transition from the Jason Garrett regime.

Since Daniels is coming off an injury-riddled season that caused him to play in just nine games, he will likely come cheap, which makes him even more enticing.

When healthy, Daniels is still an effective defensive tackle who can make a tangible impact on defense. He’s not quite the game-wrecker he used to be, but he’s still a well-rounded defensive tackle who is equally effective against the run and pass.

Against the run, Daniels wins with a keen understanding of leverage and opposing blocking schemes to go along with impressive play strength. He also has refined hands that he uses to defeat blocks along the line of scrimmage (look at what he does to Tyron Smith in the above clip).

As a pass rusher, Daniels loves to use his power and leverage to push the pocket, but he complements that power with fierce hand technique to take advantage of blockers who sit on his power. Daniels has posted at least 30 pressures in every season in which he’s played over 400 snaps.

He’s a versatile piece who fits in nicely to the multiple fronts Mike Nolan reportedly wants to run. He can play the nose tackle or three-technique tackle positions when Dallas is in its base 4-3 defense, and he can slide over to four- or five-technique end if the team opts to use a 3-4 in a particular situation.

Given his age (30) and injury history, Daniels shouldn’t be a long-term solution for the Cowboys at one of the defensive tackle spots, but he can be a short-term fix who provides a bridge to a younger tackle like Trysten Hill, if he develops, or a draft pick (does Texas A&M’s Justin Madubuike interest you?).

Greg Zuerlein, K

While most expect the Cowboys to re-sign Kai Forbath at kicker in 2020, what if new special teams coach John Fassel wants to sign someone he’s more familiar with?

Just when you thought Greg Zuerlein’s game-winning 57-yard FG couldn’t get any more epic…#LARams pic.twitter.com/5h0DUS2wF5 — Cameron DaSilva (@camdasilva) January 22, 2019

In that case, don’t be surprised if the Cowboys show interest in Los Angeles Rams free agent Greg “The Leg” Zuerlein.

Zuerlein is coming off a down year after dealing with a foot injury from the previous year and a quad injury late in 2019. It’s tough to know how much those injuries affected his diminished accuracy, as his 72.7 field goal percentage ranked as the second-worst of his career.

While it may sound odd that the Cowboys could be interested in a kicker coming off a poor season, Zuerlein has proven capable of bouncing back before.

In 2015, Zuerlein made just 66.7% of his field goals – the worst mark of his career. But after missing 10 tries in 2015, Zuerlein missed just nine total in his next three seasons combined. So there’s reason to believe he could bounce back in 2020.

In a perfect world, the Cowboys could re-sign Forbath and then sign Zuerlein to compete with him in 2020, which protects Dallas in case Zuerlein doesn’t regain his prior form. However, that’s not likely based upon the amount of money that would have to be tied to the kicker position entering training camp.

Still, given Fassel’s familiarity with Zuerlein, don’t be surprised if that’s the direction the Cowboys go.

Marqui Christian, S

Last year under Fassel’s watchful eye in Los Angeles, safety Marqui Christian led the Rams in special teams snaps. So with Fassel now heading up the special teams in Dallas, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he advocated to sign one of his prized pupils in free agency.

Christian will come cheap and could replace Darian Thompson as a reserve safety who spends most of his time on special teams.

Marqui Christian came out of nowhere 👀👀 @callmequi_ pic.twitter.com/s1kBku1dIT — The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) November 18, 2019

Christian carries likable athletic traits that make him worthy of developing at the safety position, but don’t get it twisted, this is the type of signing aimed at improving Dallas’ woeful special teams.

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