A common theme among new NFL coaching staffs is acquiring players from previous stops to try to ease the transition at their new location.

Bill Parcells is the best Dallas Cowboys example, as he made a concerted effort to acquire players he was already familiar with once he was hired. Parcells brought in wide receiver Terry Glenn and fullback Richie Anderson as a way to help the team transition to his style and instill a new culture – his culture.

In 2019, the Denver Broncos hired Vic Fangio as head coach and signed Bryce Callahan, who spent the previous four years under Fangio with the Chicago Bears, in free agency. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers hired Bruce Arians and then signed Deone Bucannon (who was released midseason -- whoops) and Earl Watford, who both played under Arians when he was head coach of the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals hired Kliff Kingsbury as head coach and signed then Brett Hundley, who had ties to Arizona’s new pass game coordinator Tom Clements from their time in Green Bay.

So don’t be surprised if the Cowboys target a free agent or two with ties to Mike McCarthy or other members of the coaching staff. Let’s take a look at a few potential free agent targets who have ties to the new staff:

Mike Daniels, DT

Connection to the Cowboys’ staff: Head coach Mike McCarthy

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?).

Jayron Kearse, S

Connection to the Cowboys’ staff: Senior defensive assistant George Edwards

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. Similarly to Barrett, Kearse has been stuck behind arguably the most talented safety corps in the NFL with Harrison Smith and Anthony Harris manning the starting spots.

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 does for the Cowboys. Kearse isn’t going to be some lock-down cornerback on the outside, but he can help the Cowboys match up with tight ends and big slot receivers – a vital role Jones has 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.

David Onyemata, DT

Connection to the Cowboys’ staff: Defensive coordinator Mike Nolan

Although David Onyemata plays on the defensive line while Nolan coached the Saints’ linebackers, the two are probably very familiar with each other from their time in New Orleans.

Xavier Su'a-Filo gets done in by an impressive cross chop-club by David Onyemata, who timed and beat XSF's initial strike to get home for the sack. pic.twitter.com/RB7iV52gBE — John Owning (@JohnOwning) December 1, 2018

Cowboys fans shouldn’t have to be reminded of Onyemata, as the defensive tackle has recorded four sacks and seven stops combined in his last two games against America’s Team.

Onyemata isn’t quite as good as his numbers against the Cowboys indicate, but he’s a young (27), starting-caliber three-technique tackle who can provide Dallas with more consistency against the run – albeit while sacrificing a bit as a pass rusher – than Maliek Collins did in 2019.

If you're a fan of the hump move, #Saints DL David Onyemata is one of the best practitioners of it in the NFL. A few examples: pic.twitter.com/S7XyagEO23 — Brandon Thorn (@BrandonThornNFL) July 7, 2018

At 6-4, 300 pounds, Onyemata possesses heavy hands, which he uses to bludgeon blockers on his way to the backfield. He does a good job of playing with leverage in the run game, working to keep his pads low so he can stack blocks on the line of scrimmage.

Since coming into the league as a raw defensive tackle who played college football in Canada, Onyemata has shown steady progression with his technique and there’s still more room to grow, as his snap-to-snap consistency can wane from week to week depending on the matchup.

The great thing about signing Onyemata is it removes three-technique tackle as a need but also doesn’t preclude the team from drafting one if the value is too good to pass up.

Greg Zuerlein, K

Connection to the Cowboys’ staff: Special teams coach John Fassel

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

Connection to the Cowboys’ staff: Special teams coach John Fassel

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.

Find more Cowboys stories from The Dallas Morning News here.