Dallas Cowboys offensive tackle Doug Free is set to have offseason surgery on his ankle to remove bone spurs and fix a stress fracture.
Cowboys offensive tackle Doug Free missed the last five games of the season, including the two playoff games, with an injured left ankle.
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According to the Star-Telegram, Free is expected to undergo surgery to clean up the stress fracture there and remove bone spurs. He’s set to be a free agent next season along with his backup Jermey Parnell. Free has played in 92 games since being drafted in 2007, and he has started 82 of those games.
If the Cowboys lose Free, they probably aren’t going to rely on Parnell as the option at tackle. Parnell’s blocking in Free’s absence left much to be desired.
Free was hoping to be available for the game against the Packers and even started some on-field rehab the week before the game. However, he never recovered enough to start. According to ESPN, the Cowboys discussed an extension with Free before the NFL season began last year, but talks never went anywhere.
Aside from Free, defensive end Jeremy Mincey is also expected to have a minor surgery on his right elbow.
The Cowboys are in the middle of somewhat of an offensive line shakeup anyway with the departure of line coach Bill Callahan to the Redskins.
According to a story by ESPN Dallas, Callahan wasn’t happy about having his play-calling duties taken away from him at the start of last season. He was also not allowed to talk to two teams with open offensive coordinator positions. Nevertheless, he obviously got over his discontent as the Cowboys offensive line was very good last year.
They will replace Callahan with Frank Pollack, who was the Cowboys’ assistant offensive line coach. Even if they lose Free, they should retain their three first-round picks from the last four years in Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin.
Everyone can agree that coaches are made better by better players and Pollack should have no problem continuing the team’s o-line dominance next year.
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