Eagles need to do whatever it takes to sign Byron Jones

The Cowboys don’t have the money required to re-sign Byron Jones. The Eagles need to swoop in to steal him away from their division rivals.

NFL Free Agency is tailor-made for Super Bowl contenders that need to add one or two more key pieces on their way to a lengthy playoff run. That’s why the Eagles need to pay the massive price required to land Byron Jones.

The Cowboys would love to retain the talented cornerback, but they have to pay Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper a mountain of cash to keep them in the fold. That means Jones is free to sign with the highest bidder in free agency.

Predictably, quite a few teams are interested in his services. The Eagles, Jets, Raiders and Dolphins are all in the mix to ink the former Cowboys defender. It’s imperative that Philadelphia win the race to sign Jones.

The Eagles need Carson Wentz to stay healthy if they’re going to win a Super Bowl next year, but they also need their defensive secondary to play much better football. Adding Jones wouldn’t elevate that group from below average to elite, but it would give the team’s coaching staff a fighting chance to stop high-powered offenses next year.

Jones isn’t a turnover machine at the cornerback position, but he gets his hands on a lot of passes. That makes him a legitimate No. 1 cornerback for a Philadelphia team that lacks quality at the position. Ironically, Jones is just the sort of player that can help the Eagles win the division over the Cowboys next year. He’s an excellent choice to match-up against a top flight receiver like Cooper in high leverage situations.

Acquiring Jones isn’t going to be cheap. He’ll look to become one of the highest paid defensive backs in the league. Any team that lands him will need to flirt with paying him more than the $15 million and change Xavier Howard will earn next year.

That sort of cash outlay doesn’t make sense for a lot of teams, but it does work for a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations. That’s exactly the position the Eagles currently find themselves in. Their focus this offseason must be on filling the small number of holes on their roster with high level solutions.

It’s time for the Eagles to push all their chips to the middle of the table in an effort to sign Jones. He could be the difference maker their secondary desperately needs to become a success in the postseason. Stealing him away from the Cowboys would be an expensive stroke of genius by Philadelphia’s front office.