Source: Cowboys ‘Exploring’ Star Free Agent DT Jarran Reed

As Cowboys Nation connects the dots, the Cowboys themselves, here inside The Star, perform their “exploration.””On to the next chapter,” tweeted Reed.

FRISCO – Immediately after the Seattle Seahawks cut loose Jarran Reed on Friday, the Dallas Cowboys began “exploring” the idea of chasing the 6-3, 300-pound play-making defensive tackle, a source tells CowboysSI.com.

Where will that “exploration” go? In the department of “fit and finance,” there is little issue with the first and great obstacles with the second.

Dallas – which happens to already be considering another ex-Seahawks stalwart in linebacker K.J. Wright – certainly has the need for an accomplished defensive tackle who can eat up space but also get to the QB, as he did in 2020 with 6.5 sacks. … or better, as he did in 2018, when he recorded 10.5 sacks – which led to the large new contract that eventually became an albatross.

The Cowboys’ present front-runners at defensive tackle, Trysten Hill and Neville Gallimore, can only hope to be as accomplished someday as Reed, 28, already is.

Dallas is now going to use a 4-3 defensive system that already works for Reed, as Dan Quinn, the Seahawks coordinator from 2013-14, now runs the Cowboys on that side of the ball. Quinn, of course, was once mentored by Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.

Quinn was also once mentored by Nick Saban, who coached Reed at Alabama.

READ MORE: Aikman & Irvin Reveal Thoughts On Dallas Cowboys Coach Dan Quinn

One NFL scout tells us that Reed is more of a “flash” player than a “great” player, and that “greatness” is what became an issue this week with Seattle and his contract. Reed was entering the last season of a two-year contract signed last March that carried a $13.9 million cap hit for the 2021 season. Seattle wanted to move some of that money; Reed wanted a contract extension.

Unable to agree, and then unable to find a taker in trade (as no one wanted to take on his $8.9 million cap hit), Seattle released him to save money.

Does Reed still consider himself an $11 million APY player? That will be an obstacle in Dallas – and indeed, given the no-takers issue on the trade market, an obstacle for him most everywhere. Is he, if not “great,” still “good”? 

Reed has been a full-time starter for four years, has the pedigree of having been a second-round pick out of Alabama in 2016, and needs a job. Dallas needs talent, and while Cowboys critics cringe at this, Dallas is like Seattle and everybody else – they need the talent at the right price.

So as Cowboys Nation connects the dots, the Cowboys themselves, here inside The Star, perform their “exploration.”

“On to the next chapter,” tweeted Reed.

READ MORE: Cowboys A ‘Dream Team’ For K.J, Wright – Exclusive