{"id":31898,"date":"2025-03-10T03:41:47","date_gmt":"2025-03-10T03:41:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898"},"modified":"2025-03-10T03:41:47","modified_gmt":"2025-03-10T03:41:47","slug":"breaking-cowboys-make-12m-move-before-nfl-free-agency","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have already made some big moves since their offseason began.<\/p>\n<p>Following a 7-10 regular season and missing the\u00a0NFL\u00a0Playoffs, the Cowboys elected to\u00a0part ways\u00a0with head coach\u00a0Mike McCarthy\u00a0after five seasons, making way for offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer to take over.<\/p>\n<p>Although star linebacker Micah Parsons is due for a contract extension, the Cowboys have prioritized some other players, including defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, who re-signed on a\u00a0four-year, $80 million extension.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, just a few days before free agency begins, the Cowboys made another defensive move, bringing back safety Markquese Bell on a three-year extension worth $12 million, per ESPN&#8217;s Jeremy Fowler.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The Cowboys and safety Markquese Bell have agreed to terms on a three-year deal with a max value of $12M, per sources,&#8221; Fowler wrote on X.<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-detail--body-item m-detail--body-twitter-embed\">\n<figure class=\"m-embed mm-embed--twitter l-inline\">\n<div class=\"twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered\"><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" class=\"\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?dnt=false&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1898871986136170942&amp;lang=vi&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fathlonsports.com%2Fnfl%2Fdallas-cowboys%2Fcowboys-make-12m-move-markquese-bell-before-nfl-free-agency&amp;sessionId=1457f21f4d07e6ce3ab315d011dcc7e1c6ce0ff0&amp;siteScreenName=athlonsports&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&amp;width=550px\" frameborder=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-tweet-id=\"1898871986136170942\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>After three seasons with Florida A&amp;M (one of which was canceled due to COVID), Bell went undrafted in 2022. He was signed by the Cowboys after the 2022 NFL draft and made the team in his first season, becoming a key component of the special teams unit.<\/p>\n<p>In his second season, he appeared in 17 games, earning eight starts. Although his primary position was safety, he was used as more of a safety\/linebacker hybrid for the 2023 season, recording\u00a094 tackles and two forced fumbles.<\/p>\n<div class=\"m-detail--body-item m-detail--body-item-inline\">\n<figure class=\"l-inline tml-image m-detail--tml-image--inline\"><picture class=\"is-loaded\"><source srcset=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.webp 380w, https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.webp 620w, https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_700\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.webp 700w\" type=\"image\/webp\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1240px) 700px, (min-width: 675px) 620px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><source srcset=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_380\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.png 380w, https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_620\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.png 620w, https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_700\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.png 700w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 1240px) 700px, (min-width: 675px) 620px, calc(100vw - 40px)\" \/><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"m-detail--tml-image m-image\" src=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/t_share\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.png\" srcset=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\" alt=\"Dallas Cowboys safety Markquese Bell\" width=\"3358\" height=\"2094\" data-src=\"https:\/\/athlonsports.com\/.image\/c_limit%2Ccs_srgb%2Cq_auto:good%2Cw_700\/MjEwODI2MjAxMjAyMTczNzc3\/screenshot-2024-11-19-at-103303pm.png\" \/><\/picture><figcaption>\n<p class=\"tml-image--caption\">Dallas Cowboys safety Markquese Bell<\/p>\n<p class=\"tml-image--attribution\">Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<p>With linebacker Eric Kendricks joining Dallas in 2024, Bell lost a majority of his playing time on defense, becoming more of a special teams guy once again. His season ended nine games in after he suffered a season-ending dislocated shoulder.<\/p>\n<p>The Cowboys have made moves to clear up cap space in hopes of extending players like Bell and Parsons, including restructuring the contracts of\u00a0CeeDee Lamb\u00a0and Dak Prescott. However, with Myles Garrett signing a\u00a0four-year deal\u00a0with the\u00a0Cleveland Browns\u00a0worth $40 million per year and includes $123.5 million in guaranteed money, Parsons&#8217; price likely just went up for Jerry Jones.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have already made some big moves since their offseason began. Following a 7-10 regular season and missing the\u00a0NFL\u00a0Playoffs, the Cowboys elected to\u00a0part ways\u00a0with head coach\u00a0Mike McCarthy\u00a0after&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":31899,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have already made some big moves since their offseason began. Following a 7-10 regular season and missing the\u00a0NFL\u00a0Playoffs, the Cowboys elected to\u00a0part ways\u00a0with head coach\u00a0Mike McCarthy\u00a0after...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"590\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"421\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg\",\"width\":590,\"height\":421},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"The\u00a0Dallas Cowboys\u00a0have already made some big moves since their offseason began. Following a 7-10 regular season and missing the\u00a0NFL\u00a0Playoffs, the Cowboys elected to\u00a0part ways\u00a0with head coach\u00a0Mike McCarthy\u00a0after...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00","og_image":[{"width":590,"height":421,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898","name":"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg","datePublished":"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00","dateModified":"2025-03-10T03:41:47+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/2-44.jpg","width":590,"height":421},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=31898#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Cowboys Make $12M Move Before NFL Free Agency.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31898"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31900,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31898\/revisions\/31900"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/31899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}