5:55pm: Language in Thornton’s pact with the Cowboys calls for Thornton to receive $9MM in guaranteed money, with the aforementioned $6MM amount being the fully guaranteed portion, Getlin tweets.
4:57pm: The four-year deal is worth $17MM with a chance to reach $18MM, per Todd Archer of ESPN.com (on Twitter). Of that sum, $6MM is guaranteed.
4:18pm: The Cowboys have agreed to sign Cedric Thornton, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (on Twitter). It’s a four-year deal, per Mike Garafolo of FOX Sports (on Twitter). The deal is worth $18MM, per Rand Getlin of NFL.com (on Twitter). 
Thornton, 28 in June, started all 16 games for the Eagles in 2014, posting 36 tackles, one sack, and three fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a touchdown. In that season, the Southern Arkansas alum graded as the league’s 20th-best 3-4 defensive end, according to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), and was especially proficient against the run, where his +11.3 grade placed him eighth at his position.
This past season, Thornton racked up 32 total tackles, 1 sack, and 1 pass deflection. PFF (sub. req’d) rated him as the 44th best defensive tackle in the league with a 76.2 grade. That slotted him just behind fellow unrestricted free agents Haloti Ngata and Akiem Hicks. Here at PFR, we considered Thornton to be this year’s sixth-best available interior defensive lineman, behind Malik Jackson, Damon Harrison, Ian Williams, Jaye Howard, and Nick Fairley.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Don’t they run a 4-3?? How well will he transition?
Thornton was a 4-3 DT as a rookie, so it’s not a foreign concept to him.