The Cowboys have agreed to a one-year deal with free agent defensive tackle Stephen Paea, reports Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News (Twitter link).
Dallas will be the fifth NFL organization for the 28-year-old Paea, who entered the league as a second-round pick in 2011 and has since played with the Bears, Redskins and Browns. Chicago heavily relied on Paea, who started double-digit games in three of his four seasons with the club, but he served as a reserve in Washington and Cleveland over the past two years. Paea started just one game apiece for those teams, and he’s coming off a 13-appearance, 12-tackle campaign. Despite his less-than-gaudy numbers, he ranked as Pro Football Focus’ 40th-best interior D-lineman among 127 qualifiers in 2016.
As a member of the Cowboys, Paea will attempt to replace the departed Terrell McClain, who signed with NFC East rival Washington on Thursday. Paea is slated to join Cedric Thornton and Maliek Collins as the Cowboys’ top interior options.
Has barely started the last two years for the Redskins and the Browns….
And he’s just a depth piece for the Cowboys on a 1 yr deal…
He is a nice replacement for McClain. Last year was the first season in forever that McClain didn’t miss significant time. That’s the reason he found his way onto the Cowboys roster in the first place. This is how you churn the bottom of a roster, don’t pay your role players, let them walk in free agency, collect the compensation pick and replace them with cheaper/talented young guys/draft picks