Cowboys' Stephen Jones might've accidentally given away Pro Bowler's plans to retire in 2024 offseason
Chances are Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch has played his last down with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft. But since that season-ending neck injury against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, Vander Esch's future in football has been put in question in large part […]
Chances are Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch has played his last down with the team that drafted him in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft.
But since that season-ending neck injury against the San Francisco 49ers in Week 5, Vander Esch's future in football has been put in question in large part due to a long injury history dating back to before he was drafted by the Cowboys. Keep in mind, some teams reportedly took Vander Esch off of their boards for the same reason.
"We'll just let Leighton – Leighton will speak to that," Jones told reporters via Dallas Morning News' Michael Gehlken. "Certainly, an injury issue with him (…) I'll let him speak to that."
Despite offering injury updates for Trevon Diggs and DeMarvion Overshown, who are both expected to be ready for training camp, Jones avoided talking about LVE.
While it's just speculation at the moment, this could be easily interpreted as a hint toward Vander Esch contemplating retirement. Otherwise why wouldn't Jones freely speak about whatever his situation is?
Jerry Jones said in November on 105.3 The Fan that it would be up to Vander Esch to choose if "he would want to continue to expose himself to injury," which means this has been a possibility since that awful game in San Francisco.
Since arriving at Dallas in 2018, Vander Esch has played 71 games while racking up 469 combined tackles and 296 solo tackles. He was a Pro Bowler in 2018.
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