Cowboys: John Fassel had a hilarious reaction to underrated free agency loss
One of the most underrated losses for the Dallas Cowboys in free agency has to be linebacker Luke Gifford. While he wasn't a huge contributor on defense, his value on special teams was undeniable. In the last couple of seasons, Gifford led the team on special teams snap count percentage, per Pro Football Reference. He […]
One of the most underrated losses for the Dallas Cowboys in free agency has to be linebacker Luke Gifford. While he wasn't a huge contributor on defense, his value on special teams was undeniable.
In the last couple of seasons, Gifford led the team on special teams snap count percentage, per Pro Football Reference. He was a certified special teams ace.
As such, there was one Cowboys coach in particular who didn't love hearing the news about Gifford being signed by the Tennessee Titans in the opening week of free agency: Special teams coordinator John Fassel.
In fact, his reaction was hilariously true to Fassel's ways. Titans GM Ran Carthon recently revealed he got a text from the Cowboys coach as soon as the Gifford news broke.
"As soon as it became public knowledge that we agreed to terms I get a text from Bones (John Fassel) and he was like 'you dirty dog, you stole my guy," shared Carthon in a recent interview from the NFL owners meetings.
"He had nothing but great things to say about Gifford," added the Titans GM before adding he believes the former Cowboys player can help them on defense and on special teams.
Fassel's hilarious reaction is the exact type of response you'd expect from him. Players have been vocal about his funny personality before and he's widely regarded as a "players' coach."
For the Cowboys, Gifford leaves behind a hole to be filled by any of the speedy, athletic linebackers in the backend of the depth chart. Devin Harper and Jabril Cox have shown their speed before and could carve out significant roles in Bones' unit.
As for the defensive aspect of things, it would appear the Cowboys are all in on linebackers Leighton Vander Esch and Damone Clark. At this stage of free agency, there aren't any big-name free agents at the position, and only interviewed one linebacker prospect during the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis.
