Cowboys: What is DT Antwaun Woods' status as a restricted free agent?
Antwaun Woods might not headline the Dallas Cowboys' free agency rankings, but he'll be one of the priorities for the front office in the upcoming weeks. Woods has proven to be a very solid player at defensive tackle. The Cowboys, who are coming off a terrible year on defense, better keep Woods around for 2021. […]
Antwaun Woods might not headline the Dallas Cowboys' free agency rankings, but he'll be one of the priorities for the front office in the upcoming weeks. Woods has proven to be a very solid player at defensive tackle. The Cowboys, who are coming off a terrible year on defense, better keep Woods around for 2021.
Fortunately for them, Woods will be easier to re-sign than other defensive free agents like Chidobe Awuzie and Jourdan Lewis. Given Woods has only three accrued seasons, he's a restricted free agent. This gives the Cowboys' job way easier.
Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) are allowed to negotiate and field offers from other teams in the league. However, their original team can tender a "qualifying offer" on a one-year contract. There are various types of "tenders" a team can offer an RFA, but all come with a right-of-first-refusal.
This means if the Dallas Cowboys offer Antwaun Woods any of these tenders, they'll have the chance to match any offer made to the defensive tackle by any other team. Depending on which tender they use, they might even be entitled to draft-choice compensation. There are essentially three kinds of tenders:
- First-round tender: Team gets right of first refusal. If the original team decides to not match the offer made by another team, they must get a first-round draft pick in return. This is uncommon since teams are unlikely to give up a first-round pick for an RFA.
- Second-round tender: Same as the first-round tender, although the compensation is a second-round pick. Of course, it's cheaper than a first-round tender.
- Original-round / Right-of-first-refusal tender: Draft choice compensation becomes a draft pick in the round the player was originally drafted in.
Since Antwaun Woods signed with the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted rookie in 2016, the Cowboys would be handing him a tender just for the right of first refusal. According to OverTheCap.com, the value of such tender is projected to be at $2.13M.
The Dallas Cowboys are in a unique position to get a quality starter at defensive tackle to stick around for a low-rate. Getting Antwaun Woods back would be huge for Dan Quinn's defense, but the job won't stop there. The Cowboys need to upgrade the depth of the interior defensive line if they want Randy Gregory and DeMarcus Lawrence to dominate the edges.
Featured Image Via Joseph Maiorana-USA TODAY Sports
