EAGLES TO COWBOYS: Reed Blankenship and Others Who Could Join Dallas Cowboys In Free Agency!

Summary

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Podcast Summary: Locked On Cowboys – “EAGLES TO COWBOYS: Reed Blankenship and Others Who Could Join Dallas Cowboys In Free Agency!”

Date: February 20, 2026
Hosts: Marcus Mosher, Landon McCool (“Lacool”)
Network: Locked On Podcast Network

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Marcus Mosher and Landon McCool dive into the pool of Philadelphia Eagles defensive free agents, analyzing which might realistically be lured to the Dallas Cowboys—particularly given new defensive passing coordinator Christian Parker’s ties to Philadelphia. The duo examine roster fits, contracts, and injury histories, aiming to identify value targets who could fortify the Cowboys’ defense in 2026.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Reed Blankenship: The Top Target

• Why He Makes Sense

  • Connection to Cowboys’ new defensive passing game coordinator (Christian Parker), who coached him in Philadelphia
  • Familiarity with the system would ease transition and help the rest of the defense adapt quickly
  • Could provide leadership and bridge the playbook for new teammates

• Quote:

  “If I had to pick one guy that’s the most likely to sign with the Cowboys this offseason, it’s probably [Reed Blankenship].”
  —Marcus Mosher, (01:20)

• Value & Fit

  • Not an expensive “elite” free agent, but a strong, scheme-friendly fit
  • Hosts believe the move “makes too much sense”
  • Could bring good value due to mutual familiarity and system fit

• Quote:

  “You get to transcribe over the playbook for a guy that can help teach it to all the other players in the defensive backfield … There’s just too many reasons to do it. It makes too much sense. They practically were hinting at it in the press conference.”
  —Lacool, (02:40–03:30)

2. Jalen Phillips: Intrigue with Injury Risks

• Defensive End Needs & Market

  • Phillips traded to Philadelphia for a third-rounder; hosts skeptical Eagles would let him walk, but leave the door open
  • Would slot in as a much-needed versatile, bigger body on the Cowboys’ defensive line
  • Production in both Miami and Philadelphia praised, but injury history is “very real”

• Projected Contract & Value

  • Mosher’s ideal: 2 years, $15–16M per season
  • Hesitation around paying big $ for significant injury risk
  • If paired with players like Clowney, Ezraku, Houston, Thomas, gives Cowboys “really good” D-line depth

• Quotes:

  “I just don’t know if the Cowboys are going to be willing to pay that much money for a guy with that extensive of an injury history.”
  —Marcus Mosher, (05:01)

  “It’ll be interesting to see what his market is because the injury situation is very real. But he was a very productive, good player in Miami and in Philadelphia...”
  —Lacool, (05:32)

3. Nakobe Dean: Low-Cost Linebacker Veteran

• Why Dallas Might Target

  • Need for a veteran linebacker; not a “top 10 unit,” but improves the floor
  • Dean’s age (26), familiarity with the system, and performance “when on the field” are positives
  • Could pair with Overshown, Shamar James, and Leo Fowl

• Market & Value Debated

  • Conflicting projections; PFF lists as high as 3 years, $30M (over $10M per year)
  • Hosts prefer something closer to 1 year, $6–7M

• Quotes:

  “I think Dean makes as much sense as anybody. Certainly more sense than the kind of equivalent value linebackers that you’ve signed here these last few years.”
  —Lacool, (08:50)

  “If that’s the market, I’m out. ...I was thinking like the one year, six million dollar range.”
  —Marcus Mosher, (10:23, 10:45)

  “Dean really kind of showed up this season … but it’s kind of too little, too late.”
  —Lacool, (09:55)

4. Other “Edge” or Rotational Targets

• Aziz Ojulari

  • Only 25, not a star, but decent rotational fit
  • Experience in the system—“makes a ton of sense” as an affordable depth addition

• Marcus Epps

  • Not a starter, but “won’t get you killed”—potential for a veteran minimum/stabilizing presence
  • Hosts would consider a one-year, $4M deal

• Quote:

  “If you’re trying to go cheap and just trying to get some labor, I think Aziz Ojulari is only 25...as far as a guy to add to your rotation and another guy with experience playing in the defense, I think it makes a ton of sense.”
  —Lacool, (11:08)

  “You could probably do worse than signing Marcus Epps to something like a, you know, one year, $4 million deal.”
  —Lacool, (12:02)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Blankenship and system continuity:

  “You bring over the defensive passing coordinator … free safety … who has been with him his whole time … There’s so many reasons to do it right.”
  —Lacool, (02:34)

• On spending for linebackers:

  “My preference is to actually really spend some money at linebacker and go and get one of these top guys. But if that’s not in the cards...I think Dean makes as much sense as anybody.”
  —Lacool, (08:39)

• On Eagles’ cap restraints:

  “Philadelphia only has $18 million of cap space now. They can free up some money. They can’t free up a ton of money. And they’ve got some big name free agents...”
  —Marcus Mosher, (03:44)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:12 – Main topic introduction: Eagles defensive free agents as Cowboys targets
• 01:20–03:30 – Reed Blankenship as logical free agent target; fit and value
• 03:44–05:32 – Jalen Phillips: value, risk, potential fit, contract debates
• 08:20–11:01 – Nakobe Dean: linebacker needs, contract projections, debate on value
• 11:08–12:13 – Rotational/cheap free agent options: Aziz Ojulari, Marcus Epps

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Conclusion

The hosts find Reed Blankenship nearly a “no-brainer” free agency target given the new defensive staff and system continuity, while Jalen Phillips and Nakobe Dean present higher-risk but potentially high-reward opportunities—depending on market value and willingness to gamble on injury histories. Depth options like Ojulari and Epps could round out the roster with affordable, familiar pieces.

This episode serves as an in-depth primer on how Dallas can shop for both value and strategic fit on the defensive side, especially in the context of limited cap space and philosophical changes brought by incoming coaches.

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Transcript

[Marcus Mosher]

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[Marcus Mosher]

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[Marcus Mosher]

the Philadelphia Eagles have a ton of free agents. We'll tell you some of our favorites that the Dallas Cowboys could target next. Foreign. You are Locked On Cowboys, your daily Dallas Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network your team every day. Welcome back to the Locked On Cowboys podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast network your team every day. We'd like to thank you for making us the number one sports podcast network and today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Welcome back. I am your host, Marcus Mosher. He is lacool and on today's show we're discussing some free agents that the Philadelphia Eagles have on defense that Christian Parker could try to convinced to come over to Dallas is the way that I'm going to put it. And let's start with I think maybe the most obvious name, and that's Reed Blankenship, the safety who did a little bit of everything for Philadelphia. I think if I had to pick one guy that's the most likely to sign with the Cowboys this offseason, it's probably him.

[Lacool]

Yeah, I mean, we talked about it on our regular show too that like this is just one of those situations where it makes too much sense, right? Like he you bring over the defensive passing coordinator, defensive passing game coordinator for the Eagles, their free safety, their starting free safety who has been with him his whole time there, becomes available in free agency. It's just there's so many reasons to do it right. Obviously you get to transcribe over the playbook for a guy that can help teach it to all the other players in the defensive backfield. You just understand how the fit is going to be. Right. Because you clearly have seen this player playing this system before. So and then on top of that, obviously, obviously you're probably getting a pretty good value because you're not having to pay extra for someone that is, you know, an elite, elite safety. You're getting the kind of talent bump by someone who's a good fit for the system and you know, is a good fit for the system. So it, like I said, there's just too many reasons to do it. It makes too much sense. They practically were hinting at it in the, in the press conference. So I'm excited to see if that comes out.

[Marcus Mosher]

And we should mention Philadelphia only has $18 million of cap space now. They can free up some money. They can't free up a ton of money. And they've got some big name free agents, including Jalen Phillips, their defensive end. This is a guy that we've liked for a long time. He's got a lot of a long injury history. Yeah, I think Philadelphia is going to try to keep him. They traded a third round pick at the deadline for him. But if for whatever reason the Eagles decide not to bring him back, if you can get him on a two year deal at 15 or 16 million per season, I would be interested.

[Lacool]

I think so too. I mean, just because I think you need one of these types of body types on, you know, on their defensive line. You need the, one of, one of these bigger defensive line, you know, edge players that can play a little bit in, in outside if you want. Just because you need the versatile body types, you plan on playing multiple fronts. You, you don't really, I mean, I think right now it would be clowny. That would be the guy that you kind of pencil in as, as that body type.

[Marcus Mosher]

Assuming he's back.

[Lacool]

Yeah, I know, yeah, assuming he's back. But if you wanted to spend a little bit more and try to upgrade the spot and he was available, obviously someone like Phillips would be the kind of price point that you would be looking at.

[Marcus Mosher]

He's also just a really good pass rusher and I think if you, if you went into the draft, let's say with Ezraku Phillips and you brought back Jadevion Clowney and you had James Houston, you would feel really good about your defensive line as a whole. You've got Solomon Thomas who can play on the edge if you needed. I just don't know if the Cowboys are going to be willing to pay that much money for a guy with that extensive of an injury history. I also don't know if Philadelphia is going to let him leave either because they had almost no pass rush without him last year.

[Lacool]

It'll be interesting to see what his market is because the injury situation is very real. But he was a very productive, good player in Miami and in Philadelphia, so it'll be interesting to see how that plays out.

[Marcus Mosher]

All right, let's talk about a linebacker that the Cowboys could have some interest in. Talk about Nakobe Dean next. This episode is brought to you by fanduel. Have you ever wanted to experience the NBA Finals live in person? FanDuel is giving you the chance of a lifetime to turn that dream into a reality with their NBA sweepstakes. And here's how it works. Use your profit boost on any NBA future and you'll automatically be entered for a shot to win an NBA Finals trip for two. That's right, flights, tickets, the whole experience for you and another person. I love this time of year for the NBA because we're getting closer to the playoffs or after the All Star break. The contenders are really starting to separate themselves. So go find the bet that you like the most, whether that's a team, team, to win their division, to win their conference. And it's all available on FanDuel. Visit FanDuel.com to get started. Use your profit boost on an NBA future and get entered for your chance to win a trip to the NBA Finals. Play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. This episode is brought to you by Five Hour Energy. Welcome to the Five Hour Energy flavor draft. We're looking at every aspect of the draft to let you know which tasty flavors are the best and which ones might be sleepers. The board is set, the flavors are ready, and only one is going to take the top spot. Five Hour Energy has a wide variety of flavors so there's something for everyone and five Hour Energy shots give you a boost with zero sugar and there's no crash. They have a lot of unbelievable flavors right now. Cherry is always one of my go tos, but I really like the sour apple. That one has been really growing on me. It's deliciously tart. It's got a bold but sweet flavor as well, but the sour really kicks in at the end. I wish I could do a better job of explaining it because it's just so good. So find your new favorite flavor of five hour energy shots available online at 5hourenergy.com or Amazon. Welcome back to the Locked on Cowboys podcast. We'd like to thank you for making us your first listen. Every single day we're discussing some Eagles free agents that the Cowboys could target on defense. And I wanted to mention to you Nicobe Dean, because I think linebacker is the spot that I would like to see the Cowboys at least bring in a veteran. Dean's been banged up, he's only 26 and he's a really good fit in this defense. I don't think he's going to cost a ton of and it's the same thing I said about defensive end. If you go into the draft with overshown, Dean, Shamar, James and Leo Fowl. It's not a top 10 unit or anything like that, but I just feel so much better about where they're at at least going into April.

[Lacool]

Yeah, I mean, look, I, you know, I think I've been pretty clear that my preference is to actually really spend some money at linebacker and go and get one of these top guys. But if that's not in the cards, if you want to kind of reallocate that money elsewhere, you're just not interested in signing to a linebacker like that. I think Dean makes as much sense as anybody. Certainly more sense than the kind of equivalent value linebackers that you've signed here these last few years. Right. You know, that's, I mean, specifically Kenneth Murray, I guess, is what I should say. Like it has worked out for you at different points. It's not like Eric Kendrick was terrible, to be honest.

[Marcus Mosher]

No, Kendrick was good. That was actually a good signing.

[Lacool]

Yeah.

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[Lacool]

So yeah, I, I don't think that that that's necessarily a, you know, a terrible strategy to sign the kind of more veteran guy. But maybe signing, you know, obviously Dean has some of the injury stuff and that's why he's probably, you know, not being re signed is is again, like Phillips. It's not a problem when he's on the field. The issue is when, you know, staying on the field. Right. Well, so.

[Marcus Mosher]

And the other part for Philadelphia is they paid Zach Bond a ton of money. They drafted Jihad Campbell in round one last year and Kobe Dean is going to want to go somewhere where he can Play. And Philadelphia is just not a spot where there's a path to, you know, starting snaps outside of an injury.

[Lacool]

And to be fair, Dean really kind of showed up this season. Right. Like, in a way that he hadn't necessarily previously. So it suddenly it's like, well, it's kind of too little, too late. We drafted Jihad Campbell at this point, so that's how we're going to go.

[Marcus Mosher]

I will say I was looking at PFFs, like projected numbers on him. Yeah, three years, 13 and a half million per season. Per season, per se. No, they got three years, 30 million for him.

[Lacool]

No, see, like, if that's the market, I'm out. I'm out like that.

[Marcus Mosher]

But that seems high for me. I just don't see. So he played 400 snaps this year, and he played 182 in 2023. I have my doubts that any team's gonna offer him that much money.

[Lacool]

To me, in my brain, I'm, I was thinking like 8 or 9 million, and even at that range, that seemed

[Marcus Mosher]

a little bit rich. I, I was thinking like the one year, six million dollar range.

[Lacool]

See, that's. I think seven million is, is probably what I think is appropriate. Right? Like, so, yeah, we're in the same range, but I think there's, there's a likelihood that he could get paid a lot more. Obviously, PFF thinks so.

[Marcus Mosher]

I mean, every team needs linebackers, so that could be the reason why we see it. Anybody else here that's interesting to you?

[Lacool]

I think, you know, some of the other guys, you could just kind of nibble around the edges a little bit and just see, you know, what you get out of them just because they are, you know, familiar with what, what, what you've, what you're doing, kind of like, I, I think if you're trying to go cheap and just trying to get some labor, I think Aziz ojalari is only 25, not even 26 years old, and he's been up and down, you know, at times. Certainly not lived up to maybe his draft prospect or, or what everyone expected. But I think as far as a guy to add to your rotation and another guy with experience doing the playing in the defense that you're going to be playing in, I think it makes a ton of sense. And again, I would say a very similar thing about, you know, Marcus Epps. I think it's like, I wouldn't sign him as a starter, but I think if you're looking for somebody who can play and, and it won't get you killed, and has experience playing in the system, who could be a veteran presence. I I. You could probably do worse than signing Marcus Epps to something like a, you know, one year, $4 million deal.

[Marcus Mosher]

Probably. All right, that is it for today's show. We'd like to thank you for making Lock on Cowboys your first listen every single day. If you never miss an episode, the everyday club is built for you. Get locked on Cowboys ad free members only, discord access and so much more. Head over to LockedOn Cowboys Supercast.com to join the club. And for those of you on video, we can send you the first ever 24. 7 national NBA YouTube channel. And on audio, make your second listen the locked on NFL Draft podcast. Follow Landon on Twitter at coolbcb. I'm at Marcus Underscore Moser and we'll see you right back here on Monday.

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