2012 NFL Free Agents: Cortland Finnegan Now Top CB Target for Dallas Cowboys?

The name most heavily tied to the Dallas Cowboys' search for a free-agent cornerback has been Brandon Carr. It may be time to leapfrog Carr's name with another top cornerback on the open market. 

According to Matt Mosely of FOXSports Southwest, the new leader in the free-agent cornerback clubhouse could be Cortland Finnegan. Mosely tweeted Monday that Finnegan is now "in the pole position."

A twist in this plot could be the salary-cap penalties that the Cowboys endured this week. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Monday that Dallas is set to lose $10 million in cap space for illegally front-loading contracts during the league's uncapped season of 2010:

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According to sources, the Cowboys and Redskins took immediate cap hits during the 2010 season that normally would have been spread out over the length of the contracts, giving them an advantage that other NFL owners found unfair.

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The Cowboys are allowed to spread out the salary-cap damage over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, which would lessen the impact of the penalties on their chase of free agents, including Finnegan and Carr.

The penalties may take the Cowboys completely out of the chase for defensive end Mario Williams, who is also a free agent and is expected to cost top-dollar money on the open market. That reality could allow the Cowboys to focus a set chunk of money on acquiring the free-agent cornerback they desperately need. 

The Cowboys are expected to be major players for Finnegan or Carr, regardless of how they split up the cap hits.

An obvious need for a defense that ranked 23rd against the pass last season is at cornerback, where Terence Newman is aging and becoming less effective, and others on the depth chart struggled at times in previous seasons.

The Cowboys could either add another pass-rusher to help the secondary or a top cornerback to give the front seven some relief. One way or another, that side of the ball needs upgrades that will cost money.

Finnegan and Carr should both enter free agency without contracts.

Finnegan avoided the franchise tag last week and hasn't had serious negotiations to re-sign with Tennessee, so he is expected to find a new NFL city next season.

Carr saw the Kansas City Chiefs sign Stanford Routt to a $20 million deal—starter's money—and is also expected to leave once free agency opens Tuesday, March 13.    

As a Pro Bowl and All-Pro selection in 2008, Finnegan may offer a more productive option. But he's also older (28 years old) compared to Carr (25) and is less effective at playing the kind of press, man-to-man defense that defensive coordinator Rob Ryan is likely to expect.