Doug Free Re-Signs with Cowboys: Latest Contract Details, Comments and Reaction

Doug Free's run with the Dallas Cowboys will continue for at least another season. The Cowboys and the free-agent right tackle agreed to a three-year contract on Saturday, extending their run together for a ninth year.

ESPN's Todd Archer first reported the news.

Free, 31, initially hit free agency when the Cowboys declined the two option years remaining on his contract. The move saved Dallas more than $7 million in salary. A fourth-round draft pick in 2007, Free has become a fixture on the Cowboys line—albeit in varying roles and despite inconsistent performances.

He has moved back and forth from left and right tackle throughout his career, finding a permanent home on the right side when the Cowboys traded for Tyron Smith. For some of that time, Free was the turnstile to Smith's All-Pro ascent. He allowed seven sacks and committed 13 penalties in 2012, a campaign that resulted in him taking a pay cut to stay in Dallas.

A year later, Free was one of the best right tackles in football. His 2014 campaign was more of a mixed bag, which is perhaps the best way to describe his Dallas experience. In 11 games, Free allowed only three sacks and was flagged four times—numbers that would have put him on the same general pace of his breakout 2013 season.

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

The advanced metrics, however, were a little less kind. Pro Football Focus graded Free 38th among offensive tackles in its pass-blocking efficiency last season. While he has never been known as an elite pass-blocker—Free's true specialty lies in the run, where he helped DeMarco Murray bust out to a historic start—it's nonetheless a spot of concern as he advances in age.

A below-average pass-blocker can be (kind of) hidden when he's a very good run-blocker. Any more attrition from Free and he becomes a sieve. Given the increased emphasis on pass-oriented offenses, right tackles have to be well-rounded now more than ever. His difficulty recovering from a foot injury toward the end of last season couldn't have helped matters.

Free, for now, is still a quality right tackle. He's also not tied to a bloated long-term deal that will muck up cap space long-term if it doesn't work out. Dallas will just have to hope its propensity for retaining its own players works out here. Few things are more difficult than realizing a veteran's prime is over a year too late.

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