Now that an exciting 12-5 Dallas Cowboys season has come to an end, it’s time to discuss the future. Last week, I went over Mike McCarthy’s status with the team, and now I’ll shed some light on the player’s side.

The Cowboys have over 20 free agents this year. Of those free agents, key defensive player, Linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, is one of them, having played the final year of his rookie contract. His status with the team is as follows.

The wolf man himself, Vander Esch may not receive a big contract if the Cowboys do decide to bring him back. Drafted in 2018, Vander Esch has already had a career riddled with injuries.

In fact, in the RotoWire Staff article “Cowboys’ Leighton Vander Esch: Plays full 17-game slate” the Staff said that Vander Esch just so happened to play in all games in this season while only playing 19 games from 2019-2020. Also, the article said that even though he played a full season, he didn’t have a big role.

This year Vander Esch has taken a back seat to another sensational Cowboys rookie linebacker, Micah Parsons, a defensive player of the year candidate, said the Associated Press article “Cowboys botch Leighton Vander Esch’s name on jersey.” His stats have dipped off from his impressive rookie year in which he’s listed to have had 141 tackles, two for loss, seven pass deflections, and two interceptions on overthecap. However, as I said, he has been injury prone so I’m not ignoring that fact.

An important reason as to why Vander Esch may be with the Cowboys next year is because of what his Defensive Coordinator, Dan Quinn, has said about him. 

“Leighton is such a consistent player for us,” Zack Kelberman quoted Quinn in Kelberman’s “Broncos Floated as 2022 Landing Spot for Cowboys LB Leighton Vander Esch” article.

If the Cowboys don’t feel that Vander Esch is the next Sean Lee with the injuries, and if he doesn’t want much money in a new contract, I can see him back on the Cowboys easily. When healthy, I believe Vander Esch has been one of the recognized leaders of the defense.

Also, as a personal side note, Vander Esch has been a fan favorite of mine. When we drafted him, I had my heart set on us getting someone else. Over time though, his play showed he was deserving of being our 2018 first round draft pick. 

Ultimately, owner Jerry Jones has the last say on if LVE becomes the lone wolf.