Dallas Cowboys’ worst free-agent signings: The top 5 moves Jerry Jones wants back

Wondering why the Cowboys seem to shy away from free agency signings? Maybe this list has something to do with it…

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy (76) on the bench before a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa on Sunday, November 15, 2015. Tampa Bay Buccaneers defeated the Dallas Cowboys 10-6.(Staff Photographer)

The Dallas Morning News’ look at the five best and worst free-agent signings by the Dallas Cowboys since 1993 when unrestricted free agency began.

No. 5: Ha Ha Clinton-Dix

Clinton-Dix was one of the league’s best safeties when he played under Mike McCarthy with the Green Bay Packers. He continued his strong stretch of play after being traded to Washington, and on a one-year deal with the Bears, as well.

It seemed, though, that his, to that point, solid career had run out of gas by the time he got to Dallas. The Cowboys and Clinton-Dix agreed to a one-year, $3.75 million contract in the 2020 offseason with the idea that Clinton-Dix would take over as the starting safety after the departure of Jeff Heath. Clinton-Dix, however, was beaten out by Darian Thompson during training camp.

He was released a week before the start of the regular season, the Cowboys sending him and his $2.25 million guaranteed out the door without ever playing a game for the Cowboys.

If you’re Jerry Jones, it has to be hard to laugh about the Ha Ha incident.

4. Cedric Thornton

The Cowboys agreed to a four-year contract worth over $18 million in 2016 with Thornton, previously a three-year starter on the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive line.

With Dallas, though, he lost out to Terrell McClain and rookie Maliek Collins for a starting gig on the Cowboys’ d-line. He played in 13 games for the Cowboys but started zero, and during the following offseason he missed most of training camp with a hamstring injury.

The Cowboys released him just before the start of the 2017 regular season, paying him his guaranteed $3 million base salary for that season. He was claimed on waivers by the Bills and played in 15 games for them, but 2017 was his last season in the NFL.

3. Gerald McCoy

McCoy was just two years removed from his sixth straight Pro Bowl season when he signed a three-year, $18.3 million contract with the Cowboys in March of 2020.

McCoy became the second player on this list to sign and then never even suit up for the Cowboys. He suffered a ruptured quadriceps in practice, was released in August and only ever appeared in one other NFL game for the remainder of his career.

The Cowboys wrote McCoy a $3.1 million check for his time.

2. Mike Vanderjagt

ORG XMIT: *S18F1B15B* Cowboys kicker Mike Vanderjagt (13) walks off the field at the end of the first half of NFL football action between the Dallas Cowboys and Indianapolis Colts at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas on Sunday, November 19, 2006.(TOM FOX / 110782)

This one, at the very least, never lost confidence in himself.

The Cowboys signed Vanderjagt after he starred as a kicker for the Colts, to that point the most accurate kicker in NFL history. His stint with Indianapolis ended dramatically, however, in a 2006 playoff game vs. Pittsburgh when Vanderjagt missed a 46-yard field goal with 18 seconds left, the first kick he’d missed at home all season. As he walked off the field after missing the kick, he took his helmet off and threw it, resulting in a 15-yard unsportsmanlike penalty.

He then made an appearance on The Late Show With David Letterman where he kicked (and this time made) a 46-yard field goal, an appearance that supposedly was a reason the Colts decided to part ways with him.

The Cowboys signed him for three years and $4.5 million that offseason. He made just 13 of 18 field goal attempts (72.2%) and was cut 13 games into the 2006 season. He never played in another NFL game.

Vanderjagt was longtime Cowboys sideline report Kristi Scales’ answer when she was asked in 2016 who the worst Cowboys FA signing ever was:

“He started spraying kicks around training camp and preseason. Yet he remained so cocky, not worried at all (at least that’s what he said). Bill Parcells did not trust him as far as he could throw him. I remember at one point later in the season, Vanderjagt was in a promo that was shown during a commercial break on the video screens at Texas Stadium. The home crowd booed him. It was a bad situation.”

1. Greg Hardy

Dallas Cowboys defensive end Greg Hardy leaves the field following a 33-27 overtime loss to the Philadelphia Eagles in an NFL football game at AT&T Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015, in Arlington. (Smiley N. Pool/The Dallas Morning News)(Smiley N. Pool / Staff Photographer)

Hardy was by far the most successful Cowboy on this list. He racked up six sacks in 12 games for Dallas. But he was also (again, by far) the most destructive.

Some pre-signing context is required for this one: In May of 2014 Hardy was arrested for assault after he was alleged to have grabbed his girlfriend, thrown her onto furniture, strangled her and threatened to kill her. He played one game in 2014 with the Carolina Panthers before being put on the commissioner’s exempt list during his domestic violence case. The Panthers released Hardy in March of 2015, then-owner Jerry Richardson saying he made the decision to move on from Hardy because “we do the right things.”

Later that month, the Cowboys signed Hardy to a one-year deal worth $11.3 million. It was met, generally, with disgust.

While it came with those six sacks it also came with distractions and outbursts, including a shouting match with Dez Bryant and an incident where Hardy slapped a clipboard out of the hands of special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

Then-head coach Jason Garrett reportedly didn’t get along great with Hardy either. Hardy was suspended for the first four games of Dallas’ 2015-16 season as punishment for his charges, and he wasn’t resigned in the offseason. That decision was verified almost immediately when Hardy was arrested on cocaine charges in Richardson the following September.