IRVING, Texas -- What was reported last week is now official: San Diego has released defensive end Luis Castillo.

Should the Cowboys take a look at the seven-year veteran?

If you play the “he’s better than” game, then absolutely. But it also means having to study Castillo’s health pretty intently. He missed all but one game last year for the Chargers with a broken left leg and has played 16 games in a year just twice. He entered the league with an elbow injury and a failed steroid test, but the Cowboys were high on him back in 2005.

At 6-foot-3, 290 pounds, Castillo has the size teams want in a 3-4 defensive end. He also brings a pass rush that the Cowboys lack in their ends. He has 19 sacks in seven years and seven came in his second year. Marcus Spears has nine. Kenyon Coleman has 13.5. Jason Hatcher has 12.

After talking to some folks at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis two weeks ago, this draft does not appear to have the talented 3-4 ends of a year ago, like a J.J. Watt, Cameron Jordan or Cameron Heyward. This draft seems to have more interior defensive linemen.

Too often around here we have been schooled in the 3-4 philosophy that these ends are just supposed to hold guys up and let the other guys make plays. Forget that. Watt, Justin Smith, Richard Seymour and Aaron Smith show you that you can get to the passer from that spot.

Castillo would offer the Cowboys something they don’t currently have and he’d likely come at a good price.

Maybe they can use Miles Austin as a recruiter. He was Castillo’s high school teammate in Garfield, N.J.