Per Rainer Sabin from the Dallas Morning News, Stephen Jones indicated on Tuesday that Keith Brooking and Bradie James may have reached the end of their playing days in Dallas:

"Bradie and Brooking are two of the best leaders, personalities I have ever had the pleasure of being around," Jones said. "They're great guys. Unfortunately, all good things come to an end. That's what we've got to decide. But no one respects those guys more than we do, our family does, than the Cowboys do. Obviously when you make a decision to continue or discontinue, it is a big one."

Obviously, this doesn't come as news for Cowboys fans, but it is the first time that the Cowboys have been this explicit about the two inside linebackers.

Both are deserved veterans. Bradie James’ six straight seasons of leading the team in tackles is the longest such streak in club history and the six seasons is also a club-high since the franchise started compiling tackle stats in 1979. Keith Brooking joined the Dallas Cowboys as a free agent in 2009 and was the starting middle linebacker for two seasons next to Bradie James. The Cowboys will surely do right by both players as they transition them off the roster, but it doesn't necessarily mean their time in football is coming to an end.

Bradie James just turned 31 last month, and could conceivably look to hang on an extra year or two as a defender for another team. As for Keith Brooking, it's unlikely that he'll look for a roster spot with another team at age 36, but there have been persistent rumors about him joining or transitioning into the Cowboys staff in some function.

So what say ye, would you like to see a Coach Brooking on the Cowboys coaching staff?

"If only the Cowboys had won more close games, they would have made the playoffs."

How often have you heard or read that comment? After last season, in which the Cowboys managed just a 4-4 record in games decided by four points or less, I’m sure you’ve heard that sentence a lot. In fact, I’m pretty sure you hear that sentence a lot in just about any major sport.

And on the face of it, it makes sense. Had the Cowboys gone 6-2 in those close games, they would have made the playoffs. But they didn’t. The thing that type of wishful thinking ignores is that in a league like the NFL - a league that worships parity like others worship the Holy Grail - lots of games are close until the very end, yet the better teams routinely win those contests.

There were 125 of 256 regular season games, or almost half of all games, that were decided by a touchdown or less last year. And the teams that went to the playoffs won a lot of those games. Teams that did not go to the playoffs lost a lot of those games. It's really quite simple: good teams find ways to win close games, and the Cowboys simply weren't that good last year.

After the break, we quantify all of this a little further.

Continue reading this post »

Here we are in late February, and the restless throngs at BTB couldn't be happier. There are many reasons for such jubilation: we are in the offseason, when all teams entertain legitimate Super Bowl dreams; the NFL Combine starts this week, marking the official beginning of Draft Season; another FanPost Wednesday is upon us, and several fine members are about to be recognized for their stellar recent contributions. Huzzah!

Before moving on, I have to give a shout-out to 2011's FanPoster of the Year, ChiaCrack (now reborn as Archie Barberio). I remember when Chia received his first FPOTW honorable mention, after several months of honing his FanPosts; he gleefully stormed the comments section, as if his pants were on fire. Soon thereafter, he earned his first "Rabbie," and then proceeded to fill his trophy case with them. Now, his fine work will be found on the front page. ArChia's story is that of the American Dream: start at the bottom, work hard, hone your game, and find success. Congrats to the illustrious Mr. Crack (er, Barberio)--and let his story be an inspiration to the rest of you. Crank out some good material, because the front page awaits!

On to this week's awards. The dominant theme in the past fourteen days, much as it was the previous fortnight, has been the "offseason plan." The FanPost pages have been filled to the brim with interesting proposals and strategic takes. Some of the best of these were penned by VAFan, who wrote lucidly on Dallas' offseason priorities; Hank Hill, who offered us two terrific FPs, a slightly tongue-in-cheek piece on draft surprises and a more sober take on the Spencer and Routt situations; Michael Icebone Sisemore's post on draft and free agency is a must-read, as is BlueNSilverBlood's latest "Forward Thinking" installment. Lastly, how could I not mention dacolan's cleverly titled "Its Rabble's Fault"; if I can inspire such intelligent posts, I'll gladly take the blame each and every time!

More FanPost goodness after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

As the Dallas Cowboys try to figure out how to make needed improvements to their defense, one question that just seems to keep getting more important is what to do about OLB Anthony Spencer. While many argue that he is just not giving the team what it needs, others point out that he is quite capable at what he is asked to do and the odds are that whoever replaces him if he leaves will actually be a step backwards. But with free agency rushing towards us like a tree sloth on downers, the chances are growing that his services may be bid up, to the point that the team could have to hang a franchise tag on him to retain his services, using up more valuable cap money than most of us would like.

The main argument against Spencer has been his lack of success getting to the quarterback. Generally, the belief is that he is not helping his teammate across the way, All Pro DeMarcus Ware, enough. The counter argument is that he has a different role in the defense, and if you take a more analytical view at the big picture, you would see that.

But if the issue is how much Anthony is helping DWare, wouldn't it be nice to find out what DWare thinks?

If you haven't guessed by now, he discussed just that, as reported by Brandon George of the Dallas Morning News.

What he said, and a few other things, after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

As we get closer and closer to the onset of the new NFL season, it becomes clear how difficult the road ahead will be to traverse for Jason Garrett, Stephen Jones and the Dallas Cowboys. The Scouting Combine gets underway today, and the drills to come in the next couple of days will probably be used to finalize the order of the hundreds of prospects that Dallas has on their big board. Free agency kicks off in earnest two weeks after, and the slow grind to improving the franchise begins.

One of the leading areas where the Cowboys need improvement is the secondary; that's no secret. Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick are penciled in as the starters for 2012 and the Cowboys will need to bring in at least three bodies to supplement the cornerback position. They could go in a multitude of directions; big ticket free agent, draft picks from any of seven rounds or inexpensive vet. None would be surprising. About the only move the Cowboys could make that would shock people would be if they didn't release veteran Terence Newman.

When the Oakland Raiders released Stanford Routt, he was quickly connected to the Cowboys under false pretenses. He has now signed with the Kansas City Chiefs, which led to this "domino chain" wonderment from ESPN's Dan Graziano.

The Cowboys had some interest in cornerback Stanford Routt, but not as much as some other teams did, and Routt signed Monday with the Chiefs. What this means, however, is that the Chiefs are likely to let talented 25-year-old cornerback Brandon Carr leave via free agency, and that adds Carr to the mix of available cornerbacks for the Cowboys to target. Carr is better than Routt, but with star wide receiver Dwayne Bowe still to worry about, the Chiefs appear to have decided to go with a cheaper option.

I'm on the fence between Carr and Falcons FA Brent Grimes. I like both players a lot and want one to have a star on his helmet. The question is whether or not Dallas would enter, or win, a bidding war for either. Even as Dallas has $20 million in cap space, there are plenty of other teams that have more, and Dallas has multiple holes to fill, as Rabble pointed out.

Are they going to use up 40-50% of their 2012 cap space on one player?

To me, that's a question of long-term philosophy, and it might just differ from conventional wisdom.

Follow the jump to see why, and get more of the latest in Cowboys news.

Continue reading this post »

The big event of the month begins tomorrow. The 2012 NFL Combine will kick off and will run through the 28th. There are three very important parts of the combine - the weigh in, the drills and the interview process. The combine provides us with true height and weight measurements. Schools tend to alter the height and weight numbers in their favor so the combine is great for getting a prospects true size. The weigh in process at the beginning of the combine can be the most boring part of the event, but it is still an important part of the process that every NFL team will pay attention close attention to.

For the past few months, we have debated the Cowboys draft needs. Cornerback, safety, pass rusher, defensive line and offensive line look like our most pressing needs. With all of those needs on our minds, we should then shift our focus to certain areas during the combine.

Below is my latest Top 50 Big Board and break-downs by position group. After that, we'll take a look at how some of the drills relate to specific positions.

Make the jump...

Continue reading this post »

Hey BTB community,

We've been looking to add a new voice to the front-page. So after talking it over with the staff of writers, we decided there was one guy that deserved a spot at BTB. You guys know him, he's been filling up the FanPosts for over a year, and he can't get enough of the NFL draft. The blogger formerly known as ChiaCrack will now be posting to the front page under his real name, Archie Barberio.

Archie will continue to provide the great analysis of the draft that he's been doing in the FanPosts, but he'll also be adding other subjects to his arsenal of stories. So welcome aboard, Archie!

Make the jump to read Archie's introduction post.

In addition, I'm considering adding another writer. So if you're interested, send me an email to btbnationwide at gmail.com. But only send it if you can write at least 4-5 articles every week, think you have good command of the English language, and have a personality that can take criticism from the rest of the community. Also, being a regular contributor in FanPosts or somewhere on the web really helps.

Continue reading this post »

Mock draft season is at its pre-Combine peak, and the draftniks across the country are scrambling to get their last mocks up before the Combine opens its doors later this week.

SBNation's Ryan Van Bibber got in on the action early yesterday and updated his 2012 NFL Mock Draft, just in time before the Combine shakes up these rankings with 40-yard times, bench press results and 3-cone drills.

For the Cowboys, not much has changed. Van Bibber has the Cowboys selecting Alabama CB Dre Kirkpatrick for the third time in four weeks:

The Cowboys who really need help in the secondary. This pick will depend on what they do in free agency, where Brent Grimes, Cortland Finnegan and Brandon Carr could also provide a fix. Kirkpatrick matches up well against bigger, physical receivers, which could come in handy against Dallas' division rivals in New York.

Continue reading this post »