Which Top Free Agents Are Truly Free?

Dallas has to fix the offensive line, with that said, it is not in a due or die situation to sign a top offensive right tackle…which leads me to feel that the Cowboys well could be in a real bidding war for the services for LeCharles Bentley…and to afford him, La’Roi Glover well could be allowed to be waived. The signing of Bentley and the resigning of Andres Gurode, would immediately give the offensive line’s interior a much more stable look…

At offensive tackle, a lower tier player, who projects for a strong five years could then be brought in, like Green Bay’s Kevin Barry or New England’s Tom Ashworth…let’s say Ashworth, who could immediately start at right tackle and push Pettiti in the meantime…

With the probably departures of both Singleton and Dat Nguyen, there is a cap savings of about $4M…so I would here make a real attempt at the signing of Akin Ayodele…bringing in a defininte veteran upgrade to the run defense, and pass rush…

Next, I would bring in Corey Chavous and add a real secondary quarterback, who in his own right, has quite an ability to defend in the process…his presence in knowledge and experience would pay huge dividends, when with Aaron Glenn, not much would ‘sneak’ by during crunch times…

Since we are still talking about minimal cap hits also, I would then grab one of the top three kickers…starting at the top with Adam Vinatieri…

and to add an additional advantage to the running game, not having to misplay in short yardage/goal line situations, I would then add a fullback, such as Mack Strong, or even farther down on the list, someone who murders linebackers and still has some offensive punch also…

With one top dollar free agent, and a whole list of ‘economical’ veterans, the Cowboys could thus improve their roster as follows:

C/OG LeCharles Bentley
OT Tom Ashworth
OLB/DE Akin Ayodele
FS Corey Chavous
FB Mack Strong
K Adam Venatieri

The interior of the linebackers could still use an upgrade, but qualitiy there would have to be sought via the draft….probably…

I realize Abraham is a long shot and would cost a mint…but if there is one player I would like to see the team bet those kind of resources on it is Abraham. I’m not yet sure he will be franchised, because unless the Jets can restructure or cut other deals (Pennington)…even his franchise tender would be rejected by the league office. Our defense would have to be the top in the league with him on the team…no matter what formation they lined up in. I can’t think of one that could challenge it, even Chicago.

Bentley should be looked at also. I have been saying that since a few days after the Rams game. He’d be an outstanding pickup, IMO. That is a lot of money to tie up in a Center though. He might possibly be the best potential star FA the Cowboys could pursue though, given AJ’s inconsistency.

I hate to say it, but honestly, the best route would be to get Venatieri, Chavous, and Ayodele to fill those holes in FA, and try to get a RT, OLB, Center, and FB with their 4 draft picks. Not as exciting from a fan perspective, but a better all around offseason with new blood at key positions, veteran leaders on the young Defense, and less coronaries in the Kicking game. I’d be happy with that and think the rest of the team is good enough to gel together around those acquistions and the superior coaching to be a contender.

Great site and I pretty much agree with each of the comments in the main article regarding the top 20 FAs.

I disagree about Robert Mathis though. I think he’s built perfectly for a 3-4 LB role and largely out of place in the current Dungy 4-3 (though still extremely productive).

He’s a 6-2/240 dominant pass rusher who’s nimble enough for coverage. I see a huge future once he gets out of Indy. Not comparable to Kampman, who is good too, but is strictly a traditional 4-3 end. I’d compare him much more to a Joey Porter or Rosevelt Colvin.

Mathis is restricted unfortunately. However, maybe a Glover + 1st Rd pick for a Mathis + 1st Rd pick trade would be a good match for both teams. Indy significantly boosts their DT spot with a Pro Bowl tackle suited for turf and the 4-3, and gets more vet leadership on D, plus a higher 1st. Dallas adds a physical 24-yr old pass rushing demon to bookend at OLB with Ware for the next 5-7 years.

Jamal Lewis isn’t old for his position, he turns 27 in August. He just sucks.

Oh yeah, he can’t pass block to save his life…another thing Parcells hates.

My suggestion would be in FA:

Chavous – Improves secondary and special teams play (moves Davis to full time ST unit)

Bentley – Can play both guard and center and I think is more valuable than Hutchinson because of that. Put him at guard and cut either Allen or Rivera.

Nedney – Was 2nd in FG % from 30-49 yards last year (compared to Dallas finishing dead last). Has kicked well over the years in rough conditions (SF, and on grass) and has the strongest leg of any of the kickers available.

Anthony Clement – A not too expensive option at Tackle who can play both tackle spots. I don’t think he’ll be guaranteed a starting spot for any team in the league and could provide competition at the RT position.

DRAFT

Offensive Tackle – Provided either McNeill or Scott are available. They need dramatic upgrade at tackle and will need to find a LT for the future to eventually replace Flozell (whom I think if Dallas can find a good LT and move Flozell to RT, they’d be dramatically improved)

LOLB – You can find plenty of undersized DE’s to play 3-4 OLB in the second round. Fujita’s coverage was pretty poor last year and by getting a former DE, you’re likely going to find a much better pass rusher and run stopper with not much of a trade off in pass coverage.

Nose Guard – Glover will be cut, Ferguson turns 32 years old, and while I like Pepper Johnson, he’s a bit undersized at 295-300 lb range. Dallas run defense up the middle stunk last year. Part of it had to do with the weakside ILB, Fujita, and Spears’ learning curve to being injured.

WR/PR – Crayton was the second worst punt returner last year. Can’t afford to keep having Newman as your only threat at PR. Also need a speedy WR to eventually replace Terry Glenn.

Why is Ashworth not in the top Fifty?

Poke

Yakuza Rich,

Lewis isn’t old in people years but he came out when he was 20, I believe. He’s old in RB years. Plus he’s had TWO ACL surgeries.

We should sign Bentley, Ayodele, Ashworth, and Longwell(cheaper than Venatieri). Either Will Demps, Corey Chavous, or Chris Hope.
Sam.Iam
I agree that Robert Mathis could be a great pass rushing OLB. Ayodele would be better against the run and could play ILB as well. Robert Mathis would be much easier to get than John Abraham. Maybe we could get both Ayodele and Mathis. Mathis has a tone of potential to be great OLB in the 3-4. Another guy I would love to see play for us next year is Eddie Drummond. He would give us one of the top young return men in the league.
Draft OT(Marcus Mcneil fits with our style of OL),FS(Anthony Smith),NT,G( Max Jean-Gilles),TE,WR,FB(Garette Mills). If Vernon Davis is on the board at 18 we take him.
I have talked about drafting Santonio Holmes in the past because if Glenn goes down it could totaly screw up the passing game. Maybe we could get more value at WR in round 3 or 4(deep threat).
Our Team could look like this.
QB- Bledsoe, Romo
RB- Jones, Barber
FB- Garette Mills
TE- Witten
LT- Flo
LG- Gilles(Allen will be cut)
C- Bentley
RG- Riveira
RT- Ashworth or Mcneil
WR- Glenn, Johnson, Crayton, 4th rounder, Drummond
RE- Canty, Ellis
NT- Ferguson
LE- Spears
ROLB- Ware, Burnette
ILB- James, Ayodele, Burnette
LOLB- Mathis, Ayodele,Burnette
CB- Newman, Henry, Glenn, Reeves
SS- Williams, Beriault
FS- Chavous, Anthony Smith
K- Longwell
KR- Drummond, Thompson
PR- Drummond
P- McBriar

I haven’t seen Mathis do anything but blitz but if he does have decent pass coverage skills, a Glover/Mathis trade would help both teams. Mathis piles up the stats but doesn’t he only play on third downs? He and Dwight Freeney are completely overrated…I’d take Strahan and Osi anyday even though they’re Giants because they can play the run too.

If Rivera is back 100% next year (or close to it), our O-line isn’t all that bad. RT definitely needs to be upgraded no matter what but I’d prefer Ashworth or a draft pick over Runyan which would probably make our O-line one of the oldest in the league.

And hey Raf, I now think Peter King sucks too. I realized it when he bragged about having taken 12 shots of Jack Daniels. I couldn’t care less.

blee
If Mathis shows he can’t stop the run or cover(yet) we put Burnette or Fowler inside and move Ayodele outside.

Oh and I say go after that Saints C simply because this doesn’t happen often. The Steve Hutchinsons of the world usually get resigned or franchised (but not in Madden 2006…haha, I have a monster O-line there).

Isn’t it possible we might go after Ko Simpson in the draft? Surprised no one’s talking about him but I think he’s a CB converted to Safety so that tells you something about his speed…

You think Witten will feel slighted if we draft that Vernon Davis guy? Still we run plently of two TE sets…and with Davis’s speed, it’ll be like running a regular 3 WR set or whatever. I noticed Witten lined up a few times a FB last year. Was he any good? Maybe he could play FB and catch passes out of the backfield?? Just a thought.

If we get good OT, FS, OLB, K, then I think we’ll be a monster team next season. Roy is a beast.

I’ve heard comparisons between Ko Simpson and Darren Sharper if he is that good in coverage we should take him.

With the rumor talk that Ellis is going to stay with the team it looks like we will be playing plenty or 3-4,4-3 and 4-2 nickel. Which makes FA that much more interesting. In this case trying to go for a guy like Abraham is pointless. in our 4-2 nickel you would be leaving out either Ware,Ellis,or Abraham. Now since we wouldn’t go for Abraham Ayodele seems like a perfect fit. He could play in all of our schemes and we could still keep Ellis and Ware on the field.
Ellis-Canty-Spears-Ware
Ayodele-James and well you know our DB’s.
Now by keeping Ellis since he doesn’t have a huge contract for a DE we could pursue a guy like Bentley along with a mid priced RT like Ashworth. Not only that but we would find our FS as well in Chaveous since the S position doesn’t cost alot anyway. As for K we should stay away from the likes of Vinateri/Vanderjagt/Janikowski. The K we should be interested are the next tier. There is little drop off in talent but not nearly as expensive. Guys like Longwell/Nedney/Bryant. Interesting thin about Bryant is that he was in our training camp in 2004 but got injured so he got cut, but Parcells actually liked the guy and he’s a career 81% on field goals and he’s good on kickoffs. And for those of you who say we need an upgrade in our FB position then guys like Strong/Richardson/Henderson do not need to come to this team. These guys are up there in age and would ask for more money then some of these younger guys which have just as much talent. Beasely/Evans/Johnson but he’s a restricted FA. Personally i don’t think Polite is all that bad and he will probably improve in his 3rd year not to mention Parcells doesn’t use a FB alot. For the draft rounds 2,3,4 if we can get one,5,6,7 should all be picks to be groomed for next year. I would even use pick 18 on a position that isn’t of imidiate need like T/OLB/FS/DT. Even though i would love to see Carpenter/Huff/Simpson/Ngota/Mcneil be drafted with our 18th pick we should really consider a WR with our first pick. Even though the talent isn’t the greatest we’ve seen recently at the WR position a guy like Santonio Holmes can have an impact on this team. I know we have our starters in Keyshawn/Glenn and Crayton is also there what does happen if Glenn goes down our speed is gone and we then have a big drop off in talent. Our WR aren’t getting younger in particular Keyshawn but Glenn had a lucky year in that he stayed healthy the whole year. If any of our WR go down then we still have Holmes plus at least next year We would be drafting WR when we wanted to instead of because we need to. Holmes may not be a #1 reciever but do you see a #1 reciever on this team. I don’t i see very good #2 recievers. If Keyshawn is let go next year then we would still have Glenn Holmes and Crayton would take over for Keyshawn’s responsibilities. sorry i went a bit longwinded there.

Raf,

You were right to tout Wahle. He would have been the better pick up. Bently sounds good. If Rivera and Flo are healthy……and we can find a RT also…….we might be onto something. Good point about the lack of even mediocre play. I still think continuity and coaching goes a long way along the offensive line and I am not sure how much of either there was last year.

At 32 is Runyan really all that old in Offensive Line years? Usually these guys have the longer careers. Of course who knows JJ may not want another older acquisition after the Rivera experience.

I wish there was better WR this year. What if we drafted Vernon Davis to play WR.

to, to, to, to

lilbeast,

I think you’re reading too much into Ellis’ agent’s statement. EVERY SINGLE MOVE Parcells made last year was to go 3-4. Do you seriously think he’s going to stop, when the job is not yet completed, simply to put some salve on Ellis’ fragile ego? I doubt it.

I see his agent trying to make lemons out of lemonade. Dallas wants to keep Ellis, but since he has four years left on his deal, he has no leveage to dictate playing time.

Fighter15,

No TO, No TO, No TO, No TO

LOL

Screw TO

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

draft holms