The 2004 Draft saw us pick up Julius Jones, Jacques Reeves and Patrick Crayton. Pretty good draft right?

Clarence E. Hill doesn’t think so.

Julius Jones, Jacob Rogers, Stephen Peterman, Bruce Thornton, Sean Ryan and Jacques Reeves are no longer with the team... So that leaves Crayton, a seventh round pick from Northwest Oklahoma State who has developed into a starter opposite Terrell Owens.

Remind me again why Bill Parcells is considered such a good drafter. His history with the Cowboys suggests otherwise.

Ouch. That’s just hurtful. I wouldn’t be so harsh, man. You find three starters in any draft and I think that’s a pretty good one.

I would say Billy P is a good drafter because he drafted damn near all of our impact players – D. Ware, Marion Barber, T-Newman. Jeff Ireland certainly had a big part in that as well. He also cut Quincy Carter (awesome decision) and kept this dude named Tony Romo (even better decision), who I heard is pretty good. My point is, it was ultimately his call and time after time Parcells made the right decision. Don't see how you could deny that.
 

Javon Walker. DeAngelo Hall. Nnamdi Asomugha. The Raiders have several players we were salivating over. They threw money at Hall and Walker. Asomugha was never available although there was speculation he might be.

ESPN’s John Clayton speaks about the cost of acquiring and keeping these players.

Al Davis likes to talk about the Raiders' commitment to excellence. This offseason, the world is wondering if he's committed to debt.

The pending DeAngelo Hall trade, which won't be completed until Hall agrees to an Asante Samuel-like contract, is Davis' latest venture into a wild spending spree. He gave safety Gibril Wilson a six-year, $39 million contract. Defensive tackle Tommy Kelly received a seven-year, $52.5 million deal. Offensive tackle Kwame Harris moved across the bay from the 49ers for a three-year, $14 million deal. Wide receiver Javon Walker caught a six-year, $55 million pass.

This is the cost of jumping head first in free agency. Jerry Jones was wise to NOT heed my advice and blow money just for the sake of doing it. Of course we didn't have the money under the cap in the first place. But we could've panicked. I'm glad we didn't.

Nice to see Bobby Carpenter has something to fall back on. He’s featured in Karli Whetstone’s video "Hey Cowboy" and the camera follows him as he does cool manly stuff. He’s the archetype Cowboy – bailin’ hay, big Cowboy hat, stone Cowboy stare. Who knew Captain Caveman was popular with the lady folk.

I’m trying to think of something witty to say, but seriously, I’m just glad I get to see him doing something besides running down the field to cover a kickoff return.  

Troy Aikman is on the ballot for the National Football Foundation and College Hall of Fame.

Cool. So cool.

He's already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame so he just decided to round out the resume.

With the upcoming draft and free agency rounding out, now is the time to talk about something of substance: Tony Romo and Jessica Simpson.

Yup. The ditzy blond and harbinger of bad luck is back. She was recently seen with Romo at a Mavs-Lakers game. The Mavs promptly loss.

I write this post not to sensationalize the relationship. That’s already happened.

I write this post because I’ve come to this conclusion: she’s not going anywhere so we better get used to her.

Apparently, regardless of what we think, Romo is pretty fond of her. He defended her after the Philly debacle, which was the first time I’ve really seen him upset at the media. He wasn’t pleased with T.O. making jokes about her and T.O. promptly apologized and then sent them on vacation. Romo hung out with her during the bye. Now he shows up at a Mavs game with her.

And you know what? I kinda like that.

It’s pretty ballsy to throw the middle finger to the media and hyper-sensitive fans. This is my girl and I don’t give a damn what you think. It’s a package deal.

And you know what? I’ll take that deal. If she’s what makes him happy, I’m all for it. She’s from Texas. She was probably a Cowboys fan before he was. And contrary to some of the more sleazy things said about her, I think she’s attractive, she isn’t crazy (read: Amy Winehouse) and there’s no pictures of her doing crazy things on the internet (read: Britney Spears).

So now she’s part of the family. Well, lemme backtrack. She’s not part of the family but she’s like the live-in girlfriend of your favorite uncle. So I’ve gotta defend her. Just like I defend Wade Phillips, Jerry Jones, Patrick Crayton and T.O. I’m not going overboard. I’m not buying her albums. But if she wants to come to a game, I’m all for it. We can’t be scared of this so-called "curse of Jessica." Might as well break the curse ASAP. Have her front and center for the opening day game. And then when the ‘Boys win in a rout, maybe the curse will reverse itself. Then next thing you know she’ll be like a good luck charm. Like a big blond rabbit’s foot with Botox. I can see it now. Donovan McNabb drops back at Linc Field and looks up and sees Jessica’s mug on the Jumbotron. Blinded by the pink jersey, he fumbles the ball away right into the hands of D. Ware, who prances into the endzone for six.

So let it be known: TH has got your back Jessica (until my quarterback dumps you, then I’m dropping you like a hot potato). I don’t think you look slutty at all. I would say dignified. Regal even. And your movies aren’t that bad. "Employee of the Month" was funny. You were good in "Dukes of Hazzard." Well, it was good looking at you. But it takes a real actress to pull off the daisy dukes look.

Welcome to the family.