Dallas Cowboys Offseason 2012

I voted that you should be GM. Then again I think a blind chimp would be better than our current GM…

Hahaha, thanks… I think :)

Y’know I did consider Dwight Lowery strongly too and for the reasons you listed (coach connection, versatility)

But I’m not sure how suited Lowery is for CB in our primarily man coverage scheme. Middleton on the other hand has the measurables that we tend to seek when looking for CB’s.

I’m thinking pretty similar: Draft an OG, an OLB (or 2) and a S and CB and we’ve at least given ourselves some solid options all over the team.

That’s coming in my part two. But I still think a veteran presence will be needed and I think Adams is a much better option than Elam. I don’t think we should just role with Sensabaugh, Church and some rookie.

Adams contract will be one that can be easily shredded if need be after 1 season so I think he’d be an inexpensive and handy veteran upgrade for a year or two until a young pushes him out.

Also, I’d like Sensabaugh back at SS and signing Adams does the trick.

I’m finishing up my follow up Draft soon. Although any Draft done before the Combine is sure to look foolish after the Combine!! I’m doing it anyway :)

I think the judicious approach to free agency nets us more long term than one big flashy signing.

Price can be hard to predict. Some of those guys might cost more (Jones?) and some might even be a touch less (Robinson?). I did spend some time looking at other recent contracts so hopefully I’m in the right ballpark.

That dude is around the ball 24/7

Have you seen him play much? I’d be very interested in hearing more of your thoughts and observations if you have! I’m going off mostly reading and stats but the impression I’m getting is he’s got some good hitting in his game.

Yeah, funny too because most of the other guys I considered were AFC as well.

all the others pretty high on my wish list as well

Yep, at this stage of the game there not many new names left to throw around. The handful of obvious guys rise to the top of our collective wish lists. Just thought I’d throw my FA two cents in anyway.

What’s not to like about DeCastro hey?

But I’m actually thinking/hoping that our bigger young guys Josh Brent (6’1" 320) and Sean Lissemore (6’4" 305), both who have showed strength, improvement and promise, can predominantly handle the NT spot this year. That allows Jay Ratliff to spend more time at DE.

I like the idea of having both Ratliff and Jason Jones on the field together as DE’s. I think our DE pass rush would go from poor to great. Those two young guys have got to hold up strong on the Nose for that to work though.

Wimbley was quite disappointing as a 3-4 OLB rusher in Cleveland but has since been very, very good as a 4-3 OLB in Oakland the last 2 years.

I don’t think Wimbley will come cheap though. He has 17 sacks and over 60 qb presses in the last two years. Someone will pay up for him I think.

Roalndo Mcclain, Kamerion Wimbley, Stanford Routt, Michael Huff. I for one have no clue why they’re cutting THOSE guys

Crazy.

I actually went through those scenarios (at least as I understand it) in my post. I don’t know a better way to answer than to just say you should have a read through the first few paragraphs.

Those cap figures may well not be as high as I’ve put them in their first year. I did it that way in an attempt to err on the side of caution but Stephen’s creative magic could see it be even more favorable than I’ve put it.

is a touch older than you’d want for a 5 year deal for sure. But Centers seem to have a longer than average shelf life than almost all other NFL players (and QB’s). Many C’s play their best football in their 30’s. Myers has been great the last two years and looks to at least have 2-3 very good years left in him. If he collapses in year 3 or 4 his contract won’t be unmanageable to offload (especially with the Cap increases coming in 2013-2014).

The Cowboys need to remember that they are effectively rebuilding (while continuing to win some games) and that youth should be a priority.

100% Agree.

but then you don’t consider at all how the FA contracts this year could easily be front-loaded because we have so much dead money coming off our cap in future years

I think you mean the contracts could be back-loaded here, not front-loaded right?

I did consider that but you’re right I didn’t put it in my post. It’s such a hard thing to predict and not every free agent will be willing to play that game. If two teams are offering you contracts and one wants to severely back-load years 3-4 and the other is willing to front-load you a heap of cash the first 2 years most guys will take the sure thing.

So while Dallas can get creative I’m sure it’s not as easy as when they’re restructuring long contracts with safe marquee players with huge signing bonus like Ware, Romo and Witten. The other people competing for your FA target change the game a bit.

I think we just need more solid talent all over the field. One impact player will not significantly help this team in my opinion. If Mario Williams deal pays him $10 to 13 million to me that’s potentially 3 solid players salaries. We’ve got a group of stars but unfortunately several groups full of duds. I want to replace as many duds as I can asap, rather than devoting a mountain of resources to just one star.

I’m all for building up the Oline. Costa struggled mightily and Nagy, Kowalski have a lot to prove. Arkin didn’t even hit the field. So while I’m crossing my fingers in hope for these young guys I think they’ve got a ways to go. That’s why Montrae Holland is a good signing. He played very well last year and should come back cheap (key word cheap). I think Kosier will be a post June 1 Cut. If we sign Myers, resign Holland and draft DeCastro, which I’m all for, there’s not much need for Kosier (and his injury might have finished him anyway). I had Dockery as a scratch already too.

Grabbing Carl Nicks, Chris Myers and Jason Jones completely wipes out our cap space in my opinion. What I’ve done is taken Myers and Jason as impact players but instead of Nicks I’m taking a solid young CB Middleton, a solid young ILB Mays and a veteran FS Adams. Three solid guys for our D about the same pay as one very good guy. These team isn’t one player away we need some quality all over the park.

Why not resign Spencer? There simply isn’t enough money to go around. We can’t resign everyone and then sign Nicks and Myers or Williams and Nicks. There has to be some tough decisions made. As player contracts stand right now this team has massive holes to fill at C, OG, CB, OLB, FS, ILB, WR3 and we’ve got not a lot of money to do it with. This draft seems deep at 3-4 OLB and the Second Round could be a prime spot to land ours. Rookie 3-4 OLB’s have had a lot of success the last few years. On Dallas’ D, with DWare taking the attention, I’m hoping a rookie could make an impact right away (something Spencer rarely seemed to do in 4 years).

I did not know that about Middleton and am disappointed to hear it. I’ll have to look and find a CB alternate.

It does potentially (hopefully) open up the draft for us to take players at spots where it look like the draft is very strong and we have need (OG early and OLB 2nd).

as stargazer said, I did factor that in. The first few paragraphs cover it.

With the amount of quality and depth that appears to be hitting FA this year I wouldn’t be surprised if Spencer does not attract that much attention and may end up returning after April for a good price. I also wouldn’t be surprised if some team with a mountain of cash to spend gave him a $40 million dollar deal! Anything could happen.

I think we’re in a bit of a rebuilding phase and there’s been quite a few successful rookie OLB’s of late so I’m ready to move on with a young player and take the chance. Spencer’s not a bad player, but he’s not an impact player either. At 3-4 OLB I think we need someone who can offer more impact as a pass rusher even if they’re not as strong as Anthony is against the Run.

I agree that our 3-4 DE pass rush (or lack of) has been as big, if not bigger, problem than Spencer. Jason Jones I think could help this team as much as any other FA signing and, as you suggested, could make life easier for whoever plays OLB.

Hopefully this type of FA would let us take the positions of strength in the draft which match up pretty well with our needs too.