The NFL owners meeting is underway, so there is league wide news of interest, as well as some standard fare of Dallas Cowboys specific articles.
Roger Goodell on Chris Borland, playoff expansion, NFL in Los Angeles | The MMQB with Peter King
King addresses the travails that Roger Goodell has faced as the commissioner of the league. You wonder why the guy puts up with it all sometimes. I guess he has 44 million reasons, though.
Roger Goodell's season from Hades is over, and don't expect him to share many memories of the nightmare. I tried the other day, and got nowhere. The 56-year-old Goodell preferred to elaborate on where the league is going, not where it's been. On the eve of this week's annual NFL meetings, the commissioner defended the work the league has done to repair the NFL's broken domestic-violence policies and said he didn't think the Chris Borland retirement would prompt a line out the door at all levels of football.
Todd Jones, former ATF director, to join NFL as conduct czar - ESPN Dallas
The league has hired a couple of heavy hitters to try and convince everyone that it now has a handle on the domestic violence issue. The delay in announcing the decision on the Greg Hardy suspension may have been to get them involved.
Roger Goodell has informed NFL owners that Todd Jones, the former director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, will soon join the league as special counsel for conduct, a league source confirmed to ESPN.
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Lisa Friel, a former New York District Attorney's office sex crimes prosecutor, was also named NFL special counsel for investigations.
NFL tweaks catch rule, says Dez Bryant still didn't catch ball - CBSSports.com
We have been beating the Hardy horse to death, so here is an old one to beat in its place. The people involved in this tweak, like St. Louis Rams head coach Jeff Fisher, think it really clarifies things. You be the judge.
So instead of needing to make a "football move" to qualify oneself as a runner in the field of play, the receiver must "clearly establish himself as a runner."
In other words, the goal is to make it a simple deduction whether or not someone has made a particular kind of move to establish themselves as having possession.
Dallas Cowboys' emphasis on possible rule changes - ESPN
The prolific Todd Archer sifts through the suggested rules changes and focuses on the ones that will most affect the Cowboys if adopted. The extra point ideas are, well, a bit different.
The Patriots have proposed to make all point-after attempts from the 15 yard line or what be a 32-yard kick. Last year 99.3 percent of the point-after kicks were successful, so the idea is to make the attempt a little more difficult.
Dan Bailey made six of his seven field goal attempts between 30-39 yards and has made 38-of-40 attempts in his career. He has never missed a kick from inside 35 yards in his career.
The Indianapolis Colts have proposed giving a team a chance at a 1-point pick on a 50-yard try if they make a 2-point conversion for a nine-point possession. Way too weird, no?
NFL to end local TV blackouts for one year - CBS News
Now to get over the whole "local team" thing and start making it easier and cheaper for the fans to follow their favorite teams no matter where they live.
NFL Considering Hosting 2017 Pro Bowl in Brazil | Robert Littal Presents BlackSportsOnline
I don't know what it says that the first thoughts this put in my head were "beaches", "Travis Frederick", "Zack Martin", and "speedos". I'm still feeling a bit queasy.
Former Cowboys Felix Jones, Michael Sam underwhelm at NFL's veteran combine | Dallas Morning News
Basically, the first ever veteran's combine proved that there are very good reasons why these players are currently out of the league.
On to more traditional Cowboys-type articles.
Cowboys Won’t Enter Adrian Peterson Sweepstakes " CBS Dallas / Fort Worth
Some things are just a matter of logic, really.
The Cowboys won't be pursuing a trade for Vikings superstar Adrian Peterson, two sources tell 105.3 The Fan, citing among the reasons the team's more disciplined approach to spending at the running back position and the running back depth in the upcoming NFL Draft.
Brandon Carr Won't Take Pay Cut | Robert Littal Presents BlackSportsOnline
This is based on a statement from his agent. And this is probably as good a response as any.
Carr's agent says he'll be playing for full $8m in 2015. To that I leave you with this #CowboysNation #NFL #Cowboys pic.twitter.com/FW0Vb8cbXm
— Michael Sisemore (@MrSisemore) March 23, 2015
The draft must be getting close, because Bob Sturm is dropping a lot of draft evals.
Overall, in Erving, you have a versatile player who might be able to play anywhere on your offensive line in spurts, but I highly recommend you keep him at center because that one move turned his situation into a near lost cause into one of the more interesting and desirable OL prospects in this draft.
Bob Sturm’s 2015 NFL Draft profile: What I see in La’el Collins, T/G, LSU | Dallas Morning News
Overall, I think Collins is a very nice prospect and i would have to think about where I would rank him relative to the Stanford prospect Andrus Peat. Given his size, I am sure more would err on the side of the 6'7 Peat, but I think I like Collins as a versatile player a bit more. The question remains whether it is prudent to put a 1st round pick on an offensive guard. I realize Martin was excellent last season, but given the job Larry Warford, Trae Turner, Gabe Jackson, and Brandon Linder all have done (all 3rd round picks), I still am of the mind that unless you think a prospect is a tackle, you don't need to over-invest in interior linemen at the top.
2015 NFL Draft: Top 10 Position Changing Prospects
Coincidentally, both Erving and Collins make this list, along with players that may be interesting to Dallas like Shaq Thompson and Eric Rowe.
Eric Rowe has bounced between positions throughout his college career, playing cornerback, free safety and strong safety. With most of his first three years playing free safety, and at a very high level, the expectation is that Rowe will revert back to his safety position after getting 9 starts at cornerback as a senior.
Dallas Cowboys' free agency needs remain - ESPN Dallas
One position where the team still could use some more resources is at safety, but in the current market, the best options Todd Archer can come up with are some familiar names.
No, not a starter, despite the wish of many fans who want to see the Cowboys upgrade over Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox. This is more about a special teams' role. C.J. Spillman handled the spot last year after he was signed at the start of last season and did a quality job. He remains unsigned and could be back.
He has a fan in special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia. He knows the special teams and defensive schemes, which is a plus, and he won't cost a lot. Another possibility is former Cowboy Danny McCray, who played for the Chicago Bears last year. He would be a core special teamer and, like Spillman, come at a good price.
I'm just gonna drop these two links here for fun. The titles tell you aout all you need to know.
Eagles' Chip Kelly has always been a fan of Tim Tebow - NFL.com
If you have had all the Greg Hardy news you need or want for now, then you can stop reading. However, the rest of the media is still all about the story, so the following links are provided in the interest of completeness. But there won't be any quotes so you don't have to read anything you don't want to.
It appears that the team made a deliberate calculation in having the top female executive on the team give the first interview on the situation.
Jerry Jones also stresses that the team can get out the deal at any instant.
Is Cowboys' Greg Hardy Jason Garrett's kind of guy? - ESPN Dallas
The article is more balanced than some, taking a look at what Garrett means by "right kind of guy" and what he doesn't.
And the head coach answers the question in the affirmative.
Troy Aikman and Daryl Johnston both address the signing, and both get the reactions of people on both sides of the issue.
Shots fired?
And maybe some shots of his own from the man at the heart of it all.