Earlier this month, in another look at the Cowboys' offseason plan, I noted Jason Garrett's optimal talent acquisition strategy: use free agency to cover all the team's "must haves" so that they are freed from having to target (and reach for) a player at a specific position in the draft. In a perfect world, Garrett noted, the Cowboys would "draft without needs." Indeed, this is what the top organizations have been doing for some time now, since they began to figure out the salary cap universe's financial nuances.

More recently, as KD reported, Jerry Jones seems to be echoing Garrett's sentiment. Jones noted that if the team was to pinpoint a player it wouldn't happen during the draft - where they would pursue a "best player available" strategy - but in free agency. This strategy makes tremendous sense. The draft is a living, protean entity; trying to target a specific player beyond the first three or four picks is a suicidal endeavor. Free agency, on the other hand, allows you to target a guy--and to get him, if you're willing to spend the right amount of cash.

On a side note, Jones is influenced strongly by his coaches' philosophies--when they actually have a clear, global plan. For years after Jimmy Johnson's departure, he continued to parrot elements of Jimmy's coaching mantra, even as it became more corrupt. If you'll remember, one of the things he loved to say was that he's a "risk-taker." That's pure Johnson. After he hired Bill Parcells, Jones began to incorporate snippets of Billspeak into his interviews. Now, we have evidence of his taking on the RHG's mantra, which can only be a good thing. If Garrett's long-view thinking can begin to influence personnel decisions, the Cowboys will get draft more consistently - making fewer bad free agent reaches as a result - and will improve their personnel. Which is important, as there's a lot of overhauling to be done.

See what needs to be done after the jump...

Continue reading this post »

How would I attempt to fix the Dallas Cowboys?

Isn't that the question that we all pretty much have in our heads as we discuss the 2012 offseason? We all have varying levels of expertise and knowledge on certain subjects. Whether real or perceived, our hubris as people combined with our familiarity and passion for the team lead us all to believe we have some semblance of a fix for what ails this franchise. Mostly, this comes out in our comments in bit pieces and fragments, as certain subjects are discussed. I figured, with the onset of the new league year less than four weeks away, I might as well get a jump on sharing my views on the topic in their totality.

I'm no subject matter expert, and I realize that there will be some different opinions as equal, or more valid, than my own. This is simply my view; the moves that if the Cowboys front office made them, I'd sit back and say "that's exactly how I would've done it, let's get to September!"

The first order of business would be deciding which of our own in-house talent needs to stay, and which need to be shown the door. You have to handle your own business first, because you pretty much know what you have in those chess pieces. Especially how they fit into your specific strategy.

For now, here's how I'd handle our internal free agents. I'm waving goodbye to several players for various reasons. Terence Newman is obviously gone in my book. The other two main names here will be TE Martellus Bennett and OLB Anthony Spencer. Too much promise, not enough production for my tastes. I don't think there's any way I would pay Spencer what he can get on the open market, but if Bennett realizes his value as a blocking tight end only, there may be a two-year contract available for him at the end of this exercise.

Also gone would be QB Chris Griesen, P Mat McBriar (can't wait to find out your status), WR Kevin Ogletree, RB Sammy Morris, CB's Alan Ball and Frank Walker, and ILB's Keith Brooking and Bradie James. McB and Bradie are the most sentimental releases, but this is a business, folks.

Follow the jump for much more...

Continue reading this post »

One of the standard plot devices in horror movies, especially the slasher sub-genre, is the villain/monster/exaggerated parody bad guy who will not die. You know, you club him, stab him 50 or 60 times, set him on fire, pump a couple of dozen .45 rounds into his chest, and bury him, and there he is fifteen minutes later, popping up and killing another disposable cast member. You just cannot get this guy to go away.

There are some ideas that are just like that. Someone will always drag the idea up and put it out there - again. Fans of the Dallas Cowboys have to deal with the same kinds of thoughts, ideas that should have long ago died a natural and merciful death, but that keep dragging themselves up and striking terror into the hearts of some of us.

Like the idea floated in the Dallas Morning News (as it has been so often before in a variety of places) that someone involved with the Cowboys may be interested in signing Randy Moss.

The chances of the Cowboys attempting to sign Randy Moss seems highly unlikely, maybe even close to impossible. Receiver is one of the few areas the franchise doesn't need an upgrade and re-signing Laurent Robinson should be a higher priority than adding a receiver that turned 35 on Monday.

But with Jerry Jones running the show you never really know.

Where are my wooden stakes and thermonuclear weapons when I really need them?

More blood curdling details after the jump.

Continue reading this post »

It has been a long time for Dallas Cowboys fans since the powerhouse team that won three Super Bowls in the Nineties. The one constant from both those glory days and the drought that has parched hopes since has been owner and General Manager Jerry Jones. He is the target of many slings and arrows, and he often does as much as he can to make himself a bigger target.

There are more than a few fans who frequent BTB that believe with all their hearts that the Cowboys will never see success again as long as Jerruh is still wearing the GM hat. Others think that the problem has been that he has never found the right head coach to work with since he and Jimmy Johnson parted ways, and we see signs of hope that at last he has found a replacement for the other JJ in Jason Garrett.

It is a good topic to discuss. We all have opinions, and love to express them. And sometimes there are other voices out there who offer their take on things. Like this.

"I think Jason Garrett and Jerry Jones are going to continue to develop a relationship that's going to make a difference here."

A lot of people, including me, have said things like that. A lot of people think we are somewhat foolish to think something like that. But when that is a quote from arguably the greatest Cowboy player ever to wear the star, Roger Staubach, then maybe we optimists are not totally delusional.

You know what to do . . .

Continue reading this post »

There's a question that's been brewing in my head for a while. If the Cowboys max out on their projected cap space, how will that affect the future of the team?

I'm no salary cap expert, I don't even play one on the internet; as tempting as that can be. I know the basics, how a signing bonus gets prorated over the life of the contract to calculate the cap impact for each year of the deal; as well as how the bonuses get accelerated for a cut player depending on when they get released. I do have some semblance of a base. I have a spreadsheet that lists the majority of last year's cap numbers before August's purge; but that does nothing more for me than put a visual to the well traveled report that Dallas could be playing with $20 million in free agency. I'll give you three guesses who helped me with the spreadsheet and the first two don't count.

Now, I've seen in several places that the expected 2012 cap is going to be around $125 million. The $20 million being bandied about for Dallas to play with is contingent on their release of Terence Newman, which would save them about $6 million off the cap this year, and put $4 million in dead money on the 2013 cap.

But outside of that, Dallas seems to be sitting pretty moving forward.

The Cowboys currently have 23 players under contract for 2013 (according to rotoworld.com), and that includes Newman. Not only that, but the heavy hitters on the payroll, the players commanding the most dollars, are signed for the next few years. Dallas could easily augment its roster with a splashy vet or two, and still be able to extend their own guys or dabble in the market again the following year.

Follow the jump to see the roll call.

Continue reading this post »

Now that the NFL season officially over, you'll be seeing a lot of season reviews, position reviews and player performance reviews popping up everywhere. One such review is published by our good friends from Pro Football Focus, who have just released their take on Trending Players in the NFC East.

In the article, PFF identify the most improved Cowboys player, the player most deserving of more snaps and the most disappointing player of 2011. This is the second time PFF have published such a season review, last year they released their list of "Movers and Fallers". In last year's version, Gerald Sensabaugh was the most improved player, Mike Jenkins was the most disappointing and Sean Lee was deemed the player most deserving of more snaps.

After the break, find out who PFF rate as the trending players for 2012.

Continue reading this post »

There is a widely held belief, particularly among fantasy football players, that many NFL receivers do not 'break out' until their third year in the league. While this belief has no statistical merit, there may be some truth to the underlying assumption.

The logic behind the third-year theory is that many young players need at least two years to develop. They need the time to learn how to hone their craft, understand the playbooks and develop physically and mentally. On paper, this would be particularly true of late-round draft picks or undrafted free agents who join teams when they are usually much less ready to play at an NFL level than their first or second round counterparts.

Here's a look at some later round picks and UDFAs on the current Cowboys roster and when they had their 'break outs' as measured by number of starts per season:

Young players are mercurial. They can improve suddenly. But they often need time to realize their full potential. After the break, we look at the class of 2010 and try to figure out if the Cowboys can expect any 'break outs' from the players entering their third year in the league.

Continue reading this post »

A very non-comprehensive look at some things that caught my eye when looking for news about the Dallas Cowboys.

DeMarco Murray describes his ankle rehab as "ahead of schedule" in an article from the Dallas Morning News. That is something that's good to see. He also goes on to talk a little bit about what the team needs to do to improve in 2012.

"Just finishing," Murray said. "We were a young team this year. We had a lot of young guys, offensively and defensively. Just missing OTAs and all that extra stuff with a new coaching staff. We're looking forward to this training camp, having a full season under our belt. Like I said, there's a lot of great things in the near future for the Dallas Cowboys. We're excited about the team we have."

The part about finishing is pretty insightful. Which is another way of saying I agree with him. Everyone knows about the lost leads throughout the season. I wonder about how much those first three losses got inside the team's collective head and affected things the rest of the way, above and beyond the missed opportunities that turned out to be so crucial at the end.

And I really hope his attitude is shared. While some areas are going to have to have some new blood to improve (like the secondary), I think there is also a lot of undeveloped talent on the team. Not necessarily superstars, but players that can bring a much improved game to the field after the off season. Frankly, there is not enough cap space or draft choices to take care of every problem that the team had last year, so some of the solution has to come from within.

More . . .

Continue reading this post »