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Nguyen to retire soon

Thank goodness for Jerry Jones. Seriously. When Mr. Jones isn't hanging out in his 12-person hot tub shaped like Texas Stadium, he's giving us something to write about. Bill Parcells is a great quote at his press conferences, but the Sphinx says more than the Tuna in the offseason. So what's the news from Mr. Jones in Mobile?

According to the DFW Star-Telegram, Mr. Jones says that Dat Nguyen will retire, possibly in the next few days. A sad day for Cowboys fans when that happens even though we knew it was coming. Nguyen was quality, a quality player and a quality person. Undersized but never out-gunned, Nguyen was a tackling machine who ran the defense. The Cowboys need to replace him this offseason because Ryan Fowler and Scott Shanle are situational guys and special teams contributors. The defense needs an inside book-end for Bradie James with size to take on linemen. That player may be Kevin Burnett, who the Cowboys were considering moving to the inside before he got hurt.

Speaking of defense, Jones also said he expects Greg Ellis to be with the Cowboys for a long time. I'm still not sure I'm buying that. Ellis seems pretty unhappy in the 3-4 scheme and with losing his starting job to Chris Canty. Ellis is a productive player who could help a team that runs the 4-3, an attractive piece of trade bait. I smell draft picks for Ellis in Dallas' future.

JJT drops these tidbits in his latest article.

The Cowboys have spoken to representatives for free-agent linebacker Scott Fujita and center Andre Gurode, an indication they would like to re-sign both players. ... The Cowboys are considering shifting tight ends coach Paul Pasqualoni to linebackers, where he would replace Gary Gibbs, New Orleans' new coordinator. Pasqualoni's expertise is on defense, linebackers in particular.

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