Dallas Cowboys News & Notes: Jerry Jones Tells Blake Shelton To "Get Off My Lawn."

Cowboys can't sit still in first round - Mike Fisher, Scout.com
In his weekend collection of odds and ends, Fish points out that you shouldn't over-concern yourself with the No. 27 pick specifically.

In the Jerry Era, 80 percent of the time, the Cowboys trade up or down from their original first-round slot. Eighty percent!

Orlando Scandrick -- I'll Never Leave Dallas ... I Love Being a Cowboy | TMZ.com
What does it tell you about the Cowboys news coverage that we have to resort to "TMZ Sports" to get some "news" about the Cowboys. Anyway, Orlando Scandrick tells TMZ Sports he loves to travel and vacation in Europe, but if it ever came to working there full time, don't count on him.

But Scandrick says if it were up to him, he'd spend the rest of his career in Big D -- telling us he loves everything about the city ... from the fans to the ownership.

2015 NFL Free Agents Update - Rotoworld.com
Evan Silva ranks the 2015 NFL Free Agency class at each position. DeMarco Murray, Dez Bryant, Doug Free, Rolando McClain, Justin Durant, Bruce Carter, and even Tyler Clutts rank among the top six at their respective positions.

Eight teams to watch as we approach the NFL franchise tag deadline - CBSSports.com
Once all the rage, the franchise tag has fallen out of favor in recent years as NFL teams have discovered that a franchise tag is a tool to be used more and more as a last resort. Jason La Canfora writes that the Cowboys could be one of just foru teams to use the tag this year.

Still, for four teams applying the tag is a no-brainer: Dallas (Dez Bryant), Denver (Demaryius Thomas), Kansas City (Justin Houston, despite a significant cap crunch) and New England (Devin McCourty). A few others might mull it over: Green Bay, Miami, Detroit and the Giants. But if only four tags are applied to field players (non-kickers and punters), I would not be surprised.

Twelve teams that could be a landing spot for Greg Hardy - CBSSports.com
According to a report from the Charlotte Observer, the Carolina Panthers will not bring defensive end Greg Hardy back to the team next season. This article argues that Dallas could be one potential landing spot for the troubled pass rusher, who faces a jury trial for domestic violence this week.

Dallas has a huge need at end to team with Jeremy Mincey and recently-drafted DeMarcus Lawrence, but may not have all that much cap room to work with depending on how things shake out with Dez Bryant, DeMarco Murray, their various defensive free agents and Tony Romo's league-high cap hit that may or may not be pushed into the future. The Cowboys have a history of bringing in players who have had legal troubles, but that mostly pre-dates the Jason Garrett era, where they have focused on having the "right kind of guys," as the coach likes to say.

Why most rookie pass rushers don't produce immediately - CBSSports.com
Pat Kirwan gives his take on why you shouldn't expect immediate results from rookie pass rushers.

The coaches' biggest issue is the lack of time to work with rookie pass rushers and the limited ways most rookies know how to rush the passer. One coach described the typical first-round pass rusher as a one-trick pony. They are mostly speed rushers with little ability to convert speed to power, have underdeveloped spin moves and are typically easy to punch and neutralize.

My old radio partner, Tim Ryan, still holds the Southern California record for sacks in a season with 20 his senior year and he didn't have a single sack his rookie season in the NFL. He always talks about NFL offensive linemen being capable of stopping rookie rushers in their tracks. He also pointed out recently that when he was in the league they worked constantly on pass rush moves, techniques and stunts. Nowadays these rookies just don't get the practice opportunities, especially in pads, to work on their skills. It's no wonder many of the rookies don't produce decent rush numbers.

Sturm Draft Profile: Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA | Dallas Morning News
Cowboys scouts were at the USC @ UCLA game at the end of November last year. Odds are they were looking at LB Eric Kendricks, and if Bob Sturm's profile is anything to go by, they were impressed.

I think he would be absolutely ideal for the Cowboys at the right spot because there are times those linebackers are attacked in coverage. Also, this is a clear all-situations guy (unlike Perryman) where you could leave him on the field regardless of situation because he has the skill set that can comfortably handle his responsibilities. I expect he will run a solid time at the combine and might be the top player of this grouping when draft day arrives. Very impressive player.

Video: Jerry Jones shares an anecdote about country music singer Blake Shelton | Dallas Morning News
AT&T Stadium will host the Country Music Awards this year, and Jones and Shelton were involved the shooting of a commercial for the event at AT&T Stadium. As Jones recounts at the very end of the DMN video segment, Shelton was apparently sitting on the field at some point, so Jones got on the stadium PA system and addressed Shelton:

"Get off my lawn!"

How did Shelton take that?

"His knees buckled," Jones said with a smile.