The 2018 Dallas Cowboys Offseason

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have shown this first two weeks of the preseason that their 1st and 2nd team offense and defense is far superior to the opponents they have played. That would be San Francisco and Cincinnati. But, they have also shown that their 3rd and 4th units leave a lot to be desired. Total dominance in the first halves of the games gave way to Chris Berman-like rumblin', bumblin' and stumblin' to a lost in each game.

Dallas did avoid a scare last week as Zack Martin did not have anything major happen to him in the Cincinnati game although it looked bad on replay. Martin and C Travis Fredrick will likely miss this week's game as Martin rests his knee and Frederick rests from a bevy of neck and shoulder stingers he suffered in practice the past two weeks leading up to the Bengals game. The good news is they should be fine and resting them is a very good thing. The O-line depth, while it was thought to be stronger this year has fallen off because of injuries and oddly enough it's the guard position that lacks the depth. Cam Fleming seems to be a decent swing tackle and Joe Looney has been good replacing Frederick but Dallas still has issues at guard.

Where they really have issues is at safety. Xavier Woods is out with an injury and his return date could be 4-6 weeks. Jameill Showers tore his ACL against Cincy and he's done for the season. Draft pick Marqueston Huff is out with a groin pull. The buzz since OTA's has been whether Dallas could work out a deal with Seattle's Earl Thomas but so far there's no joy in that camp. There were rumors that Dallas would sign Cincy safety George Iloka but, again, nada there. Yesterday Dallas did sign a veteran safety and he is from Seattle and he is wearing #29 but it's not HIM. It's Jeron Johnson. Johnson is about to begin his 8th season in the NFL, well technically his 7th since he spent all of last season out of football. He has played for 4 previous teams (Seattle two times) and he's familiar with Kris Richard and the way he wants his DB's to play. Johnson subbed for Earl Thomas in 2016 when Thomas tore his ACL and was lost for the season. Right now Dallas has Geoff Heath and Kavon Frazier and now Johnson at safety. A bit of a scary situation to be sure.

I think this WR corps will be okay. Allen Hurns has been reliable and rookie Michael Gallup has been really good. Terrence Williams has been Terrence Williams with all the good and bad that entails. The real shining star of training camp has been Lance Lenoir. And then there is Tavon Austin who has surprised everyone with his abilities playing outside receiver. All this and no Cole Beasley or Devonte Thompson who are out with injuries. This WR group will be okay I think.

[eagle eye]

Remember how I said the O-line problems were over. Scratch that because they are not. On Thursday evening Travis Frederick announced that he has a condition called Guillain Barre syndrome. It is a very rare autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system. I severe cases it can actually be life threatening. Frederick has been suffering from multiple 'stingers' in practice. While still in California Frederick went to a specialist who ruled out a spinal condition which is the cause of most stinger. Frederick also has muscle weakness that is also part of the GB syndrome symptoms. As of Thursday Frederick has already taken a couple of treatments and he reported that he had regained some strength. The good thing is he seems to have caught GB syndrome in it's early stages which increases his chances of a swift recovery. The downside of this disease is it is not easily overcome. Former NFL lineman and ESPN analyst Mark Schlereth had this disease in 1993 and he wasn't able to play until 1994. He was on the Broncos when they won back to back Super Bowls so Frederick's career isn't necessarily in jeopardy but there is a real chance he won't play in 2018. It's a good thing Joe Looney has been as good as he's been in 2018 up to this point. It makes the loss of Frederick for however long a little less painful but it makes the depth on the O-line pretty weak. Over the next 6 days Dallas will have one practice, on Tuesday, sandwiched in between their 3rd and 4th preseason games will be played and those games will likely feature players who are trying to win a spot on the final 53 man roster or at least win consideration for the practice squad. The O-line and the safety positions have holes to fill and it will be the last chances to make an impression.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys didn't look awful last night - at least not all of the Cowboys looked awful. Special teams needs work as do the Cowboys front office is finding some talent for backup purposes on the O-line. Joe Looney will be the starter in Week 1 but his backup was injured against the Cardinals so the O-line depth is of great concern. The defense could be a real beast and Sean Lee didn't even play in the game and the D dominated during their time on the field. Randy Gregory was a beast all by himself and he was being beastly against the Cardinals starting left tackle. Could Dallas finally be reaping the reward for taking a chance on this guy? Who knows for sure but indications look good. Kavon Frazier, who was filling in for Xavier Woods got hurt so safety depth is a real concern but the question Dallas has to answer is, what do we need more, O-line depth or safety depth? That is a huge question to answer and it will likely be up to player personnel guys like Will McClay to come up with those answers.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have cut their roster down to the final 53 as of 3 PM this afternoon. To say there are a couple of surprises is gross understatement as the Cowboys have parted ways with the 2nd best place kicker in NFL history. Yep, that's right, Dan Bailey is not a Cowboys any more. That noise y'all heard was my jaw hitting the floor. The Cowboys decided to keep a kid named Brett Maher out of Nebraska. He's no spring chicken as he's 28 years old and he has been on the practice squads of the Jets, Cowboys and he kicked in the CFL for 3 seasons when he returned to the NFL and he was briefly on the practice squad of the Cleveland Browns in 2017 before he returned to the CFL for the 2017 season. Maher was signed by the Cowboys for a 2nd stint on the team but it was believed by local beat writers that he was a guy who would just be a camp leg to keep Bailey from getting worn out much like he was the first time around when he was on the Cowboys practice squad in 2013. Bailey had a hip injury just past the mid-point of last season and he struggled through the rest of the season but he looked like he had regained his old form during training camp. I'm still stunned, I'm not kidding.

A player who is not a surprise cut is OT Chaz Green the Cowboys 3rd round pick in the 2015 draft, number 91 overall. Green battled injuries his first two seasons with Dallas and when he got his chance he mucked it up. The low point for Green came in last year's game against Atlanta when he had to fill in for an injured Tyron Smith. Green was epically bad allowing 5 sacks to Falcon's DE Adrian Clayborn before getting the hook. Green's replacement, Byron Bell, was no better and that game in particular forced the Cowboys to hit the free agent market and the draft to upgrade the talent at the O-line position. Even that hasn't helped as Dallas lost G Marcus Martin to IR with a knee injury and Travis Frederick to a rare autoimmune disorder called Guillain Barre Syndrome. Frederick will be hard pressed to play at all in 2018 so the line depth was compromised by having to use Joe Looney as Frederick's replacement as starting center. At least during the preseason Looney performed well giving the Cowboys hope he will be equally effective in the regular season. Dallas signed Cam Fleming in free agency back in March but, despite the fact he started for New England in this past Super Bowl, he has not been consistent for the Cowboys and is, quite frankly, a bit of a disappointment so far. Dallas took another hit on the O-line when the 3rd string, suddenly 2nd string, backup center/guard Dustin Stanton was waived injured after suffering a knee injury against Cincinnati in preseason Week 3.

Another big surprise was the cuts made at the running back position. Darius Jackson, the Cowboys 6th round pick in 2016, and Bo Scarborough, the Cowboys 7th round draft pick in this year's draft were both cut. WR Deonta Thompson who was signed in the spring to add speed to the WR corps was cut as were DE Kony Ealy and DT Jihad Ward. Ward was a surprise because Dallas has made a draft day trade with the Raiders to get Ward as Dallas gave up WR Ryan Switzer to get him.

The big thing is now Dallas still has depth issues at O-line and free safety they will look to the cuts made by the other 31 teams today to try to make the team better. It's a safe bet that there are still a lot of players who made today's cut who will be looking for a job by Monday morning. Listed below is the list of 37 players that Dallas cut yesterday and today to get to the final 53 man roster. Well, "final" 53 is not an accurate statement but you know what I mean.

K Dan Bailey
WR Deonte Thompson
WR Lance Lenoir Jr.
WR Darren Carrington
WR MeKale McKay
WR K.D. Cannon
WR Dres Anderson
OL Kyle Bosch
OL Matt Diaz
OL Chaz Green
OL Damien Mama
OL Jacob Ohnesorge
OL Jake Campos
TE David Wells
RB Bo Scarbrough
RB Darius Jackson
RB Trey Williams
RB Jordan Chunn
CB Marquez White


CB Duke Thomas
CB Donovan Olumba
S Marqueston Huff
S Kam Kelly
S Jeron Johnson
S Dominick Sanders
LB Eric Pinkins
LB Tre’Von Johnson
LB Joel Lanning
LB Kyle Quiero
DL Kony Ealy
DL Lewis Neal
DL Austin Larkin
DL Charles Tapper
DL Jihad Ward
DL Caruan Reid
LS Scott Daly