2020 Dallas Cowboys Offseason

Exactly one week after the final game of the 2019 season the Cowboys announced that Jason Garrett is not going to the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys, that the team is moving on without him. The Cowboys website and ESPN have reported the parting of ways correctly while NFL.com has reported that Garrett has been fired. This isn’t the case, Garrett has not been ‘fired’ in the traditional sense of the word. I believe the situation will become official when Garrett’s current contract runs out on January 14th. The Cowboys are not signing him to a new deal, they are just moving on. The story broke yesterday when a source for ESPN reporter Ed Werter, who is ESPN’s beat writer for the Cowboys reported it and later in the day Jerry Jones confirmed the story with a press release. In the release, Jones praised Garrett for his 20 years with the Cowboys as a player and a coach and pointed out his dedication and consistent quest for excellence on a daily basis.

 

What’s next? The Cowboys have indicated they are looking for a coach with NFL experience and was a winner. Over the weekend the Cowboys interviewed former Cincinnati Bengal coach Marvin Lewis and former Packers head man Mike McCarthy. This was done even before the news of Jason Garrett’s status broke. There just aren’t that many head coaching candidates that fill the criteria out there. I can tell you, I really don’t want Marvin Lewis. He did win a lot of games in Cincy and they made the playoffs a lot but the Bengals did not win a single playoff game under him. McCarthy had pretty much complete autonomy in Green Bay and he had success there but his relationship with QB Aaron Rodgers became dysfunctional after McCarthy let Jordy Nelson go. After just 12 games of the 2018 season the Packers fired McCarthy. McCarthy might be a good choice as long as he gets to choose his staff. Obviously, the search has begun.

 

UPDATE: A co-worker of mine came in my office saying that Mike McCarthy has been hired as the Cowboys new head coach. Jay Glazer of Fox Sports has broken the news but no confirmation available on either the Cowboys website, NFL.com or ESPN.

 

What about Jason Garrett? His name has been linked to the New York Giants and Cleveland Browns. Both could be good jobs because both teams have talented players to build around. The Giants have struggled since firing Tom Coughlin with some pretty shaky coaching moves. Garrett also has ties with the Cleveland community and Garrett’s consistent message would be great for a roster that seems to have self-control issues. Garrett would be the adult in the room the Browns are sorely lacking. Under Freddie Kitchens the Browns seemed very undisciplined and lacked a lot of class and poise. The firing of GM John Dorsey is crazy since it was Dorsey who acquired what has been called the most talented roster in football in his two years as GM. The Browns seem to be going the way of analytics with their analytics guru Paul Depodesta who is the Browns Chief Strategy Officer - whatever that means. Brown owner Jimmy Haslam wanted Depodesta more than he wanted Dorsey - just that simple. It will be very interesting to see where Garrett ends up. I would rather Jason go to Cleveland but the organization under Haslam has been unstable to say the very least. 10 head coaches since 2008 and 6 GM’s in the last 7 years. People think Jerry Jones is meddlesome, he ain’t got nuthin on Haslam.

The Cowboys keep rolling along. With the Jones’ family (Jerry and Stephen anyway), Will McClay and selected scouts are in Mobile Alabama taking in the practices leading up to the Senior Bowl this weekend. The first overt step toward the 2020 NFL draft in April. The Cowboys, and I’m sure all the other 31 team’s official websites have articles about Senior Bowl week. The business side of the NFL is never truly finished.

 

The Cowboys have almost finalized their new coaching staff and there are a whole set of coaches in the building for the Dallas Cowboys. The only holdovers from the old regime are Kellen Moore and Doug Nussmeier and they are reporting defensive line coach Leon Lett will likely be on the staff. But, he had to interview with McCarthy and DC Mike Nolan. Nussmeier was the tight ends coach last season but he has been elevated to quarterbacks coach under McCarthy. There is even an evaluation taking place over the training and strength and conditioning staff. That group could all change. I wonder if all you Jerry haters out there are sitting with your jaws dropped wide open over the shock that it’s Mike McCarthy that is dictating who his staff will be and not Jerrah. There’s a new sheriff in town folks and he’s bringin’ his own deputies.

 

The Cowboys have signed a kick and a DT to their futures squad. It’s sort of a pre-season practice squad and so far the Cowboys have signed 9 players to the reserve/futures list. The signing of kicker Tristan Vizcaino does not preclude the Cowboys from bringing in another veteran kicker of even drafting a kicker in April. The think is, Kai Forbath did a great job in the short time he was in Dallas replacing an ineffective Brett Maher. Forbath was 10-10 in field goals and 10-10 in extra points. This was in just 3 games worth of work for the Cowboys. The only possible was he could do better is do it for a full season. Forbath is one of 32 free agents, 25 unrestricted, that Dallas has some serious decisions to make as the offseason progresses. That’s a lot of free agents and you wonder how much money will be left after signed their top two free agents, Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper.

 

Leighton Vander Esch had successful neck surgery this week and it was a complete success according to Stephen Jones. It was considered a minor surgery to correct a problem that kept LVE out of half the Cowboys 2019 games. He is expected to go through 3-4 months of rehab but it is expected that he will be able participate, on a limited basis, in the Cowboys offseason strength and conditioning programs that begin in April. Good news for the new DC Mike Nolan and his staff.

 

Of the 30+ free agents a lot of the players are not scrubs. You have starters including CB Byron Jones, DE Robert Quinn, DT Michael Bennett, CB Anthony Brown, LB Joe Thomas, LB Sean Lee to name a few. The Cowboys can’t pay of the free agents and that is for sure. The 2020 is in for some big changes. Below is a link to an article listing all of the Cowboys 2020 free agents. You may be very surprised at some of the names on the list.

 

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/full-list-of-cowboys-free-agents-to-be

The Cowboys have finalized their new coaching staff. There are only 3 carryovers from the old staff, OC Kellen Moore, QB coach Doug Nussmeier (formerly the TE’s coach) and D-line assistant Leon Lett. The rest of the staff are made up of Mike McCarthy’s guys including a new strength and conditioning coach. One hire of note is the Cowboys new WR coach, Adam Henry. Henry is a local guy having come from Beaumont and he attended Kelly High School. Henry also went to college at McNeese and he began his coaching career there as well. So, a little SE Texas flavor to the coaching staff is not a bad thing. Below is a link to a DallasCowboys.com article announcing the new staff.

 

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/coaching-staff-finalized-listing-20-assistants

 

2020 commemorates the 60th year of the Dallas Cowboys franchise. Linked below are two articles from the team website talking about this milestone in the Cowboys history.

 

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/how-the-dallas-cowboys-were-born-in-1960

 

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/cowboys-commemorate-team-s-60th-anniversary

This morning on Golic and Wingo, Trey Wingo has been off all week and the fill in guy this has been ESPN radio host Will Cane who has his own solo show on ESPN radio. Cane asked a very interesting question this morning that I am posing to everyone who reads this. That question is this. Cain outlined two scenarios, 1) Would you pay Dak Prescott a contract extension that would be in the ballpark of $37 MM which would eclipse the current Russell Wilson deal that is worth $35 MM or 2) trade Dak for draft picks, sign Tom Brady to a 2-year deal worth $30 MM total and draft a QB of the future in this year’s or next year’s draft taking advantage of the draft picks the Cowboys get in a Dak trade. Now, the example of a similar trade given this morning was the deal Denver made trading Jay Cutler to Chicago. In that deal Denver got two first round picks and a 3rd round pick. At the time Cutler was 25 years old and in his prime as a player. I’m not comparing Cutler to Dak but Cutler was a better passer than Dak is now. Dak is now 26 and he will turn 27 in July. He is still absolutely in his prime as a player. What would you do, pay Dak or trade him for draft picks, sign Tom Brady for two years and draft a new QB prospect?

 

After 3 years in the NFL, Jourdan Lewis is swapping jersey numbers. He has been wearing 27 since being drafted by the Cowboys but now he has claimed the number 26 jersey which came available with the release of safety Josh Jones late last season. Lewis wore 26 at Michigan and this is the first opportunity he has had since he came to the NFL to get his old college number.

 

Here’s another question for everyone. It’s clear the Jason Witten is past his prime and there is speculation Witten will retire again. Blake Jarwin is a good receiving TE but can he evolve into a complete TE like the two best TE’s in the NFL George Kittle or the 49ers and Travis Kelce of the Chiefs? Jarwin is a restricted free agent this year so the Cowboys would have to decide if he’s their guy moving forward and if they do they need to sign him to a long term deal. If not, is Dalton Schulz going to be ‘that guy’? So, what would you do, go with either Jarwin or Schulz or try to replace Witten in the draft? Witten was a second round pick, is there a prospect in this year’s draft worth using a 2nd to get? I guess that’s two questions depending on how you answer the first question.

 

I have a third question for you. Dallas has 30 free agents with some very high profile names. Let’s assume Dallas signs Dak and Amari Cooper. That leaves 28 gaps to fill. What position would you take when Dallas picks at number 17 in the first round. Do you go D-line which has 5 players that will be free agents? Do you go after a safety? Dallas has been trying to replace Darren Woodson since he retired in 2004 and the Cowboys haven’t come close since. What about cornerback? Robert Quinn is a free agent, do you go after a pass rusher? What if Dallas doesn’t sign Sean Lee, do you go linebacker? Here’s my ‘Speed’ quote of the day, “Pop Quiz …. What would you do?" Last time Dallas had this high of a draft pick was in 2014. With the 16th pick the Cowboys snagged G Zack Martin. That pick has worked out pretty well. Hopefully the first pick of the Mike McCarthy era will be a good one!!

 

Not sure about McCarthy? There is a guy here at work who is a Packers fan. He told me he was very disappointed when McCarthy was fired at Green Bay and he said he thinks Cowboys Nation will be happy with McCarthy. Good news, eh?

There sure seems to be a lot of steam behind the suggestion that Tom Brady could walk away from the Patriots and sign with the Dallas Cowboys. Colin Cowherd even talked about it yesterday. Cowherd qualified the statement by saying he believes Brady will be a Patriot in 2020 but he can see where it makes perfect sense. The GOAT QB to America’s Team. Brady would have everything he wants in Dallas, a great O-line, a great running back and a stable of really good to great wide receivers. These are things Brady does not have in New England and for a guy whose playing days are winding down you would think he would want one last hurrah before he rides off into the sunset with his super model wife and his kids to his east coast and west coast mansions and what will likely be an idyllic post football life. But, Brady is a competitor and you have to believe he wants one more ring, one more trophy for his mantle, one more day of glory. Now, Dallas would have to do a sign and trade of Dak to make room for Brady. To be clear, I don’t dislike Dak but he has some flaws in his game. He’s not that accurate a passer, his mechanics break down under pressure and, as much as his team mates seem to like and respect him, they know that Dak isn’t the type of QB to put a team on his back and carry them to a win. Dak has won a lot of games in Dallas but it’s primarily because he’s had a helluva team around him. If you have doubts about the quality of QB you have in Dak why pay him a huge contract only to have buyers remorse 2 or 3 years down the road? If you work out a trade for Dak and get draft picks that would allow you to get a top tier QB in the draft, give that guy a year or two to learn behind Brady it seems like this is win-win situation. You get a QB you can win with right now and you get your QB of the future. I’m like Cowherd in feeling this isn’t going to happen. The Cowboys seem committed to Dak and it looks like they will either franchise him or pay him. But for pre-combine, pre-free agency, pre-draft time it’s fun to speculate.

There are people in the world who feel there is a conspiracy in the NFL against the Dallas Cowboys. Whether it’s because they had so much success over 21 years of having a winning record (…still the best ever in NFL history. The Patriots are hot on the Cowboys heels with 19 seasons) or because of the ‘America’s Team’ moniker or the fact that the Cowboys were the marquee team in the NFL from the mid 1960’s to this very day. Whether it’s jealousy, envy or just pure hatred, it seems like whenever the NFL or the national media can they stick it to the Cowboys. At times it seems even the refs hate the Cowboys. The most obvious thing you could point to is the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

 

This past season the HOF draft class was increased by 10 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the NFL. One former Cowboy player will be inducted and a former Cowboys coach will be inducted. Cliff Harris, after being snubbed for years finally gets in and Jimmy Johnson who had twice been snubbed finally gets in. That’s great, I’m happy for them, they deserve the honor. But, when I look and I see that Drew Pearson got snubbed yet again and Harvey Martin and Darren Woodson, it makes me mad as hell. Drew Pearson is the only 1st team 1970's all decade team member to not be in the HOF. Guess what, there had been two but with the induction of Cliff Harris this year there is only one. Don’t you find it odd the last two members of the 1970s All Decade Team, and now the only member of that team not in the HOF were Cowboys? I sure do. Throw in Harvey Martin who was 2nd team All Decade and you have to scratch your head saying WTF is going on here?

 

I can’t understand why Pearson isn’t in the HOF. His numbers are as good or better than his contemporaries. Except for TDs, Pearson has better numbers than Lynn Swann and nobody disputes Swann was a HOF’er. Pearson had some of the biggest catches in Cowboys and NFL history and none more famous than the ‘Hail Mary’ play against the Vikings in the playoffs in 1975. Every time there is a desperation pass at the end of a half or game they call it a Hail Mary. Why? Because of Drew Pearson and Roger Staubach’s play 45 years ago. The NFL story can’t be told without Drew Pearson.

 

Harvey Martin was a great defensive end for the Cowboys and he and Randy White were named co-MVP’s in Super Bowl XII when the Cowboys beat the Denver Broncos. At the time there were only 4 defensive players who were named SB MVP and three of them were Cowboys, Martin, White and Chuck Howley who is the only SB MVP to play for the losing team. White and Howley are in the HOF but Martin is not.

 

The Cowboys have been trying to replace Darren Woodson for over 15 years. The Cowboys drafted Roy Williams out of Oklahoma before Woodson retired and he played in the same defensive backfield with Woodson for a couple of years before he retired. For those two years Williams looked like a shoe-in to replace Woody but it was Woody who kept Williams on track. When Woodson retired Williams crashed and burned. When Rodney Harrison got in the HOF a couple of years ago people were scratching their heads thinking there is no way Harrison is better than Woodson. Woodson is the Cowboys all-time leading tackler, more than even HOF’ers Randy White, Bob Lily and Chuck Howley. Woody was an in the box safety who could play the run but he was also fast enough and had A+ coverage skills to handle any tight end or slot receiver and he had a reputation a player who could lay the lumber when he tackled. He didn’t have that many interceptions but he led the Cowboys in forced fumbles and recovered fumbles. Darren Woodson is the best safety to play in the NFL since Ronnie Lott IMO. Woodson should be, and should have already been, a Hall of Famer. I think the conspiracy exists and these 3 examples are proof the media who decides on who is in the HOF is certainly part of that. The 1990’s era of Cowboys have HOF’ers like Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Larry Allen but, all are in on the offensive side of the ball. The Cowboys defense of that era was outstanding and only Charles Haley is in the HOF. It’s about doggone time Woody joined this era’s group. Hell, even Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones are in! It’s time Woody gets the recognition he deserves.

New Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy has been interviewed twice in the past month where he was asked about the upcoming draft, the most recent time was last weekend at the NFL Scouting Combine. The message has been clear and consistent, “Draft the best player available and I will alter what we do to take advantage of what he does best.” I realize that is kind of what everybody says. Coaches and GMs claim they are not looking to fill a need, they just want the best player available but we all know they are full of crap. There are roughly 3 tiers of building a roster; 1) Sign your own potential free agents that you want to keep or that you can afford or, in an extreme case, slap the ‘Franchise’ tag on a player you can’t work out a deal with before free agency. 2) Sign free agents to fill needs for your team. This can get expensive and free agents command a lot of money, especially in the first week of free agency. After the first week and subsequent weeks you can find more value. 3) Then there is the draft. Most teams prefer to build their rosters via the draft. First, because players coming out in the draft are young and have a more years they can play. Second their salaries are cheaper than veteran players or free agents and third teams will have them for at least 4 years, 5 for 1st round draft picks and this creates some stability on your roster. The trouble is, the draft is a bit of a crap shoot. You’ve done a great job if you hit on 3 or 4 of your draft picks. You almost have a better success ratio of signing the undrafted free agents after the draft is over.

 

The thing I like about what McCarthy has been saying is, if he’s a good player he can adjust his scheme to fit his talents. The reason I like that is because, as much as I like a lot of what Jason Garrett stood for the one thing I didn’t like was his inflexibility. Next man up because we’re not changing a darn thing we are doing because we do what we do, just didn’t work like he envisioned. In hindsight, given the talent and expectations for the team last fall, I think Jason’s message got old. I think the players played hard but they weren’t focused and they made way too many mistakes they hadn’t made in previous years. I feel like Jason Garrett kind of lost the room.

 

I’m anxious to see what free agency and the draft will bring. Dallas has half of their roster potential free agents so there is going to be a huge turnover and some very familiar names could be gone. The primary focus is on Dak and Amari Cooper but there’s an awful lot of guys who may be gone including Sean Lee and Jason Witten. It will be an interesting procurement season indeed.

In the NFL a new collective bargaining agreement has been reached that will give the NFL labor stability for the next 11 years or, through the 2030 season. Another thing going on is that teams must have used their franchise tag by 11:59 AM today or that option will not be available until next year. Wednesday will be the official start of the league year which means anyone not under contract will enter free agency. Over the weekend there were already some deals made once the new CBA was ratified. The most significant deal made as it pertains to the Cowboys was the deal the Tennessee Titans made with QB Ryan Tannehilll.

 

Tannehill now has a new 4-year $118 MM deal with $62 MM guaranteed over the next 2 years and $91 MM in total guarantees. If Tannehill sticks with the Titans for the whole term of the contract he will average $29 MM a year including all the guaranteed money. The reason this is so significant to Dallas is because they have a QB who is looking for a new deal of his own. Dak Prescott’s contract has been an item of discussion since last summer. Back then $29 MM a year for Dak seemed outrageous but now, after the new CBA was signed and Tannehill’s deal make it seem like Dallas could have gotten Dak on the cheap compared to what he’s liable to get now.

 

The whole deal about Dak’s contract is a mystery because nobody knows what Dak is asking for. Not then and certainly not now. A lot of speculation is that Dak is wanting in the neighborhood of $40 MM a year with most, if not all, guaranteed. Another unknown is whether Dak wants a long term deal - 5 years or more - or a shorter term deal. The Ryan Tannehill deal is on that could be considered a short term deal especially since it is really front loaded on the first two years and the Titans can get out of the deal relatively cheap after those first two years if Tannehill’s performance in 2019 was just an anomaly. One way or another Dak will have some kind of deal by noon today. He will either have a new multi-year deal or he will play the 2020 season under the franchise tag. If no agreement can be reached today it doesn’t mean one can’t be done. Just because the Cowboys tag Dak they still have until July 15 to work out a deal. The only hard deadline is the NFL telling teams that if they want to use the franchise tag today is the last day they can use it in 2020. Once the deal with Dak is semi settled then the Cowboys can focus on the other 24 free agents they have to deal with.

 

Dallas has already made a couple of deals. Last week they exercised their 2nd year option for FB Jamize Olewale. Last spring Olawale signed a 3 year deal with Dallas that included 2nd and 3rd year options. Free agent OL Adam Redmond was signed to a one year deal. Minimal money for a backup tackle. The Cowboys have also placed 2nd round tenders on restricted free agents QB Cooper Rush and TE Blake Jarwin. What that means is, if a team or teams should sign one or both the Cowboys would get a second round pick in return. Not likely to happen for Jarwin even though the Cowboys like him and even less likely for Rush.

UPDATE: NFL.com is reporting that Dak has been given the franchise tag this morning. The next big priority is to sign Amari Cooper to a deal.

The Cowboys have on their website a free agent tracker and the 2020 list of Cowboys is significant. There a total of 32 free agents which is more than half of their roster. For the first time in a long time the Cowboys has some money to sign free agents, not a lot mind you, but some. That’s going to get gobbled up pretty quickly as the Cowboys have to rebuild their roster.

 

Who’s gone so far? The most significant name on the “I’m outta here.” list is Cowboys icon Jason Witten. I guess we shouldn’t be shocked. After all, Tom Brady has departed New England after 20 years and 6 Super Bowl wins. Despite all his success Brady is no longer the QB of the Patriots. Brady is now the QB of the Tampa Bay Bucs. (Tampa Bay????) As for Witten, he’s following Horace Greely’s advice and ‘going west’. Witten will be joining the Las Vegas Raiders, you know, once this Coronavirus stuff is over. Apparently, new head coach of the Cowboys, Mike McCarthy, had a talk with Witten and McCarthy obviously let Witten know the Cowboys would not be signing him to a new deal. Blake Jarwin is their guy now. I guess the league has learned what Bill Belichick already knew, it’s better to let someone go a year or two too early than to keep a player a year or two too long. In the NFL youth will be served. Witten isn’t the only Cowboy to head to Vegas. Joining him will be fellow Cowboys S Jeff Heath and DT Maliek Collins.

 

The Miami Dolphins made CB Byron Jones the highest paid CB in the NFL on a 5-year deal worth $82 MM over 5 years with $57 MM guaranteed with $40 MM of that in the first two years of his deal. THAT is why Dallas couldn’t keep Jones.

 

DE Robert Quinn will sign with the Chicago Bears for a 5-year $70 MM deal. Dallas acquired Quinn in a trade with Miami last year and he led the Cowboys in sacks with 11.

 

G Xavier Su’a-filo will sign with Cincinnati. He got a 3-year deal worth $10 MM.

 

WR Randall Cobb agreed to a 3-year $27 MM deal with $18 MM guaranteed.

 

Who’s staying? Sean Lee is coming back on a 1-year deal as are LS LP Ladouceur, K Kai Forbath, and S Darian Thompson. CB Anthony Brown is coming back with a 3-year deal and Blake Jarwin has a 3-year deal. Jamize Olawale is back on 1-year deal and Amari Cooper has that 5 year $100 MM deal and Dak Prescott has been franchised and if a long term deal can’t be worked out he will play for $31.5 MM in 2020.

 

Who’s new? That would be DT Gerald McCoy late of the Carolina Panthers. He spent 9 of his 10 years in the NFL with Tampa where he was a multi-year Pro Bowler and All Pro. Dallas has 8 DT’s that free agents and Maliek Collins has already agreed to a deal and is gone. All Dallas has now is McCoy and 2nd year player Trysten Hill along with Tyrone Crawford coming back from injury.

 

Dallas still has 16 free agents to either resign or replace.

This is my mock draft for the Dallas Cowboys using the draft simulator ‘On The Clock’ on Fanspeak.com. I have been touting this site for several years now. On it you get to pick the team you want to draft for, how many rounds you want to draft and a couple of other filters then you draft. The simulator knows when and where the team you are drafting for selects in the upcoming draft including compensatory picks. The site updates often so, if there is a trade made involving draft picks On The Clock will update so the picks you get are accurate. I like this draft for the Cowboys. It fills a lot of positions of need with quality players. Do I think Javon Kinlaw will be available with the 17th pick? Probably not but, if he’s there I would grab him quick. I also think it’s a stretch to think Grant Delpit will be there in the 2nd round at pick 51 but, he was there in this mock and I took him!

 

17: R1P17

DL JAVON KINLAW, SOUTH CAROLINA

 

51: R2P19

S GRANT DELPIT, LSU

 

82: R3P18

CB JAYLON JOHNSON, UTAH

 

123: R4P17

EDGE ANFERNEE JENNINGS, ALABAMA

 

164: R5P18

TE THADDEUS MOSS, LSU

 

179: R5P33

WR JAUAN JENNINGS, TENNESSEE

 

231: R7P17

OT VICTOR JOHNSON, APPALACHIAN STATE

Cowboys news for Friday.

 

The Cowboys have made a huge free agent signing. Late last night the Cowboys and former Packer/Redskin/Bear safety Ha-Ha Clinton Dix agreed to terms for a 1-year contract. The terms of the deal haven’t been released yet but his deal with Chicago last year was the 5.5 million dollars. This move reunites Dix with the coach who drafted him with the 21st overall pick in the 2014 draft, Mike McCarthy. This is the most significant signing of a safety by Dallas since Oklahoma’s Roy Williams was drafted 15 years ago. So, Dallas gets a 1st round safety for basically peanuts and they also get a player still in the prime of his career. Despite being in the NFL for 6 years already Dix is still only 27 years old and if he works out well in Dallas he could get a contract extension before this coming season is over. It sure makes losing Jeff Heath in free agency a MUCH easier pill to swallow.

 

The Cowboys have worked out deals with a couple of linebackers. The Cowboys had already signed Sean Lee to a one year deal and now Joe Thomas and Justin March have agreed to 1-year deals and the Cowboys will also have Luke Wilson coming back off injured reserve after he broke his arm in a game last year. Wilson was having a good rookie season until the injury sidelined him. It appears as though linebacker is one position group the Cowboys don’t have to worry about as the draft quickly approaches. Thomas, March and Wilson are all big contributors on special teams.

 

The Cowboys have agreed to a deal with veteran CB Maurice Canady. Canady has been with Baltimore between 2016 and part of 2019 and after the Ravens waived him last year midseason he was picked up by the NY Jets where he played pretty well. His first three seasons in the league with Baltimore were marred the fact that he ended up on injured reserve all three years and he missed big chunks of time which had to hamper his development. At 6’1’’ and 193 lbs Canady brings depth, experience and length to the CB position and another special teams guy to boot.

 

The biggest void on the roster as it stands right now is on the D-line. Defensive end still has Demarcus Lawrence but the loss of Robert Quinn hurts. Dallas still has a couple of prospects to fill in but they really need Dorance Armstrong to step up which he hasn’t really done in his first two seasons. Armstrong really hasn’t shown he can be a difference maker as a pass rusher and without Quinn’s 11 sacks the Cowboys DL look very thin. In a perfect world South Carolina’s Javon Kinlaw would drop to the Cowboys who have the 17th pick. The trouble is, Dallas traditionally don’t draft DT’s in the first round. It’s possible some of the top edge rushers may be available and I wouldn’t squawk if LSU’s K’Lavon Chaisson or Yetur Gross-Matos from Penn State would be there for the Cowboys. All three of these players would fill major voids in the Cowboys roster. This will be the 3rd draft the last 5 years where an Ohio State DE could be a top five pick in the draft. Certainly looks like THE Ohio State is churning out quality ends beginning with the Bosa brothers and continuing with Chase Young in this year’s draft. Too bad Dallas has no shot to get Young as he will likely be a top five pick like Joey and Nick Bosa were.

The coronavirus has been about the only topic of discussion lately and for good reason but in the NFL life goes on as preparations are made for the upcoming NFL draft. It’s going to be a lot different as I expect it to take place online. Each team’s war room will likely be online on a different line. One thing is for sure, one way or another, the draft will take place. Hopefully, there will be some progress finding a cure and/or a vaccine for this virus. If anything the past month has taught us is you never know what’s coming next.

 

The Cowboys have certainly not been idle during this time despite the fact Dallas was one of the first cities in Texas to be under the stay at home edict.

 

There have been some significant moves that have happened in the last week or so;

 

The most significant thing was the sudden and surprising retirement of C Travis Fredrick this past week. Fredrick has been a perennial Pro Bowler and member of the All Pro teams during his all-too-brief career. Fredrick cited that even though he made the Pro Bowl last year coming of missing all of the 2018 with Guillain Barre Syndrome, an auto immune disease that attacks the body’s nervous system. Many speculate that the battle with GBS along with the current COVID-19 pandemic has caused him to reconsider his future in the NFL. He will definitely be missed as he is considered one of, if not the, best centers in the NFL. What sets him apart from other centers is his intelligence. He is acknowledged as one of the smartest football players in the league. Replacing Fredrick with a player as talented and smart will be extremely difficult. Good luck Travis, you will be missed in Cowboys-land.

 

The exodus of Cowboys headed to Las Vegas to join the Raiders and their former Defensive Coordinator Rod Marinelli. DT Daniel Ross agreed to terms on a one year deal to head to Lost Wages. DL Kerry Hyder is also heading west but just a little bit farther. He’s agreed to a 1-year deal with San Francisco. The other two DL’s still unsigned, Christian Covington and Michael Bennett likely be allowed to walk because of the free signings the Cowboys have made. DL Antwaun Woods is a restricted rights free agent and he’s not going anywhere this year. The remaining free agents, WR Tavon Austin, LBs Ray-Ray Armstrong and Malcolm Smith and S Kavon Frazier may also be gone.

 

The free agent signings are really interesting and reflect what Mike McCarthy and his staff may be looking for in relation to defensive changes coming in 2020. On offense the Cowboys have signed former Chiefs backup tight end Blake Bell who agreed to a one year deal. It’s only been a week since Dallas agreed to a one year deal with K Kai Forbath but now Dallas has signed K Greg Zuerlein to a 3-year deal. Zuerlein has played for new Cowboys ST Coach John Fassel his entire career so this signing isn’t a huge surprise. At very least there should be some spirited competition in training camp. Forbath has had a shaky past in the NFL but he made all 10 of his kicks he attempted in the 3 games he played for the Cowboys last season. The Cowboys have also agreed to terms with DT Dontari Poe. The Cowboys have bolstered their interior defensive line with quality people this offseason. Last week the Cowboys agreed to a 3-year deal with Gerald McCoy. The deal is worth a maximum of $20.25 MM including incentives. Poe has agreed to a 2-year deal worth $10.5 MM. Both McCoy (2010 Pick 3) and Poe (2012 Pick 11) are 1st round picks with plenty of gas left in the tank. They are both defensive tackles with size, in fact, Poe at 6’3’’ and 346 lbs. is exactly the space eating tackle Cowboys fans have been clamoring for years for. Having Poe and McCoy anchoring the D-line will allow the linebackers, Jaylon Smith, Leighton Vander Esch and company room to move to the ball without having to fight through blockers.

 

The new collective bargaining agreement lightens up on the non-performance enhancing drugs like marijuana to such an extent that players like WR Josh Gordon and DE Randy Gregory could apply to get back into the league. If he gets in, Dallas owns his rights through the 2020 season. Gregory is still only 27 years old but on the downside he hasn’t played any snaps for over 15 months. Only time will tell is he gets back into the league or if he does, will he be good enough to make the team?

 

The free agent signings so far allow Dallas to actually take the best player available. I am definitely excited to see how the Cowboys draft plays out!

Edited March 29, 2020 by eagle eye

I wonder if you remember far enough back in Cowboys history to know what I am talking about when I refer to the “Over-The-Hill-Gang”? Old fogie Cowboys fans remember who this group was. The Cowboys dominance of the 1970s was challenged by the Washington Redskins who, when George Allen was hired as head coach in 1971, decided he wasn’t building his team via the draft, he was going to trade draft picks for experienced players. The Redskins lineup got older in hurry and the average age of the Redskins starters was 31 years old. The strategy paid off as the ‘Skins made the playoffs for the first time since 1945 in 1971 and in ’72 they led the NFC in wins and went to Super Bowl VII losing to the Miami Dolphins who completed the first and only undefeated, untied season for a championship team in NFL history going 17-0 for the season through the Super Bowl. The Patriots had a shot of dethroning the Dolphins in 2007 when they took an 18-0 record into SB XLIII but lost to the NY Giants to spoil perfection. But, I digress. The Redskins back in that day depended on veteran players and because their roster’s average age was well above the league average they became known as the Over-The-Hill-Gang. This isn’t just a reminiscence about the Cowboys from 45 years ago it also refers to the what looks like will be the Cowboys defensive line. We know that Dallas has signed DT Gerald McCoy (32 years old), DT Dontari Poe (30 years old in August) and now they have signed DE Aldon Smith (30 years old now, 31 in September) and these are the guys who will team with DE Demarcus Lawrence who is 27 years old to be the starting defensive line for the Cowboys. While Dallas has addressed the immediate need on the D-line they need to get younger via the draft.

 

Dallas needs cornerback help too. They are just okay at CB for 2020 but Jourdan Lewis and Chido Awuzie are in the last year of their deals. Dallas could really use an impactful safety so you could honestly say the biggest needs for the Cowboys heading into the draft in 2 weeks is D-line and their defensive backfield. Forget TE and WR and Dallas is likely thinking they have Travis Frederick’s replacement already in house. Got to be the front and back end of the defense that needs a shot of youth.

 

Last Friday former coach Rex Ryan was on an ESPN show when he went off on the Cowboys Amari Cooper. He criticized him up one side and down the other capping his rant off by saying the Cowboys overpaid for Cooper and there is no way he would pay that turd as much as Dallas paid him. Clearly, Ryan crossed the line resorting to name calling in his commentary. He apologized for the insult later but it just another example of the Ryan family being generally de-void of any semblance of class. The father Buddy and his brother Rob and Rex are all cut from the same bolt of redneck cloth and I’m not using redneck as a compliment.

I wonder if you remember far enough back in Cowboys history to know what I am talking about when I refer to the “Over-The-Hill-Gang”? Old fogie Cowboys fans remember who this group was. The Cowboys dominance of the 1970s was challenged by the Washington Redskins who, when George Allen was hired as head coach in 1971, decided he wasn’t building his team via the draft, he was going to trade draft picks for experienced players. The Redskins lineup got older in hurry and the average age of the Redskins starters was 31 years old. The strategy paid off as the ‘Skins made the playoffs for the first time since 1945 in 1971 and in ’72 they led the NFC in wins and went to Super Bowl VII losing to the Miami Dolphins who completed the first and only undefeated, untied season for a championship team in NFL history going 17-0 for the season through the Super Bowl. The Patriots had a shot of dethroning the Dolphins in 2007 when they took an 18-0 record into SB XLIII but lost to the NY Giants to spoil perfection. But, I digress. The Redskins back in that day depended on veteran players and because their roster’s average age was well above the league average they became known as the Over-The-Hill-Gang. This isn’t just a reminiscence about the Cowboys from 45 years ago it also refers to the what looks like will be the Cowboys defensive line. We know that Dallas has signed DT Gerald McCoy (32 years old), DT Dontari Poe (30 years old in August) and now they have signed DE Aldon Smith (30 years old now, 31 in September) and these are the guys who will team with DE Demarcus Lawrence who is 27 years old to be the starting defensive line for the Cowboys. While Dallas has addressed the immediate need on the D-line they need to get younger via the draft.

 

Dallas needs cornerback help too. They are just okay at CB for 2020 but Jourdan Lewis and Chido Awuzie are in the last year of their deals. Dallas could really use an impactful safety so you could honestly say the biggest needs for the Cowboys heading into the draft in 2 weeks is D-line and their defensive backfield. Forget TE and WR and Dallas is likely thinking they have Travis Frederick’s replacement already in house. Got to be the front and back end of the defense that needs a shot of youth.

 

Last Friday former coach Rex Ryan was on an ESPN show when he went off on the Cowboys Amari Cooper. He criticized him up one side and down the other capping his rant off by saying the Cowboys overpaid for Cooper and there is no way he would pay that turd as much as Dallas paid him. Clearly, Ryan crossed the line resorting to name calling in his commentary. He apologized for the insult later but it just another example of the Ryan family being generally de-void of any semblance of class. The father Buddy and his brother Rob and Rex are all cut from the same bolt of redneck cloth and I’m not using redneck as a compliment.

This week will be a really big week for me. On Tuesday it will be my birthday. On Thursday two things will occur. 1) I will go to work for the last time in my career because I am retiring. My official retirement date will be in May but Thursday will be my last day to work because I will vacation out. So long job, hello life of leisure (until my wife breaks out her honey-do list!!!!) The other big thing will be the NFL Draft will begin Thursday evening. With social distancing the new normal it will be very interesting to see how the NFL pulls this off. My guess there will be feeds from every NFL team, although it may be a virtual bunch of war rooms as that social distancing thing will likely result in a lot of conference calls. All you may see is the team GM on the phone or on another computer communicating with his coaches and player personnel guys and scouts as they try to make sense of an online draft. Personally, I think the NFL needs to look into the way fantasy drafts are conducted online. It would work pretty well but it wouldn’t be very compelling TV. This draft won't feature Roger Goodell hugging it out with all the first round picks but I’m cool with that because, like a lot of people, I am not a fan of Herr Goodell. I will be hanging in there though because I am really curious who Dallas will pick in the first round. This is a make or break pick for Dallas, maybe more so than recent years, because of all the players they lost to free agency this offseason, not to mention the unexpected retirement of All Pro Center Travis Frederick. Will Dallas take an edge rusher? A cornerback? A safety? The worst part is the wait to finally find out.

 

All that said, the main topic of conversation around Cowboys-land has been the contract status of Dak Prescott. It’s a conversation that goes all the way back to training camp last year. Currently, Dak is tied to the Cowboys because Dallas used the franchise tag to keep him for one year at a salary that is the average of the top 5 players at his position in the NFL. That number is in the neighborhood of $31 MM dollars. I wish I lived in that neighborhood but Dak, understandably so, want a little more job security and a bit more money than that. Just because the Cowboys franchised him doesn’t mean the Cowboys and Dak aren’t continuing to hammer out a deal. The two sides have until July 15 to come to terms on a long terms deal but, for now, this is Dak’s deal.

 

Dak isn’t the first Cowboys QB to have contract issues and for the Jerry-haters out there the contract of one Roger Staubach comes to mind. An article on DallasCowboys.com talking about how Staubach was trying to get a new deal from then Cowboys GM Tex Schramm. Back in the 70’s there was no free agency, there was no threats of hold outs, and players had no leverage. Teams had all the power. The story goes that Roger was in Tex’s office to negotiate a better deal and he got annoyed because Tex made him wait in the outer office for an inordinately long time. Roger got tired of Tex jerking him around so he opened the window and climbed out on the ledge of the high rise office building much to the consternation of Tex’s secretary. Roger edged along that ledge until he got to Tex’s office window. Upon seeing his Super Bowl winning, All Pro icon standing on a ledge 7 stories up outside his window, Tex nearly fell out of his chair. Long story short, Tex opened the window and got his iconic QB into the safety of his office and ultimately Roger got his new deal. Things are much different now with player free agency and players certainly don’t have to do dangerous things to get a new contract but back in the mid 1970’s a player did what he had to do to get paid. It didn’t hurt that Staubach was already an icon and he could get away with that kind of stunt. A second string tackle would not have had the same treatment for sure. As Jimmy Johnson once famously said, he didn’t treat all players the same, the stars always get more slack than the non-stars. It was still almost 20 years when true free agency came to the NFL. For a few years prior to true free agency the NFL had Plan B Free Agency but even that favored teams over players. The Cowboys of the early 1990’s were built on 3 things, the Herschel Walker deal, drafting then trading QB Steve Walsh to New Orleans for multiple draft picks and Plan B Free Agency. Plan B was how Dallas ended up with Jay Novacek among others. It's nice to reminisce about 'the good ol' days.

 

Yep, this will be a heckuva week.

This week will be a really big week for me. On Tuesday it will be my birthday. On Thursday two things will occur. 1) I will go to work for the last time in my career because I am retiring. My official retirement date will be in May but Thursday will be my last day to work because I will vacation out. So long job, hello life of leisure (until my wife breaks out her honey-do list!!!!) The other big thing will be the NFL Draft will begin Thursday evening. With social distancing the new normal it will be very interesting to see how the NFL pulls this off. My guess there will be feeds from every NFL team, although it may be a virtual bunch of war rooms as that social distancing thing will likely result in a lot of conference calls. All you may see is the team GM on the phone or on another computer communicating with his coaches and player personnel guys and scouts as they try to make sense of an online draft. Personally, I think the NFL needs to look into the way fantasy drafts are conducted online. It would work pretty well but it wouldn’t be very compelling TV. This draft won't feature Roger Goodell hugging it out with all the first round picks but I’m cool with that because, like a lot of people, I am not a fan of Herr Goodell. I will be hanging in there though because I am really curious who Dallas will pick in the first round. This is a make or break pick for Dallas, maybe more so than recent years, because of all the players they lost to free agency this offseason, not to mention the unexpected retirement of All Pro Center Travis Frederick. Will Dallas take an edge rusher? A cornerback? A safety? The worst part is the wait to finally find out.

 

All that said, the main topic of conversation around Cowboys-land has been the contract status of Dak Prescott. It’s a conversation that goes all the way back to training camp last year. Currently, Dak is tied to the Cowboys because Dallas used the franchise tag to keep him for one year at a salary that is the average of the top 5 players at his position in the NFL. That number is in the neighborhood of $31 MM dollars. I wish I lived in that neighborhood but Dak, understandably so, want a little more job security and a bit more money than that. Just because the Cowboys franchised him doesn’t mean the Cowboys and Dak aren’t continuing to hammer out a deal. The two sides have until July 15 to come to terms on a long terms deal but, for now, this is Dak’s deal.

 

Dak isn’t the first Cowboys QB to have contract issues and for the Jerry-haters out there the contract of one Roger Staubach comes to mind. An article on DallasCowboys.com talking about how Staubach was trying to get a new deal from then Cowboys GM Tex Schramm. Back in the 70’s there was no free agency, there was no threats of hold outs, and players had no leverage. Teams had all the power. The story goes that Roger was in Tex’s office to negotiate a better deal and he got annoyed because Tex made him wait in the outer office for an inordinately long time. Roger got tired of Tex jerking him around so he opened the window and climbed out on the ledge of the high rise office building much to the consternation of Tex’s secretary. Roger edged along that ledge until he got to Tex’s office window. Upon seeing his Super Bowl winning, All Pro icon standing on a ledge 7 stories up outside his window, Tex nearly fell out of his chair. Long story short, Tex opened the window and got his iconic QB into the safety of his office and ultimately Roger got his new deal. Things are much different now with player free agency and players certainly don’t have to do dangerous things to get a new contract but back in the mid 1970’s a player did what he had to do to get paid. It didn’t hurt that Staubach was already an icon and he could get away with that kind of stunt. A second string tackle would not have had the same treatment for sure. As Jimmy Johnson once famously said, he didn’t treat all players the same, the stars always get more slack than the non-stars. It was still almost 20 years when true free agency came to the NFL. For a few years prior to true free agency the NFL had Plan B Free Agency but even that favored teams over players. The Cowboys of the early 1990’s were built on 3 things, the Herschel Walker deal, drafting then trading QB Steve Walsh to New Orleans for multiple draft picks and Plan B Free Agency. Plan B was how Dallas ended up with Jay Novacek among others. It's nice to reminisce about 'the good ol' days.

 

Yep, this will be a heckuva week.

 

Congratulation on Retirement! We have to be near the same age and are only 3 days apart on our birthday. Hope retirement goes well for you. Looks like you will have more time to dissect the goings on at Valley Ranch. Got to hand it to you, you have been faithful. Jerry "the wonder boy" Jones ran me off a long time ago. i never could stomach stupidity wrapped in arrogance.

Hey northoftheborder thanks for the well wishes. 3 days in my retirement is going pretty good!

For 36 hours or so we had a nice sports distraction from all the craziness going on in the world. The NFL draft gave us a pause, gave us something to think about, mull over, cheer, groan, rejoice. Such is the nature of sports and the only relevant thing in sports right now is the NFL draft. Even today people in their everyday lives are talking about it. Sportswriters and television analysts are talking about and even the charities who will benefit from the NFL Draft-a-thon. As for that, at the conclusion of the draft yesterday afternoon NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced that the Draft-a-thon had raised over 100 million dollars for COVID-19 relief. You can’t get more relevant than that. Good for the NFL for using the considerable lure of the draft to boost the efforts of those fighting the pandemic.

 

The point of the draft is it gives all the NFL teams an opportunity to make their team better and that’s what the Cowboys did over the past 3 days. Going in, everybody was sure the Cowboys were going to take CB CJ Henderson from Florida or K’Levon Chaisson the DE from LSU. That was if either or both were still on the board. As it turns out, Henderson was taken with the 9th overall pick by Jacksonville. Chaisson was still there as was the wide receiver considered by most to be the best wide out in the draft, Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb. Lamb or Chaisson, Chaisson or Lamb. The Cowboys needed a pass rusher and Chaisson was considered to be one of the best available. The Cowboys had a lesser need at wide receiver after they lost Randall Cobb to free agency last month. The Cowboys needed help on defense much more than on offense. It seemed a foregone conclusion who the Cowboys would take but this is a different team, a new coaching staff, a new philosophy than during the Jason Garrett regime. Much to the surprise to all Dallas chose CeeDee Lamb. Why? Because Lamb was the 5th ranked player on their draft board and they drafted their board. They literally took the best player available. Much as teams say that is their goal what usually takes place is teams take the best player available according to need which is a whole different kettle of fish. Taking Lamb kind of reflects what Mike McCarthy said when he first got to Dallas. He didn’t acquire players to fit a scheme, his deal was to get as many good players as he could and he and his staff would figure out how to use them. An offensive minded coach like McCarthy can certainly figure out what looks like the best wide receiver corps the Cowboys have ever had. And I mean ever.

 

When Dallas comes out with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and now Lamb teams will have a very hard time figuring out how to cover them all. Throw in Ezekiel Elliott and the potential of TE Blake Jarwin, not to mention newly acquired from Kansas City TE Blake Bell and teams will find it quite hard to stop this offense. The only thing stopping this offense is if Dak Prescott is mad about not getting a long term deal done but I doubt if he’s mad enough to pass on the $31 MM the franchise tag guarantees him.

 

The Cowboys pretty much followed their board sticking to that ‘best player available’ mantra throughout the draft with the possible exception of their last pick, QB Ben DiNucci from James Madison. Was he the best available or just someone to flesh out the QB room for training camp? With a pick near the end of the 7th round it really doesn’t matter much why they picked him. There will be more about the Cowboys draft picks but know that Dallas just got markedly better on offense by drafting CeeDee Lamb.

Early grades on the NFL draft from last weekend are coming in and it’s almost a total consensus that the Cowboys had one of the best drafts in recent memory. Across the board, the Cowboys have been lauded for having a top notch draft. The top draft class seems to belong to the Baltimore Ravens then, depending on whose grade you read it’s Dallas, Miami, Minnesota or San Francisco. Dallas really went with the best available player on their draft board except for perhaps their 7th round pick, QB Ben DiNucci and he may have been their next best available. In a previous post I talked about the Cowboys 1st round pick, CeeDee Lamb from Oklahoma. But, I wanted to add one more comment. Bucky Brooks who is an analyst for the NFL Network and the Cowboys website compared Lamb to former Houston WR DeAndre Hopkins. If that doesn’t get you excited about Lamb’s potential, I don’t what would. So now, I’ll move on to the 2nd and 3rd round picks today.

 

With pick # 51 Dallas took the best player available which also happened to be at a position of need, cornerback. According to Jerry Jones the Cowboys were delighted when Trevon Diggs was there for the taking when Dallas selected him with the 19th pick in the 2nd round. Most pre-draft rankings had Diggs going in the first round and most had him ranked in the top 5. At 6’1’’ and 205 lbs. Diggs is long and athletic. He ran a 4.54 at his pro day so he has adequate speed. As a former wide receiver he had very good ball skills and he is touted as prototypical press-man corner. There are minor flaws in his game which should be helped by good coaching and former NFL CB with the Green Bay Packers, Al Harris, is his position coach with the Cowboys. Lance Zierlein of the NFL Channel has even said that with his skill set Diggs could easily play free safety if needed. 4 of the current Cowboys roster DB’s are in the last year of their contracts so getting DB help was really needed. The Cowboys never dreamed they would get a player this good at this point in the draft.

 

Dallas took another defender with their 3rd round pick. With the 18th pick, 82nd overall, Dallas selected another Oklahoma player in DT Neville Gallimore. At 6’2’’ and 305 lbs. Gallimore impressed at the NFL Combine running a 4.79 40 which is a sick time for someone as big as he is. He is also described as a freakish athlete. The Cowboys actually considered drafting Gallimore in the 2nd round when they decided on Trevon Diggs. So, they got a player they targeted a full round later than they had him ranked. The Cowboys picks are following the best-player-available mantra but they are great value picks as well.

 

Tomorrow we’ll look at the Cowboys 2-4th round picks which also involves a rare deal made with the hated Philadelphia Eagles.

Day 3 of this year’s draft was a continuation of signing good players that were high value picks as well. With the 17th pick in the 4th round, # 123 overall, Dallas took another CB. They chose University of Tulsa’s Reggie Robinson II. At 6’1’’ and 205 pounds he’s a physical mirror to 2nd round pick Trevon Diggs. Diggs has an inch wider arm span and Diggs’ hands are a bit bigger but basically Dallas got Trevon Diggs lite in Reggie Robinson. Bucky Brooks compared Diggs to long time NFL CB Aqib Talib and we would surely take that if Diggs lives up to the comparison. Diggs is a press-man type CB but, according to NFL analyst Lance Zierlein, Robinson is not as athletic as Diggs. He has tighter hips and his ability to mirror a receiver downfield is limited. Zierlein does say that Robinson is much better as a zone cover man and he is a play maker. In his senior season Robinson got 4 INT’s and 2 fumble recoveries. He is also known for being a big hitter which makes him better against the run than Diggs. It’s quite possible that Robinson’s best fit would be at safety because of this 4.44 – 40 speed and tackling ability.

 

Dallas didn’t have 2 – 4th round picks when the day began but the Cowboys worked out a rare deal with the Philadelphia Eagles who had the very last pick in the 4th round. Dallas traded their first 5th round pick and a 2021 5th to move up to that last pick in the 4th. Dallas was targeting an offensive center they had a 2nd round grade on and they got their man. With former Wisconsin center Travis Frederick retiring in March it left a big hole to fill in the middle of their O-line. To fill that gap Dallas chose another Wisconsin man in Tyler Biadasz. When I was playing with the On The Clock draft simulation I ran across Biadasz several times and not knowing how to pronounce his name I called him Tyler Badass. The badass part seems to fit as Biadasz anchored a very good O-line at Wisconsin. Pre-draft analysis of Biadasz was that he was good but inconsistent. While the Cowboys were hammered at the time for drafting Travis Frederick late in the first round when most draft ‘experts’ felt the Cowboys could have gotten him in 3rd round the Cowboys flipped the script this time taking Biadasz at the end of the 4th round when many had him ranked as a 2nd round player. Biadasz is very smart, like Frederick. He’s a fine technician like Frederick and he anchored the Badger line for 3 years and as a senior he won First Team All American honors, All Big Ten honors, he was finalist for the Outland Trophy. Biadasz, Penei Sewell of Oregon and defensive tackle from Auburn Derrick Brown. Brown was the 7th pick overall in the 1st round while Sewell still has another years left at Oregon. Sewell won the 2019 Outland but Biadasz has nothing to hang his head over. The last man to be a finalist for the Outland from Wisconsin wasn’t Frederick, it was Eric Carmini who won the award in 2010. Biadasz also won the Remington Award given to the best center in the nation last year. Judging by the scouting report on Biadasz his only weaknesses look like they can be corrected with time in the weight room with his strength and conditioning coach and some time with his position coach to hone his technique. It seems as though Biadasz is capable of living up to being a Badass. I sort of look at Biadasz (you actually pronounce his name Bee-ah-dish) as a guy who step up and be the biggest surprise in this year’s draft. If it isn’t Biadasz they it could very well be the player taken with the very last pick in the 5th round. We’ll look at Dallas’ final two draft picks tomorrow.

 

Notes From Cowboys-land

 

On Monday of this week the Cowboys lost two free agents. S Kavon Frazier was signed by the Miami Dolphins. Frazier played a big role at safety for Dallas and he was a core special teams player. The other loss was DT Christian Covington who signed with the Denver Broncos. Covington was in the DT rotation for Dallas last year. He spent just one season in Dallas after spending the bulk of his career in Houston.

 

Today the Cowboys signed free agent CB from the Oakland Raiders. Worley was a 3rd round pick by Carolina in 2016 and he spent 2 seasons with the Panthers. In 2018 he was dealt to the Raiders where he started at cornerback and safety for them. Dallas did not draft a safety in this year’s draft but they have several people in the CB room who can play safety. Right now the only true safeties on the roster are Ha-Ha Clinton Dix, Xavier Woods, Darian Thompson and Donovan Wilson.

Dallas traded away their first 5th round pick to Philadelphia so they could move up to the last pick in the 4th round so they could select C Tyler Biadasz which was a great value pick for them for that player at that point in the draft. They still had one more pick, a compensatory pick given them for the loss of WR Cole Beasley to free agency in 2018. It was pick # 179, the very last pick in round 5. With that pick they chose edge rusher Bradley Anae from the University of Utah. Anae did nothing to impress coaches and scouts at the NFL Scouting Combine. His 40 time of 4.93 was not impressive at all. He did run a 4.73 at his college pro day but his measurables were not jumping off the page at anyone. The Scouting Combine is only part of the story when scouts look at prospective players. When scouts and draft analysts turned on the tape they saw a player who played like a Tasmania devil. A player who had a non-stop motor who just made plays. Anae is athletic enough that he was a disruptive force for a Utah team that was ranked 2nd in total defense in the nation. In 2019 Anae had 13 sacks in his 12 starts and he recorded 20.5 sacks in his final two seasons with the Utes. Most of them coming at the expense of some pretty darn good left tackles in the PAC-12. Jerry Rice was arguably the best WR in NFL history and his combine numbers weren’t all that great but he proved there is combine speed and game speed and while Rice’s 40 time wasn’t all that impressive not many people caught him from behind in games. To get a player with the upside of an Anae at the end of the 5th round is amazing value and if Tyler Biadasz isn’t the sleeper hit of this draft class it very well could be Anae.

 

Dallas had no picks in the 6th round and when their final pick of the draft rolled around in the 7th Dallas chose a QB, Ben DiNucci from James Madison. DiNucci was a two year starter for the Dukes and in 2019 he led his team to the FCS Championship eventually losing to FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. In 2019 DiNucci threw for over 3,400 yards, 29 TDs and he completed almost 71% of his throws. He added 569 yards rushing with another 7 TDs. I realize this was against FCS competition but he does have skills. At 6’3’’ and 210 lbs. he has the size to play in the NFL. Other notable players from James Madison are HOF DE Charles Haley, Buffalo Bills all-time scorer, K Scott Norwood and Reskins All Pro WR Gary Clark. As with all the other picks in this year’s draft the Cowboys got a good player who was also a great value pick.

 

The NFL website did preliminary rankings of all 32 teams drafts and the Cowboys were 2nd only to the Baltimore Ravens. Plenty of reason to be excited to see the Cowboys hit the field after this COVID-19 mess is finally beaten.

 

NOTES:

 

The Cowboys have released two players, LB Chris Covington and DB D J White. The Cowboys filled those two roster spots with CB Darryl Worley and long snapper Joe Fortunato. Worley has spent 2 two years with Jacksonville and 2 years with the Oakland Raiders. He was a free agent that Dallas signed just after the draft. Fortunato had been with the Colts when he was signed. The Cowboys current long snapper L P Ladouceur is signed to come back for his 16th season with the team so Fortunato is likely nothing more than a camp body. As for Worley, he’s a 4 year NFL starter who has a build similar to the Cowboys 2020 draft picks Trevon Diggs and Reggie Robinson in the 6’1’’- 210 lbs range as it appears the Cowboys are moving toward bigger, more athletic CBs. Just about all the Cowboys CBs are capable of playing safety so it’s not beyond imagination one or more of the group could move to safety, a real position of need for the Cowboys.

Dallas now has a veteran backup QB, Andy Dalton! Dalton was given his release by the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this offseason after 9 years. Dalton is coming back to Texas and the DFW area as he went to school at TCU. He and the Cowboys agreed to terms on a one year deal the terms of which have not yet been announced.

The Cowboys are non-stop busy building the 2020 version of this team. On Earlier this week the Cowboys signed former Cincinnati QB Andy Dalton who was released by the Bengals last weekend as part of the aftermath of drafting LSU’s Joe Burrow with the 1st overall pick in this year’s draft. Obviously, Burrow is the QB of the future for the Bengals and Cincy, just as obviously, didn’t want to pay Dalton $17.5 MM to ride pine which is what he would most certainly have done. Dallas got him pretty cheap relatively speaks paying Dalton $3 MM in base salary. He does have incentives that could bump up that number to $7 MM but if everything goes as planned Dalton will spend the 2020 season on the sideline with a ball cap on instead of a helmet. Dalton isn’t replacing Dak Prescott, this is still Dak’s team regardless of his contract status. Dalton knows this and he’s good with it. This upgrades the QB room immediately and even though Dak has never missed a down in his 4 years in the NFL now they have someone who is a 3-time Pro Bowl player is either 1 or 2 in every Cincinnati QB stat category. The most impressive stat is that he is 2nd only to Legendary Cincy QB Ken Anderson is career wins. Anderson had 91 wins while Dalton had 71 wins. Anderson played 7 more years in Cincy than Dalton and Dalton holds the franchise record in winning percentage (.534). This is reminiscent of the Jimmy Johnson days when Dallas always had a veteran backup. From Steve Beuerlein to Rodney Peete to Randall Cunningham there was always, almost always, a quality backup. The last time Dallas had a veteran backup was in 2013 when Kyle Orton was Tony Romo’s backup. The Cowboys have a strong offensive lineup that, on paper, looks like a Super Bowl caliber team. If moves made in free agency and the draft along with the pieces they already had in place comes together Dallas has to be a favorite to go to the Super Bowl next February. One more item about Dalton, people are asking why a guy who could be starter in the NFL would settle for a backup job in Dallas? One reason is he is a native Texan born and raised in Katy TX and he went to school at TCU which is in the Fort Worth area. Dalton and his wife and 3 kids have had a home in Dallas for years so, this is a homecoming of sorts for Dalton. Win-win-win situation for the ‘Red Rocket’.

 

Dallas added depth to their O-line this week signing former Browns and Chiefs offensive tackle Cameron Erving. Erving was a first round pick of the Browns in 2015. In his two seasons in Cleveland Erving played guard and center with few opportunities at tackle. He also dealt with injury issues that held him back. In late August of 2017 he was traded to Kansas City for a 5th round draft pick so you would have to conclude Erving was a draft bust for the Browns. For the Chiefs Erving started 13 games at left guard in 2018 and in 2019 he made 8 starts for the Chiefs during the regular season and he earned a Super Bowl ring after KC beat the 49ers in SB LIV. KC did not exercise the option in Erving’s contract in 2020 making him a free agent. I cannot state too emphatically how good a job Will McClay and his staff has done in player acquisition. He’s done a great job for the Cowboys since he came to the Cowboys in 2009 but in Mike McCarthy’s ‘players over scheme’ philosophy McClay and his staff can focus on getting the best players available for the Cowboys rather than the Jason Garrett scheme fit philosophy. The most dramatic example of that is in the 2017 draft Dallas selected DE Taco Charlton because they needed edge rushers but in doing so they passed on T J Watt who has been a stud for the Pittsburgh Steelers. I have no doubt in my mind if McCarthy had been in Dallas Watt would have been a Cowboy because of Will McClay’s influence and due diligence. Cameron Erving brings starting experience and a SB ring to the Cowboys locker room as they have filled a need for a dependable swing tackle. Erving is the 2nd free agent signed by Dallas this offseason. Back in late March the Cowboys signed TE Blake Bell to a one year deal. The Cowboys are proceeding as if there will be a 2020 season even though if things were normal they would be holding their rookie mini-camp this week. As things lighten up in Texas and around the country where possible you have to feel like there will be football in the fall and I sure hope there is.

There has been a lot of TV watching during this self-quarantining thing. Sometimes it isn’t so bad and sometimes you stumble on something you really like. The normal TV seasons have been cut short so there is a bucket-load of reruns and I hate reruns. I watch what episodes are left in this TV season and I watch a lot of HGTV and DIY. I am seriously tired of the same old episodes of Naked and Afraid being shown. If I hear a survivalist say one more time, “I need some protein.” I’m going to shoot my TV. These people are starving for whatever reason and they need FOOD. The desire for PROTEIN has become a cliché you wish to goodness would just go away. I digress, the bottom line is self-quarantining sucks and like everyone else I would love for a solution to this COVID-19 situation to be found so we can get back to some semblance of normal.

 

Being a Cowboys fan I stumbled onto a series of short films that were very interesting to me. The last two over the past two weeks was a retrospective of the game that defined Emmitt Smith as a player and aided in getting Dallas to their 2nd consecutive Super Bowl in 1993. It was a look at how Smith carried the team in the season’s last game against the NY Giants. A game that Smith played the final 2 quarters plus with a separated shoulder. Dallas won the game and earned them a division championship and a first round bye in the playoffs. The documentaries come the Cowboys website and are titled, Deep Blue. The episode with Emmitt was titled, ‘The Cold Shoulder’ and Smith’s performance on that cold January day is credited with sustaining the Cowboys march as Team of the Decade. The last episode I watched was, ‘Parcells Last Ride’ documenting Bill Parcells tenure as coach of the Cowboys. It was revealing how Parcells drove the team and how in his third year as head coach how devastating the Tony Romo fumbled snap on what would have been a game winning field goal to beat Seattle in the first round of the playoffs was to him. I was so disappointing he resigned as head football coach of the Cowboys. The important thing in the documentary was not that Bill failed at anything it was how he turned a dead-in-the-water franchise around and made it relevant again. That meant something to Bill as he said in a post-game press conference after the Cowboys beat Carolina to run their record to 8-3 guaranteeing Dallas no worse than a .500 record. At one point an emotional Parcells said, “…you can’t call the Cowboys losers anymore.” Dallas went 10-6 on the season and they made the playoffs for the first time in the new millennium. The Deep Blue documentaries can be found on the Cowboys website or on FoxSportsSouthwest on Wednesday nights at 7.

 

Be well and be safe.