Dallas Cowboys 2019 Offseason

[eagle eye]

A week ago tomorrow the Cowboys season came to an end in Los Angeles. I know, right? It really sucks!!! There are a lot of positives for the Cowboys going forward but it just is so hard to look at positives right now so soon after being unceremoniously ousted from Super Bowl contention by the Rams. A Rams team I can't really root for since I sort of need to root for the Saints. I don't hate the Rams, as a matter of fact, I was really pleased they wore their throwback uniforms because I think they are the best uni's the Rams have had, but I have my reasons I will root for the Saints this weekend. I have said it before but, I believe the Saints are a team of destiny this year and they will be the eventual champs come February. Enough of that, this is a Cowboys post!

 

Just because the season is over doesn't mean there is no activity around the Cowboys headquarters at The Star in Frisco so this post is focused on the beginning of the offseason.

 

First, the outlook for C Travis Frederick is looking good. He missed the entire 2018 season with a nerve disease called Guillain-Barre syndrome (pronounced Ghee-YAN bar-RAY). As you may recall that is an autoimmune disease that attacks the nerves in a person's body. Originally, it was thought Frederick suffered a stinger in training camp but he kept losing strength to the point that he went to a doctor to see what the problem was. GBS is a disease that if left untreated could actually cause a person to die. Former NFL lineman and current sports broadcaster Mark Schlereth suffered the same disease back in the early 90's and it caused him to miss an entire season just as it has for Frederick. However, as we know now, Schlereth recoved and came back an played at a very high level helping the Denver Broncos to win 2 Super Bowls in the late 90's. To, it's good news that he's doing much better. Jason Garrett remarked earlier this week that Frederick is getting stronger and the outlook for him is definitely pointing up. He noted that he had a routine cleanup surgery on his shoulder completely unrelated to his GBS which is another great sign that he's getting back to normal.

 

The Cowboys finalized deals on assistant coaches Marc Columbo (O-line) and Leon Lett (D-line) so they will be returning next season. The coach that was cited as possibly the best offseason move last year, Kris Richard, has interviewed for several of the vacant head coaching positions in the NFL in the past week or so but he was not hired so I looks like he will be around for another season with the Cowboys which is great news. For the Jason Garrett haters it looks like he will be back too. Rumors of talks with Jerry Jones about a contract extension have been untrue to this point but it doesn't mean it won't happen. DC Rod Marinelli will return next season and he even bristled at local media who asked if he planned to retire. Speculation was that Marinelli would be asked to retire so the Cowboys could name Kris Richard defensive coordinator to ensure the Cowboys would keep him in the organization. The Cowboys really like Richard and short of becoming a head coach Richard would be welcomed with open arms if he decided to forego any other offers to stay in Dallas. The good news for a lot of Cowboys fans came just this afternoon. The Cowboys and OC Scott Linehan, according to the Cowboys official website, have mutually agreed to part ways. Linehan had a lot of success in Dallas when Tony Romo was the QB but the Cowboys offense has struggled to consistently score points. This past season the Cowboys scored just 339 points which averages out to be a shade over 21 PPG and it's the lowest point total since 2015 when Tony Romo missed most of the season with broken collar bones. Linehan didn't seem to know how to use Dak Prescott properly so his athleticism could be used to the greatest advantage. Linehan, especially this season, was criticized early and often during the season for poor play calling and it seemed like if something worked he would be damned if he called it again. It was very frustrating watching the Cowboys offense over the last two years. It wasn't all Linehan's fault. Dak has some deep flaws in his game. He isn't all that accurate at times, he seems to have trouble pulling the trigger on passes down the field and his pocket awareness is very suspect. The new OC will have to be given enough leeway by Jason Garrett to allow him to help Prescott improve during practice and the offseason and know how to take advantage of Dak's strengths in games. A lot of folks are happy tonight because the Linehan scapegoat is gone. They aren't as happy as they would be if Jason Garrett was going with him but happy all the same.

 

What hasn't been mentioned is any discussions concerning the Cowboys player personnel guru Will McClay. That is the best non-news yet. McClay is the guy who has been responsible for building the talent level on this team for the past several years. McClay is the defacto GM in terms of talent acquisition and leading the draft each April. He gets to do that without the burden of worrying about salary cap issues or contract negotiations. That's still on Jerry and Stephen Jones with Stephen Jones taking more control of this area of the Cowboys front office. As Jerry gets up in age he is allowing Stephen more of a voice in matters concerning the team from the GM standpoint and that has done nothing but help the Cowboys get better.

 

We, as Cowboys fans know that Leighton Vander Esch was a bulls eye as the Cowboys 1st round draft pick last April. The Cowboys know this too. He played his behind off leading the entire team in tackles (176) and along with the emergence of Jaylon Smith, in his first healthy season in the NFL, they made up for the loss of Sean Lee due to injury which is something Dallas has not been able to do in past seasons. LVE earned a spot on the All Pro team which is a tremendous accomplishment for a rookie and just Tuesday he learned that he will be in this year's Pro Bowl as well after Luke Kuechly had to bow out due to injury. LVE is only the third defensive rookie in Cowboys history to get a Pro Bowl nod. The first two were Everson Walls in 1981 and Mel Renfro in 1964. Vander Esch will be going but T Tyron Smith and G Zach Martin will not. Both guys are dealing with injuries, Smith with a back and neck issues and Martin with a knee that he played hurt on for nearly half the season.

Edited January 19, 2019 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

The Dallas Cowboys are still making news over a week removed from being ousted from the playoffs by the Super Bowl bound LA Rams.

On the day after Dallas lost to the Rams Cole Beasley’s wife gave birth to their 3rd child Jovie Carter Beasley. Mother and child are doing well and Beasley is about to come into some money as he is an unrestricted free agent in March. His big payday may not be with the Cowboys but if they are smart Beasley will be under contract as soon as the new NFL year begins in March.

Two more Cowboys were added to the upcoming Pro Bowl this week. Drew Brees and Michael Thomas both bowed out of the Pro Bowl claiming they are injured. Emotionally scarred is more like it. To take their places Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper have been named as replacements. This brings the Cowboys representation in the PB up to a total of 8 players. However, only 6 Cowboys will be attending since T Tyron Smith and G Zach Martin who have battled injuries all season will not be going. Attending the PB will be RB Ezekiel Elliott, DE Demarcus Lawrence, CB Byron Jones, and LB Leighton Vander Esch. LVE is a replacement in the Pro Bowl like Cooper and Prescott as Carolina Panthers LB Luke Kuechly said he wasn’t going because of injury. I’m especially happy for Cooper because he really came alive when he got to Dallas providing a big offensive spark that included being name NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors twice in the 8 games he played with Dallas during the regular season.

My WTF Cowboys moment this week came yesterday when I saw an article that a front runner for the open OC position was QB coach Kellen Moore. This move is a real head scratcher given that he’s not even 30 years old yet and has coached just one season in his life. Moore was joined at the hip to former OC Scott Linehan and I don’t believe he will be trusted to call plays in a real game. There is also a rumor related to the Moore rumor. Former NFL QB and former Cowboys QB coach Jon Kitna is being rumored to fill the open QB coach role if Moore is given this promotion. God, I hope this is just a rumor. Something’s got to give because the Cowboys coaching staff is heading to Mobile Alabama to coach in this week’s Senior Bowl.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys coaching staff and six Cowboys players will be participating in this week’s Pro Bowl in Orlando. That’s little consolation for a team who had higher expectations but, it is what it is. The question about who will be the Cowboys new OC has not been answered yet but signs pointing to Kellen Moore, he at the tender age of 30, looks like he will be the next OC replacing the departed Scott Linehan. A couple of hints that this will be so is the fact that Dallas hired former NFL QB and former Cowboys QB coach Jon Kitna. He was likely hired to fill Moore’s QB coach position when he is named the next Cowboys OC. Another hint is the statement by Jones earlier in the week that the OC job will be filled from within. Now, there are several candidates on the Cowboys staff like TE’s coach Doug Nussmeier. Nussmeier has experience as an OC at the University of Alabama under Nick Saban and he’s familiar with the Cowboys offense. Another guy may be WR’s coach Sanjay Lal. He’s a guy who seems to have OC chops and there is RB’s coach Gary Brown. All that said it sure looks like Moore is going to be the new OC. I won’t toot my horn in favor of this guy. I’ll likely be like most Cowboys fans, standing back waiting for the young man to prove himself. It’s highly unusual to have a guy that the same age as most of the players in the NFL be in a power position like a coordinator’s job, especially for such a high profile team like the Cowboys.

The Cowboys have several players who will be free agents the most prominent of which is DE Demarcus Lawrence. He has had double digit sacks the past two seasons and he played under the franchise tag this past season without whining about it like so many players do. At 26 this will likely be D-Law’s last big contract and the Cowboys need to get him signed as he’s in the middle of the prime of his career and he’s an unquestioned leader on the Cowboys defense. Lawrence will play in the Pro Bowl this weekend but shortly after that he will have surgery on a torn labrum (shoulder) that he’s played through the past couple of seasons.

Hey, Saints fans. We Cowboys fans feel your pain. In 2006 in a playoff game against Seattle the Cowboys were screwed out of a first and goal at the Seahawks 1 because of a really poor spot by the refs. There was 1:19 left in the game when Dallas had to try a field goal to win the game because the ball was incorrectly spotted at the 2 making it 4th down. We know what happened next that cost the Cowboys an opportunity to move on in the playoffs. In 2014 Dez Bryant caught a pass from Tony Romo, on a 4th and 2 play, giving the Cowboys first and goal at the Packers 1 until the morons in New York doing the replay review overturned the call which turned the ball over on downs. Just this past fall the NFL league office admitted that Dez really did catch that ball. At least there are discussions taking place to prevent this from happening in the future. Still, like the admission that Dez made the catch, helping somebody in the future is little consolation when you know you’ve been hosed.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys did it. They have made 2nd year coach Kellen Winslow the new offensive coordinator for your Dallas Cowboys. It's a signing that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence given Moore's youth an relative inexperience but all reports about Moore is this kid was born to coach. Dak Prescott has called Moore one of the genius phenoms in the NFL, this quote coming way before Moore was named the OC. Moore played for Scott Linehan in Detroit behind Matthew Stafford and he followed Linehan to Dallas in 2015 where he was the backup to Tony Romo. Moore played some in '15 as Romo missed most of the year with two separate broken collarbone injuries. Moore, Brandon Weeden and Matt Cassel were all ineffective as Dallas ended the season 4-12. That low finish allowed the Cowboys to select Ezekiel Elliott in the 2016 draft and Moore was supposed to be Romo's backup. That all went down the drain when Moore suffered a season ending ankle injury in training camp and Romo suffered season altering back injury in Seattle in the preseason. In came Dak Prescott who became the Cowboys starter and after losing the opening game of the season Prescott led the Cowboys to 10 straight wins that vaulted the Cowboys to a 13-3 record, the NFC East division championship and the #1 seed in the playoffs. It also spelled the end of the Tony Romo era in Dallas and the NFL as he retired as a player and became the color man on the #1 broadcast team for CBS. Romo and his partner Jim Nantz will be the announcers for Super Bowl LIII this Sunday. Romo finally gets to the Super Bowl, Dak has gone to the Pro Bowl twice in his first 3 seasons and a lot of success Prescott has had, if you read between the lines, is because of Kellen Moore beginning in 2016 when he spent the season on the bench helping Dak. So, with one eyebrow raised in skeptical anticipation I suppose I will join many in Cowboy Nation watching how this whole thing pans out. I guess we'll find out if Moore is really a "genius phenom" soon enough. The next big thing coming down the Pike will be the NFL draft combine later this month that is going to lead us all toward the NFL draft in April.

[Dracula]

I don't mind the Cowboys going down swinging, after trying something different, but it bugs the hell out of me, when Jerry and crew bring in some 70 year old guy, who has a so- so OC record, and they just hype the hell out of him. I can live with giving Moore a chance at OC.

[Dracula]

This is an interesting development. This article was posted on January 13, 2019;http://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl/news/jason-garrett-dallas-cowboys-planning-contract-extension-coaching-offseason-nfl-playoffs-2019-news/opdili1zgfwo1434gkuzorz7s

Fast forward two weeks and this story breaks;https://sportsday.dallasnews.com/dallas-cowboys/cowboys/2019/01/31/source-dallas-cowboys-no-plans-extend-jason-garretts-contract-time

 

It sounds like Garrett is on notice to either lead the Cowboys to the next level or hit the door.

[eagle eye]

The past week was one of note for NFL fans in general and Cowboys fans in particular. The 2019 NFL Scouting Combine has been going full tilt since Tuesday with on-field stuff beginning Thursday. We found out that OU QB Kyler Murray is a shade over 5'10'' which pundits claim is a big deal. They say 5'10'' is a big difference to 5'9'' which everyone thought he was. It's a relatively bare cupboard for QB's in this draft and speculation is Arizona Cardinal's new head coach Kliff Kingsbury might just opt for Murray with the first pick in the draft. This despite the fact the Cards used a first round pick on QB Josh Rosen just last April. It's been pointed out that Kingsbury wasn't the HC then and he has no real investment in Rosen. It's for sure Kingsbury saw his fair share of Murray as the Texas Tech head coach so that will be one of the things to watch come April of 2019.

jus

"Ah, spring. The time of year when men turn their attention to other men running around in spandex!" My friend jokingly make fun of the guys talking about spring training a while back but it could also be referring to the NFL Combine. I don't get too excited about all this (is that an unfortunate choice of words? Hmmm.) combine stuff but there are people who do. I am not talking about the coaches, GM's, scouts and other front office personnel of the 32 NFL teams. I'm not talking about sportscasters who follow every move of the pre-draft process and make a huge deal out of the combine. No, I'm talking about Joe and Jane Fan who are so involved with their team they agonized over every time of the 40-yard dash or the 3-cone drill or the bench press numbers. To these people the NFL combine is foreplay as they get amped up for the NFL Draft in April. The NFL Draft raises such a frenzy that when Mr Irrelevant is picked closing out the draft many people need a good, stiff drink and a cigarette. It's so intense that all the post draft UFA signings are just those people's 'spooning'. The numbers posted in the scouting combine will go on pages in websites for NFL.com, CBSSports.com, Foxsports.com and, of course, ESPN.com. Then all the people who go through mock drafts will have a frame of reference. Again, I'm not talking about NFL and sports broadcast people, I'm talking about fans who love making their own draft picks. I have to count myself as a part of that group and I spend way too much time doing mock drafts for the Cowboys and Texans. My site of choice is "Fanspeak.com's On The Clock". I got turned on this site a few years ago and it's fun to play NFL GM -- a thousand frickin' times. I'm on a bit of a roll because I did get the Ezekiel Elliott and Leighton Vander Esch picks right! So, as the combines wraps up today or tomorrow Joe and Jane will be following the pro days of the college men getting another chance to shine as we wait on pins and needles for late April. Thank goodness baseball is cranking up to keep us distracted until the draft. Oh yeah, there's the Masters in April and there's also the last month of the NBA regular season, and let's not forget NCAA March Madness! Damn, man. Maybe March and April are the best sports months of the year! I need a drink........

[eagle eye]

It’s cold. I’m sick of waking up at 5 AM. I even hate coffee this morning. To say I’m not a morning person is like saying the sun is hot. I really, really hate early morning. I didn’t wake up on the wrong side of the bed, I fell out of bed and landed on a pair of shoes. I stubbed my toe on the footboard of my bed and I dropped my toothbrush and my dog ran off with it. Some people call Wednesday “hump day”. I like the Geico commercial with the camel walking around reminding people what day it is but, generally speaking, I call Wednesday something else using words I shouldn’t be writing down for impressionable minds to see. All I really want to do is go back to sleep but I’m at work so unless I want to be fired or given time off I will have stay awake for the next 10 hours at least. Wednesdays suck. Wednesday is easily the 2nd worst day of the week after Monday. I’m really in a bad mood this morning despite the elusive sunshine being out today. The sky is blue instead of gray but all that makes me want to do is lay in a hammock and sleep outside, that is of course, if it wasn’t 38 degrees outside.

I got off track a little as I intended to write about the Cowboys. Earlier this week Demarcus Lawrence got bad news, he was given the NFL franchise tag for the second year in a row which he said earlier he would not sign if the Cowboys franchised him again. He wants a long term deal which gives him a sense of security. It’s all kind of smoke and mirrors, a long term deal I mean, because NFL teams can cut a player any time they want, contract or not. So, I’m supposed to feel sorry if Lawrence has to play under the franchise tag again but, it’s hard to feel sorry for someone who will make $20 MM guaranteed. Lawrence has to understand, free agency begins on March 11th and Lawrence and the Cowboys are not even close on a deal. The Cowboys are buying themselves more time to work out a deal and Lawrence can bet the farm the Cowboys want to get a deal in place because they don’t want Lawrence mad, mad enough to not sign the franchise tender offer like Le’Veon Bell last year. The Cowboys need Lawrence, especially so, after learning that Randy Gregory is suspended indefinitely. A deal will get done so there is no reason to worry about D-Law being a Cowboy in 2019.

Speaking of Randy Gregory, no details about why he is suspended yet again have come out other than he violated the substance abuse program. Either he failed a drug test or failed to show up for a scheduled test. Either way he’s gone. Now the Cowboys have to rely on either Taco Charlton, who has been disappointing at best in his two years in Dallas, or Dorrance Armstrong who thoroughly underwhelmed in his rookie year last season. Armstrong is from Kansas and my friend Matt is a Jayhawk through and through and he swore by Armstrong when I questioned the pick in last year’s draft. I really would love for Matt to be right and I’m ready for Armstrong to step up now that the Cowboys really need someone to fill Gregory’s shoes. The question is whether or not this changes the Cowboys draft philosophy. Will Dallas use their first pick which comes in the second round of the draft on a pass rusher? Will Dallas use Tyrone Crawford at D-end or will they use Charlton or Armstrong? Geez, I need a nap. I’m out.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys seem to have a never-ending list of stuff going on. This offseason the Cowboys have had issues with two player suspensions, the return of Jason Witten and whatever that means and plethora of free agent deals that have to be negotiated with Demarcus Lawrence at the top of the list.

Lawrence is the most important and getting the deal done ASAP is very important. The main reason for a sense of urgency here is because D-Law needs shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. If the Cowboys wait around or fail to reach a long-term deal Lawrence will have to play under the franchise tag or hold out which isn’t likely because nobody in their right mind gives away $20 MM. What Lawrence can do is sign the franchise tender agreement at the deadline in mid-July, have the surgery, and miss the 2019 season, or a big chunk of it, rehabbing. The Cowboys will still have to pay him his 20 mil but he won’t play a down. Pretty devious way of sticking it to the Cowboys for not negotiating a new contract. The other alternative is Dallas trades D-Law for draft picks and they try to draft a new DE. That’s a desperate option for Dallas because there is no guarantee that a draft pick will be as good as Lawrence. Also, dumping D-Law could have serious ramifications in the locker room. Lawrence is a leader in the clubhouse, that gave the defense an identity last year dubbing his team mates Hot Boyz giving them a sense of “family”. The only real option is for Dallas to sign him quick so he can get his surgery done so he will be ready for the season. C’mon Jerry, open up your wallet and let some sunshine in!!!

What does it mean to have Jason Witten back? The tight end position will be better but he will be a progress stopper for Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schulz who started coming on late last season. It means that Geoff Swaim is gone. Swaim was the starting TE last year until he broke his arm and was lost for the rest of the season. Now, as a free agent, with the return of Witten he will likely be the odd man out. Does this mean Dallas doesn’t have to worry about TE in this year’s draft? No, it doesn’t but it’s less of a priority for sure.

The suspensions of Randy Gregory and David Irving hurt the Cowboys. Both players have ++ talent and have made big contributions to the team when they are on the field. On the one hand you could be mad because they both are sacrificing millions of dollars and the chance to play in the NFL so they can smoke weed. On the other hand, you could be mad at the NFL for making marijuana an illegal substance especially when the NBA, MLB and the NHL all have much less stringent stances on “wacky tobacky”. Weed is not a performance enhancing substance and it’s legal in varying degrees in 33 states in the union. There are NFL teams in cities in states where marijuana is legal. Weed is said to be good for pain management and if that’s true it is certainly a healthier option than the opiates the NFL hands out like M&M’s or pain killing injections given to get players on the field. On Golic and Wingo this morning they talked about David Irving on social media saying he is quitting the NFL and their BS rules. Again, on one hand why is weed more important than a job, especially one where you make A LOT of money but on the other why is weed such a big deal to the NFL? The other side of this is pot is a banned substance and a suspension for pot takes the player away from the thing that is holding his life together. Randy Gregory had a rough childhood that involved ridicule, bullying and rejection. He turned to pot to help cope with all that in his teenaged years. By all accounts he has tried really hard to get his life in order. He backslid and now everything that was keeping him grounded is off limits. Jerry Jones is legendary for standing behind his players through thick and thin but with the suspension Jones, or anyone else in the Cowboys organization, is off limits to Gregory. If you think of the overall good it was for Gregory as a person to have the Cowboys as his support system and how abandoned he must feel now, you have to think suspending a person for smoking weed is such a social injustice. I’m not saying I would condone pot use during practice or games but on their own time it isn’t any different than having a cocktail or two. It’s certainly better than getting shit-faced drunk. I’m just saying.

[eagle eye]

Here is what we know;

 

Gone are:

WR Cole Beasley to Buffalo for a 4-year deal worth $29 MM w/ $14.4 MM guaranteed.

TE Geoff Swaim to Jacksonville. Details of the deal as yet unknown.

LB Damien Wilson to Kansas City for a 2-year deal worth $5.6 MM

 

Staying are:

WR Tavon Austin - signed a 1-year deal but the terms of the contract are not yet available.

T Cameron Fleming - signed a 2-year deal but terms of the contract are not yet available.

LB Justin March-Lillard - agreed to a 1 year deal.

FB Jamize Olawale signed a 3-year $5.4 MM deal w/ $2.8 MM guaranteed.

S Darian Thompson signed a 1-year deal for $720 K.

 

New Signings:

TE Jason Witten - signed a 1-year deal worth $2 MM in base salary and incentives that could get his salary as high as $4.25 MM.

DT Christian Covington - signed a one year deal for $1 MM w/ a $500 K signing bonus. With incentives he could make as much as $2.5 MM in 2019.

 

Who Dallas DIDN'T get:

S Earl Thomas - Thomas signed a big 4 year deal with the Baltimore Ravens for $55 MM w/ $32 MM guaranteed. He will earn $22 MM in the first 9

months of his deal.

 

Dallas got some depth signed and they also came out ahead in the slot receiver spot. Tavon Austin is much faster than Cole Beasley and he is a much bigger threat as a punt and kick returner as well. The problem for Dallas is he missed most of the season last year with a torn groin muscle. This is Dallas' saying they want to see more. If he produces and stays healthy he could be in for a much bigger payday next year. I am speculating here because I don't know what he will make but I can't imagine he will make more than $2 MM, if that. If Austin becomes the threat Dallas thought they were getting when they made the trade for him with the Rams last year he could be looking at Cole Beasley type money.

 

Dallas got better at TE by signing Witten. He is not the long term answer for Dallas and even Jerry knows that but, he would be an a great veteran TE to have to play most downs while allowing Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schulz to develop. It also means, if they want to they could draft a TE in April although that seems less likely now.

 

Dallas' D-line got better with the signing of Christian Covington. He's 6'2'' and 310 lbs which means he is Antwan Woods twin playing in the middle of the D-line. He should make the Cowboys line rotation better and he's been more durable than the Cowboys own Malik Collins. If Collins can stay healthy and with 2nd year player Daniel Ross coming back the interior line should be much better. It will allow Tyrone Crawford to play DE and hopefully he plays right DE and the Cowboys can bring Demarcus Lawrence to the left side where he can ply his considerable pass rushing skills. That is, of course if Dallas gets off their arses and signs D-Law to a deal so he can get his shoulder surgery taken care of. With D-Law's contract status up in the air Dallas may be forced to draft a pass rusher. The Cowboys needed to draft a stud D-tackle but that may be out the window given the DE situation. I'm not forgetting about Taco Charlton or Dorrance Armstrong but I haven't seen enough to count on them either.

 

Signing Austin and FB Jamize Olawale were big in my opinion but not as big as signing Cameron Fleming. As the backup tackle Fleming did a great job filling in for Tyron Smith last season and having him there makes me feel a whole lot better about the O-line. Travis Frederick looks like he's well on his way back which means Dallas has a crackerjack backup guard/center in Joe Looney. Hopefully, 2nd year lineman Connor Williams makes a big jump in his game but if he doesn't the Cowboys still have Looney, Xavier Su'a-filo and Adam Redman ready to fill the position. I feel really good about the O-line in 2019.

 

Most of the signings are basically depth guys and guys who play well on special teams. They came cheap relatively speaking, and they have proven themselves on the field. The one guy I'm sorry Dallas missed on was Earl Thomas. He would have been a great addition to the defensive backfield especially with all the youth Dallas has at the DB position. I'm sure that upcoming contract negotiations with D-Law, not to mention the need to sign players like Zack Martin, Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott and Amari Cooper is looming on the horizon, the Cowboys just couldn't pony up the dough to compete with Baltimore. Thomas will turn 30 in May and that may have something to do with not wanting to pay a lot to him. There have been guys lately, Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson and Eric Berry come to mind, that have played will into their 30's. Sometimes you have to make tough choices and this was one of those times where Thomas was concerned.

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have signed two more free agents in the past 11 days. The have signed former Packer slot receiver and Aaron Rodgers security blanket Randall Cobb. Even though he's got 8 years of NFL experience and spent a lot of time last year on the injured list if he stays healthy he will be an upgrade over the recently departed to Buffalo Cole Beasley. Dallas WR room is pretty dynamic now with Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and now Cobb.

 

The Cowboys have done a little home improvement on the defensive side of the ball. Last week agreeing to terms with S George Iloka. Iloka brings a lot of experience to the Cowboys defensive backfield. He also brings an intimidating size to the field as well. At 6'4'' and 225 lbs he looks more like a linebacker than a safety. His 4.46-40 time is respectable as well. He spent 6 seasons in Cincinnati most of it as their starting strong safety. Dallas had been in the running for Earl Thomas who got a long term deal from Baltimore and they had an interview with former Chiefs safety Eric Berry. Due to their age and recent injury history they were too pricey for the Cowboys to take a chance on.

 

Dallas also signed a defensive end free agent formerly with Detroit. His name is Kerry Hyder and he had been with Detroit. He's not going to make you forget Randy Gregory but he fills a much needed hole. His signing is not going to mean Dallas can't or won't or shouldn't draft a DE in April. For a while Dallas was in talks with Miami about a trade for former Pro Bowler Robert Quinn which could have made fans forget about Gregory but the deal must have fallen through because there has been no information about a deal since Quinn visited with the Cowboys at The Star nearly two weeks ago.

 

As usual, Dallas picks their spots in free agency and they never really spend a lot of money either. Most free agent deals are for just one year with a reasonable cap hit. The Cowboys still need to get deals done with Demarcus Lawrence, Zack Martin, Amari Cooper not to mention Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott. Dallas needs to get off the pot on the Lawrence deal so he can get the shoulder surgery done so he will be ready for training camp or at least the regular season.

[eagle eye]

Seems that there is never a dull moment in Dallas.

 

Yesterday it was announced that Dallas had agreed on a trade with the Miami Dolphins for DE Robert Quinn. Quinn is a 2 time Pro Bowl DE who originally played for the St Louis/LA Rams. Last year he was traded to Miami for a 4th round pick and the deal with Dallas is for a 6th round pick. A pretty good value deal for a guy who had double digit sacks 3 years in a row including a 19 sack season in 2013. He is a 2 time Pro Bowler (2013 and 2014) and he was 1st Team All Pro in 2013. With a change in coaching staff in Miami which includes a change from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense, a system that doesn't fit Quinn's skill set, he was on the trading block this offseason.

 

Quinn is only 28 but he turns 29 in May. His first 4 seasons he was as dominant a player as there was in the NFL. From 2012 thru 2014 he recorded 40 sacks including the 19 in 2013. Beginning with the 2015 season injuries began to take their toll. It started with back issues that eventually ended up with Quinn having back surgery. In 2016 he missed some games due to a shoulder injury. He played two games after his return before he missed because of what was described at dehydration. He returned from that to play two games when he suffered a concussion causing him to miss the final 5 games of the season. In 2017 Sean McVey became the Rams head coach and he brought in Wade Phillips to be his DC. Phillips base defense is a 3-4 and Quinn was poor fit in the scheme. Prior to the 2018 season the Rams traded Quinn to Miami. In 2018 Quinn logged 6.5 sacks and was healthy all season. He started all 16 games recording the team leading 6.5 sacks. With the conversion to the 3-4 happening Quinn became expendable so he was shopped around. Dallas met with Quinn last week but he left town after a physical and interview without a deal. No word had come out of Cowboys HQ at The Star in Frisco until the trade was announced yesterday. Quinn was signed with Miami through 2019 but the Cowboys are trying to work out a deal to lower his cap hit. It could be a 2 or 3 year deal involving a hefty signing bonus or incentive laden to sweeten the pot. Quinn's 6.5 sacks in '18 were better than Randy Gregory's 6 sacks and if all goes as planned he will be a big upgrade at DE. Cowboys COO Stephen Jones said that Quinn is one piece of the puzzle because the Cowboys want to finalize a deal with DE Demarcus Lawrence. Jones classified negotiations with Lawrence's people are currently at an "impasse" but hope is being held out a deal will get done in time enough for Lawrence to get the shoulder surgery he has needed since last season.

 

CB Byron Jones had hip surgery in what was described as "cleanup procedure". He is expected to be back and ready to go in time for the start of training camp.

 

Michael Irvin lost his voice cheering the Cowboys on in the upset win over New Orleans this past season. He was still have trouble this past week when he went in the hospital for a biopsy on his throat. There is a definitely a real scare for the 53 year old Irvin since his father died of throat cancer when he was 51. On Instagram Irvin called on Cowboys Nation for their prayers. I, for one, am happy to comply.

[Dracula]

I like the personnel moves that the Cowboys have recently made. I really like the Randall Cobb vs Cole Beasley upgrade. By the way, if you want a look at Jerry's new boat, the Eugenia Bravo, follow the link, https://www.portnassauwebcam.com/

[eagle eye]

I like the personnel moves that the Cowboys have recently made. I really like the Randall Cobb vs Cole Beasley upgrade. By the way, if you want a look at Jerry's new boat, the Eugenia Bravo, follow the link, https://www.portnassauwebcam.com/

 

I checked out the link above and it was a webcam of Port Nassau. What Drac was hoping was a video of Jones' new yacht but it was a luxury liner. Below is a picture of Jones' actual $250 MM custom built play toy.

 

[eagle eye]

OMG, I got up this morning and had breakfast and was enjoying an episode of Walker Texas Ranger when I opened up the Cowboys website and, lo and behold, (let the strains of the "Hallelujah Chorus" begin). The Cowboys and Demarcus Lawrence have agreed to terms on a 5 year deal worth $105 MM which will pay D-Law $21 MM a year. The deal will also pay Lawrence $65 MM in guaranteed money. All this means is that D-Law will be the 3rd highest paid pass rusher in the NFL behind only Khalil Mack and Vonn Miller. Mack and Miller are pass rushing linebackers in 3-4 defenses while Lawrence is a true defensive end. In effect, Lawrence is the highest paid DE in the NFL. The deal hasn't been signed but as soon as it is I suspect that Lawrence will have the shoulder surgery he needs to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder. Lawrence suffered the injury in 2017 and he played the rest of the season with it and he played the entire 2018 with it as well. In 2017 Lawrence recorded 14.5 sacks with the injury plaguing him part of the year. In 2018 the Cowboys tagged him with the Franchise Tag meaning he made $17 MM on a one year deal. Dealing with the bad shoulder all season he still led the Cowboys with 10.5 sacks making him the first player since DeMarcus Ware to record double digit sacks in back-to-back seasons. Earlier this year the Cowboys tagged Lawrence with the Franchise Tag again but Lawrence had stated he would not play under that again. If he had played he would have made $20.5 MM guaranteed in 2019. This new deal pays him slightly more than that.

 

It's a good deal for both parties for many reason. First, it solidifies the Cowboys D-line. With the addition of Robert Quinn in a recent trade the Cowboys have true stud bookend defensive ends. This also lets young players like Taco Charlton and Dorance Armstrong progress. Taco has been a big of a disappointment after spending two years on the Cowboys roster. He was a first round pick of the Cowboys in 2017 who just hasn't met expectations you would have for a 1st round pick. He hasn't been terrible but he hasn't shone as bright as you would want. He has also dealt with a couple of injury issues as well. Armstrong was touted as big hit post draft last year. The DE out of Kansas flew under the radar a bit as he played for a less than stellar team during his career there. With a season under his belt and a full offseason to get stronger Armstrong could make a big leap forward this year. The signings of Quinn and Ware will help that. Now, the Cowboys can concentrate on upgrading the D-tackle spot. The Cowboys have a slew of 3 technique DT's with Malik Collins, Robert Woods and Tyrone Crawford leading the charge but the Cowboys could really use a big one technique, nose tackle type to plug up the middle. Dallas lost 3 games in the 2nd half of the season and the playoffs to Tennessee, Indianapolis and the Rams mainly because they were gashed up the middle by those teams' running game. A guy like Clemson's Dexter Lawrence (6'4'', 324 lbs) is the type of player who fits that bill. A player who might be available when Dallas makes its first pick at number 58 in the 2nd round is Khalen Saunders out of Western Michigan who, at 6'0'' and 324 lbs, would be worth a look. Dallas doesn't traditionally worry about one techniques in the draft so it's unlikely the Cowboys will use their first pick at this position. Dallas might use that pick on a cornerback, a safety or a running back but that is whole different discussion.

 

The good news is, D-Law is back in the fold. There is no describing what this means both for on-field performance but, possibly more importantly, in the locker room. D-Law is the unquestioned leader in the locker room on defense and the team. He created the Hot Boyz last year giving a big Hot Boyz necklace to the best performer of the week. The defense took a lot of pride in the Hot Boyz and it gave them an identity. That will continue now with the 26 year old Lawrence spending the next 5 years as a Cowboy. D-Law will turn 27 later this month so Dallas will have him at least until he's 32. Now, Lawrence can get his surgery done and with a 3 month rehab he should be good to go come training camp in late July. Now, all the Cowboys have to do is figure out how to pay Dak Prescott, Zack Martin, Ezekiel Elliott and Byron Jones. Simple.

 

Mickey Spagnola of DallasCowboys.com looks at the road the Cowboys and Lawrence traveled to get this deal done.

 

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/spagnola-looking-at-talks-from-both-sides-now

[Dracula]

I checked out the link above and it was a webcam of Port Nassau. What Drac was hoping was a video of Jones' new yacht but it was a luxury liner. Below is a picture of Jones' actual $250 MM custom built play toy.

 

 

Anytime of the day or night, I love to watch the Nassau webcam. If you didn't see the Eugenia Bravo docked, in the foreground, then she must have left. Her current location is, https://www.marinetraffic.com/nl/ais/home/centerx:-76.487/centery:24.179/zoom:15, at anchor off Fowl Cay. Jerry's on vacation, in the Bahamas and D-Law gets a new contract. That boat is well worth the price. If you have Netflix, check out the Highwaymen movie with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson. You'll forget about Walker, Texas Ranger.

[eagle eye]

Anytime of the day or night, I love to watch the Nassau webcam. If you didn't see the Eugenia Bravo docked, in the foreground, then she must have left. Her current location is, https://www.marinetraffic.com/nl/ais/home/centerx:-76.487/centery:24.179/zoom:15, at anchor off Fowl Cay. Jerry's on vacation, in the Bahamas and D-Law gets a new contract. That boat is well worth the price. If you have Netflix, check out the Highwaymen movie with Kevin Costner and Woody Harrelson. You'll forget about Walker, Texas Ranger.

 

Thanks Drac, I love a good gangster movie!

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys team, Demarcus Lawrence and Cowboy Nation, as a whole, breathed a big sigh of relief when Lawrence and the Cowboys agreed to a new contract and when they actually signed the contract everything was sunshine and rainbows. This has been the best offseason for the Cowboys in recent memory. Maybe even not-so-recent memory. The Cowboys came to terms with what had been a contentious negotiation with their best defensive player and that would have been enough, but the Cowboys did something in free agency that they have not done in a very long time. They got noticeably better. Most seasons they hunt and peck around the periphery of free agency signing a player or two for depth purposes. Last season they signed Robert Woods to a deal hoping to add depth to their defensive line and what they got was a starter at D-tackle. He was easily the best player acquired during last offseason. Yeah, Dallas made a draft day trade for Tavon Austin, but he was injured most of the season and his impact on the Cowboys was minimal at best.

This year was so different. First off, the resigned Jason Witten to a one-year deal. The TE position got better and it shouldn’t be a progress stopper for either Blake Jarwin or Dalton Schulz. That was a win for the Cowboys. Next, they had to replace Cole Beasley who left for a fat free agent contract in Buffalo. How did they fill that void? They signed former Packer Randall Cobb. No offense to Beasley but he is a definite upgrade at the slot position and he is also a good kick returner which fills another void left by Beasley. The Cowboys signed former Bengals safety George Iloka. He isn’t likely to beat out either Jeff Heath or Xavier Woods, but he adds depth to the safety position and he’s good on special teams. Last week the Cowboys completed a trade with the Miami Dolphins to get DE Robert Quinn. Long term Quinn isn’t likely looked at the final solution at left DE but he is certainly a very good player who is still in his prime and he only cost the Cowboys a 2020 sixth round draft pick and the Cowboys will only have to pay him a maximum of $9 MM dollars which is cheap for a Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber player. In fact, the Cowboys got team friendly deals across the board with all of these signings. Jones, Stephen not Jerry, has led his player personnel team through some murky waters this offseason and they have come out smelling like a rose. Not only that, but if you listen to Jerry or Stephen in interviews they seem highly optimistic that Randy Gregory will be reinstated and be on the field for the Cowboys this fall. That may just be the Cowboys putting a positive spin on the situation but it’s clear the Cowboys like Gregory. This was very clear when Dallas signed Gregory to a 2-year contract extension which gives Dallas his rights through the 2020 season. This did 2 things, 1) it sent a message to all that Dallas believes Gregory is honestly trying to overcome his addiction to marijuana and that he’s worth helping. This includes reinstating Gregory so the Cowboys can continue to be his support system. 2) It allowed Dallas to help Gregory as they took $310 K of the extension money and gave it to Gregory as a signing bonus. While Gregory is suspended he has no income, at least not from the NFL but, he still has pay for his drug testing, drug counseling, and travel for meetings with the NFL league office. That’s on top of normal living expenses. The Cowboys found a way to help a player they feel deserves the help within the confines of the NFL suspension rules. Say what you will about Jerry Jones the GM, there’s lots to criticize there, but there is no denying that Jones and the Jones family are loyal to a fault and they genuinely care about the people who work for them. If you still hate Jones because of what happened 26 years ago between him and Jimmy Johnson you need to get over yourself. Jones didn’t fire Jimmy, Jimmy quit. Jones and Johnson buried the hatchet a long time ago it’s about time you do to. So yeah, the Cowboys are hopeful RG gets back on the field in 2019. If he does, thanks to Gregory’s strict adherence to the NFL drug policy and the Cowboys unwavering support, it will make the Cowboys even better on defense.

With all noticeable holes filled the Cowboys are free to go into the draft in exactly two weeks able to legitimately draft the best players available instead of chasing positions because of need. It is a win-win-win offseason for the Cowboys.

[eagle eye]

The 2019 draft is just a day away. I seems like a lifetime since the Cowboys’ 2018 season ended in the divisional round of the playoffs in mid-January and it kind of has since it’s been a shade over 3 months ago. We had the NFL Scouting Combine and various All Star-type bowl games to keep our football cravings somewhat at bay. but that was all in February so we’ve had nothing football going on until March 15 when free agency began. For a change the Cowboys actually made a bit of a splash signing WR Randall Cobb and DE Robert Quinn and a couple of defensive tackles including form Texan Christian Covington. Normally, you have to look up free agents on Wikipedia or another reference guide that the Cowboys sign because you just don’t know who they are! After the first couple of weeks the furor dies out as most of the available free agents have new homes. That takes you into April where you have exactly 24 days to wait. And wait. And wait.

All that changes tomorrow evening when the 1st round of the draft begins. Not only will the draft begin, it kicks off about 2 months of non-stop activity in the NFL including our favorite team. First comes the draft then immediately after the draft is the feeding frenzy of the undrafted free agents (UFA’s). This is the ‘other’ free agency with the opening moments after the last draft pick is made can only be compared to the Oklahoma land rush or Sadie Hawkins Day or letting a thousand kids through the gates at Disney World. Maybe the best example to the UFA signings is Black Friday. You’ve seen the people who camp outside stores on Thanksgiving night so they will be able to breach the doorways to all the stores opening with big bargain shopping for Christmas gifts. It gives me chills to think of the carnage that takes place. The shopping for these UFA’s actually already took place as teams began prepping their draft boards. Scouting all avenues to identify, rank and target certain players in certain rounds of the draft and whatever is left over is reprioritized for UFA signings.

You spend the next week familiarizing yourself with all the new players your team has acquired and then for the next six to seven weeks you have rookie mini-camp, OTA’s closed out by the 3-day mandatory mini-camp at the end of June. Then comes that long, hot month of July without any football at all. At the end of July training camp will begin. Then it’s non-stop football until the following February. All that begins tomorrow night. How in goodness name am I going to not spontaneously combust with anticipation?

[eagle eye]

I have not written much about this Cowboys offseason so far because after the draft there wasn’t much to write about. So, several weeks removed from the 2019 NFL Draft there are some tidbits to talk about.

 

Rod Marinelli has a man-crush on the Cowboys 1st draft which didn’t come until late in the 2nd round of the draft. I’m talking about UCF’s Trysten Hill who played DT in college and he will play the 3 technique for the Cowboys. Hill played for a Central Florida team who won a National Championship in 2017 according to the NCAA because they finished #1 in the Colley-Matrix computer poll, one of many such polls, recognized by the NCAA. The Knights finished 12-0 in 2017 and they beat Auburn in the Peach Bowl to finish as the only undefeated D-1 team in college football. The win over Auburn was significant because Auburn has beaten Alabama AND Georgia and both teams played in the Bowl Series with ‘Bama winning the National Championship in overtime over Georgia. Trysten Hill was a big part of that UCF team. After the Peach Bowl the UCF head coach, Scott Frost, left to be the head coach at Nebraska. UCF’s new coach, former OC at Missouri Josh Heupel, and Hill apparently didn’t see eye to eye and as a result Hill only started 3 games in 2018 and because of the loss of playing time it caused his draft stock to drop. Hill was on the Cowboys’ radar and during the pre-draft process Hill met Cowboys’ DC Rod Marinelli and they hit it off. On draft day the Cowboys didn’t get impatient and they resisted the temptation of trading up to ensure they would get their man and, in the end, that patience paid off. Hell, Marinelli even attended Hill’s birthday party! I don’t know if they wore funny hats and had noise makers but he was there. How often do you hear of a position coach doing that? Apparently, Marinelli and Hill are simpatico personality-wise but more than that Hill is a physical freak. At 6’3’’ and 308 pounds he is bigger than most D-tackles but his quick first step, his overall speed and his non-stop motor give the Cowboys every confidence they got a steal with his pick.

 

If you thought there could actually be an offseason without somebody on the Cowboys roster getting in trouble you are sorely mistaken. This season it is DL Tyrone Crawford who was involved in an altercation outside a Coyote Ugly bar in Panama City, Fla. He is charged with misdemeanor unlawful assembly on March 15th. His pre-trial hearing is scheduled for June 13. Also, just the other day, Ezekiel Elliott was seen being placed in handcuffs at a concert in Las Vegas. Elliott was not arrested and he was not charged in the incident. The NFL doesn’t care about such things as a disreputable woman accused Elliott of domestic abuse but, he was not charged or arrested in the event and the woman was shown to be unreliable the NFL suspended Elliott 6 games in 2017. It is not unreasonable to think both Crawford and Elliott couldn’t be in for some sort of punishment by either the court system or the NFL.

 

There was some good news as well to offset the bad news. Jaylon Smith made good on a promise he made to his mother to finish college. Recently, Smith graduated from Notre Dame last week with a degree in Film and Television. He took his final 21 hours this spring to earn his degree. Smith’s story is pretty inspirational given that he did get his degree to fulfill that promise to his mom and also for the way he came back from a horrific injury that many thought was career ending. After the Cowboys took a chance drafting Smith in the 2nd round of the 2016 draft knowing he would sit out his rookie year rehabbing. Smith came back in 2017 and began playing games although he was clearly not 100%. 2018 was Smith’s breakout year as he showed he was 100% again and force to be reckoned with. All of a sudden, the LB position looked darn healthy with Smith at full strength and All World rookie Leighton Vander Esch a heckuva one-two punch for the Cowboys defense. Now, 2019 starts off with Smith getting his BA degree from Notre Dame - Notre-freaking-Dame. Not too shabby and a heckuva role model for people who face adversity.

 

Travis Frederick has been a full participant in the offseason workouts and he’s on hand for the first of the team OTA’s which began yesterday. After missing all of 2018 with a nerve disorder called Guillain-Barre Syndrome the Cowboys All-Pro center is back on the field looking pretty good according to reports. It remains to be seen if he will well enough to take part in training camp but, so far, signs look good.

 

Here’s a group of players who will either not participate in OTA’s or training camps because of illness or surgeries they have had to have from DallasCowboys.com.

https://www.dallascowboys.com/news/surgeries-to-limit-9-off-season-participations

Edited May 22, 2019 by eagle eye

[eagle eye]

It’s looking like the Cowboys have built a sick team in terms of not only talent but, depth as well. It may be time to take a look at this team after 2 weeks of OTA’s and see what we have to look forward to come September.

O-line – The starting five look to be back. Travis Frederick has been a full-time participant so far. The jury is still out however because the true litmus test will come when the pads come on during training camp. Fingers crossed but it sure looks like Frederick is going to be back after missing all of 2018 with a nerve disease called Guillain-Barre Syndrome. Tryon Smith is looking healthy, according to reports, and he is getting veteran days off to help keep him that way. Last year’s 2nd round pick, Connor Williams has remade himself physically this past offseason. You would expect a big jump in his physical condition because that seems to be what happens to players between their first and second seasons. Williams has been reported to have made a striking difference in his physique, so much so, that reporters for the Cowboys website have noted the difference in Williams and WR Michael Gallup as the two players who have improved the most this past offseason. With injuries thinning the O-tackle position this spring Williams has worked at tackle, his position in college, giving rise to speculation that Williams may be moved to right tackle after this season when La’el Collins’ contract expires. It makes sense as Collins is not a dominant tackle and it would give this year’s 3rd round pick Connor McGovern a chance to play. The Cowboys didn’t draft him to sit after all. The Cowboys have good depth behind the fab five in Cam Fleming who stepped in for Tyron Smith last season and he did very well. He will be the swing tackle this year. Joe Looney filled in very well for Travis Frederick last year and he will be the swing guard, backup center and there is also McGovern. The Cowboys are set on the O-line for sure.

TE – The return of Jason Witten is big. The TE room got a lot better with the return of “Gold Jacket Witt.” He will be entering his 16th year in the NFL and 15th as a player. His presence will benefit both Blake Jarwin and Dalton Schulz who started coming on strong in the 2nd half of 2018. Rico Gathers will be entering his fourth season in the NFL and, to me, this is the make or break season for Gathers. He needs to show the Cowboys something or it will be time to move on. Gathers could be bubble player if Dallas decides not keep 4 TE's on the roster. There is no need to stress over the TE position, it is well in hand.

WR – With Amari Cooper, Michael Gallup and the newly acquired Randall Cobb the Cowboys WR position is the strongest since the 70’s when Dallas had Drew Pearson, Tony Hill and Butch Johnson. The quality of this group is off the charts and if Cobb can stay healthy opposing defenses are going to have nightmares trying to figure out how to cover this group. Dallas also has a couple of UFA’s from this year’s class in Jon’Vea Johnson and Jaylon Guyton who can run in the 4.3 range who can run routes. They are going to make returning guys like Allen Hurns, Noah Brown and Cedrick Wilson among others have to work hard to keep their jobs.

RB – The only question about the RB position is this, will the NFL league office suspend Zeke again for the incident in Las Vegas? At a concert in Vegas, Zeke seemed to be having an issue with his girlfriend and then he knocked a security person down when he nudged into him. Nothing egregious and the security person didn’t file charges but the NFL has a habit of hammering people regardless of the facts. The Cowboys are really high on the two rookies drafted this year in 4th round pick Tony Pollard and 7th round pick Mike Weber. Weber was a teammate of Zeke’s at Ohio State for a year so that familiarity can’t hurt. Pollard and Weber could mean Darius Jackson and Jordan Chun may be looking for work come the end of August. Dallas still has FB Jamize Olewale.

QB – In the offseason the Cowboys hired two coaches who will have a huge impact on the success or failure of Dak Prescott. New OC Kellen Moore and new QB coach Jon Kitna will be trying to help Dak take another step up to improve his QB play. Time will tell if these guys will actually be all that but people are saying great things about Moore and Kitna and Kitna has had great things to say about Dak. Kum-buy-ya moments are cute but we will have to see what we see on the field. Cooper Rush and Mike White will battle for #2 and you wonder if Dallas will use a roster spot for a 3rd QB the way they have the past two seasons.

The offense looks incredibly strong. From the offense’s standpoint I think the answer to the question, “Is this a Super Bowl caliber offense?” is a resounding YES!

[eagle eye]

A quick look at what’s what around Cowboys training facility.

 The Cowboys finished up their final practices before training camp in late July. This week was the mandatory mini-camp to wrap up the offseason activities. The previous 3 weeks were the voluntary OTA’s which, BTW, everyone attended. Even the guys recovering from surgeries or doing rehab work were there. This is the time of the summer every GM and head coach dreads. 4-5 weeks where their players are not supervised at all and every summer a few guys manage to get into some kind of trouble.

 A couple of weeks ago I posted a look at the offensive side of the ball. I didn’t forget about the defense but I didn’t figure there was any rush.

 The articles about these OTA’s and mini-camp it seems like there is a different vibe about this team. Almost like with the addition of the high quality free agents, like Randall Cobb and Robert Quinn plus the draft picks the Cowboys added to their team, the feeling I get a feeling this team has upped their game and this could be a very special season coming this fall.

 The Cowboys have signed all 8 of their draft picks with the signing of 3rd round pick Connor McGovern. 3rd round picks for every team seem to take longer than the other picks because of contract language in the player’s union collective bargaining agreement.

 Travis Frederick has been working out since OTA’s began which was great news that he was recovered from Guillain Barre syndrome that kept him out of action all last season. He’s been somewhat limited but to see him on the field was great news. Now, all he has to do is show he is truly back when the pads come in training camp.

 Another player back just this week was WR Allen Hurns who broke his ankle in the playoff win over Seattle in January. He is yet another talent in what has become a very talented and competitive WR group.

 Another player who has caught coaches eyes this past 4 weeks is DE Dorance Armstrong. He is another player who has benefitted greatly from a full offseason in the weight room plus, with a year of experience under his belt he is better prepared to know how to get ready for a full NFL season. Now, if Taco Charlton could figure out how to play NFL caliber football……

 See you next time.

[eagle eye]

A while back I gave a rundown of what I figured the prospects for the Cowboys offense will be, which was pretty darn good! (The outlook not my post!) Today it’s the defense going under the microscope.

DE – As long as Demarcus Lawrence and Robert Quinn stay healthy the end position looks solid. The biggest challenge the coaches will have will be sorting through the other 10 candidates who will go to training camp. Players like Taco Charlton, Dorrance Armstrong, Kerry Hyder and Christian Covington who are considered veterans and rookies like Jaylen Jelks, Joe Jackson and Ricky Walker. Needless to say, whoever survives the final cut will be really good. There is even a shred of hope that Randy Gregory will get reinstated to further crowd the DE room. The keys to the success of this group was the contract extension for D-Law and the signing of Quinn. Anything else is good ole Cajun lagniappe.

DL – This involves the tackles and the hybrids who can play inside or outside. A guy like Tyrone Crawford comes to mind but after he got in a fight in a bar in the offseason where video shows him cleaning the floor with about 5 different bouncers Crawford could find himself in jail and if he escapes the legal system, Roger Goodell could very well hand down a hefty suspension for making the NFL look bad. I think the Cowboys would be wise to consider Crawford as a non-participant in 2019 just to cover their bases. Honestly, I’ve never been all that impressed with Crawford anyway. The Cowboys will focus on vets like Maliek Collins and Antwaun Woods and Daniel Ross and their top pick in this year’s draft Trysten Hill. If Maliek Collins can’t stay healthy we will get a big dose of Hill who is DC Rod Marinelli’s pet cat judging by how these two have bonded since the draft, and even before.

LB – This position group is led by Pro Bowl/All Pro caliber players in Leighton Vander Esch (WILL), Jaylon Smith (MIKE) and Sean Lee (SAM). Lee is switching to the SAM because he just wants to play and at this point in his career he knows he can’t beat out Vander Esch for the WILL. The depth behind these guys is another matter. There are a lot of rookies and 1st year players vying for a roster spot with the main vets in the mix being Joe Thomas, who spent much of last year hurt but, he’s a really good player and Chris Covington, not to be mistaken for DE Christian Covington late of the Houston Texans. Special teams are where backup linebackers go to make a team.

CB – This is pretty good group beginning with the emergence of Byron Jones under the tutelage of CB coach Kris Richard. Chidobe Awuzie is another nice player but I wish these guys would hang out with old-time Cowboys CB Everson Walls. I’ve seen Walls on film in coverage and the reason he got all the picks he got was because he looked for the ball. New era CB’s seem to be playing to knock the ball out of a receiver’s hands. Jones, Awuzie and 3rd CB Anthony Brown often have great position to make a pick but they never turn around to look for the ball. Jones has been out since the offseason rehabbing after hip surgery which has given a dark horse guy like Jourdan Lewis a chance to show what he’s got and he seems to have a lot. Draft pick Mike Jackson and 2nd year player Donovan Olumba have shown up big in OTA’s and mini-camp.

S – I will bet a dollar to a donut that a lot of Cowboys fans were disappointed that Dallas didn’t use their first draft pick in this year’s draft on a safety. I’ll bet those same fans were pissed because Dallas failed sign All World safety Earl Thomas but Earl came at too high a price for a Cowboys team that still hadn’t signed D-Law and still had contracts to get done with Dak Prescott, Zeke Elliott and Amari Cooper. The numbers just wouldn’t add up in the Cowboys favor. Dallas is happy with their current safeties, Jeff Heath, Xavier Woods and Kavon Frazier. The team signed veteran George Iloka in free agency and they also have Jamiell Showers who has flip-flopped between backup QB and S in his tenure with the Cowboys, most of which has been spent on the practice squad. Showers missed all of the 2018 season with an ACL tear that occurred in training camp. Dallas has a rookie, Donovan Wilson, the Cowboys 6th round draft pick from TAMU, who has made a positive impression this offseason.

The Cowboys have perhaps the most talent on defense since the Super Bowl years in the ’90’s. If Maliek Collins can’t stay healthy and Trysten Hill isn’t all he’s been cracked up to be they could always move guys like Kerry Hyder and Christian Covington to the middle. As long as the starters stay healthy this may be the most talented group in the NFL. The Cowboys CB’s are good and their safeties are better than given credit for. The Cowboys may finally have a defense to compliment their high powered offense. Back in the Landry and Johnson years the Cowboys didn’t care who they lined up against, their intent was to beat whoever their opponent was and they were good enough to do just that most of the time. Having a first place schedule because they won the NFC East Dallas will need that type of swagger to win it all. You know something? This is the first time in over 20 years I feel like they have the team to do just that.

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[eagle eye]

It’s getting close people! Cowboys training camp is less than two weeks away! Twelve days to be exact!! The Cowboys will be making their annual trip to Oxnard California where they will likely enjoy sunny skies, high temps in the mid-70’s and humidity lower than a squid’s belly.

 

Good news is that Ezekiel Elliott has met with Roger Goodell and reports are that Elliott will not be looking at another suspension as a result of an incident at a concert in Las Vegas in May. Tyrone Crawford is another story. Crawford was caught on video fighting with pretty much every bouncer at the Coyote Ugly Saloon in Panama Beach Florida on March 15th. Crawford was arrested for unlawful assembly (a fight), which is a misdemeanor. Crawford plead not guilty which is pretty funny considering there is video evidence that he was fighting. If he is found guilty Crawford could be looking at up to 60 days in jail. That’s where it ends with the law but then Crawford has to deal with Roger Goodell and the NFL league office. It’s bad enough that Crawford got into a fight but the reason for the fight, according to sources, was that Crawford and his party were kicked out Coyote Ugly because the group was harassing a waitress. You can bet your bottom dollar that the NFL will definitely look at the backstory to the fight as it pertains to domestic violence and abuse of women and the NFL is very, let me say VERY, sensitive to this issue. It wouldn’t surprise me a bit if after Crawford gets out of jail that the NFL hands down a suspension of at least 6 games to Crawford, if not more, considering he embarrassed the NFL by publicly fighting and the fight started because of alleged harassment of a woman. Roger G ain’t gonna show Crawford much love because nobody has caught more hell over domestic violence than Mr Goodell and his primary job is to defend The Shield (read, the honor of the NFL). Since Crawford sort of blew both those issues up with a public brawl he might as well plan on not playing for Dallas until Week 11 or so.

Otherwise there doesn’t seem to be any news out The Star in Frisco which, all things considered, is a very good thing.