Mailbag: What are the Cowboys waiting for? There are good free agents out there

[CCBoy]

JOE PENIRELLI - ATLANTA, GA: What are the Cowboys waiting for? There are good free agents out there, and the last I checked, they desperately need safety help.

Nick: They're waiting to see what the NFL's situation is going to be. It may not be the smartest idea to go out there and dump a lot of money into any free agent, when they've got several decisions to make on their own front. Secondly, and last I checked, free agency has not started. There are no free agents available right now. What is available are guys who have already been cut. So maybe the Cowboys are waiting to see how things shake out before giving a lot of cash to recently-cut safeties. Seems like they've done that before - Ken Hamlin and Gerald Sensabaugh come to mind.

Josh: First of all, there are only a couple guys out there right now that everyone is clamoring over. Bob Sanders has his issues, and if the Cowboys are interested in him at all, I'd imagine they play a wait-and-see game and hope the price drops. As for O.J. Atogwe, they had a chance at him last year, so maybe the Cowboys just don't think he's so great. There will be plenty of chances to add safeties through the draft and the real free agency period later on...

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/mailbag.cfm?id=59199A06-0D53-4332-6C7A657546118B89

[AmishCowboy]

I would like to see us sign one of our own FA's right now like Spears, Bowen or Kosier.

[Chuck 54]

I have no interest in Spears at all...I hope he takes a walk. He's not the type of player who will ever make our defense better.

We need DLmen who can actually make plays...too many fans have been reciting that BS that DE's in the 3-4 don't get pressure or sacks...totally BS. We need to upgrade up front in order for DWare and Spencer to be all that they can be and should be.

[HoosierCowboy]

new D coordinator, new scheme, every player on D is in a new system and needs to be reevaluated for that system--maybe Spears works well, maybe not--

[big dog cowboy]

I have no interest in Spears at all...I hope he takes a walk. He's not the type of player who will ever make our defense better.

Our run defense instantly got worse when he went down last year.

[EGG]

Our run defense instantly got worse when he went down last year.

Spears is the "Kosier" of our DL, nothing flashy and not exceptional but was clearly missed as soon as he went down. He is a solid player and if the Cowboys could have a solid player at each position they would be immediate contenders. That's one thing I noticed about those dominating Patriot teams, yes they had a few dominating players, but I think their real strength was that they just didn't have any big weaknesses. So if Jerry can sign Spears for an appropriate amount of money then I'm all for it,,, move on to the secondary and OL!