Release Crawford and sign Clowney

[Kaiser]

imagine jones boys still are counting on gregory which is a joke .

They have four other players at that RDE position, they wouldn't have that kind of logjam if they were depending on Randy Gregory. What (if anything) we get from Gregory is a bonus.

 

[KingintheNorth]

Where do you play Clowney?

In opponents backfields.

 

[Redball Express]

Releasing Crawford would free up $8 million in cap space.

That freed up money should allow for enough cap space to sign Clowney to a 1 year prove it deal at $16 million (it is being reported he turned down a $15 million one year deal with the Browns) since he remains a free agent late into the offseason.

In my view, this move has a few benefits:

1) Clowney is a better player than Crawford and has a much higher ceiling.

Clowney has 32 sacks in his 6 years in the NFL and that is including his rookie year where it was cut short to only 4 games because of injury. Since then, Clowney has missed a total of 9 games in 5 seasons.

Crawford, on the other hand, has had 23 sacks in 8 seasons. That does include the 2013 season where he was IRd for an ACL injury he suffered in training camp. He remained healthy after that, but he only played 4 games last season after having another injury that brought his season to an end.

2) Clowney has better position flexibility than Crawford does. Clowney can playe DE or move inside if needed. Crawford is a better 3T than a DE, which is where he is expected to play a majority of the time.

3) Signing Clowney to a 1 year deal will make him want to play at a high level at all times and tough out injuries.

4) Clowney is only 27 and Crawford is 30. Clowney is more apt to have a big year, which would improve his market dramatically next year. We wouldn't be able to sign him, but he would yield us a 3rd round comp pick in 2022.

Bring in Clowney and say goodbye to Crawford.

Clowney has injury history of his own since his rookie year.

And last year in Seattle..he was underwhelming.

Now he wants a Top 2 contract.

That is sort of crazy. No teams are going to do that. You have to surround him with other top talent to make him work for your team.

I would never sign him.

So one has to regard how he played with Watt in Houston.

Watt carried their defense.

I would much rather pay less and use it on a LBer we can rotate with our starters or have insurance incase one of our starters goes down.

And you know they will. It's always a crisis when Lee or Wolf Hunter go down. Smith is not far behind.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

He can play anywhere on our Dline

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Is that not Aldon Smith's position?

aldon smith has been away from football for 5 years....he is not going to come in and be able to play at a high level anytime soon. him, making the team will be a victory....

this is not madden football.....

 

[Williamsboys]

I really doubt the Cowboys would sign Clowney knowing Randy Gregory might be coming back and Aldon Smith is already here, though I agree we should get rid of Crawford's cap hit.

 

[KingintheNorth]

And last year in Seattle..he was underwhelming.

LOL.

He graded out at 87.7. He only had 3 sacks, but had 4 FF, 3 balls batted down, an INT and a defensive TD.

Crawford has done nothing for years.

If Clowney was underwhelming, Crawford must have been unconscious.

Please come underwhelm for us.

 

[Ranched]

Release Trysten Hill instead!

 

[DandyDon52]

LOL.

He graded out at 87.7. He only had 3 sacks, but had 4 FF, 3 balls batted down, an INT and a defensive TD.

Crawford has done nothing for years.

If Clowney was underwhelming, Crawford must have been unconscious.

Please come underwhelm for us.

yes sacks are just one stupid stat, those other things including disruption, and pressure are what count during the season.
if you dont have someone good on him or dont double him, he is coming in!
I saw one game with him last year and he looked good to me.

 

[BAT]

LOL.

He graded out at 87.7. He only had 3 sacks, but had 4 FF, 3 balls batted down, an INT and a defensive TD.

Crawford has done nothing for years.

If Clowney was underwhelming, Crawford must have been unconscious.

Please come underwhelm for us.

Would "like" more if I could.

It is mindblowing how ignorant our fanbase is, preferring to repeat BS narratives instead of doing their own research.

 

[Redball Express]

LOL.

He graded out at 87.7. He only had 3 sacks, but had 4 FF, 3 balls batted down, an INT and a defensive TD.

Crawford has done nothing for years.

If Clowney was underwhelming, Crawford must have been unconscious.

Please come underwhelm for us.

It's all in the eye of the beholder.

Quinn was much better than Clowney and they would not pay him.

I can not argue about Crawford. I would like him gone.

But no way I pay Clowney $15 mil for your stat line.

You surely are not serious.

Put him on your fantasy team.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

aldon smith has been away from football for 5 years....he is not going to come in and be able to play at a high level anytime soon. him, making the team will be a victory....

this is not madden football.....

You are telling me that but I’m not the one relying on Aldon Smith. That is the Cowboys. He was how they chose to address the position. Don’t shoot the message.

 

[Kaiser]

You are telling me that but I’m not the one relying on Aldon Smith. That is the Cowboys. He was how they chose to address the position. Don’t shoot the message.

Its also different for a guy like Smith who is playing a position that is more about raw athleticism than a timing/reps position like QB or WR. Most pass rushers use 3 or 4 basic moves and its not like Smith forgot them. And if you believe Jay Glazer, he is better shape now than when he left the NFL five years ago.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

You are telling me that but I’m not the one relying on Aldon Smith. That is the Cowboys. He was how they chose to address the position. Don’t shoot the message.

I think the cowboys are relying on somebody (or couple) to step up in that group...I don't they are misguided by thinking aldon is going to come in and be the solution. they are taking a flyer. but they drafted anae, drafted jelks and Jackson, have a couple of others and keeping Crawford around until after training camp so they can see he is their best DE...…..

 

[KJJ]

You would be replacing one player who’s had injury issues with another player who’s had injury issues. Go add up the games Clowney has missed due to injury.

 

[eromeopolk]

Releasing Crawford would free up $8 million in cap space.

That freed up money should allow for enough cap space to sign Clowney to a 1 year prove it deal at $16 million (it is being reported he turned down a $15 million one year deal with the Browns) since he remains a free agent late into the offseason.

In my view, this move has a few benefits:

1) Clowney is a better player than Crawford and has a much higher ceiling.

Clowney has 32 sacks in his 6 years in the NFL and that is including his rookie year where it was cut short to only 4 games because of injury. Since then, Clowney has missed a total of 9 games in 5 seasons.

Crawford, on the other hand, has had 23 sacks in 8 seasons. That does include the 2013 season where he was IRd for an ACL injury he suffered in training camp. He remained healthy after that, but he only played 4 games last season after having another injury that brought his season to an end.

2) Clowney has better position flexibility than Crawford does. Clowney can playe DE or move inside if needed. Crawford is a better 3T than a DE, which is where he is expected to play a majority of the time.

3) Signing Clowney to a 1 year deal will make him want to play at a high level at all times and tough out injuries.

4) Clowney is only 27 and Crawford is 30. Clowney is more apt to have a big year, which would improve his market dramatically next year. We wouldn't be able to sign him, but he would yield us a 3rd round comp pick in 2022.

Bring in Clowney and say goodbye to Crawford.

Deion Sanders said "Both". You can sign Clowney and keep Crawford (cap space is there for 1-3 year deals or restructuring). Both have been unavailable due to injury. Both have athletic ability off the chart. Both need to play for their money to get a long term contract.

 

[Sydla]

Its not about what I think. Its about what this organization has showed us. They've had plenty of opportunities to address that position and they addressed it with Smith. That's not us fans saying Smith will hit the ground running that's this organization. They didn't address the position in the draft or in free agency aside from Smith.

They are being shortsighted.

This isn't the first, or the last time, they'll take a big, cheap risk on a position when there were better options out there and it didn't work out.

 

[Cowboysheelsreds053]

hasn't clowney already turned down 22 million a year? he's way too expensive.

No, he wanted 20M this year and no one in the right mind is giving him 22M or he would have jumped on that. Cleveland offered around 15M or 16M and he said NO Thanks several weeks ago.

 

[Chuck 54]

Fact - Clowney is an excellent DE. Very good against the run, gets penetration and disrupts.

Fact - Clowney is NOT a special pass rusher. He is not elite nor even upper tier as a pass rusher.

Fact - It is not his contract demands nor his effort on the field that accounts for his not being signed already. It is because he is not a great pass rusher, and no one wants to pay top money to a DE unless he’s nailing double digit sacks or ranking near the top in pass pressure and QB hits.

Clowney is better suited at left DE than right DE.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

Its also different for a guy like Smith who is playing a position that is more about raw athleticism than a timing/reps position like QB or WR. Most pass rushers use 3 or 4 basic moves and its not like Smith forgot them. And if you believe Jay Glazer, he is better shape now than when he left the NFL five years ago.

Yeah I saw Mike Vick come from jail to have arguably the best year of his career. I don’t expect Aldon to be 20 sacks a year Aldon. But to tell me he can’t give you the 3 sacks Clowney will probably get you is also wishful thinking.