Cowboys Offseason Feels Like More Hope Than Progress

[pansophy]

I don't feel we've exactly armed Parker for success so far, but we'll see how it goes. I mean, I think Gary, Thompson and Durant are better than some of what we put out there last year, but I'm not sure they are that much better. Is Ogbonnia better than Osa and Thomas? Maybe a better fit, but I don't believe we can say he's a better player.

Obviously, what we do in the first round of the draft will go a long way toward deciding if the defense is better, but a lot of rookies just don't have that great of an impact because it's a hard jump to the NFL. There are no Southeastern Northwest States here.

4th defensive coach in 4 years and switching entirely to a 3-4 from a 4-3. It just seems like the expectations are out of wack. Add 5 HOF defensive players or else we haven't made improvement.

We had more pro bowlers than Seattle this year. Our problem isn't the high end talent, its the rest of the roster. We need a B+ roster across the board with a few A player and a bunch of B players behind them. Instead we've had many A players with B or C grade guys around them, high risk reward guys, and if anyone gets injured its C and D players that come in. That's been the losing formula.

Go look at the Patriots rosters and you don't find many pro bowlers on them either.

 

[gimmesix]

4th defensive coach in 4 years and switching entirely to a 3-4 from a 4-3. It just seems like the expectations are out of wack.

I think expecting this front office to do much in free agency is out of wack with reality. We've seen since 2013 how this front office handles free agency, and nothing it has done this year has deviated much from that. We did give a three-year contract to a safety, but the rest has been in line with our norm.

Growing pains are to be expected, but you'd hope that more would be done to help with the transition than what we've seen done so far.

 

[KingCorcoran]

I don't understand how fans don't feel this years defense will ALREADY be more competent than last years low bar? We were lost and confused all year under Eberflus. This year KC/QW full offseason. Secondary ALREADY improved drastically with now 2 top 20 draft picks and 3 top 100. Assuming the offense holds steady which I believe it will given the second year under Shotty/Adams RB room should be more acclimated etc.. I'm very encouraged given that's MARCH 13TH. AGAIN, IT'S MARCH 13TH. One step of the staircase at a time. WE CANNOT SEE THE TOP OF THE STAIRS YET PEOPLE. That's not how this works.

Except we all saw New England’s efforts last offseason and the results they achieved. Now compare that to this Cowboys offseason. You’re using the words “Assuming”, “believe”, “should”, “encouraged” in regard to the Cowboys this season.

What you don’t understand are real fans are tired of it. WE CAN ALL SEE THE TOP. And the Cowboys are nowhere near it.

 

[kramskoi]

Except we all saw New England’s efforts last offseason and the results they achieved. Now compare that to this Cowboys offseason. You’re using the words “Assuming”, “believe”, “should”, “encouraged” in regard to the Cowboys this season.

What you don’t understand are real fans are tired of it. WE CAN ALL SEE THE TOP. And the Cowboys are nowhere near it.

"Real fans"?

The "top" is probably two years away. That said, Seattle did edge rush by committee (none with more than 7 sacks) and half of the LB/S/CB group starters are 3rd rounders or lower (with only three that were originally drafted by them):

Linebacker:

Derick Hall...37 (2nd) /seattle
Ernest Jones...103 (3rd) /rams
Drake Thomas...undrafted /raiders
Uchenna Nwosu...48 (2nd) /chargers

Safety:

Julian Love...108 (4th) /giants
Nick Emmanwori...35 (2nd) /seattle

Cornerback:

Josh Jobe...undrafted /eagles
Devon Witherspoon...5th (1st)/seattle

 

[ConstantReboot]

How can you win when you put the highest offer on the table, but the player chooses another team who offered less. There’s nothing in the world that they could WIN Dean because he clearly didn’t want to play for the Cowboys…. For whatever reason.

There were many other options out there besides just Dean or even Walker. The Cowboys simply gave up after the Raider outdid and out-bidded them.

 

[ghst187]

Just one move of replacing Flus with CP makes the Cowboys defense better.

100,000%

I’m not sure what people expect….to trade two firsts for an injured Crosby and sign every big name FA….? That usually blows up in teams’ faces when they’ve done that.

 

[kramskoi]

100,000%

I’m not sure what people expect….to trade two firsts for an injured Crosby and sign every big name FA….? That usually blows up in teams’ faces when they’ve done that.

They are near the end of the money for this year if they don't do some key things. They absolutely have to do a deal with Pickens and Aubrey or there is only Qwill's extension that will get them more cap space. At that point there would only be Bland and Ferguson left to restructure...which is problematic if you want/need to move on from them next year. And once that is gone you are simply tapped out. That combined 33 mil cap hit for Pickens and Aubrey ends the party...unless you want to "bust the budget" by restructuring the last two major contracts (for an extra 15 million or so).

 

[phildadon86]

It looks like their plan was to get Crosby, Quay walker/Nakobe Dean, And Jalon Thompson.

it didn’t work out. Dean took a lesser offer, Balt played the oops game and they did get their safety.

I think we’re going to see some late round draft picks traded for a couple of players prior to, during or after the draft.

I can’t fault them too much this time. I think we will end up with an improved defense. How much? That remains to be seen.

I also like that they are being cautious with Pickens. I like that they tendered Bass and the kicker. If another team wants them then we get a 2nd round pick for either. If not they get paid a fair amount.

I do hope that we stick with this defensive system for a good while. Changing which players you need doesn’t allow you to accumulate the talent they need over years.

If they nail the draft and coach em up we might end up being much improved.

This is the problem.

They have a plan. When it doesn’t work out they don’t seem to have a backup plan.

Ever.

They don’t have the ability to pivot because they don’t have another option.

We didn’t get Dean or walker. Ok. There was still LBs there but it’s like they didnt know what to do.

I feel like they get shocked when a player goes somewhere else. They like a lot of fans on this board act as if the Cowboys are the only team in the NFL.

You see it in the draft. The Micah draft. “We didn’t get a corner, let’s grab that kid who doesn’t even like football out of Kentucky, he will be available.” They hyper focus on one position and don’t care who they put in it when the plan doesn’t work.

I’ve seen it countless times.

 

[Cowboys5217]

You said this last year about the defense

Actually it is SB quality. Their edge players are excellent. They are loaded at edge. They need a good 1tech.

I love a good receipt!

"SB quality", yet it was the worst in team history. And he's one of the ones who tells everyone else how football stupid they are.

 

[Londonboy]

Hope, there is no hope. This team sucks. Jerry sucks. Steven sucks. The uniforms suck. Their parking lot sucks, and their fans suck.

Do You like Rowdy?

 

[Killerinstinct]

This is the problem.

They have a plan. When it doesn’t work out they don’t seem to have a backup plan.

Ever.

They don’t have the ability to pivot because they don’t have another option.

We didn’t get Dean or walker. Ok. There was still LBs there but it’s like they didnt know what to do.

I feel like they get shocked when a player goes somewhere else. They like a lot of fans on this board act as if the Cowboys are the only team in the NFL.

You see it in the draft. The Micah draft. “We didn’t get a corner, let’s grab that kid who doesn’t even like football out of Kentucky, he will be available.” They hyper focus on one position and don’t care who they put in it when the plan doesn’t work.

I’ve seen it countless times.

I guess they thought the LB’s in the draft or someone they may try to trade for were better options than what was left after their initial trade targets.

Yeah I hated that pick and the Mazi pick and the Schoonmaker pick and the Liafau pick and Taco. I’m there with you but I am withholding judgement this year until I see the finished product.

They seem to be actually using free agency this year and in recent years have been making good use of trading picks for players.

They seem to have a plan unlike last year where they just threw Sanborn and Murray etc at the problem.

We’ll see how it works out.

 

[morasp]

Pretty sure the current defensive roster won't be the one that starts the season.

I'm also pretty sure that once the season starts there will be some growing pains

 

[VaqueroTD]

While I would probably agree we need to be careful about assumptions of a 1st year DC too...how many people thought replacing Zimmer with Flus would automatically be an upgrade?

Cowboys just repeating what worked for them with Coach DQ. And really, before that with Bill Parcells who was always a defensive-minded coach. Both of those guys though were former head coaches with past successes. Here's hoping CP is as good as advertised and his picks to tweak it are just as successful.

 

[VaqueroTD]

Maybe ...... people were talking up Eberflus last year before the season started.

One example

I would also say Cowboys fans were "don't let the door hit you on way out" with DQ after that Green Bay loss. Then we didn't like Zimm and got a much bigger disaster. It's a crapshoot alright.

 

[Whyjerry]

Hope?

 

[SymphonySteve]

They are near the end of the money for this year if they don't do some key things. They absolutely have to do a deal with Pickens and Aubrey or there is only Qwill's extension that will get them more cap space. At that point there would only be Bland and Ferguson left to restructure...which is problematic if you want/need to move on from them next year. And once that is gone you are simply tapped out. That combined 33 mil cap hit for Pickens and Aubrey ends the party...unless you want to "bust the budget" by restructuring the last two major contracts (for an extra 15 million or so).

This is why all the talk of how the Cowboys could 'easily' free up as much money as they needed for free agency was just talk. The Pickens extension was never gonna be easy, they didn't restructure Bland or Ferguson, and the bulk of free agency is now over. Bottom line: They got what they could afford. Nothing more. At this point, there really is little incentive for them to do the deal with Pickens as 'Slim Pickins' are all that's left.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Hope, there is no hope. This team sucks. Jerry sucks. Steven sucks. The uniforms suck. Their parking lot sucks, and their fans suck.

Their helmets are great though!

 

[big dog cowboy]

Hope?

Hey I knew a girl named Hope a long time ago........

 

[kramskoi]

This is why all the talk of how the Cowboys could 'easily' free up as much money as they needed for free agency was just talk. The Pickens extension was never gonna be easy, they didn't restructure Bland or Ferguson, and the bulk of free agency is now over. Bottom line: They got what they could afford. Nothing more. At this point, there really is little incentive for them to do the deal with Pickens as 'Slim Pickins' are all that's left.

Not necessarily. There is still the draft and post draft FA for trades and acquisitions as teams will be looking to trim the fat and prepare to get down to 53. Some veteran players will be available. There's always the question of quality. The Cowboys could theoretically get to ~60 million of cap space but it would require restructuring the three remaining big contracts (Q Williams, Bland and Ferguson) plus signing Pickens and Aubrey to long term deals. THAT would be "all-in" for the year. You would have roughly 40 million to do more acquisitions...after the draft class is taken care of. 25 million if you leave Bland and Ferguson alone.

 

[Acceptablename]

I don't know how big the improvement will be first year but it feels different. Of course that don't mean squat but FO isn't sitting on their hands. FA was underwhelming. Their not through