Ayers off Market; signed by Giants

[dallasdave]

Bass will be in that mix. I say at least 2 DL from draft, maybe 3 will make the team. Hayden with better talent surrounding him can be in that mix depending on the draft. But if they hit on 3 DL in the draft, he will be out.
Don't forget they have Ceasar Rayford they still want to see how he develops. But he may see another year on the PS.

Rayford has some skill as DE, he just needs to get time on the field.

 

[Woods]

What I'd really like the Cowboys to do in FA pre-Draft is to see if there is a back-up OG/OC they can pick-up to replace Costa. I think they will still have to pick up another OL (or two) in the Draft, but at least they will have some depth (unless the guy is going to be Weems).

 

[Alexander]

Pat Sims resigned with Oakland, I believe.

And Mike Patterson re-signed with the Giants.

 

[DallasInDC]

Most 4-3 teams keep 8 and sometimes 9 DL on the 53. The Cowboys have about 5 that appear to be locks:
Selvie
Melton
Crawford
Mincey
McClain

I'm hopeful that they draft at least 2 DTs and 2 DEs even if a couple of them are 7th round picks. That would make 9 DL total.

I would probably add Bass to the list leaving some combination of 2 DT 1 DE or 1 DT 2 DR depending on where they put Crawford.

 

[guag]

That's the photo he uploaded too his Instagram lol, and well what madden you playing?

Madden 25 -- but as far as I can tell, player ratings can vary/fluctuate drastically over the course of a career. I'm currently in year 2015 -- he very well could have had better ratings at the start of 2013 but dropped off since then.

 

[davey999]

Could our DL be worse than last year? Looks likely. Wow.

 

[Fredd]

I can't draw comparisons yet to the DL of last year until the draft is over and we see if we pick up another FA or two

 

[jazzcat22]

Could our DL be worse than last year? Looks likely. Wow.

Only if they all get injured again, and the 2nd and 3rd teams get injured again too.

 

[Idgit]

And possibly Bass can be part of the rotation if he has fully healed. I suppose if Spencer heals, the Cowboys can make a move to try and pick him up too. That said, I hope we draft around 3 DL in May.

Bass will very likely be in the rotation. I think Spencer's in the plan, but so much depends on his health, and then there's no guarantee he can be productive after the injury, the time off, and the scheme change. Hayden will be in the picture, too.

I think we'll add up to 3 DLs in the actual draft, and then bring in another couple more in CFA. Then we'll be rotating that 9th/10th DL player all throughout the season until we get the mix we think we can live with.

And are we sure Brent's not available for us this season? I haven't heard anything concrete on him, one way or another. The Talking Cowboys guys seem to think he's not an option until next year, but doing the rough math on his time, it seems like he could be available sometime in July or August depending on how much time he'd served prior and what the league ultimately does with his possible suspension.

 

[Alexander]

I can't draw comparisons yet to the DL of last year until the draft is over and we see if we pick up another FA or two

Unless some decent free agents get cut after the draft, you might as well just forget about adding any veterans and better hope for the draft to break well. The market is dry.

 

[Woods]

Could our DL be worse than last year? Looks likely. Wow.

I don't know. No way we're going to replace a healthy Ware and Hatcher. But, if we're talking about replacing the injured Ware we saw the 2nd half of last season, and if Melton is healthy . . . . with a Draft focused on the DL and front 7, we can be better than last year. Though maybe not good enough . . . .

 

[Fredd]

Unless some decent free agents get cut after the draft, you might as well just forget about adding any veterans and better hope for the draft to break well. The market is dry.

agreed, but we will see around early june if there is anything left to pick over

 

[OhSnap]

We lost out allot in FA last year too and paid the price. Oh wait we were still 8-8.

 

[Woods]

Bass will very likely be in the rotation. I think Spencer's in the plan, but so much depends on his health, and then there's no guarantee he can be productive after the injury, the time off, and the scheme change. Hayden will be in the picture, too.

I think we'll add up to 3 DLs in the actual draft, and then bring in another couple more in CFA. Then we'll be rotating that 9th/10th DL player all throughout the season until we get the mix we think we can live with.

And are we sure Brent's not available for us this season? I haven't heard anything concrete on him, one way or another. The Talking Cowboys guys seem to think he's not an option until next year, but doing the rough math on his time, it seems like he could be available sometime in July or August depending on how much time he'd served prior and what the league ultimately does with his possible suspension.

I think his prison term ends around July. However, I am assuming he will be serving some sort of suspension. Maybe around 4 games? Though I guess he would be eligible for TC/pre-season. Just pure speculation on my part. Whether he is in any sort of football shape is also debatable. I don't think the team should be depending on any contribution from him this year.

I think if we can add a guy like C Reid or Quarles around the 4th as part of the rotation, and get at least 1 top DE in Round 1 or 2 it would be a good start. I am assuming Donald is gone in this scenario.

 

[Idgit]

agreed, but we will see around early june if there is anything left to pick over

There's a good chance we add another VFA after it's all said and done. It'll be one of the ho-hum variety, though, and everybody will complain. But if we can improve the rotation doing it, it's a good thing.

 

[Idgit]

I think his prison term ends around July. However, I am assuming he will be serving some sort of suspension. Maybe around 4 games? Though I guess he would be eligible for TC/pre-season. Just pure speculation on my part. Whether he is in any sort of football shape is also debatable. I don't think the team should be depending on any contribution from him this year.

I think if we can add a guy like C Reid or Quarles around the 4th as part of the rotation, and get at least 1 top DE in Round 1 or 2 it would be a good start. I am assuming Donald is gone in this scenario.

On Brent, that's what I was thinking: he'd get out in time to get a late start to camp, could reasonably be in decent shape in terms of his strength, but with very little time to get into football shape or get familiar with the scheme. Then he gets reinstated, comes in for 4-5 weeks, gets a ruling on his suspension (I'm guessing 4 weeks there, too), and is limited but otherwise available for the last two-thirds of the season. As a rotational player, though, he's probably an option to get some snaps in the second half of the season if we work him in similar to the way we worked in Brian Waters last year. Either way, if that's the route we go, he's another veteran who'd claim one of those DL spots.

I think you're right on the draft. And we'd probably add 1-2 priority CFAs we like. Add them to the spare parts we have lying around from last season, and see how it all shakes out.

Overall, it's a recipe for improving the quality of the DL snaps overall, but it gives us very little to go with in terms of established NFL talent at one of the most important position groups on the field. I sure hope we get lucky with Crawford and/or the draft, and that Marinelli can get us another career year out of one of the also-rans we brought in in VFA. We're going to need guys to step up big time.

 

[kiheikiwi]

This is what the "Cap Hell" terminology is all about. Can't or wont spend what little we have left. The Melton signing was a welcome and very needed signing, but it's just not enough. I appluad the front office for finaly trying to turn our situation around. But, I'm poor old stomach tells me we might be in for a long cold winter - even with a really good draft. To quote my favorite show - Winter is coming !

 

[Denim Chicken]

This is what the "Cap Hell" terminology is all about. Can't or wont spend what little we have left. The Melton signing was a welcome and very needed signing, but it's just not enough. I appluad the front office for finaly trying to turn our situation around. But, I'm poor old stomach tells me we might be in for a long cold winter - even with a really good draft. To quote my favorite show - Winter is coming !

Thing is, this year we're going to have to relay on the offense. With new coaching, a healthy Romo, and the rooks with another year under their belts maybe we have something to look forward to on O.

If we can improve the defense to at least average, we might be able to do a little something while riding this soft rebuild / cap clearing.

 

[The Natural]

Thing is, this year we're going to have to relay on the offense. With new coaching, a healthy Romo, and the rooks with another year under their belts maybe we have something to look forward to on O.

If we can improve the defense to at least average, we might be able to do a little something while riding this soft rebuild / cap clearing.

Maybe its me, but I have no reason to believe our offense is going to be anywhere near the juggernaut folks think it will be to think we can rely on them to win ball games. Perhaps Linehan or whatever his name is from Detroit will be the difference maker but I thought we struggled to find the end zone last year.

 

[Idgit]

Thing is, this year we're going to have to relay on the offense. With new coaching, a healthy Romo, and the rooks with another year under their belts maybe we have something to look forward to on O.

If we can improve the defense to at least average, we might be able to do a little something while riding this soft rebuild / cap clearing.

We'd have been a pretty good team each of the last two seasons with that elusive mediocre defense, I agree.