NBC: Ronald Leary prepared to move on from Cowboys

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jobberone

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Ronald Leary prepared to move on from Cowboys
Posted by Josh Alper on January 18, 2017, 11:31 AM EST
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Ronald Leary wanted to leave the Cowboys before the start of the 2016 season as his run in the starting lineup came to an end with the arrival of La’El Collins in 2015, but the Cowboys held onto him as insurance against an injury.

That proved wise as Collins suffered a toe injury early in the season and Leary stepped in at left guard for an offensive line that didn’t miss a beat with the change in personnel. Leary is set to be a free agent this offseason, and the combination of Collins’ return and the heavy investment the Cowboys have already made on the offensive line leave him pretty sure about how things will play out.

“I thought about it a lot after the game,” Leary said, via ESPN.com. “I kind of stayed on the field a little bit because I’ve been here the last five years of my life. That’s just as long as you’re in college, so I’ve grown close to a lot of players here, a lot of staff. It’s tough to think about, because you don’t know the future when you hit the market like that. It’s tough, but it’s part of the game.”

The Jets signed guard Brian Winters to a four-year deal with $15 million in guaranteed money earlier this week and Leary has started six more games over the last four years. That may be a sign of what Leary can expect on the market and an offer in that neighborhood will likely result in him moving on from Dallas.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/01/18/ronald-leary-prepared-to-move-on-from-cowboys/
 

jobberone

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If they resign Leary then I'm guessing they want to at least try Collins at RT. Not certain for sure but a good guess.
 

Verdict

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Anyone care to hazard a guess about who will sign him and what his contract will cost? We get a one year rental on Collins and then he will have to be signed or hit the market too.

Would it be better to resign Leary and trade Collins? He might bring a high pick and offset Learys cap hit.
 

gmoney112

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Anyone care to hazard a guess about who will sign him and what his contract will cost? We get a one year rental on Collins and then he will have to be signed or hit the market too.

Would it be better to resign Leary and trade Collins? He might bring a high pick and offset Learys cap hit.

Collins was an UDFA we convinced to come to Dallas with the promise of building the Great Wall of Dallas. It's just bad faith to trade him. Shouldn't want to anyway.

I'm not sure how the knee thing will come into play on his next contract. It took him out of the draft. Probably won't be a big deal in FA, he'll still get paid by someone desperate.

I'm not really caught up on everybody's cap space, but Seattle would make sense.
 

negativecreep

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Anyone care to hazard a guess about who will sign him and what his contract will cost? We get a one year rental on Collins and then he will have to be signed or hit the market too.

Would it be better to resign Leary and trade Collins? He might bring a high pick and offset Learys cap hit.
I think he's headed to the Commanders, with Callahan.
 

AmericanCowboy

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Collins was an UDFA we convinced to come to Dallas with the promise of building the Great Wall of Dallas. It's just bad faith to trade him. Shouldn't want to anyway.

I'm not sure how the knee thing will come into play on his next contract. It took him out of the draft. Probably won't be a big deal in FA, he'll still get paid by someone desperate.

I'm not really caught up on everybody's cap space, but Seattle would make sense.

Jason Garrett: We fight for playing time on this team, and everything is earned.

(Except for Lael Collins who was promised a starting spot even though the guy in front of him is much better)
 

The Quest for Six

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Dallas isn't going to resign Leary, especially with Martin due a new huge contract, you just can't continue to put all your money into one area(Oline) and ignore the main problem which is the defense,,,,,,they'll take the compensatory pick for Leary who by the way already lost his starting job to Collins last year and this notion that Collins should be tried at right tackle when he's never played the position and the ONLY reason why he was playing left tackle in college was because there were numerous injuries to the tackle position on the team in college....I like Collins as a left Guard with his skill set

If anyone was to move to right tackle, I think Free needs to be replaced since he's the weakest link, that would be Martin who played four years at ND but I wouldn't be big on that move since he's an all pro at guard...but I'm wondering if the Cowboys signing of Cooper was for that very reason, to push Martin outside and play Cooper at guard.....But I'd still draft a tackle in the draft to compete with Chaz Green who been hit with the injury bug most of his career as a swing tackle or to replace Free and Keep Martin inside where he's a beast.....time will tell!!
 

gmoney112

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Jason Garrett: We fight for playing time on this team, and everything is earned.

(Except for Lael Collins who was promised a starting spot even though the guy in front of him is much better)

Yep unfortunately you have to keep your word when there were several other teams he could have chosen. If we didn't, we may not even have him at all.

Considering they knew the year Leary's contact was up, and got an UDFA with a 1st round grade who has immense potential, that will make 1/5 of Leary's salary this year, it's actually very good talent management.
 

LittleD

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Dallas isn't going to resign Leary, especially with Martin due a new huge contract, you just can't continue to put all your money into one area(Oline) and ignore the main problem which is the defense,,,,,,they'll take the compensatory pick for Leary who by the way already lost his starting job to Collins last year and this notion that Collins should be tried at right tackle when he's never played the position and the ONLY reason why he was playing left tackle in college was because there were numerous injuries to the tackle position on the team in college....I like Collins as a left Guard with his skill set

If anyone was to move to right tackle, I think Free needs to be replaced since he's the weakest link, that would be Martin who played four years at ND but I wouldn't be big on that move since he's an all pro at guard...but I'm wondering if the Cowboys signing of Cooper was for that very reason, to push Martin outside and play Cooper at guard.....But I'd still draft a tackle in the draft to compete with Chaz Green who been hit with the injury bug most of his career as a swing tackle or to replace Free and Keep Martin inside where he's a beast.....time will tell!!

Your premise is wrong. Collins was just elevated as the Owner's pet into the position. He has never outplayed Leary and Leary was better than him this year too. In a real competition, Collins would have a tough time supplanting Leary any day and twice on Sunday.
 

RoboQB

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I think he's headed to the Commanders, with Callahan.

I think you're right. That certainly makes a lot of sense... and really sucks for us.

I really liked Leary. I'll never forget that game in Seattle in 2014 when he essentially took out three defenders
at once. Great road grater style lineman. Hopefully, someone in the AFC outbids Washington.
 

lukin2006

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I'd rather sign Leary and trade Collins for a pick and get a right tackle...once again this is a business.
 

BotchedLobotomy

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It's too bad if he leaves. Solid and valuable asset. I dispise this salary cap. Its ruined football. Well greed.
The salary cap has not ruined football, free agency ruined football. There are plenty of successful teams that have managed the cap and still putting multiple winning seasons together. The Cowboys have never been great under JJ managing the cap. As it stands today, the Cowboys are dead last in projected cap space going into 2017. Granted, there are cuts and restructures that will be made, but this credit card approach to managing the cap will eventually come due for the Cowboys.
 

Stash

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Jason Garrett: We fight for playing time on this team, and everything is earned.

(Except for Lael Collins who was promised a starting spot even though the guy in front of him is much better)

He went in when Leary got hurt. He wasn't handed anything. And give Leary credit, instead of sulking about losing the job and going into the tank, he refocused, worked hard, and reinvented himself.

And that Leary proved to be better than the La'el Collins he replaced.

But this wasn't a case of the Cowboys foolishly pushing an inferior player into the lineup because they promised it to him.
 

perrykemp

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Your premise is wrong. Collins was just elevated as the Owner's pet into the position. He has never outplayed Leary and Leary was better than him this year too. In a real competition, Collins would have a tough time supplanting Leary any day and twice on Sunday.

Collins is a better athlete and occasionally will flash with incredible devastating run blocks, however, the down by down consistency just hasn't been there so far.

This will be his 3rd year in the NFL -- by the end of this year we will pretty much know what Collins is / isn't.
 
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