We have top FAs at their positions?

gimmesix

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This site has us with three of the top pending FAs at their positions: Dak Prescott, Amari Cooper and Byron Jones. In fact, they are three of the top eight overall. https://nfltraderumors.co/top-25-2020-nfl-free-agents-list/

This site has all three of them among the top seven, and also first at their positions. https://www.sportingnews.com/us/nfl...players-by-position/qyh7txt8tytt1e9e5e76mip61

This site has Prescott second at QB behind Brees, but Cooper and Jones as the best at their spots, and all three in the top nine. https://www.pff.com/news/nfl-the-50-best-available-nfl-free-agents-in-2020

There are plenty of threads on this board that show that some of our fans do not value our players as much as more objective ratings do.

Maybe that because we watch our players more than anyone else does and know their true value. Or maybe it's because we watch our players so much more than other players that we don't understand how they compare.

Whatever the reason, there's a clear disconnect between what some of our fans think of our FAs and what others on the outside do.

I agree with those more objective voices and think we would be foolish to let any of these players leave and think we can just replace them with players of equal or greater ability.
 

jazzcat22

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I will go with MM and WM on the evaluation of our roster as well as any new FA's coming in, then over posters.
We will lose some FA's that are worth keeping for a decent contract. But so will all teams.

Like I think they wanted to keep Hitchens but knew he was going to get a bigger offer than they wanted to pay.
This will be like Quinn, Bennett and a few others this off season. Maybe even Anthony Brown. But he is one I would not mind having back on a 2 year deal. And since he ended the season on IR, that may be a good possibility.

Brown isn't great but he is not horrible either. But he is serviceable,
 

KingintheNorth

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Personally, I feel the Cowboys grossly mishandled this off-season by letting all three of these guys' contracts expire at the same time.

Meanwhile, they signed Jaylon Smith and Zeke a year before they had to (I realize Zeke held out). They had affordable control of their contracts through next season.
 

Cowfan75

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People on the outside don't seem to realize Jones is overrated. Sure, he doesn't get a lot of looks, but why would he when QB's can go to the other side all day long for easy completions?
 

garyo1954

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Top free agents doesn't mean much when you start looking at the once future stars who were considered ready for prime time. We're talking.....

Matt Flynn
Nick Foles
Kirk Cousins
Neil O'Donnell
Sam Bradford
(Larry Brown or need we mention Brock Osweiler or Albert Haynesworth?)

Nice to see, but it doesn't mean a lot until the ball is snapped.

Even Deion makes this list......

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/03/10/15-worst-free-agent-signing-nfl-history/
 

Proof

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Top free agents doesn't mean much when you start looking at the once future stars who were considered ready for prime time. We're talking.....

Matt Flynn
Nick Foles
Kirk Cousins
Neil O'Donnell
Sam Bradford
(Larry Brown or need we mention Brock Osweiler or Albert Haynesworth?)

Nice to see, but it doesn't mean a lot until the ball is snapped.

Even Deion makes this list......

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/03/10/15-worst-free-agent-signing-nfl-history/

im failing to understand the correlation
 

beware_d-ware

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Personally, I feel the Cowboys grossly mishandled this off-season by letting all three of these guys' contracts expire at the same time.

Meanwhile, they signed Jaylon Smith and Zeke a year before they had to (I realize Zeke held out). They had affordable control of their contracts through next season.

There's two sides to a contract negotiation. If the Cowboys were willing to offer Coop an extension in 2019, but he didn't want to sign it, no deal is getting done. We know they offered a contract to Dak, and nothing got done. Those players chose to refuse our offers and bet on themselves for 2019, and unfortunately for us, they both won.

Probably the reason why they signed Jaylon last year is because he and his agent were willing to sign below market value a year early, while Cooper and Dak weren't budging. The team figured that while they had cap space, they'd pay Jaylon now and spread around some of his signing bonus into 2019 rather than set up another contract bomb for 2020.
 

beware_d-ware

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Top free agents doesn't mean much when you start looking at the once future stars who were considered ready for prime time. We're talking.....

Matt Flynn
Nick Foles
Kirk Cousins
Neil O'Donnell
Sam Bradford
(Larry Brown or need we mention Brock Osweiler or Albert Haynesworth?)

Nice to see, but it doesn't mean a lot until the ball is snapped.

Even Deion makes this list......

https://touchdownwire.usatoday.com/2019/03/10/15-worst-free-agent-signing-nfl-history/

Didn't Flyinn start like 3 games before he got a FA deal? And Foles of course was a career backup before he had the big playoff run. I don't see any quarterback on that list who was a proven 4-year starter like Dak; Sam Bradford was talented, but he had all the durability of a china plate.
 

garyo1954

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im failing to understand the correlation

Top free agents rarely make a difference. There are some like Peyton Manning, but fewer and farther between than the annual, "Let's get this guy and go to the Super Bowl" sweepstakes. But free agency is not a guarantee you got better than what you had.

And for the sake of transparency(?)/clarity(?), just the hell of it, here's a list of 25 who did make a difference......you decide.

https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/galle...nning-reggie-white-drew-brees-greatest-022817
 

garyo1954

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Didn't Flyinn start like 3 games before he got a FA deal? And Foles of course was a career backup before he had the big playoff run. I don't see any quarterback on that list who was a proven 4-year starter like Dak; Sam Bradford was talented, but he had all the durability of a china plate.

Read the article. I added some names like Bradford and Foles since they were recent. It doesn't change the fact that free agents don't always pan out. In fact, the argument has been made (even here) if you were worth keeping, you wouldn't be a free agent. Its a "buyer beware" market.
 

KingintheNorth

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There's two sides to a contract negotiation. If the Cowboys were willing to offer Coop an extension in 2019, but he didn't want to sign it, no deal is getting done. We know they offered a contract to Dak, and nothing got done. Those players chose to refuse our offers and bet on themselves for 2019, and unfortunately for us, they both won.

Probably the reason why they signed Jaylon last year is because he and his agent were willing to sign below market value a year early, while Cooper and Dak weren't budging. The team figured that while they had cap space, they'd pay Jaylon now and spread around some of his signing bonus into 2019 rather than set up another contract bomb for 2020.

I understand the strategy but looking at what all 3 of them are going top make in 2020, the Cowboys absolutely gambled wrong.
 

KingintheNorth

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im failing to understand the correlation

Not saying this about that specific poster but for many here, their opinion seems to be that because some premium free agent signings were bad, all premium free agent signings are therefore bad. I've also seen people here try to reason that since Jerry was so bad at premium free agency in the past, we should avoid them in the future. That's a horrible philosophy. Jerry used to be a disaster on draft day but fortunately, the Cowboys got better at identifying talent in the draft.

There have been so many recent examples of the impact of signing a quality premium free agent can have on a team. Stephon Gilmore and Honey Badger for example.
 

Proof

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Top free agents rarely make a difference. There are some like Peyton Manning, but fewer and farther between than the annual, "Let's get this guy and go to the Super Bowl" sweepstakes. But free agency is not a guarantee you got better than what you had.

And for the sake of transparency(?)/clarity(?), just the hell of it, here's a list of 25 who did make a difference......you decide.

https://www.foxsports.com/nfl/galle...nning-reggie-white-drew-brees-greatest-022817

gotcha, the point of this thread (I assumed) was that our current free agents are valued players around the league. Not that free agency in general is the formula for success, or that being a premier free agent means you'll push your next team over the hump
 

garyo1954

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gotcha, the point of this thread (I assumed) was that our current free agents are valued players around the league. Not that free agency in general is the formula for success, or that being a premier free agent means you'll push your next team over the hump

Okay, I see your point. It's a good one.
 
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