2017 ¾ season mock off-season and draft

KingintheNorth

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Mock off-season
The Cowboys send Tony Romo QB to the Broncos for Bradley Roby CB, a 2017 4th rounder, and a conditional 2018 draft pick.
Cap room created + $3,991,928 (Romo +$5,100,000, Roby-$1,108,072)

Free agents re-signed
Morris Claiborne, CB – 2-year deal
Terrell McClain, DT – 3-year deal
Mark Sanchez, QB – 2-year deal
Brice Butler, WR – 1-year deal
David Irving, DL – 1-year tender

Departing free agents
Ronald Leary, G
Terrance Williams, WR
Barry Church, S
Darren McFadden, RB
Gavin Escobar, TE
JJ Wilcox, S
Rolando McClain, LB
Jack Crawford, DE
Justin Durant, LB
Lance Dunbar, RB
Kellen Moore, QB
Ryan Davis, DE
Andrew Gachkar, LB

Cap casualties
Kyle Wilber, LB – frees up $1,250,000 in cap room
Brandon Carr, CB - technically, the last year of deal was already voided, so no gain or loss in cap room
Tyrone Crawford, DL - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $7,250,000 in cap room
Benson Mayowa, DE - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $1,500,000 in cap room

New free-agents signed

DeMarcus Ware, DE, Broncos – 2-year deal
DeMarcus-Ware.jpg

And yes, he gets #94 back. The Cowboys bring back their all-time sack leader to help improve their abysmal pass rush. At 35, Ware will be a situational player but will still be the best pass-rushing threat on this team. The 2nd year of the deal was just a way of getting him a larger signing bonus so in essence, this is a 1-year deal.

William Gholston, DE, Buccaneers – 6-year deal
636021268431149725-USATSI-8980514.jpg

Gholston is an up and coming force in the league. He’s good enough to cash in big in free agency, but not quite at the level where the Bucs would Franchise him. Gholston fits the Marinelli-mold; he’s tough and can play up and down the defensive line. He reminds me of a more physical version of David Irving.

Micah Hyde, DB, Packers – 5-year deal
micah-hyde-nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-green-bay-packers.jpg

Hyde is Honey Badger Lite to me. He can play corner, nickel, safety, and return punts. Marinelli will utilize him at free safety but with his versatility, as well as Byron Jones and Orlando Scandrick, it gives the defense multiple options to scheme opposing offenses.

2017 Draft

1(32) Takkarist McKinley, DE, 6-2/258, UCLA
r112592_576x324_16-9.jpg

As I stated earlier, the Cowboys biggest need is pass rush help. Ware is temporary help and Randy Gregory is unreliable, so the Cowboys grab the edge rusher out of UCLA in the last 1st.

2(64) Travis Rudolph, WR, 6-1/189, Florida State
Travis+Rudolph+Rose+Bowl+Oregon+v+Florida+nqXOLEzTI1Nl.jpg

Terrance Williams will get overpaid by someone, so the Cowboys are in the market for a #2 WR. Rudolph will come in and compete with Brice Butler for the starting gig.

3(96) Kevin King, CB, 6-3/192, Washington
Arizona+State+v+Washington+fsjR0a5_VJ8l.jpg

King was often overlooked playing with Sidney Jones and Budda Baker in the Huskies secondary. King has great size and will give the Cowboys great depth at CB with the potential to start in a year or two.
4a(123) from Denver (mock Romo trade) Damien Mama, G, 6-3/325, USC
october-2014-usc-trojans-guard-damien-mama-during-the-first-half-of-picture-id579050832

The Cowboys lost Ronald Leary to free agency, so the rather larger Mama gives them depth along with Joe Looney and Chaz Green. He can play both guard spots and right tackle.

4(128) Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, 6-0/230 Tennessee
USATSI_8858675_1470333778888_4476072_ver1.0.jpg

What is a Cowboys draft without an injury gamble? Reeves-Maybin fits the new safety-linebacker hybrid position, similar to Arizona’s Deone Bucannon and LA Rams Mark Barron.

5(160) traded to Buffalo

6(192) Jeremy Cutrer, CB, 6-1/170, Middle Tennessee
jeremy-cutrer-e1475538481252.jpg

Another long CB, Cutrer was once a 4-star recruit on his way to LSU. He ended up at a junior college and then Middle Tennessee, where he was a standout corner and special teams player.

7a(205) from Buffalo Donald Payne, S, 6-0/215, Stetson
football-Donald-Payne-hands-up.jpg

A small-school tackling machine, Stetson has averaged over 134 tackles a year the last 4 years. He had 185 tackles in 2014 which included a 30-tackle game. His career also includes 14 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 5 TD as a kick returner.
Here is an article on Payne from last year: Stetson Stud Donald Payne: The Troy Polamalu of FCS Football - HERO Sports

7b(224) Sam Rogers, FB, 5-10/228, Virginia Tech
sam-rogers-ncaa-football-maryland-virginia-tech.jpg

The Cowboys got by with a converted linebacker at fullback last year. Rogers is a jack-of-all-trades fullback who was a sparkplug for the Hokies.

2017 Starting 22
LT – Tyron Smith
LG – La’el Collins
C – Travis Frederick
RG – Zack Martin
RT – Doug Free
TE – Jason Witten
TE – Geoff Swaim
WR – Dez Bryant
WR – Travis Rudolph
QB – Dak Prescott
RB – Ezekiel Elliott

LDE – William Gholston
LDT – Maliek Collins
RDT – Terrell McClain
RDE – Demarcus Lawrence
SAM – Anthony Hitchens
MIKE – Jaylon Smith
WILL – Sean Lee
LCB – Morris Claiborne
SS – Byron Jones
FS – Micah Hyde
RCB – Bradley Roby
 
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xwalker

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Mock off-season
The Cowboys send Tony Romo QB to the Broncos for Bradley Roby CB, a 2017 4th rounder, and a conditional 2018 draft pick.
Cap room created + $3,991,928 (Romo +$5,100,000, Roby-$1,108,072)

Free agents re-signed
Morris Claiborne, CB – 2-year deal
Terrell McClain, DT – 3-year deal
Mark Sanchez, QB – 2-year deal
Brice Butler, WR – 1-year deal
David Irving, DL – 1-year tender

Departing free agents
Ronald Leary, G
Terrance Williams, WR
Barry Church, S
Darren McFadden, RB
Gavin Escobar, TE
JJ Wilcox, S
Rolando McClain, LB
Jack Crawford, DE
Justin Durant, LB
Lance Dunbar, RB
Kellen Moore, QB
Ryan Davis, DE
Andrew Gachkar, LB

Cap casualties
Kyle Wilber, LB – frees up $1,250,000 in cap room
Brandon Carr, CB - technically, the last year of deal was already voided, so no gain or loss in cap room
Tyrone Crawford, DL - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $7,250,000 in cap room
Benson Mayowa, DE - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $1,500,000 in cap room

New free-agents signed

DeMarcus Ware, DE, Broncos – 2-year deal
DeMarcus-Ware.jpg

And yes, he gets #94 back. The Cowboys bring back their all-time sack leader to help improve their abysmal pass rush. At 35, Ware will be a situational player but will still be the best pass-rushing threat on this team. The 2nd year of the deal was just a way of getting him a larger signing bonus so in essence, this is a 1-year deal.

William Gholston, DE, Buccaneers – 6-year deal
636021268431149725-USATSI-8980514.jpg

Gholston is an up and coming force in the league. He’s good enough to cash in big in free agency, but not quite at the level where the Bucs would Franchise him. Gholston fits the Marinelli-mold; he’s tough and can play up and down the defensive line. He reminds me of a more physical version of David Irving.

Micah Hyde, DB, Packers – 5-year deal
micah-hyde-nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-green-bay-packers.jpg

Hyde is Honey Badger Lite to me. He can play corner, nickel, safety, and return punts. Marinelli will utilize him at free safety but with his versatility, as well as Byron Jones and Orlando Scandrick, it gives the defense multiple options to scheme opposing offenses.

2017 Draft

1(32) Takkarist McKinley, DE, 6-2/258, UCLA
r112592_576x324_16-9.jpg

As I stated earlier, the Cowboys biggest need is pass rush help. Ware is temporary help and Randy Gregory is unreliable, so the Cowboys grab the edge rusher out of UCLA in the last 1st.

2(64) Travis Rudolph, WR, 6-1/189, Florida State
Travis+Rudolph+Rose+Bowl+Oregon+v+Florida+nqXOLEzTI1Nl.jpg

Terrance Williams will get overpaid by someone, so the Cowboys are in the market for a #2 WR. Rudolph will come in and compete with Brice Butler for the starting gig.

3(96) Kevin King, CB, 6-3/192, Washington
Arizona+State+v+Washington+fsjR0a5_VJ8l.jpg

King was often overlooked playing with Sidney Jones and Budda Baker in the Huskies secondary. King has great size and will give the Cowboys great depth at CB with the potential to start in a year or two.
4a(123) from Denver (mock Romo trade) Damien Mama, G, 6-3/325, USC
october-2014-usc-trojans-guard-damien-mama-during-the-first-half-of-picture-id579050832

The Cowboys lost Ronald Leary to free agency, so the rather larger Mama gives them depth along with Joe Looney and Chaz Green. He can play both guard spots and right tackle.

4(128) Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, 6-0/230 Tennessee
USATSI_8858675_1470333778888_4476072_ver1.0.jpg

What is a Cowboys draft without an injury gamble? Reeves-Maybin fits the new safety-linebacker hybrid position, similar to Arizona’s Deone Bucannon and LA Rams Mark Barron.

5(160) traded to Buffalo

6(192) Jeremy Cutrer, CB, 6-1/170, Middle Tennessee
jeremy-cutrer-e1475538481252.jpg

Another long CB, Cutrer was once a 4-star recruit on his way to LSU. He ended up at a junior college and then Middle Tennessee, where he was a standout corner and special teams player.

7a(205) from Buffalo Donald Payne, S, 6-0/215, Stetson
football-Donald-Payne-hands-up.jpg

A small-school tackling machine, Stetson has averaged over 134 tackles a year the last 4 years. He had 185 tackles in 2014 which included a 30-tackle game. His career also includes 14 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 5 TD as a kick returner.
Here is an article on Payne from last year: Stetson Stud Donald Payne: The Troy Polamalu of FCS Football - HERO Sports

7b(224) Sam Rogers, FB, 5-10/228, Virginia Tech
sam-rogers-ncaa-football-maryland-virginia-tech.jpg

The Cowboys got by with a converted linebacker at fullback last year. Rogers is a jack-of-all-trades fullback who was a sparkplug for the Hokies.

2017 Starting 22
LT – Tyron Smith
LG – La’el Collins
C – Travis Frederick
RG – Zack Martin
RT – Doug Free
TE – Jason Witten
TE – Geoff Swaim
WR – Dez Bryant
WR – Travis Rudolph
QB – Dak Prescott
RB – Ezekiel Elliott

LDE – William Gholston
LDT – Maliek Collins
RDT – Terrell McClain
RDE – Demarcus Lawrence
SAM – Anthony Hitchens
MIKE – Jaylon Smith
WILL – Sean Lee
LCB – Morris Claiborne
SS – Byron Jones
FS – Micah Hyde
RCB – Courtney Roby
Nice work.

The Romo trade seems reasonable. Roby was a 1st round pick and has talent. He will be in the final year of his contract in 2017 so it's not as if the Broncos are giving up a 1st round pick. They can extend him with the 5th year option is he excels with the Cowboys.

I'm not sure about the fit with Gholston. Lawrence should be the LDE with Ware and the draft pick splitting time at RDE. You did cut Tyrone Crawford so that offsets signing another LDE, but Lawrence is really not an RDE.

I watch all of the Packers games because my Girlfriend is a Packers fan. I'm not sure Hyde is more than a good utility player. It would be fine to have him on the team but I don't see them giving him a significant contract. I would look at the Packers OLB free agent as a possible DE (Nick Perry). Not for big money, but he might be a better fit at DE than as an OLB for the Packers. Another Packers player Datone Jones might be a low cost LDE and a better fit in the 4-3.

The draft looks reasonable. I like Takkarist McKinley and it's seems possible that he could be drafted in the late first. I would probably look for raw but high upside guys in the 7th over a FB. I actually like what Keith Smith has done at FB this season and he's a special teams ace.
 

Bigdog

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Love that draft especially he first 5 picks. Excellent job.
 

RandyOh

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I know your going by CBS rankings like u always do but McKinley may be out of reach. I see players like Charles Harris and Taco Charlton falling while McKinley and Landry rise up boards. And i would think Jalen Reeves-Maybin returns to school instead of being a day 3 pick after getting top 10 hype in pre season. King is starting to get 1st round buzz as well. 6'3 corner with fluid hips and good change of direction sadly will rise up boards. Wish your Romo trade and free agency plan would happen though.
 

stilltheguru88

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I know your going by CBS rankings like u always do but McKinley may be out of reach. I see players like Charles Harris and Taco Charlton falling while McKinley and Landry rise up boards. And i would think Jalen Reeves-Maybin returns to school instead of being a day 3 pick after getting top 10 hype in pre season. King is starting to get 1st round buzz as well. 6'3 corner with fluid hips and good change of direction sadly will rise up boards. Wish your Romo trade and free agency plan would happen though.
If Harris is there and we don't run up to select him...........:mad:
 

waving monkey

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I like most of your draft and I really like McKinley
I cant see DWare coming back. lets move heaven and hell and go find our future DE.
Departing free agents.......I cant see us letting both safeties go.
Ronald Leary, G
Terrance Williams, WR
Barry Church, S
Darren McFadden, RB
Gavin Escobar, TE
JJ Wilcox, S
Rolando McClain, LB
Jack Crawford, DE
Justin Durant, LB
Lance Dunbar, RB
Kellen Moore, QB
Ryan Davis, DE
Andrew Gachkar, LB

Also you didn't address Romo,I think by mutual agreement Romo moves on.
 

CalPolyTechnique

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Nice write-up though I disagree with some of it.

  • I would not sign a 35-year old DeMarcus Ware. He's missed five games this season and has registered just 3 sacks. How does he improve our team as he gets yet another year older and has less surrounding talent?
  • I like the idea with Bradley Roby, though I may try to target a different position of need in a package for Romo such as (LB/DE) Shane Ray.
  • If you're looking for a Honey Badger'esque type DB that won't likely come at a FA retail price, I'd be targeting Budda Baker (Univ. of Wa) in the 3rd round or so.
  • I really like the Reeves-Maybin pick.
 

RandyOh

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If Harris is there and we don't run up to select him...........:mad:
I absolutely agree. Even if he would just be a pass rush specialist here. We need to sign a base down defensive end in free agency anyways.
 

KingintheNorth

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I would look at the Packers OLB free agent as a possible DE (Nick Perry). Not for big money, but he might be a better fit at DE than as an OLB for the Packers

Absolutely agree. I'm a USC guy so I'm real familiar with Nick. He would be my very next free agent target. If Ware isn't interested in coming back or we aren't interested in bringing him back, Perry would be the guy. I just like the idea of bringing Ware home and he think he can still be effective as a situational pass rusher.
 
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KingintheNorth

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I would not sign a 35-year old DeMarcus Ware. He's missed five games this season and has registered just 3 sacks. How does he improve our team as he gets yet another year older and has less surrounding talent?
If he still wants to play, he's a better pass rusher than anything we have. Think Dwight Freeney on the Cardinals last year. In a limited. specified role, he was extremely valuable,

I like the idea with Bradley Roby, though I may try to target a different position of need in a package for Romo such as (LB/DE) Shane Ray.
Ray would be a nice target but they will lose Ware in free agency. Ray is their next guy up to start opposite Miller. Meanwhile at CB, they have Talib and Harris as starters, so Roby is expendable, or at least more expendable than Ray.

If you're looking for a Honey Badger'esque type DB that won't likely come at a FA retail price, I'd be targeting Budda Baker (Univ. of Wa) in the 3rd round or so.
Seriously considered him in the 2nd round.

I really like the Reeves-Maybin pick.
And i would think Jalen Reeves-Maybin returns to school instead of being a day 3 pick after getting top 10 hype in pre season
I think once he talks to his family and agents, he'll decide to go pro. An NFL contract and the level of rehab, instead of rehabbing in college while juggling 12 credits, is usually the choice these guys make. Think Willis McGhaee, Marcus Lattimore, and Jaylon Smith.
 

RandyOh

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I think once he talks to his family and agents, he'll decide to go pro. An NFL contract and the level of rehab, instead of rehabbing in college while juggling 12 credits, is usually the choice these guys make. Think Willis McGhaee, Marcus Lattimore, and Jaylon Smith.

Possibly. I just kinda expect players who fall to day 3 due to injury return to school. If we can grab a talent like him in the 4th i wont be complaining lol.
 

xwalker

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We need speed. McKinley has no burst to me. Seems like a (solid) player to me. I def don't see Demarcus Ware which is the comparison I keep hearing.
Yes, his speed might be a 1/2 notch below elite. The style he plays does seem to limit him as a pass rusher. He is very focused on playing the run and of preventing QBs from getting out of the pocket which seems to limit his number of reps where is in all out pass rush mode. He does get double-teamed quit a bit.
 

KingintheNorth

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What was kind of cool is that about 4 hours after posting this, I spent about 2 hours with Cutrer's position coach at Middle Tennessee. He is recruiting our top CB (Shakial Taylor). He is convinced Cutrer will me a much higher draft pick and claims he is a better prospect that his DB from the previous year, Kevin Byard, who was a 3rd round pick for the Titans this year.
 

stilltheguru88

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Who do you think has the best speed?
Harris no question. Not to mention he has a nice spin move already.

3:38 mark. I think there's a decent chance he lasts until 32 just looking at other teams needs not really being DE.
 
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