Am I the only one excited about a rebuild and high draft picks?

[gjkoeppen]

I agree. However, for this to be done properly, we need to do a few things:

1. Shut down Zeke for the season. I think his COVID thing in the offseason may be impacting him or he may have something wrong. I'd shut him down for the rest of the season and give a few other RBs some playing time. See what we have backing him up along with Pollard.
   
2. Shut down Lee and LVE. Don't burn them out yet. Give them the rest of the season off. In the meantime, see who all is at LB that can be useful later. See how much of an upgrade we need there.
   
3. Rotate Nooch, Dalton (when healthy), Cooper Rush, and Garrett Gilbert like you would in the preseason. They get starts in rotating games (like rotating starting pitchers). See who would be the best 2 and 3 behind Dak. The losers don't return next year.
   
4. Shut down Cooper. He's not helping out there (partially because the QBs can't get him the ball). So, I'd shut him down and call up Jon'Vea Johnson so he can get some minutes in an NFL game.

Basically, shut down our biggest stars, and test out what we have. The weaknesses we discover that we have can be addressed in FA and the draft. We know we have issues at DB, LB, and DT. But this will give us a chance to see just how much we need to address this offseason. And no rubbish bin diving for Jerry this year. We need to do it properly!

Here's the biggest reason not to do that. The league would take that as intentionally throwing games which would result in losing their 1st round pick in next years draft.
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[kskboys]

Like I said, teams bring in lots of UDFA every year but only a few make teams final roster. A few more get signed to practice squads but I seriously doubt that this year's practice squad rules will be repeated again so for this team or any other team that would make wholesale cuts and replace them with UDFA in the HOPES that in a couple of years they can produce is many times more risky that pinning their hopes on a drafted player who might have been good in college but never achieve that same level in the NFL. This would also have a bad reverse affect on any player they have that they might want to extend when their contract is up. Those players will want out and go to a team that doesn't pin their hopes on unproven UDFA to built their team around making it a decade long battle just get to 8-8 on a regular basis. I get it that you're not happy with the way things are, nobody here is, but changing to a bunch of UDFA is not the smart or fast way to rebuild a team.
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Not a fan of just cutting. That's not what this is about.
Clinging to overpaid overrated players is a fast way to NOT build a team.

 

[kskboys]

Here's the biggest reason not to do that. The league would take that as intentionally throwing games which would result in losing their 1st round pick in next years draft.
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Yup. Tanking cannot be obvious.

MIA is showing us how to do it. You trade away good players.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Here's the biggest reason not to do that. The league would take that as intentionally throwing games which would result in losing their 1st round pick in next years draft.
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Oh, good point. There has to be a way to get more players more minutes without making tanking look obvious.

 

[gjkoeppen]

Not a fan of just cutting. That's not what this is about.
Clinging to overpaid overrated players is a fast way to NOT build a team.

to get all of those UDFA there has to be roster spots. There are only a couple of tradeable players on this roster and those are the players the Cowboys would want to keep. Players like Elliott with is play this season and last season, lack of yards and fumbling combined with is contract makes him impossible to trade, Lawrence with his big drop in sacks last year and this year and his contract makes him not tradeable. Tyron Smith with his injury history and contract make him untradable. Jaylon Smith has never lived up to expectations and because of his contract isn't tradable either. So other than just cutting players and adding all that dead money on the cap where are the roster spots for all those UDRA coming from? There are players that don't have really big contracts that haven't played that well this season but is it them or the complicated convoluted defense that they are put in? Those roster spots have to come from somewhere and even if you come up with them those UFDA that no other team that was good enough to draft are going to HOPEFULLY some day down the road turn this team around? With a already known smaller cap next year the only big contract the Cowboys will sign is Prescott's and they probably already know that some somet of the players with expiring contracts will have to let walk and because of cap reasons maybe a couple more UDFA will get signed. It will be tight and they may try to resign a couple they think they have to have
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[gjkoeppen]

Yup. Tanking cannot be obvious.

MIA is showing us how to do it. You trade away good players.

The team has to have tradeable players to do that and Miami had a couple of trades and not what the user said about sitting 4 main starters and then playing musical chair at QB sort of like what the Cowboys did with Staubach and Morton every other play except now every other game.
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[gjkoeppen]

Oh, good point. There has to be a way to get more players more minutes without making tanking look obvious.

They could play them for like a series and sayn they are giving the starters a breather but some of those players haven't been active on game day so if they make any of those starters inactive that will throw up a red flag.
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[RustyBourneHorse]

They could play them for like a series and sayn they are giving the starters a breather but some of those players haven't been active on game day so if they make any of those starters inactive that will throw up a red flag.
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That could work!

 

[gjkoeppen]

That could work!

I'm curious how they would play but not at the risk of losing the Cowboys #1 pick.
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[RustyBourneHorse]

I'm curious how they would play but not at the risk of losing the Cowboys #1 pick.
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I'm sure there's a way. I mean, the Colts managed to successfully tank to get Luck. Or at least it looked like a tank to me.

 

[gjkoeppen]

I'm sure there's a way. I mean, the Colts managed to successfully tank to get Luck. Or at least it looked like a tank to me.

In 2011 the colts were really bad from week 1 on If they did tank for their last game to insure they got the 1st pick instead of the rams that is entirely different than tanking for the entire second half of the season. The starters that didn't play in that last game were on their injury list as doubtful so the league took no action against them. It also helped their case that they won the 3rd and 2nd from the last games showing they were trying to win games.
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[RustyBourneHorse]

In 2011 the colts were really bad from week 1 on If they did tank for their last game to insure they got the 1st pick instead of the rams that is entirely different than tanking for the entire second half of the season. The starters that didn't play in that last game were on their injury list as doubtful so the league took no action against them. It also helped their case that they won the 3rd and 2nd from the last games showing they were trying to win games.
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That's true, and to be fair, we are probably not much better than they were now that we're without Dak. So, jockeying for position won't be too hard I'd imagine. So, shifting players may not exactly be tanking. I think the league can see that we look to be in serious trouble. So, we could always make it look like we're trying to create different ways to win. Can't do much worse than we've been doing lately.

 

[gjkoeppen]

That's true, and to be fair, we are probably not much better than they were now that we're without Dak. So, jockeying for position won't be too hard I'd imagine. So, shifting players may not exactly be tanking. I think the league can see that we look to be in serious trouble. So, we could always make it look like we're trying to create different ways to win. Can't do much worse than we've been doing lately.

Again doing this for the entire second half of the season I don't think the league will buy that playing players with no NFL experience over veterans is still trying to win. I think they will see it as it would be as seeing what they can do and not actually trying to win. Like I said I'm curious on what they may be able to do but not at the chance of losing that #1 pick.
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[RustyBourneHorse]

Again doing this for the entire second half of the season I don't think the league will buy that playing players with no NFL experience over veterans is still trying to win. I think they will see it as it would be as seeing what they can do and not actually trying to win. Like I said I'm curious on what they may be able to do but not at the chance of losing that #1 pick.
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Oh for sure! I don't want us losing the number 1 pick. That 1 pick needs to be protected under lock, key, and a moat of lava to not be touched until the draft unless we get a superb trade down offer. That pick could turn us into a lethal team next season. I'm curious to see what we do also. I think there's a way, but I'm not exactly sure what that way is to play those players, and make it look like we are trying to compete. I certainly hope that McCarthy can come up with a way.