Are Cowboys Deficiencies able to be fixed this offseason?

[Techsass]

The defense has been the weaker link for quite some time. Even when the offense wasn't a true contender, they were still our strongest unit.

Right now I see Lee, Byron, Collins & hopefully Brown are our building block anchors. Maybe Scandrick as well, but I'm not sure about that. Crawford & Demarcus could have fully healthy seasons which ought to help. Irving, Tapper & Jaylon (& Gregory) are still question marks, but should add something to the mix. Most of the rest are decent/solid types that every team needs. So that's a bunch of above average players, but really only a few actual difference makers.

And still they kept everybody to around 20 points last season.

If we can find 2 or 3 upgrades this draft it should keep them on track.

 

[Redball Express]

As everyone knows, the Cowboys' biggest problem area is Pass Rush.
So far, it hasn't been addressed/improved this off-season/Free-agency.
To add to the problems, the Secondary is seeing some big changes/overhaul.
It remains to be seen if they can shore up the defense with the Draft.
If Dallas is unable to correct or address those problems sufficiently, we may find ourselves falling behind the other NFC contenders: Green Bay, Seattle, NY Giants, Atlanta, etc.
It remains to be seen if the other teams have sufficiently addressed their deficiencies too.
Green Bay: RB, CB, OLine
Seattle: OLine
NY Giants: Oline
Atlanta: Super Bowl Collapse Depression
Other Sleeper Teams, Saints (Defense), Carolina (OLine, CB), Cardinals (OLine, QB), Minnesota (OLine, WR)
Many of the top Contenders last season were affected by injuries, Seattle & GB (Secondary, OLine).
If they are able to avoid similar injuries next season, they will be at the top again.
The Giants are a solid OLine away from overtaking Dallas in the NFC East.
Dallas was fortunate in many ways last season by avoiding "Major" injuries to key players.
This season may or may not be different.
If we are unable to shore up our deficiencies and other teams are able to improve on theirs, 2017 could be a tough season. Especially since we play all the top teams with a 1st place Schedule.
If the offense stays relatively healthy and the Defense is able to improve slightly over last year, then we should be right in the thick of things.
Let's just hope enough is done to give us that shot.

You must not have got the memo.

It's all a process.

 

[Bullflop]

The Cowboys stopped doing max restructures 3 years ago.....they left Carr alone even thought they kept him the full 5 years....... they didn't max out Romo last year....they didn't do Dez this year or last

They have left 20-30m to die on the vine....... the biggest myth is DAL uses these credit cards and now the bills have come due..... the fact is they DON'T use their cash on hand advantage to their largest benefit.....they are caught half way between austerity and maxing out.... they love to appear cap poor because they do not want to spend any real money on FAs....so they hide their cap space instead of rolling it over

DAL had over 60m in cap space this year by cutting Romo....yet they dribble it out in stages instead of all at once in March....if they had 50m in space fans and media would demand a huge signing or two .......this way they don't have to

Restructures are never the problem...they should always be used with guaranteed contracts....not using them is overpaying today for no reason......it is not better or smarter.......it is a very very very conservative way of working the cap .....paying Dez 17m on the cap this year is just dumb when they could be spending 8m........ the excess could be rolled over or wait for it.......spent on a player that could help this year

That's part of the problem as well, spending excessively on some players to the detriment of the cap. It's an old habit that needs to be corrected.

 

[Bullflop]

No, actually an NFL team can restructure forever.

I presented the long version of this years ago, but I'll give you the short version.

What If you could go to your bank and get a 100K loan for 1-year for zero interest? Then at the end of that year you get another 1-year, zero interest loan to pay back the previous loan. You would never actually have to pay back the 100K if you could keep getting the next loan every year.

In real life loans do require interest which kills this concept; however, a salary cap "loan" does not require interest.

Under the cap a team can push some amount forward every year without it ever "catching up" to them because they can always push more forward the next year. It's even better than the example because the cap increases every year.

The Cowboys have been pushing money forward for a long long time and they can still create more cap space right now. It has not "caught up" to them yet.

The closest they came was the 2nd year that they Franchised Anthony Spencer which I believe was the 1st year of Romo's new contract. They were very close to having all possible contracts restructured that year. In comparison to then, they have plenty of "available space" that can be created with restructures now.

The "cost" comes in real dollars because the team has to pay out a lot of real dollars up front. With the time value of real dollars, that is a big expense, but it has no bearing on the cap.

@bkight13

That last paragraph makes good sense to me. Overpaying foolishly for players often causes a major strain on the cap for years. It's a common mistake that begs for relief. Restructuring can then become a crutch as a bailout for that mistake. Paying big money for guaranteed contracts up front oftentimes invites ongoing restructuring for years when it might otherwise be unnecessary or at least, considerably less commonplace.

 

[xwalker]

That last paragraph makes good sense to me. Overpaying foolishly for players often causes a major strain on the cap for years. It's a common mistake that begs for relief. Restructuring can then become a crutch as a bailout for that mistake. Paying big money for guaranteed contracts up front oftentimes invites ongoing restructuring for years when it might otherwise be unnecessary or at least, considerably less commonplace.

If the player is worth the money, it's a good contract regardless of how how it's structured.

The real strain comes from bad contracts regardless of how they're structured.

Players require guaranteed money in contracts now even if the team does not need to front load for cap purposes.

It's like BPA in the draft. Pick a Super Star and it works out regardless of position (Zeke) . Pick a dud and the team suffers.

If Brandon Carr had been Deion-2, then it would have been a good contract even if it maxed out the cap; however, instead it didn't max out the cap but it did tie him to the team for multiple years preventing them from giving that same or even bigger contract to a better player. I would have been happy to pay a CB like Richard Sherman 5/70M over Carr at 5/50M during that time frame even if it maxed out the cap.

I think they are trying to avoid being tied to a Carr type player more than they're tying to minimize cap spending.

If a Deion type Free Agent ever becomes available, then I think you're see them spend money in FA. Deion was as close to a guarantee performance wise as any FA ever. Few since then have been guarantees. The Broncos gave Ware 30M, most of it guaranteed and he had significant health problems. They say Detroit was more concerned about Suh's antics than his impact on the cap to keep him. The near guarantee type FAs generally get re-signed by their own team. Stephen/McClay believe that the probability of a free agent being worth the contract is much higher when you re-sign your own players. Tyron, Fred, Lee, etc. types don't make it to FA.

 

[JoeKing]

Of course, drafting "BPA" is subjective and depends on your objective. Our objective is to fix our defense while maintaining strength is other areas like O-line. I think it can and will be done.

 

[xwalker]

Of course, drafting "BPA" is subjective and depends on your objective. Our objective is to fix our defense while maintaining strength is other areas like O-line. I think it can and will be done.

It should be something like Best Tier Player Available. Don't pass on LeSean McCoy if you have him as the only remaining 1st rounder when he is available in the 2nd round.

 

[CowboyRoy]

I understand why you guys are referring to tapper and Jaylon as rookies since they were effectively redshirted last year. The fact is that they are not rookies.

Jaylon and Tapper had one important thing going for them that rookies do not have. They had exposure to the pro game for one full year. Coaching, nutrition, film study, getting paid full time to improve their game, no outside distractions to keep them away from football (classroom) and watching the game firsthand. They have also been around pros like Sean Lee who has showed them the right way to learn and prepare.

I expect both of them have taken full advantage of their year with the Cowboys. If not they would be super foolish. I don't think either of them fall into that class. Both of them are hungry to getting back to what they do at a high level. If healthy, I would actually be SURPRISED if the dont BOTH make a SIGNIFICANT impact this year.

Not a bad point. But not having played football for an entire year is not a good thing. The last time they played they were playing against college kids. You can study all you want and you can learn the defense all you want, but until you get out there and start rushing the passer against guys like Smith, Fredirick and the other great lineman of the NFL in means little in my opinion.

And lets not forget that Tapper was what? A 3rd round pick, 4th round pick? And he has a back problem. All not good things. If Tapper every becomes anything for this team it would be an incredible thing. To count on him to be the missing pass rushing demon for this team would be foolhardy in my opinion. And even the Jones' admit that pass rush is our biggest weakness. And they saying that knowing Tapper is on the team.

 

[CowboyRoy]

In looking at it, I can't help but to think that the Cowboys sure think so.

While they worked to get Carr to take a paycut in 2016, they brought Carroll in for a visit but he ended up going back to Philadelphia.

A year later, it looks like they had specific numbers they offered Carr to return, but offered the same deal to Carroll to replace him. Carroll took the offer while Carr got a $1 million better signing bonus in Baltimore, on what appears to be a one-year deal with team options for future seasons.

From the team's perspective judging by the moves and the numbers, they're more than satisfied with Carroll replacing Carr. We'll see if they're right or wrong about that.

Oh yah. A one year punk deal. How much confidence could they have in him? He is a scrub. Lets not pull punches here. And I am sure they know they will be going crazy in the secondary during the draft.

 

[Stash]

Oh yah. A one year punk deal. How much confidence could they have in him? He is a scrub. Lets not pull punches here. And I am sure they know they will be going crazy in the secondary during the draft.

Enough "confidence" to pursue him two years in a row anyway.

And that "one year punk deal" is exactly what they were offering to Carr and Claiborne. Neither of those guys were the future, but merely bridge players while the rookies they inevitably draft this year and next get up to speed to take over and become that future.

I fully expected them to make a concerted effort to restock the secondary whether Carr or Claiborne returned or not. Neither one of them was going to get a long term deal either.

I don't see where any of this is now "news".

 

[Denim Chicken]

I worry more about how long our OL will be a dominant unit. We're entering their prime years now.

You have at least 3 years before you have to start worrying.

 

[Verdict]

Not a bad point. But not having played football for an entire year is not a good thing. The last time they played they were playing against college kids. You can study all you want and you can learn the defense all you want, but until you get out there and start rushing the passer against guys like Smith, Fredirick and the other great lineman of the NFL in means little in my opinion.

And lets not forget that Tapper was what? A 3rd round pick, 4th round pick? And he has a back problem. All not good things. If Tapper every becomes anything for this team it would be an incredible thing. To count on him to be the missing pass rushing demon for this team would be foolhardy in my opinion. And even the Jones' admit that pass rush is our biggest weakness. And they saying that knowing Tapper is on the team.

When a player was drafted is irrelevant. Richard Sherman was a 5th rounder, Dak a 4th rounder, Brady a 6th rounder. People need to give up the idea that where a player was drafted somehow limits thier ceiling. It doesn't matter at all, other than the amount of money they are paid.

 

[CowboyRoy]

When a player was drafted is irrelevant. Richard Sherman was a 5th rounder, Dak a 4th rounder, Brady a 6th rounder. People need to give up the idea that where a player was drafted somehow limits thier ceiling. It doesn't matter at all, other than the amount of money they are paid.

Well, I am not even going to try arguing with a guy that says the round doesnt matter. That is about as naive as it gets. Next naive thing you are going to tell me is the money they get paid doesnt matter either. Like a guy getting paid 1 million per year is typically not going to be a better player then the guy signed for 10 million. Maybe Jones should just trade his first two round picks for like 10 6th rounders. Accordiing to you, the round doesnt matter.

How about the value chart that Jimmy Johnson created for trades? Who knew that all didnt matter. The whole NFL is using it and it doesnt matter.

 

[Verdict]

Well, I am not even going to try arguing with a guy that says the round doesnt matter. That is about as naive as it gets. Next naive thing you are going to tell me is the money they get paid doesnt matter either. Like a guy getting paid 1 million per year is typically not going to be a better player then the guy signed for 10 million. Maybe Jones should just trade his first two round picks for like 10 6th rounders. Accordiing to you, the round doesnt matter.

How about the value chart that Jimmy Johnson created for trades? Who knew that all didn't matter. The whole NFL is using it and it doesnt matter.

Using that logic, we should have never given Romo the opportunity to play QB. Once a player is drafted teams should forget what round they drafted a player. The player rises or falls based on performance, not his draft position after he is drafted. To think otherwise is pure folly.

You could pay a paraplegic 10 million per year to play football but that wouldn't make him a better player because you paid him that much per year. Come on. No one is stupid enough to believe that. But that's where your your argument ends up if you take it to an absurdity.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Using that logic, we should have never given Romo the opportunity to play QB. Once a player is drafted teams should forget what round they drafted a player. The player rises or falls based on performance, not his draft position after he is drafted. To think otherwise is pure folly.

You could pay a paraplegic 10 million per year to play football but that wouldn't make him a better player because you paid him that much per year. Come on. No one is stupid enough to believe that. But that's where your your argument ends up if you take it to an absurdity.

Nah you are completely over exagerating the point. The round DOES matter based on statistics and what TYPICALLY happens. Now a guy in a lower round can definitely become great, but the odds are lower. Those are just the facts. Guys are drafted higher because they are projected to be better. I didnt make it up. Its why people trade up. Its why higher picks are more valued. Now Jaylon Smith has a BETTER shot at becoming great not only because he was drafted in the 2nd round, but more importantly, because he was a consensus top 5 pick based on his talent and play from college. But to say a 4th or 3rd rounder with back problems that didnt play a down could be the answer to our pass rush problems is a complete stretch.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Using that logic, we should have never given Romo the opportunity to play QB. Once a player is drafted teams should forget what round they drafted a player. The player rises or falls based on performance, not his draft position after he is drafted. To think otherwise is pure folly.

You could pay a paraplegic 10 million per year to play football but that wouldn't make him a better player because you paid him that much per year. Come on. No one is stupid enough to believe that. But that's where your your argument ends up if you take it to an absurdity.

So what has been Tappers performance since he was drafted? He hasnt had one. And he is hurt. So you going to sit there and tell me those things dont matter either?

And what idiot is going to pay a handicapped player 10 million to play in the NFL. LOL Your analogies are so beyond laughable just like your point is.

 

[Longboysfan]

NY Giants: Oline

The Giants are a solid OLine away from overtaking Dallas in the NFC East.
.

Giants have not done much in that direction.

And their F/A signings will start to be a problem in a few years.

They are still not drafting good young players.

 

[Verdict]

So what has been Tappers performance since he was drafted? He hasnt had one. And he is hurt. So you going to sit there and tell me those things dont matter either?

And what idiot is going to pay a handicapped player 10 million to play in the NFL. LOL Your analogies are so beyond laughable just like your point is.

It is irrelevant where a player was drafted because draft evaluation is an inexact science. My last post was taking your argument to a logical absurdity to point out the fallacy it is.

I agree with you that Tapper hasn't played a down yet but you are avoiding my point which is you can't discount Tapper because he was drafted in the 4th round.

If you want to continue to dwell on the draft pedigree when player like Brady, Romo and thousands of others have shown how far off evaluations often are, go ahead. But I prefer to live in reality.

 

[Verdict]

Nah you are completely over exagerating the point. The round DOES matter based on statistics and what TYPICALLY happens. Now a guy in a lower round can definitely become great, but the odds are lower. Those are just the facts. Guys are drafted higher because they are projected to be better. I didnt make it up. Its why people trade up. Its why higher picks are more valued. Now Jaylon Smith has a BETTER shot at becoming great not only because he was drafted in the 2nd round, but more importantly, because he was a consensus top 5 pick based on his talent and play from college. But to say a 4th or 3rd rounder with back problems that didnt play a down could be the answer to our pass rush problems is a complete stretch.

Statistically speaking you are correct that the higher a player is drafted can be an indicator of future success, but once he is drafted draft position is irrelevant. You just find out if your player evaluation was correct or not.

Dak wasn't drafted until the 4th round so expectations were set lower than they should have been for him. Instead of stubbornly believing he couldn't amount to much because of his draft stays the team went by what they say on the field, which is all that really matters.

Who is stuck on the fact that Dak is likely to fail because he was a 4th round pick? No one with any sense at all is making that argument now, because draft position doesn't matter, the ability to play is what matters now.

 

[big dog cowboy]

So what has been Tappers performance since he was drafted? He hasnt had one. And he is hurt.

Not entirely sure calling Tapper hurt is accurite.