Are some of you mad at how we are building the team through the draft?

[stuckindc]

I only regret not signing Wagner

That’s the one that could really take this defense to the next level. And allow Micah to be even more dangerous…which is scary considering what he did this past year

 

[HungryLion]

I think my biggest frustration is, they haven’t been aggressive in quite some time.

the front office does a really good job drafting. They do. I am happy with their drafting overall.

This has allowed them to generally field a competitive team year in and year out. The cowboys haven’t really had many awful garbage seasons in the last decade or so, other than ones that were destroyed by major injury to the QB. Which can happen to any team when they lose their QB for a large number of games.


my frustration just lies in the inability to get over the hump. While drafting well is obviously very important. I think sooner or later the front office has to recognize when they have an opening and then get aggressive and go for it. If you can be aggressive and open up a 2-3 year window of TRUE super bowl contention. I would then be willing to trade a couple years of cap trouble on the back end.

right now it just seems like they’re stuck in the middle perpetually.

I also have been frustrated that they have given out a few bad contracts and as a result we now had to let some good players walk for cap savings because of it.

 

[Manster_Mash]

Don't you think it's smarter, though, to wait until camp to identify weaknesses and then fill them accordingly after you identify them?

Personally, I'm OK with the fact we haven't hit the panic button and rushed to sign any FAs just yet.

There's still time.

We may be able find some bargains, but there are likely no impact players left available. That is the reality when you wait.

 

[stuckindc]

We felt this back when Parcells was building the team and again during part of Garrett’s tenure like after 2014.

In the end results matter. That’s how we will always judge. Until someone gets it done late in January and beyond it’s all just hype.

We’ve gone too long with the same dysfunctional leadership and toxic culture to believe . Results matter!

Parcells would have gotten it done had he stayed for the 2007 season

 

[fivetwos]

Parcells would have gotten it done had he stayed for the 2007 season

Fully agree.

We would have been better prepared for that playoff game and would have smoked GB the following week.....although I can't say we would have been as bad a match for the undefeated Pats as NY was.

Lot of history possibly altered there.

 

[stuckindc]

Fully agree.

We would have been better prepared for that playoff game and would have smoked GB the following week.....although I can't say we would have been as bad a match for the undefeated Pats as NY was.

Lot of history possibly altered there.

Agreed. They worked us earlier that season and I see no reason why they wouldn’t have again. The Giants had the only thing that could beat them. We did not

 

[Manster_Mash]

They signed lots of FA's this year that are impact. Some of you just seem to want other peoples castoffs.

So if they let Shultz walk and signed someone elses TE would that make you happy?

How about letting Gallup walk and signing some other teams WR?

First priority when you have a quality team or quality players that are FA's is to keep that team together and retain your own players. Cowboys get an A for that this year. They had tons of FA's and they resigned all the important ones. And considering they were 25m over the cap and are now 25m under, that is one hell of a job.

They also got rid of all the overpriced veterans save Zeke. Ill give them a B+ effort there. This was something that had to be done in order to fix a flawed and lopsided roster.

So now they had to replace those veterans with low cost young talent in the draft. Like what they did there as well.

Kept the entire coaching staff together for another year..........................B+ on that one.

And your complaining about what exactly? Not signing one or two overpriced guys the other teams didnt want?

It would have been nice to sign a guy like Wagner I admit. But they did a hell of a job in the other areas. Salary cap situation going foward is the best its looked in 10 years or more.

We have assembled a talented, young roster with guys that are more tough and physical. NO more do we have the finesse, lopsided, top heavy teams of the Garrett era.

Next year we complete the offense by finishing off the Oline rebuild and bringing in talented young RB's to spearhead the new run game.

They signed the same guys who failed (again) last year. Not every FA is a cast off. As you admitted, and it's almost universally agreed here, Wagner could've taken the D up another level. They had him sitting there, and couldn't summon the interest to even try. No, they don't need to recklessly sign a whole bunch of guys, but they sign NOBODY. Inevitably, there will be mistakes and bad deals. But what the hell is the difference between overpaying your own FAs or someone else's?

And by this time next year, when you think they've shored up the Oline and RB positions, some other group(s) will start taking on water. Without a bonanza of picks (and luck), they will not markedly improve the team to contender status, because you simply end up replacing a lot of the talent rather than increasing it.

 

[BermyStar]

Then you folks are going to be spinning that web over and over again until Jerry's dead, then keep spinning that web until Stephen and the whole Jones family no longer own the Cowboys.

This is the Cowboys way with the Joneses in charge. Yeah, a bit unconventional, maybe at times dysfunctional. But I have seen things over the years that give me hope, after the Dave Campo failure, and draft failures of the late '90s and early 2000s. Starting with bringing in BP in 2003. 2007 was his team, a #1 NFC seed that didn't get it done. Can't blame the Joneses for that playoff loss vs. the Giants.

2009 and 2014-- more divisional round losses. Again, do we blame the Joneses for the performance on the field? How about 2016 -- another #1 seed that blew it when it mattered? Didn't blow it all year until the end. That's on the players and coaches, and yes the owners bring in those folks, but if you told the owners that their team would be the #1 seed in the conference going in, wouldn't you sign up for that?

27 years of futility yes, but it's not like Dallas hasn't had chances. But back to my original comment, the owners aren't going to change philosophies, at least not overnight. We can follow other teams if we want. Hell, I live in the Baltimore 'burbs -- a perfect, gift-wrapped excuse to switch allegiance to the Ravens and their "stellar" front office.

And yet here I am. Why? The two Fs -- fandom and faith. Otherwise why would any of us be here?

I never hinted at not being a fan or switching teams. I am ride or die. I will always have hope because that's what makes it fun. However, my response to whether or not I like the way the team is constructed remains the same.

"You people spinning webs" is cute but having an opinion that is based on an adult view of an obvious mismanagement and being able to voice that with confidence speaks to how secure I am in my Fandom. Blind homerism works for some and to them I say, enjoy your version of Fandom.

I grew up in Baton Rouge... So what. To hell with the Saints just like the Ravens. And I ain't Mikey Spags getting paid to pump rainbows. A spade is a spade. Cowboys management ain't different, it's bad. Simple.

 

[Diehardblues]

Parcells would have gotten it done had he stayed for the 2007 season

We’d like to think so but he certainly didn’t in his 4 years after resurrecting us from 5-11 Funk.

Unfortunately I’m not sure anyone this era can overcome our toxic atmosphere with this dysfunctional ownership.

 

[Jake]

Or are you just upset that we aren't using FA to sign a couple high priced guys from other teams that will get us over the top?

I'm disappointed in the 21st century results, and the two guys responsible who will never be fired.

"How" doesn't matter to me. It's about the results.

 

[Jake]

I only regret not signing Wagner

There's nothing to regret. Wagner wanted to go to LA, his hometown, and play for a team that just proved they can win a SB.

Dallas couldn't offer either of those things.

 

[rambo2]

Don't you think it's smarter, though, to wait until camp to identify weaknesses and then fill them accordingly after you identify them?

Personally, I'm OK with the fact we haven't hit the panic button and rushed to sign any FAs just yet.

There's still time.

The deal is they have a full roster at this time. They signed pretty much everybody that they wanted except for Gregory and there is a good chance that Fowler and Williams will do better than Gregory.

 

[gimmesix]

"well timed" is the key phrase for me. So is it the time?

To me, FA is to fill draft failures. If you continue to whiff in the draft, then you have to dip into FA.

You also use it to get those one or two big studs you need to win it all. Otherwise, why use it for anything other then bargain type signings? If you are drafting well enough there should be little need to overpay for big time guys.

Now I would probably be testing the waters almost every year to see if better guys will sign on a team friendly deal.

The NFL isn't made in the salary cap era for success only through drafting. At most, you get three starters a year (generally two, but we'll be generous) and they may not be quality starters. Right now, we have four from 2020 (Lamb, Diggs, Gallimore, Biadasz), none from 2019 (although Donovan Wilson and Pollard play key roles), two from 2018 (Vander Esch and Gallup, although Armstrong might be considered a starter now), none from 2017 (Lewis and Noah Brown are contributors) and three from 2016 (Elliott, Prescott and Anthony Brown for now).

That's nine starters over five years, push it to 11 if you want to count Wilson and Pollard as starters, so it would take 10 years to completely replenish your starting lineup through the draft, not to mention adding quality depth. Meanwhile, you are not holding on to most of those starters that long, so it actually takes even more time unless you really get lucky with undrafted free agents or low-cost signings.

You don't have to dip into FA because you whiffed in the draft. Dallas' draft success percentage is about as high as any team's. You have to dip into FA because you just can't successfully fill all your needs in the draft. When you could hold on to all your players as long as you wanted, it was possible, but salary cap-era free agency makes it impossible.

I haven't looked it up, but I would bet that there's not a team in the last 10 years that won a Super Bowl without signing at least one high-cost free agent.

 

[Flamma]

If the Cowboys went out and signed a top of the line Tackle and center and drafted Smith and signed a top flight 1 Tech, then I could see the Cowboys being true contenders. But you are talking about another 40 million in salary added to the team. I still think there are too many holes to be doing that. When all you need is one or two guys, then I think you go for it. I just dont think the Cowboys are there yet.

Forget Wagner, that actually sounds great. But sometimes doing that isn't possible unless the opportunity presents itself. But besides FA they could use the draft too. Like moving up 10 spots in the 3rd and drafting DT Travis Jones, get a WR in the 4th, and forego the TE.

Also keep in mind that the 40 million you're referring to wouldn't hit this upcoming season. More like future seasons where hopefully the cap is higher. This is also where having a QB on a rookie deal really pays off. Not one like Jalen Hurts either. But if you remember, Dallas didn't do any of this while Dak was on a rookie deal. They wasted that opportunity.

I would say the Cowboys are one good off season from being true contenders. The Bengals were 4-11-1 the year prior to the SB. The 49ers were 6-10 the year before they went. The Eagles were 7-9 the year before they won it in 2017. One good off season adding impact players can make a big difference.

 

[Ranched]

my frustration just lies in the inability to get over the hump. While drafting well is obviously very important. I think sooner or later the front office has to recognize when they have an opening and then get aggressive and go for it. If you can be aggressive and open up a 2-3 year window of TRUE super bowl contention. I also have been frustrated that they have given out a few bad contracts and as a result we now had to let some good players walk for cap savings because of it.

Well said. Bad contract was Coopers $100 million. He was supposed to take Dallas over that so called hump. There's no way the Jones' will go down that path again by paying a FA wide receiver primadonna that much money. Can't blame them.

 

[CowboyoWales]

I think my biggest frustration is, they haven’t been aggressive in quite some time.

the front office does a really good job drafting. They do. I am happy with their drafting overall.

This has allowed them to generally field a competitive team year in and year out. The cowboys haven’t really had many awful garbage seasons in the last decade or so, other than ones that were destroyed by major injury to the QB. Which can happen to any team when they lose their QB for a large number of games.


my frustration just lies in the inability to get over the hump. While drafting well is obviously very important. I think sooner or later the front office has to recognize when they have an opening and then get aggressive and go for it. If you can be aggressive and open up a 2-3 year window of TRUE super bowl contention. I would then be willing to trade a couple years of cap trouble on the back end.

right now it just seems like they’re stuck in the middle perpetually.

I also have been frustrated that they have given out a few bad contracts and as a result we now had to let some good players walk for cap savings because of it.

Correct, but.....

The 49er's game showed we WEREN'T/AREN'T one player away.

By design ,or more likely accident, we've at least stopped relying on paying top dollar to the Good/Not Elite players and given the recent draftee's a chance, rather than blocking them.

Billy Wagner certainly made sense and would help fill two weaknesses (run defense/LB), however, the capitulation of the Offense in the second half of the season highlights we've got potential holes/question marks throughout the roster.

I hope the plan (if there is one??) is to give these youngsters their head and chance to prove themselves... reassess mid-season and hit the trade market at the deadline. For me that's what the Ram's excel at, picking up players that will compliment and get us over the hump (ala Miller / Beckham Jr).... interestingly a lot of teams are way overspent CAP wise in 2023, possibly willing to offload especially as we've got the CAP to take over the contract (for lesser compensation).

However, if it's "same ole. same ole, do nothing".....then make room i'm on the critical Bandwagon.

 

[JBond]

Or are you just upset that we aren't using FA to sign a couple high priced guys from other teams that will get us over the top?

The NFL has changed so much in the twenty plus years I have been chatting with many of you on various forums. The challenge is we have lost our way as a front office. The days of grabbing a Charles Haley or Deion are long gone and we have not adjusted. The Rams model of operating is interesting to me.

 

[HungryLion]

Correct, but.....

The 49er's game showed we WEREN'T/AREN'T one player away.

By design ,or more likely accident, we've at least stopped relying on paying top dollar to the Good/Not Elite players and given the recent draftee's a chance, rather than blocking them.

Billy Wagner certainly made sense and would help fill two weaknesses (run defense/LB), however, the capitulation of the Offense in the second half of the season highlights we've got potential holes/question marks throughout the roster.

I hope the plan (if there is one??) is to give these youngsters their head and chance to prove themselves... reassess mid-season and hit the trade market at the deadline. For me that's what the Ram's excel at, picking up players that will compliment and get us over the hump (ala Miller / Beckham Jr).... interestingly a lot of teams are way overspent CAP wise in 2023, possibly willing to offload especially as we've got the CAP to take over the contract (for lesser compensation).

However, if it's "same ole. same ole, do nothing".....then make room i'm on the critical Bandwagon.

That’s fair if that’s the approach you want to take.


To be honest. I have reached the point where I am done giving the front office the benefit of the doubt. I’ve been doing it for 2 decades now.

I am now “mad until they get to an NFC championship game”

 

[HungryLion]

Well said. Bad contract was Coopers $100 million. He was supposed to take Dallas over that so called hump. There's no way the Jones' will go down that path again by paying a FA wide receiver primadonna that much money. Can't blame them.

The Zeke and Jaylon smith contracts were/are far worse than coppers was.

 

[CowboyoWales]

The Zeke and Jaylon smith contracts were/are far worse than coppers was.

All three were bad contracts. COOP's problem that it was structured in such a way that it was 'all or nothing' and so didn't lend itself to be restructured