Barber needs to go

[Joe_Fan]

You also have to consider that so long as Barber has the big contract, he is probably the starter which means Felix doesn't get the carries. Do you think we would have done better yesterday without Barber but with Felix getting more carries. I sure do and no one can convince me otherwise.

This is exactly why I want us to get rid of both Roy and Barber. Right now due to the ridiculous amounts in which we're paying both of them it's going to stop the progression of both Felix and our other players.

Neither deserve to be starters and as long as they remain with their contracts they will be out there when they shouldn't be.

 

[CliffnDallas]

A healthy Barber is an asset. What needs to change is the play calling.

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Why?

It is not Marion Barber's fault that the Coaching Staff consistently puts him in position to fail.

Now, if you are looking at it from a financial aspect, a good argument could be made.

 

[CWBY82N23]

Yep...buh bye!!!!!!

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

He's done. Let's draft another rookie with more potential. Maybe he can jumpstart his career elsewhere. I wish the best for him, but it's over here. Let's draft a big bruiser who can do the same thing. We don't need him anymore. Thanks, Marion! You were awesome. It's just time to go in another direction.

why? why let him go? trade him? what would anyone pay for a slightly above average RB? you can get those in the 3rd and 4th round and much cheaper. we would still need a 3rd RB on the team. He was still our top rusher. we should keep him another year, 2011 is up in the air. when his numbers go up, then release him. and draft another one. plus, I think barber is got something to prove. and we may see us going with Jones as starter, barber as closer.

if anyone right now has trade value its Choice. there will be a few teams who might be willing to trade a player for him. we probably won't get much more than a 4th rounder for him and he was a 5th round pick. there is only a handful of teams that might need a RB

Commanders
Browns
Lions
Patriots
Chargers

most other teams have their RB position set. that's not a big market to trade a RB, specially as I said with teams able to get a RB in the 3rd and 4th rounds as most have done recently.

 

[tunahelper]

When does Barber become labeled injury prone? Does a slow,injury prone, power back have value at 5-7 million a season?

 

[Gaede]

Barber is not quick, fast and has poor vision. He's not the bruiser he once was because he's injured too often. He can't make something out of nothing anymore because he's too slow and can't hurt people anymore.

Fact is, he is injury prone and slow footed now. Every week brought a new injury to Barber. Yeah, he looked quick as hell earlier in the year. But we saw a gradual decline as the year went on. It's only going to be more of the same from here on. Barber will start the game, start the season off good...and then wear down over the course of the season, still starting the games, and keeping the better players on the bench.

I love the guy, but it's looking pretty clear that he's lost it. Reminds me alot of Eddie George.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Overreact much people? Barber may not deserve the majority of the reps going forward anymore but he doesn't deserve to get cut. He is FAR from a scrub.

Jeez, I hope your employers, friends and family don't react at "failure" like you folks do.

If you had unlimited roster space and there were no financial issues at stake you could hang on to the guy. But the fact is that he's the 3rd best RB this team has and he's getting a lot more money than the other two– Not too mention he's taking valuable playing time away from the other two.

You just can't hang on to hangeronners.

 

[newlander]

I'm with the majority here in a big way. Nice guy, cultured, plays the piano and hates the media: all qualities to be admired, but Felix and TC are just BETTER by a lot. My gosh, MB3 even stunk on short yardage this season. NO reason to bring him back. But the problem is, we are stuck with him IMO because he makes WAY too much money. NO one will be dumb enough to trade for him. What's our cap hit if we cut him? I know it sounds crazy but it's come to that. 3rd stringers don't make 6 mil per year for God sakes.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

This is so stupid. Let's get rid of good thing. Real smart.

What we need to do is use him the way he was meant to be used. He is not the first down back. That's Felix's job. If we used Felix and Choice to tire the defense out then let MBIII come in to close the game out then we have a true beast of a running game.

It's obvious that Barber lacks what Felix brings to the table but Felix lacks what Barber has. THese guys compliment each other like few other RB combos in the league. Then adding Choice only makes things that much better.

It's all in how they are used and that falls on Garret's shoulders.

No reason to get rid of the guy, just use him the right way.

 

[AbeBeta]

Folks maybe are rushing to judgement on him based on the 2 playoff games where he was legitimately hurt. However ... and I hate to say it b/c I loved what Barber brought ... he's got to come into camp as our 3rd back -- if he can take Choice's job, fine. He's got to embrace being the 100-150 touch back again.

 

[wileedog]

What we need to do is use him the way he was meant to be used. He is not the first down back. That's Felix's job. If we used Felix and Choice to tire the defense out then let MBIII come in to close the game out then we have a true beast of a running game. .

If he looked anything close to the RB he was two years ago I might agree, but he has clearly lost a step, and can't overcome some of his own backfield dancing anymore. Guy was going down on ankle tackles this year too - if you told me that would happen 3 years ago I would have LMAO.

Furthermore, if there is a no capped year next season it might be the only chance to duck out of the last 5 years of a very expensive, very unproductive contract.

We also knew he was going to have a shortened career because of his style (well everyone but Jerry, a 7 year deal was ridiculous). I don't know if he's done done yet, but when you have two better guys on the roster you play them.

 

[Kangaroo]

He averaged 1.5 more touches per game this season than he did in 2007... It's not as if his workload has increased that much... Last season however they killed him with carries especially early in the season... And as was recently posted, with his contract backloaded the way it is, there is still plenty of cap value in his contract... There are plenty of backs with less production making alot more than 3.86 million next season... I just don't think it is as bad as everyone here wants to make it out to be...

He was injured and missed a lot more games again this year

He change his mentality when he became the starter that is why I think either his role needs to change and limit his carries early in the year. He has broken down the last few years this year quad followed by knee

 

[Cajuncowboy]

If he looked anything close to the RB he was two years ago I might agree, but he has clearly lost a step, and can't overcome some of his own backfield dancing anymore. Guy was going down on ankle tackles this year too - if you told me that would happen 3 years ago I would have LMAO.

Furthermore, if there is a no capped year next season it might be the only chance to duck out of the last 5 years of a very expensive, very unproductive contract.

We also knew he was going to have a shortened career because of his style (well everyone but Jerry, a 7 year deal was ridiculous). I don't know if he's done done yet, but when you have two better guys on the roster you play them.

Can't get a rid of a guy who has been so solid after a year where he was truly hurt. It was obvious the injury effected him. That's not in dispute. But I think that you owe it to the team to make sure that he is indeed what you seem to think he is, which is washed up.

If he recovers from this bruised Bursa in his knee then he will be just like before. Are you willing to trade away what he brought to the table before he was hurt? I'm not.

Also, I think most of his problem (Injury related) was due to how he was misused.

 

[wileedog]

Can't get a rid of a guy who has been so solid after a year where he was truly hurt. It was obvious the injury effected him. That's not in dispute. But I think that you owe it to the team to make sure that he is indeed what you seem to think he is, which is washed up.

If he recovers from this bruised Bursa in his knee then he will be just like before. Are you willing to trade away what he brought to the table before he was hurt? I'm not.

Also, I think most of his problem (Injury related) was due to how he was misused.

He's been hurt the better part of the last two seasons, and I definitely think it is tied to his running style that his body is starting to wear out. Particularly his legs, as defenders learned a couple years ago you have to dive at his legs to take him down.

If he walks into camp and has the same speed and burst he did a few years ago, then sure, put him in the closer role as you suggest and let him abuse teams in the 4th Q. But I think you walk into camp with Felix and Choice as your #1 and #2 and Barber absolutely needs to earn his playing time based on the last two seasons.

Marching him out there game after game taking carries away from better/healthier backs was terrible, and considering we may only have a 1 year un-capped window to get out of over-paying the heck out of him for 5 years I think you definitely have to consider it. Maybe try and see where his body is at the OTA's and make a call then.

Again, its not like we don't already have two better backs ready to go, nor are they relatively hard to find in the draft compared to other positions. Heck, 2/3 of our "three headed monster" are 2nd day picks.

 

[Cajuncowboy]

He's been hurt the better part of the last two seasons, and I definitely think it is tied to his running style that his body is starting to wear out. Particularly his legs, as defenders learned a couple years ago you have to dive at his legs to take him down.

If he walks into camp and has the same speed and burst he did a few years ago, then sure, put him in the closer role as you suggest and let him abuse teams in the 4th Q. But I think you walk into camp with Felix and Choice as your #1 and #2 and Barber absolutely needs to earn his playing time based on the last two seasons.

Marching him out there game after game taking carries away from better/healthier backs was terrible, and considering we may only have a 1 year un-capped window to get out of over-paying the heck out of him for 5 years I think you definitely have to consider it. Maybe try and see where his body is at the OTA's and make a call then.

Again, its not like we don't already have two better backs ready to go, nor are they relatively hard to find in the draft compared to other positions.

I agree. That was my point. But I was arguing against cutting him or trading him. I think he still has a great deal of value for us. Especially given Felix's injury history.

 

[Gadfly22]

Barber presents a difficult decision. I could be dead wrong, but I think Felix comes into next season as the #1 starter. He's proven his durability (so far) and can be used as receiving threat, inside runner, outside runner and decoy. Still not sure about his blocking, but that can be worked on.

So does Barber become the #2 back? Choice cemented a position as 3rd down back, and he can do more too.

Or is Barber the "closer"? I think the real question is: can a team afford to keep a running back who will function primarily (i) only late in games, (ii) when the Cowboys are leading and want to run the clock and (iii) given the proposed situation, against fronts stacked against the run?

MBIII's playing life expectancy was always supposed to be short, given his running style. It may be that it's going to be really really short unless he can come back healthy, quicker and stronger next year.

 

[JohnnyHopkins]

We should somewhat revert back to 2007 again with Felix and Choice taking the place of Julius Jones and Barber. Felix is a MAJOR upgrade over Julius Jones and Choice seems to be pretty good at everything, including picking up blitzes and catching the ball. Choice seems to have that ability to find the open spot in the field similar to Crayton, which makes him a great option to consider as the third down back.

As much as I love the guy, Barber should probably be the relief guy at the end of games. His body just can't take the wear and tear of getting as many touches as he has been receiving the last two years and it has shown in his late season performance.

 

[sonnyboy]

Not sure why so many are pissing on the idea of Barber as FB.

What he's been paid means nothing and what he'll be paid means little.

Look we know he can play RB when healthy.
We know Felix is a better RB.
We know Choice is also good and certainly the most durable.

If you play Barber at FB, you best utilize his skill set and leave more carries for Jones and Choce.

Barber is 6-0 222. That's about 20lbs lighter than most FB.

Question I have is.......does he play to his size? Haven't we seen a player who has played much larger.

He's a very strong player for his size and he loves contact. He would be the smallest FB, but he's also be the quickest. He'd seldom whiff on blocks. He'd also bring more as a runner and receiver than any FB.

The one downside is he would be lacking in the shortyardage/ goal line role. That's where I'd take a page out of the Pats book and use LBs as my short yardage FB.

 

[STSINAZ]

its time to go 10, 10 and 10 for the carries for all 3 backs...they all need each other, barber cant play the whole game, make him the closer...felix cant get more than 10 carries or he will get hurt...and choice can fill in during the game where needed...