Building around Henry Melton

[the_h0wey]

I'm really excited to hear that Henry Melton has connected the dots enough to see that Dallas is the best place for him.

- He grew up in Texas
- He played for Marinelli
- He is a free agent
- He fills a major need

He could just be using the Cowboys name to push Chicago for more money, but if it is a legitimate desire to play for the Cowboys, they would be foolish to ignore it.

Signing 27 year old Henry Melton rather than 31 year old Jason Hatcher, even with the ACL injury simply makes sense to me (obviously pending his rehab).

Signing Melton gives this team a new lease on life, and an escape from the status quo of being a more often than not subpar defense.

You combine this with letting Spencer and Ware go and you can really begin to rebuild this defense around some youth. You combine Melton with some other acquisitions in free agency or the draft and our starting defensive line is no longer so pathetic.

I am buying more and more the idea that if you have two stud defensive tackles, you can be more marginal on the outsides. But signing Melton and drafting at least two defensive linemen within the first three rounds would be a solid rebuild, especially if we're able to acquire some cheaper (or affordable) help at defensive end or defensive tackle at some point in free agency.

Didn't his agent come out and say he wants to play for Dallas?

 

[NJ22]

Hardy will cost much more than Melton at this point

For good reason

 

[XxTDxX]

Honestly I am beginning to think that signing Melton is a great option because he will available for cheaper than ever due to the injury.. Also give us much more flexibility in the draft because right now it's looking like if Donald is gone at 16 there really isn't any opportunity to pick up a game changing 3 technique in the draft.

Even if we sign Melton we can still get Donald and find ways to get them both on the field on passing downs.

 

[XxTDxX]

For good reason

Agreed.. But I think there may be more value in signing Melton and a few other solid FA than to get hardy and and 4 Brodney Poole type guys

 

[Alexander]

Then don't get up in arms when Kiffin and Marinelli can't turn around this defense. If our ultimate decision makers (Jones) doesn't listen to Kiffin and Marinelli's input on what they want on defense and the pieces they need to make it work then it's just another organizational flaw that keeps us spinning in circles as a franchise.

Jones pretty much listened to Kiffin last year when he passed on Floyd.

It is not up to Jones to listen to his coaches. That is part of his problem. He picks and chooses who to listen to and when because he is incapable of doing anything else, like form his own opinion based on personal observation. He breaks "ties" based on who yells the loudest.

He should have coaches who can communicate to the scouts their needs and types of players that will function. The scouts and scouting director then should have a clear picture and construct the board.

It is Jerry Jones' job to follow the board that is constructed and trust his scouting staff.

 

[theSHOW]

Injured. Have we not had enough of these guys. Pass on Melton

 

[Idgit]

Puts Woy in a delicate position, with Melton, Hatcher, and Spencer all available this season.

 

[Alexander]

Puts Woy in a delicate position, with Melton, Hatcher, and Spencer all available this season.

And agents do not generally win much by pitting their own clients against each other for basically the same job. It is a tough moral decision.

 

[KingintheNorth]

I don't hate it. Melton makes sense, he's a Texas kid, Marinelli loves him, we may get a bit of a discount coming off the injury, etc.
BUT the 3-technique depth is pretty solid in this draft. If we do go out and get a free agent, we need a true FS or a LDE. If Ware is cut, RDE becomes a glaring need.

We can go from $21M over the cap to $8M under surprisingly easily with a few expected cuts and restructures. I would love to use half of that cap room to secure an impact starter like Jairus Byrd (age 27), Greg Hardy(age 25), Jon Asamoah (age 25), maybe even Melton (age 27).

As much as I love Byrd, I'd target Asamoah first. The O Line would have 3 fixtures for the next several years.

 

[NJ22]

Agreed.. But I think there may be more value in signing Melton and a few other solid FA than to get hardy and and 4 Brodney Poole type guys

If we want to gamble on a 3tech coming off injury I might choose the kid from Florida in the 2nd. As that is our usual injury flyer round. And get a guy even younger than Melton and much cheaper.

 

[Szczepanik]

People are underestimating Melton and his connection to Marinelli.

Marinelli is the master of DL coaching. Marinelli is awesome by himself, Melton is very good by himself.

Combined and reunited, they form Meltonelli. A formiddable force inside the DL that will toss Eli and Foles to the ground twice per game next season.

For real though.

We need a DT.

Sign Melton.
Sign Donald. Round 1.
Shazier Round 2 .
Best DE round 3.

All of a sudden our defense is incredibly improved.

 

[LatinMind]

I think people are underrating Melton. He's a young, franchise 3-tech which is far and away our biggest need. Yeah, "building a team" around him is a bit of a stretch, but you can certainly build a line around him.

No but you can build a DL around him. having him lining up next to crawford would give Dallas a very good middle. Add a healthy Ware on the outside is even better.

 

[Nightman]

People are underestimating Melton and his connection to Marinelli.

Marinelli is the master of DL coaching. Marinelli is awesome by himself, Melton is very good by himself.

Combined and reunited, they form Meltonelli. A formiddable force inside the DL that will toss Eli and Foles to the ground twice per game next season.

For real though.

We need a DT.

Sign Melton.
Sign Donald. Round 1.
Shazier Round 2 .
Best DE round 3.

All of a sudden our defense is incredibly improved.

Wouldn't signing Melton eliminate the need for Donald. If they sign Melton, I would draft DE first.

 

[NJ22]

People are underestimating Melton and his connection to Marinelli.

Marinelli is the master of DL coaching. Marinelli is awesome by himself, Melton is very good by himself.

Combined and reunited, they form Meltonelli. A formiddable force inside the DL that will toss Eli and Foles to the ground twice per game next season.

For real though.

We need a DT.

Sign Melton.
Sign Donald. Round 1.
Shazier Round 2 .
Best DE round 3.

All of a sudden our defense is incredibly improved.

Melton and Donald both play the same position. One or the other.

 

[cowboys1981]

IMO Melton isn't the piece to build around, if that were the case Chicago (who have a depleted line) would've already reached out to him in an extension. That piece we're talking about is In the draft.

 

[Direwolf63]

Wouldn't signing Melton eliminate the need for Donald. If they sign Melton, I would draft DE first.

Agreed. If Melton is signed, your better off going DE, safety or LB in the first round and find Melton's backup in later rounds.

The first round pick has to be a starter. Picking Donald and have him playing part time if you have signed Melton doesn't make a bunch of sense to me.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Building Around Henry Melton. Sounds like the title of a promising movie script Hostile could write.

 

[manster4ever]

I would be very concerned building anything around a player who is presently recovering from a torn ACL and who had an 'incident' while recovering.

totally agree...very valid pts

 

[reddyuta]

we should be extremely wary about Dlinemen with bad knees,we are better off looking for a 3-tech in the draft.

 

[AsthmaField]

If Dallas were to get Melton, I think it would be on a relatively cheap, 1-year "prove it" type deal. I certainly don't think that I'd want to bring him in on any other kind of deal.

So, assuming he came in like that, then I would still draft Aaron Donald if he was there at #16. The thing about Marinelli's defensive line is that he loves to send defensive linemen at the offense in waves. A rotation at the 3-tech spot of Donald and Melton, keeping both fresh throughout the game could potentially be devastating. The 3-tech position is widely considered to be the most important position on Marinelli's defense and having a fresh Donald or Melton constantly harassing the offense would be a terrific weapon to have and a great way to start the defensive re-build. The QB would certainly have someone in his face much of the time.