Building the Defense

[Montanalo]

I think there is a time and place for stopgap players... fit a specific need for a specific period and usually at a reduced price. All too often, however, our FA approach has been stopgap-centric as if FO was looking to capture lightning in a bottle.

 

[conner01]

We need to start looking for pieces, not stopgaps. Problem w/ Poe/McCoy/Haha is that they were all stopgaps. What did we spend on them total, around 15 mil? Seems about right.

Meanwhile, Cincy signs top 5 DJ Reader for a measly 53 mil/4 years. Can you imagine him and Galley shoring up the middle? Talk about a nightmare for opposing D's.

What I'm saying is, fix something in FA. Signing stopgaps is not what we need at present, we need players who fix an issue.

They have tried to fill out the roster with veterans
So you get a bunch of cheap vets
I’d rather get a couple of good players and fill out the roster with your late round and UDFA players
A vet as your swing tackle is great, and a backup QB
But backup LB and the rest shouldn’t be cheap vets because even cheap vets can eat up a bunch of cap space
Let your late round picks and UDFA get a shot and get reps. Some might actually develop and the rest you just hope you don’t need till you can end up replacing them

 

[JoeKing]

Agreed but there is a problem. We have managed our salary cap badly and the dollars available just aren't there. Years ago we got burned signing high price free agents and in recent years have resorted to the cheaper ones. There used to be a thought that why were they free agents in the first place, but that's not right as you cannot keep every good player. The Bucs have set the template on what to do, but we won't take any notice of that.

Shut up, the Cowboys salary cap situation is better than most teams in the league so you can take your pessimism and shove it where the sun doesn't shine.

 

[Oz-of-Cowboy-Country]

What does the cap look like after we give Dak 40mil a year?

 

[AsthmaField]

Absolutely need to better signings, but unrealistic to think they will find long-term pieces via fa

I’m not trying to predict what they’ll do... I’m saying what I think they should do.

Stop gaps are a good way to open up the draft for your team, but they should also take an opportunity to fill a spot when the right player at the right position is there.

Will they? I doubt it. However, a young player like Marcus Williams could solidify a safety spot for years to come, and it wouldn’t be some crazy high contract like an Adams... that they thought about trading for. The main difference is that Adams would have cost high draft picks and Williams won’t and will cost less.

 

[Malhavoc]

I’m not trying to predict what they’ll do... I’m saying what I think they should do.

Stop gaps are a good way to open up the draft for your team, but they should also take an opportunity to fill a spot when the right player at the right position is there.

Will they? I doubt it. However, a young player like Marcus Williams could solidify a safety spot for years to come, and it wouldn’t be some crazy high contract like an Adams... that they thought about trading for. The main difference is that Adams would have cost high draft picks and Williams won’t and will cost less.

You are spot on. This team has no clue about how to approach FA. If you are building a team that you feel is competing for a title, then when the opportunity presents itself you pounce. This team will waste valuable cap dollars on has beens. Then to make matters worse they’ll neglect the most glaring needs in the draft. And next year we’re all here again talking about the same problems.

 

[Bobhaze]

You get stop gaps in fa, long-term pieces in the draft. Spend premium picks and develop them.

Well said. And if you have impactful drafts, you can have great performance at low cap hit costs. Having a couple of good FAs can be good. But having a great draft is exponentially more important when building a roster that wins.

 

[AsthmaField]

You are spot on. This team has no clue about how to approach FA. If you are building a team that you feel is competing for a title, then when the opportunity presents itself you pounce. This team will waste valuable cap dollars on has beens. Then to make matters worse they’ll neglect the most glaring needs in the draft. And next year we’re all here again talking about the same problems.

Well, I agree to get some inexpensive guys to fill slots because it frees up your draft to take a guy like Lamb if he is there. But if the right player is there in FA, I don’t think they should stay away as a rule because they over paid once for Brandon Carr. A guy like Williams (or Marcus Maye) is young and can play out his entire contract at a high level. As long as he isn’t asking for crazy money, that makes sense to me.

To be fair to the Cowboys though, last year was really the first free agency period where they brought in “has been’s”, as you called them. Haha, Poe and McCoy were has been’s but Dallas has usually gone with younger, bottom third of the roster types, as a rule.

Just get a guy to really fill a spot sometimes is all I’m saying. Not the cream of the crop... but a real starter at a position of need like Maye or Williams.

 

[AsthmaField]

Well said. And if you have impactful drafts, you can have great performance at low cap hit costs. Having a couple of good FAs can be good. But having a great draft is exponentially more important when building a roster that wins.

There’s no doubt, a great draft is best for the team... but you could get a guy like Marcus Williams and still draft the same group of players. That’s filling one more hole on your roster with some talent. Not the high-end... but a good player in the mid-price range, I’m saying.

However, if you’re talking about not filling holes in FA and just bring in one high priced guy, then yes, I agree, because that will force the team to draft for need. Something I am strongly against.

 

[Aven8]

Well we tried to get stopgaps against what they had been doing for JG’s tenure this past season signing over the age of 28 and that didn’t work either. Stephen and Will try to fit pieces and think we are set once fulfilled and move onto the next position. Problem is some of those guys just can’t play. It’s been happening for years around here. It must change. Give me one good one like Simmons, and fill the rest in with draft picks and just role player FA’s.

 

[AsthmaField]

Well we tried to get stopgaps against what they had been doing for JG’s tenure this past season signing over the age of 28 and that didn’t work either. Stephen and Will try to fit pieces and think we are set once fulfilled and move onto the next position. Problem is some of those guys just can’t play. It’s been happening for years around here. It must change. Give me one good one like Simmons, and fill the rest in with draft picks and just role player FA’s.

Yeah, role player FA’s are ok and they help free up the draft, but if a guy is there that is young enough to play out his contract before getting too old and a good enough player who fills a position of need, then do it.

I will say that Simmons is at the very top of the free agent safeties and will be pretty expensive, so I get the team not doing that. Which is why I say a guy like Marcus Williams who is a good player but will cost several million per year less than Simmons. I understand not going after the top FA’s. But the mid and upper-mid tiers should absolutely be looked at if you like the player enough and the need is big enough.

Williams would absolutely be good enough that instead of looking to take Grant in the second, the team could take a Nixon at DT. That helps both safety and the DL.

 

[EJK24]

You’re right. Spend roughly the same amount in FA but just do it on fewer, better guys at key positions. Marcus Maye or Marcus Williams at safety would fit the description. Maybe a DT like Tomlinson wouldn’t be that unreasonable.

At least they could head into the draft knowing that DT or S is fixed and can focus on other things or even take offense at 10 if they are the BPA.

Stephen is stuck on the times they got away with cheap when some guy like Selvie actually played ok. That is rare... they need to fix a couple of positions and move on.

IMO, of course.

Great post. Let's get quality over quantity in free agency. A couple of solid additions rather then a bunch of guys who won't make a difference. When you sign bottom of the barrel to be stop gaps and they aren't even good enough to do that, you've accomplished nothing but wasted cap dollars that could have went towards a difference maker.

 

[john van brocklin]

We need to start looking for pieces, not stopgaps. Problem w/ Poe/McCoy/Haha is that they were all stopgaps. What did we spend on them total, around 15 mil? Seems about right.

Meanwhile, Cincy signs top 5 DJ Reader for a measly 53 mil/4 years. Can you imagine him and Galley shoring up the middle? Talk about a nightmare for opposing D's.

What I'm saying is, fix something in FA. Signing stopgaps is not what we need at present, we need players who fix an issue.

Draft defense, forget best available player.....

 

[ondaedg]

Then to make matters worse they’ll neglect the most glaring needs in the draft. And next year we’re all here again talking about the same problems.

Hrmm that explains why we haven’t drafted a good safety since RW.

 

[ondaedg]

Draft defense, forget best available player.....

Yep. No need to be picky just take the bpa on the defensive side of the ball.

 

[AsthmaField]

Great post. Let's get quality over quantity in free agency. A couple of solid additions rather then a bunch of guys who won't make a difference. When you sign bottom of the barrel to be stop gaps and they aren't even good enough to do that, you've accomplished nothing but wasted cap dollars that could have went towards a difference maker.

In essence, that is what I’m saying. I do think it’s important to fill some holes with young, cheap FA’s in order to have freedom in the draft to take the BPA... but a good, young player like Williams or Maye could really help the team, IMO.

 

[john van brocklin]

Yep. No need to be picky just take the bpa on the defensive side of the ball.

I like your style

 

[ondaedg]

I like your style

Our front office just needs to use the Keep It Simple Stupidheads principle when it comes to defense. They do that and we are gold.

 

[Malhavoc]

Well if we don’t have a plan to address the needs on defense after last year then I don’t k ow what to say.

 

[Majic]

This is absolutely bull crap. Get a clue.

We have never been in a position in recent years to sign the pick of the bunch in free agency. It's not even been on the table. We have wasted the Dak years when we had a top performing QB on a rookie deal. The contracts handed to Elliott, Smith and I have to say Lawrence have contributed to us not being players in free agency. None of them have justified these contracts

Are you seriously suggesting we have managed our cap well in terms of who we have paid and what is left to spend in free agency? We have drafted players too high (Elliott, Smith) and then paid them top dollars.

My point about the Bucs is that they drafted well, spent well in free agency and rounded the team off with the signing of Brady.