Costa Cut

[Idgit]

When they drafted Frederick, it was an admission that Costa couldn't cut it as a starter . They tried to trade him and there was no takers. Thy are just now realizing that he shouldn't be on the team and that he was overpayed. Every argument that you have used supporting Costa is slowly being shown as wrong by the teams actions. Don't blame me. I tried to tell you this many, many times a couple years ago.

Somebody doesn't remember the 2012 season very accurately.

Yours would be a nice story, though, jnday. If any of the evidence supported the points you're trying to make.

 

[jnday]

Somebody doesn't remember the 2012 season very accurately.

Yours would be a nice story, though, jnday. If any of the evidence supported the points you're trying to make.

Dude, after seeing his improvement, or I guess I should say his lack of, they went and drafted Fred. The team's actions say everything about Costa . They should have payed attention the the large percentage of the fan base that saw Costa for what he is, a good guy with a good attitude that does not have the physical ability to be a starting NFL center.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

They tried to trade him and there was no takers.

I remember there being talk that Costa could start at C and Frederick at G, but nothing about a trade.

 

[Idgit]

Dude, after seeing his improvement, or I guess I should say his lack of, they went and drafted Fred. The team's actions say everything about Costa . They should have payed attention the the large percentage of the fan base that saw Costa for what he is, a good guy with a good attitude that does not have the physical ability to be a starting NFL center.

Yeah. That's not what happened. I suggest you review the Center position in Dallas for 2012 and adjust your narrative to fit the actual details a little better.

 

[Risen Star]

Dude, after seeing his improvement, or I guess I should say his lack of, they went and drafted Fred. The team's actions say everything about Costa . They should have payed attention the the large percentage of the fan base that saw Costa for what he is, a good guy with a good attitude that does not have the physical ability to be a starting NFL center.

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't care how good of a guy he is. I only care if he can play and he can't.

IMO, the worst penciled in starting player I've seen on this team in my lifetime. It literally looked like he won some kind of contest that let him play in the league for a week.

 

[Alexander]

It literally looked like he won some kind of contest that let him play in the league for a week.

You mean like Jesse Holley?

 

[gimmesix]

as usual you are wrong. Gurode was only gone because he refused a pay cut. Otherwise he would have been starting. But not surprised you try and spin it your way; you were a big fan of all those jags we were forced to start the last few years.

They did try to get Gurode to take a pay cut to stay on the team, but I'm not sure the Cowboys planned on starting Gurode. I think they wanted him on the team as Costa's backuo/contingency plan ... and it probably would have been best for them to keep him anyway. Ultimately, he would have replaced Costa because Costa was that bad. That Dallas went with Costa was an indictment of Hudson Houck and Garrett's judgment. I know Gurode had lost it, but what he had was still better than anything Costa will ever have.

 

[TheDude]

Maybe I'm weird, but I don't care how good of a guy he is. I only care if he can play and he can't.

IMO, the worst penciled in starting player I've seen on this team in my lifetime. It literally looked like he won some kind of contest that let him play in the league for a week.

Now you are just being silly, there's no way a contest winner .... wait, let me use the google

 

[jnday]

Yeah. That's not what happened. I suggest you review the Center position in Dallas for 2012 and adjust your narrative to fit the actual details a little better.

What part of my post do you disagree with?

 

[Nightman]

Jeez, who cares? He played a few games, made very little money and is now gone. What are you guys even arguing about?

 

[CooterBrown]

Jeez, who cares? He played a few games, made very little money and is now gone. What are you guys even arguing about?

It is kinda funny when you think about it, 8 pages of a thread for a backup center. Must be the offseason.

 

[funkytown]

IMO, the worst penciled in starting player I've seen on this team in my lifetime. It literally looked like he won .

Jeff Heath is worst starter in the history of this team. Worst player in the history of this team

 

[Idgit]

Jeez, who cares? He played a few games, made very little money and is now gone. What are you guys even arguing about?

It's really a referendum on the decisions the team made regarding the OL overhaul going back to 2011 (when Costa really logged his playing time after coming in as an UDFA in 2010). There was so much hyperbole about the early learning on the job he had to do when the team rolled the dice on letting Gurode go, and so much criticism of the overall direction (using premium resources on the OTs and trying to develop resources at the interior positions). The fact that the guy made the team, beat out the incumbent, got better over the course of a season, earned an extension, and then had his best games as a pro the following injury-plagued year in 2012 gets lost in the shuffle.

Like the lack of depth we had on the bench or not (I personally don't like how unprepared we were in 2010 for the required OL overhaul), to hit on an UDFA and get somebody capable of giving you starter's snaps was was fairly fortunate. But it fits better with a general narrative to pretend the guy is the worst starter we've ever had, and that it was reasonable to have expected him to come in with a college background at OG and convert to C and start the next season at C and not need reps to improve at all.

As a side note...was he actually cut? I see the story from two days ago that he was likely to be released, but can't find confirmation yet. Given his salary right now, it makes sense that he might be let go, but I'd also expect he's likely a backup at this point on any team he might go to (given that all teams have Cs already, and we're sitting here just weeks before the draft). You'd think he'd just as soon renegotiate and have a chance to do that in Dallas where he already knows the system and wouldn't have to relocate.

 

[Verdict]

I don't think Costa is as bad as some of you make him out to be, but not nearly as good as some others on this board think. Do I think he is capable of being in the top half of the centers in the league? Probably not. Is he capable of starting as a bottom half center with really good guard play around him? Probably, but he would still be a bit of a weak link.

We got the chance to upgrade the offensive line with a guy who is a top half of the league center as a rookie. So, we pulled the trigger on it. It also stonewalled the pass rush up the middle which has been Romo's biggest problem to deal with. Give the Cowboys props for making that call.

Moreover, I think most objective Cowboys fans would agree that Costa would be pretty decent depth, but you don't pay that kind of money to a backup..... especially when:

1. We don't have the cap space;
2. Costa isn't really a capable GUARD, so he is limited in position flexibility
3. Costa's upside is limited..... so he would be a bit of a progress stopper
4. My guess is we are looking to upgrade the offensive line more in the draft, so he is expendable.

 

[ConstantReboot]

And why was he asked to take a paycut?

Could it be because he was no longer the starting center of the team because he could no longer do the job?

Ah-yep.

Spin it however you want, but Gurode's days as starting center in the NFL ended with his knee surgery (and resulting increased girth... As I recall he was up over 335lbs).

Yet Gurode went on to another team and was signed and had a longer career than Costa. There is a lot of spinning around here about Gurode. I sometimes don't buy into it because some of these players start for other teams and have actually done well. Not saying that Gurode was all pro on another team. But it seems that some of these players do better on other teams and we Cowboy forum fans do our own spinning on why things didn't work out because of this and that excuses. Remember Marty Bennett? Yeah we have heard those excuses before.

 

[ConstantReboot]

It's really a referendum on the decisions the team made regarding the OL overhaul going back to 2011 (when Costa really logged his playing time after coming in as an UDFA in 2010). There was so much hyperbole about the early learning on the job he had to do when the team rolled the dice on letting Gurode go, and so much criticism of the overall direction (using premium resources on the OTs and trying to develop resources at the interior positions). The fact that the guy made the team, beat out the incumbent, got better over the course of a season, earned an extension, and then had his best games as a pro the following injury-plagued year in 2012 gets lost in the shuffle.

Like the lack of depth we had on the bench or not (I personally don't like how unprepared we were in 2010 for the required OL overhaul), to hit on an UDFA and get somebody capable of giving you starter's snaps was was fairly fortunate. But it fits better with a general narrative to pretend the guy is the worst starter we've ever had, and that it was reasonable to have expected him to come in with a college background at OG and convert to C and start the next season at C and not need reps to improve at all.

As a side note...was he actually cut? I see the story from two days ago that he was likely to be released, but can't find confirmation yet. Given his salary right now, it makes sense that he might be let go, but I'd also expect he's likely a backup at this point on any team he might go to (given that all teams have Cs already, and we're sitting here just weeks before the draft). You'd think he'd just as soon renegotiate and have a chance to do that in Dallas where he already knows the system and wouldn't have to relocate.

Im sorry but allowing Costa to start over Gurode despite Gurode being overweight or being lazy was still a terrible move. Looking back on what happened that year and how Costa got manhandled, I would have taken an overweight, lazy *** Gurode over him.

 

[Risen Star]

Jeff Heath is worst starter in the history of this team. Worst player in the history of this team

The Cowboys didn't go into the season expecting Jeff Heath to start.

 

[burmafrd]

It's really a referendum on the decisions the team made regarding the OL overhaul going back to 2011 (when Costa really logged his playing time after coming in as an UDFA in 2010). There was so much hyperbole about the early learning on the job he had to do when the team rolled the dice on letting Gurode go, and so much criticism of the overall direction (using premium resources on the OTs and trying to develop resources at the interior positions). The fact that the guy made the team, beat out the incumbent, got better over the course of a season, earned an extension, and then had his best games as a pro the following injury-plagued year in 2012 gets lost in the shuffle.

Like the lack of depth we had on the bench or not (I personally don't like how unprepared we were in 2010 for the required OL overhaul), to hit on an UDFA and get somebody capable of giving you starter's snaps was was fairly fortunate. But it fits better with a general narrative to pretend the guy is the worst starter we've ever had, and that it was reasonable to have expected him to come in with a college background at OG and convert to C and start the next season at C and not need reps to improve at all.

As a side note...was he actually cut? I see the story from two days ago that he was likely to be released, but can't find confirmation yet. Given his salary right now, it makes sense that he might be let go, but I'd also expect he's likely a backup at this point on any team he might go to (given that all teams have Cs already, and we're sitting here just weeks before the draft). You'd think he'd just as soon renegotiate and have a chance to do that in Dallas where he already knows the system and wouldn't have to relocate.

you are so wrong its sad. He did not beat out the incumbent; only the costa homers still cling to that. Why are you unwilling to admit you were wrong? The only reason Gurode was gone and Costa was staying was money. And anyone looking at how costa played thinking he had any business starting is insane. That was the first real evidence that Houck had lost it as a coach. He was not NFL starting quality. The fact that he did start for us is an indictment of everyone involved in that decision.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I guess I'm going to have to use a larger font so that some will be able to read that Gurode was shot as a starting center in the NFL during training camp of 2011. You can argue that Costa wasn't the guy. That argument has merit. But to argue Andre Gurode was still an acceptable solution as a starting center is shear poppycock. The information put out at the time combined with the results Gurode put up in Baltimore later on that season prove the point.

It wasn't about money.

 

[AmericasTeam81]

I never thought a thread about Costa would generate a thread this long