Cowboys Free Agency Situation not dire, but not pretty

Galian Beast

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The Cowboys linebacker situation going into the offseason looked like it could become a strength of this team.

I think we all figured Carter would be a hard re-sign, and he was. Tampa gave him 4 years, 5 million per year, a lot more than he was worth/earned.

Durant also got a lot more than expected. I wouldn't have paid Durant more than 2 million a year, and Atlanta gave him 3.6 million per year. Simply weren't going to over pay for him.

Unfortunately these two situations have put us in a very precarious situation. We haven't re-sign McClain yet, and at the moment we have an injury prone Sean Lee and a sophomore Hitchens.... That isn't a good place to be right now, and it looks like re-signing McClain will probably cost us 5-6 million per year. They really should have re-signed Durant during the year while he was injured. Surprised that he made that much of an impression with Atlanta in the small amount of time he played this year. I think both Atlanta and Tampa will regret their decisions, but that doesn't help us much.

We're now in a position where linebacker is likely a weakness, and unfortunately this also stems from the Dez Bryant situation. A situation I knew was going to be difficult, but if they were going to be this difficult the Cowboys should have made plans to trade him. No way they should have a short commitment with him with the franchise tag. Makes no sense cap wise or future wise. It prevents us from being competitive this year, and doesn't help us be competitive in the future. It does us no favors.

With the amount of holes that we have on this team, defense in particular, we have to be a lot more aggressive than this. And this would have been a great year to show up in the NFC. We'll be lucky if we can come out of this with Lee-McClain-Hitchens now. Carr hasn't taken a pay cut, and yet we didn't make a move to get Cromartie who was willing to come for pretty cheap (according to reports, 6 million per year). Surprised we haven't reached out to Tillman either.

We've done nothing to make one of the worst defensive lines in the NFL even close to manageable, and anyone who thinks we'll get away with just drafting some linemen has fooled themselves.

If we downgrade from Murray to Spiller and we don't make significant investments on the defensive side of the ball in free agency, we shouldn't expect this team to go much further in the playoffs than they did last year. And worse, we'll be in an even worse position next year with Romo a year older, and Dez likely a free agent unless we tag him two years in a row, which will ultimately hurt our salary cap next year....

It's still early, but so far this has been a mismanaged off season, starting mostly with not re-signing any players during the regular season.
 

Galian Beast

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2nd day of free agency and no drat yet.

You're not going to build this defense through the draft this year, and you aren't going to do it with guys like Mincey and Terrell McClain. Don't let the rankings fool you, the defense was one of the worst in the league last year.
 

cowboyvic

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You're not going to build this defense through the draft this year, and you aren't going to do it with guys like Mincey and Terrell McClain. Don't let the rankings fool you, the defense was one of the worst in the league last year.

Yep. you 100% get it man.
 

darthseinfeld

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The thing thats killing us is getting some of the player's we have targeted as reasonably priced pick ups like Trent Cole and Stephan Paea have gone for 8 million and 5 million per.
 

AshyLarry06

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The Cowboys linebacker situation going into the offseason looked like it could become a strength of this team.

I think we all figured Carter would be a hard re-sign, and he was. Tampa gave him 4 years, 5 million per year, a lot more than he was worth/earned.

Durant also got a lot more than expected. I wouldn't have paid Durant more than 2 million a year, and Atlanta gave him 3.6 million per year. Simply weren't going to over pay for him.

Unfortunately these two situations have put us in a very precarious situation. We haven't re-sign McClain yet, and at the moment we have an injury prone Sean Lee and a sophomore Hitchens.... That isn't a good place to be right now, and it looks like re-signing McClain will probably cost us 5-6 million per year. They really should have re-signed Durant during the year while he was injured. Surprised that he made that much of an impression with Atlanta in the small amount of time he played this year. I think both Atlanta and Tampa will regret their decisions, but that doesn't help us much.

We're now in a position where linebacker is likely a weakness, and unfortunately this also stems from the Dez Bryant situation. A situation I knew was going to be difficult, but if they were going to be this difficult the Cowboys should have made plans to trade him. No way they should have a short commitment with him with the franchise tag. Makes no sense cap wise or future wise. It prevents us from being competitive this year, and doesn't help us be competitive in the future. It does us no favors.

With the amount of holes that we have on this team, defense in particular, we have to be a lot more aggressive than this. And this would have been a great year to show up in the NFC. We'll be lucky if we can come out of this with Lee-McClain-Hitchens now. Carr hasn't taken a pay cut, and yet we didn't make a move to get Cromartie who was willing to come for pretty cheap (according to reports, 6 million per year). Surprised we haven't reached out to Tillman either.

We've done nothing to make one of the worst defensive lines in the NFL even close to manageable, and anyone who thinks we'll get away with just drafting some linemen has fooled themselves.

If we downgrade from Murray to Spiller and we don't make significant investments on the defensive side of the ball in free agency, we shouldn't expect this team to go much further in the playoffs than they did last year. And worse, we'll be in an even worse position next year with Romo a year older, and Dez likely a free agent unless we tag him two years in a row, which will ultimately hurt our salary cap next year....

It's still early, but so far this has been a mismanaged off season, starting mostly with not re-signing any players during the regular season.

Dude, RELAX. Championship teams aren't built by signing all the big name, typically overpriced free agents within the first 3 days of free agency. Chill out and have faith in this front office and more importantly have faith in Jason Garrett because he clearly has a plan that appears to be miraculously WORKING! I mean idk about you but I finally feel like management actually knows what theyre doing for the first time in a LONG *** time and i trust their decisions...
 

Beast_from_East

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The bottom line is we are not 1 player away from a SB title, not with this defense.

I will be happy if we just make the playoffs again this year.
 

DanTanna

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SPEND IT JERRY !!!
PMPwpWrGFLu80.gif
 

jazzcat22

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Don't panic, it isn't any worse than last year at this same time. Ware gone, Hatcher gone, LB position still looked bleak, even with Lee healthy. Durant coming off injuries, DL worse shape than it is now.
romo back totally up in the air after surgery. OL still had ??? Marks except LT & C.

People whining about Garrett and the coaching staff, Callahan and Kiffin, then Marinelli and
Linehan....yes they whined a lot.

We were in salary cap hell as usual according to many. We didn't signed anyone day one. People whined about Mo & Carr at CB as well as Church & Wilcox a S.

as someone said during last season....R.E.L.A.X.
 

Aven8

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I'm not worried about the big name FA's so much, but the Carter signing hurts bad. Had we had Ro signed up it wouldn't sting that much, but now we are going to have to over pay, or gamble on an unknown rookie. Thus taking away picks from the dreaded and feared Dline.
 

The Natural

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Don't really care about the loss of Durant, yea he was solid but he didnt even play half the year. Losing Carter was pretty big, and things will start to get nuclear around here if McClain isnt resigned
 

MichaelWinicki

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This defense is a 2-LB defense most of the time. Carter and Durant combined for 860 snaps last season, which is less than the number of snaps one full time player would take if they played every single game.

It's a loss... but not a big loss.
 

darthseinfeld

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I honestly have a feeling we sign Hardy some time next week. Teams have talked, no one is biting. I think he gets a similar deal from as Melton did last year
 

big dog cowboy

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I think we all figured Carter would be a hard re-sign, and he was. Tampa gave him 4 years, 5 million per year, a lot more than he was worth/earned.

Durant also got a lot more than expected. I wouldn't have paid Durant more than 2 million a year, and Atlanta gave him 3.6 million per year. Simply weren't going to over pay for him.
If we had overpaid for those players THEN the FA situation would have been dire. But because we are smart of the way we do business now it isn't.
 

JoeBoBBY

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Dude, RELAX. Championship teams aren't built by signing all the big name, typically overpriced free agents within the first 3 days of free agency. Chill out and have faith in this front office and more importantly have faith in Jason Garrett because he clearly has a plan that appears to be miraculously WORKING! I mean idk about you but I finally feel like management actually knows what theyre doing for the first time in a LONG *** time and i trust their decisions...


I agree. But, not only are we losing guys, were not signing anybody.

I thought B Carter was a good LB last year. I think he he had more INTs then anybody else on the team, and a few of them ensured a Win.... Durant was a good LB....etc etc...

We lose Murray. And then dont get Hardy.........???

Now, I have been screaming for the FO to do exactly this....

Its just a little nerve racking....:) ....But really. sign DM and get Hardy!!!! lol
 

JoeyBoy718

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This defense is a 2-LB defense most of the time. Carter and Durant combined for 860 snaps last season, which is less than the number of snaps one full time player would take if they played every single game.

It's a loss... but not a big loss.

Carter played in 13 games plus the playoffs. He lost some snaps early in the season when they were experimenting with where to play him. It isn't fair grouping Carter and Durant and comparing them to one player. Carter played a pretty full season last year. So did McClain (13 regular season games but nicked up in the playoffs) and Hitchens (fully healthy in all 18 games). Yeah, most of our injuries were with Durant and Lee. And McClain had to shake some rust off since we just picked him up off the street.

I wouldn't have resigned Durant either. He's nearing 30, has never played a full season, and has a pretty low ceiling. Carter's ceiling is much higher, he's younger, and he's been healthier. Carter's issues had to do with adjusting to a new defense and issues with the coaching staff not trusting his ability to process/read a play. I think McClain will be much better next year after shaking the rust off this year. McClain is really a gem. Supremely athletic, high football IQ, passionate when on the field, and a great talent. There's a reason he was so highly regarded coming out of college. He has All Pro potential. Just like Sean Lee. Carter has more Pro Bowl potential. But McClain also has issues. He's got a few screws lose. He can lose it at any minute.
 
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