Cowboys need to stop faking, let Will McClay do his job in free agency

[Stash]

Come back anytime

I would, if not for all of that anger. It drowned out the quality, intelligent stuff you had to say.

 

[KD Drummond]

Who brought in Greg Hardy? Not attacking you but it's a good thing we didn't give him a long term deal. To me the best thing we can do is let the draft fall to us, no more selling the farm for that one special pick.

I can't call who was the driving force behind that move, but look at it in the context of how it was done. It wasn't during the first wave of FA, when teams are bidding for players. It wasn't really 2nd wave iirc. They waited til they could prove they weren't bidding against anyone and then constructed a deal with more outs than an extra inning ballgame.

People always mistake Hardy's situation. The problem with spending big on a free agent is the amount of guaranteed money which goes along with the deal. When you sign a player to a lot of guaranteed money, it locks you into said player for basically three years. That's what you should always look at in a deal, the g'teed money the team is committed to. With Hardy, there was a one-year deal and very little of it was guaranteed. Yes, it reached $9.8 million, but they could've walked away paying much less if they chose to. Regardless, if he turned out to be a dirtbag, which he did, they could walk away from it and not see any remnants of him on future year's cap.

Here's where I broke down everything about the Hardy contract right after he was signed, in my best Skip Bayless impersonation.

http://www.scout.com/nfl/cowboys/story/1528984-cowboys-hardy-incentive-deal-at-a-cost

The last player they committed to long-term from someone else's roster was Brandon Carr in 2012.

 

[Proximo]

Pony up how? Blow up the cap now and in the immediate future to even get just the privilege to compete for the services?


Not sure I understand how you think Hardy is even close to comparing. Hardy was not ponying up and playing. It was a shot in the dark with a very troubled player that not a lot of teams wanted. We were bidding against ourselves for the most part.

That is radically different than being a player in high stakes free agency. A real difference maker can be bought by the number of teams with significantly better cap situations than Dallas has. What would make Dallas the front runner for anybody? We have seen even middling free agents like Chris Long turn up their noses and head elsewhere. If you are deluded and think the Cowboys are admired by free agents as being a place to get a ring, well, the Patriots could easily outbid Dallas and would not have to cut a player or extend out a contract because their cap is in line and sustainable.

The front office does not "desire" to overpay mainly because they can't. It is more restraint out of necessity and the current state of things. It is not a mindset they learned from anywhere. They would probably do another bad Brandon Carr deal in a second and meanwhile they would be applauded for their restraint?

Blah blah blah blah.

The Cowboys could easily free up the money needed to sign a big name FA if they so desired.

 

[Stash]

I stood solo on that when it happened. People's responses resembled... well... this thread haha.

Cheers.

Well, I'm with you on Crawford. It's obviously a bad deal and the sooner they admit that and act accordingly, the better off they'll be. But I will say that I was wrong and thought it was a good move at the time they made it. But unlike others, I can admit that I was wrong about it.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

But I bet you that Marinelli thinks he is a difference making 3-T, which he isn't and never will be. There is not a lineman on this roster I would trust to start if I could remake the line from scratch. Collins is the only one close and I am not even sold on him. The rest should be reserves if we really wanted to field a quality DL.

I think they're closer at DT than they are at DE... And I'm including Irving at DT... I don't see him as a 4-3 DE either.

 

[Alexander]

Blah blah blah blah.

The Cowboys could easily free up the money needed to sign a big name FA if they so desired.

They won't because they can't without breaking their diet. Amazing how you can praise them for restraint yet in the same breath say they could make a dumb mistake if they wanted to. And hey, nobody worth it anyways so win win.

 

[KD Drummond]

Great attitude.........it is a tough but educated group for the most part

Best fan forum I have ever seen because of and in spite of the very strict rules

ps- I still believe strongly in TCrawford and DLawrence......tell them their role and let them prepare for it......instead of TCrawford trying to be a SDE as a 3T and DLawrence trying to be a WDE as SDE

Nah man it's all good. CZ is the most infamous of the message boards- lot's of traffic here. I've had this account since I wrote for BTB - but the higher I climb unfortunately my time to comment and reply gets less and less. I come from the old DC.com forums, and then Blue and Silver Report before BTB comments, then started my writing career. "This" is the atmosphere I was forged in. Nothing but love.

 

[Alexander]

I think they're closer at DT than they are at DE... And I'm including Irving at DT... I don't see him as a 4-3 DE either.

Eh. Not even convinced about that. Even if you are right about Irving, they sure don't seem impressed enough to let him stay in one position or even trust him with increased snaps.

 

[Stash]

LOL- who would pretend to be me? I just came in here and saw two people call me Skip Bayless. Skip Bayless bruh. I don't think anyone is gonna take that two-piece combo if they don't have to haha

Kudos to you for handling some tough criticism very well.

 

[Alexander]

Kudos to you for handling some tough criticism very well.

Hey, he is on Twitter every day. If you can handle the mouth breathers there, this is nothing

 

[Proximo]

They won't because they can't without breaking their diet. Amazing how you can praise them for restraint yet in the same breath say they could make a dumb mistake if they wanted to. And hey, nobody worth it anyways so win win.

Lol wut?

Reading comprehension not even once.

I'm completely cool with them spending big on an FA if they're worth it. What I'm not cool with is "forcing" it, and paying big bucks for a guy who's not worth it.

 

[Stash]

Yep, I see Crawford being part of the DT-rotation.

He's miscast as a 4-3 DE.

I think he's miscast at both. He's the 3-4 DE they originally drafted him to be.

 

[Stash]

Hey, he is on Twitter every day. If you can handle the mouth breathers there, this is nothing

I know. I followed him for a while. But he just got so angry, I couldn't take all the negativity anymore. This guy seems a whole lot more calm.

 

[KD Drummond]

So, why are you making the assumption that Will McClay is ONLY allowed to look for players in the "bargain bin"?

You don't think he's already looking at ALL available FA's?

I think that he IS....it's just that none of them have been worth the price tag that they carry.

Clearly they thought Hardy could be "the guy", but it didn't work out. They paid him a pretty penny.

I don't think McClay is being handcuffed. You can't bring in a big time FA difference maker if there aren't any available. Forcing it is when you get burned. I'm glad we haven't been forcing it.

And you're more than entitled to that opinion. I obviously disagree based on information I've collected over the years of covering them. No harm, no foul.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I think he's miscast at both. He's the 3-4 DE they originally drafted him to be.

I don't disagree with that.

But for this season he's theirs.

Next offseason? Very possibly gone.

 

[Alexander]

Lol wut?

Reading comprehension not even once.

I'm completely cool with them spending big on an FA if they're worth it. What I'm not cool with is "forcing" it, and paying big bucks for a guy who's not worth it.

In order to pay the one worth it, you are completely okay with extending deals and borrowing from existing contracts? That is what it would take to even play that shell game in theory. Even then, they had better be sure they can get the player to begin with. Nobody "worth it" would even look at the team that ranks at the bottom of the cap pool. They want money, a lot of it, right now. Especially a pass rusher.

 

[KD Drummond]

I think he's miscast at both. He's the 3-4 DE they originally drafted him to be.

I wouldn't disagree with that- whatever he is, he was a bad investment based on how the Cowboys wanted him to be used

 

[gmoney112]

I think they're closer at DT than they are at DE... And I'm including Irving at DT... I don't see him as a 4-3 DE either.

Haha, I can see that. The problem is that the bar is really, really low. Our DE situation right now is a disaster. I think they're going to keep teaching Irving at DE and pass rushing DT. He's only 23 years old. This year will be big for him.

TCrawford and Lawrence really just have to stay healthy. I don't know if Crawford's body is up to it at this point. Two rotator cuff injuries in consecutive years, on different shoulders. That's not good. If we can forge ahead with a reliable Crawford, Collins, Thornton then our DT situation is in decent shape. Problem is, Crawford is a complete question mark, and I hate it for him. He said he suffered the rotator cuff injury in Week 2, just toughed it out all season.

Lawrence was limited in every single practice this year. He's having back surgery again, and this is his contract year. Yikes.

The DL needs a ton of help.

 

[KD Drummond]

If you say so. To me, it is very relevant. Otherwise we are just talking about an idea, not a tangible and attainable solution.



Again, nice idea. And maybe he does deserve the opportunity. But given the current state of the cap, all he could go and get is another Mayowa, Selvie,
Mincey etc. You are asking him to score a knockout when he can't even punch.



Still think you are making a case for something that simply is not realistic. Are you suggesting that McClay get the privilege to go after this prized free agent at the expense of blowing up whatever tiny strides made to avoid the cap busting they have made the last couple of years?

All in all, I agree with the idea. But I prefer not to dream.

I think if anything, they get out of the way and allow him to draft pass rushers for the future, not players who fit the short term vision that exists with Marinelli's scheme. That is my major complaint. Not that he be allowed to go out and snag a Chandler Jones, who might not necessarily be worth the additional cap heartache. This article would go down a lot better if we had $46 million laying around like the Patriots.



Not sure who you are referring to in terms of "regime". If it is Power Jerry and his faithful doglike servant Lacewell, I agree. Can't help not to.

I promise you moving money around to sign a big name free agent is easily achievable without sending them into the abyss or saying goodbye to their young stars after their rookie deals. I often forget I have to spell out the cap mgmt in every article I write or ppl respond like it isn't possible.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Haha, I can see that. The problem is that the bar is really, really low. Our DE situation right now is a disaster. I think they're going to keep teaching Irving at DE and pass rushing DT. He's only 23 years old. This year will be big for him.

TCrawford and Lawrence really just have to stay healthy. I don't know if Crawford's body is up to it at this point. Two rotator cuff injuries in consecutive years, on different shoulders. That's not good. If we can forge ahead with a reliable Crawford, Collins, Thornton then our DT situation is in decent shape. Problem is, Crawford is a complete question mark, and I hate it for him. He said he suffered the rotator cuff injury in Week 2, just toughed it out all season.

Lawrence was limited in every single practice this year. He's having back surgery again, and this is his contract year. Yikes.

The DL needs a ton of help.

I'm not as low on the DT situation as some others. Actually I think it's a decent group.

DE is a "car-wreck".