DMN: Machota: Cowboys have tough calls to make on DL; who stays and who's on the bubble

[jobberone]

Machota: Cowboys have tough calls to make on DL; who stays and who's on the bubble

jmachota@***BANNED-URL***
Staff Writer

Published: 27 August 2015 08:25 PM
Updated: 27 August 2015 08:50 PM

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SportsDay's Jon Machota answered questions in a chat Thursday. Here are some highlights.

Question: DL seems like the deepest group on the team...lots of young talent. Which guys make the cut and which guys don't? Coleman, Russell, Gardner, etc. Tough calls to be made there.

Jon Machota: Very tough calls. I think they keep 10, so the guys on the bubble are Ben Gardner, Ken Bishop, Davon Coleman and Lavar Edwards. I think they keep: Gregory, Mincey, Lawrence, T. Crawford, J. Crawford, Hayden, T. McClain and Russell. With Hardy out the first four games, that likely leaves two more. It might come down to Bishop vs. Coleman and Gardner vs. Edwards.

Question: Is Dez's hamstring getting close to 100 percent? Seems like it would be good for the Cowboys to get him a little bit of game action before opener.

Jon Machota: Dez Bryant strained his hamstring early in camp. If they had a game two days later, he would've been in the starting lineup. There's nothing to worry about there. He's ready to go. The staff is just being cautious. They know how valuable he is and what kind of shape he's in. They don't need him in training camp practices. They need him when the lights are on against the Giants.

Question: What would you do to balance the need for players to practice football fundamentals, like tackling, with the need to stay healthy?

Jon Machota: There's ways of working on that stuff without drilling each other in pads. The NFL's a health game to me. I'll take a little sloppiness from my starters early in the season if it means they are healthy entering the year. I think the Cowboys do a good job balancing that. Of course, you can point to the Scandrick and Lee injuries. But things happen. There's no way of keeping everyone 100 percent healthy throughout a month of camp. One of the biggest reasons the Cowboys had so much success last year was because they did well in the injury department.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE FULL CHAT

 

[Fredd]

just stay healthy team...

Dallas starters > most other NFL team's starters

 

[ShiningStar]

finalize the roster, keep everyone healthy, move sean lee to a safer position. the off season hasnt been stellar and ill take it. Our main concerns are easy, is the defense better, how will the RBBC hold up, and except for injuries, most everything is the same as last year. Are we going to get more out of the offense, possibly once the defense shows what it can do, do we need to get much more out of the offense, not really, Its still a good offense that can score well. We were one game from the SB, and if that team could beat the SeaHawks this team is going to wow the crowds.
The main thing im looking at this season isnt just centered on the players of the team, i want to see how the coaches do. Can ST play return to the coaches first year. How will the defense be handled and how does the NFCE look after rolling over last year. I dont expect the GIants to roll over. I stll expect the Skins to play us hard and the Eagles always do well against us. Can out offensive line sustain 1 injury? How will Pollack respond? Can our defense stop powerful offenses? Can Garrett out coach other coaches? I think our coaches have a lot more work ahead of them than most of the players. Linehan for sure since it wont be as easy to feed Murray the ball and expect something easy to happen.

 

[dargonking999]

its a minion avatar attack...run!!!

 

[cowboyschmps3]

Keep Coleman and Gardner then when Hardy coma back cut McClain.

 

[BigStar]

Keep Coleman and Gardner then when Hardy coma back cut McClain.

I was about to post the same. Why is McClain a shoe in? Hayden has the pix on Marinelli, etc. so won't even bother there. Give me Coleman/Gardner.

 

[Screw The Hall]

Unless something happens between now and cutdowns I can't see them letting Coleman go. His improvement from last year until now has been absolutely off the charts.

 

[sbark]

Unless something happens between now and cutdowns I can't see them letting Coleman go. His improvement from last year until now has been absolutely off the charts.

....his improvement from the time Hardy gave him his thoughts in the OTA's for screwing around until now is off the charts.......

 

[jazzcat22]

Tough call, and good position to be in. We haven't been in this situation since the 90's. You hate the thought of losing a player to another team. But also, how many players in the past, even the 90's. Did we lose that made a huge difference to the team that picked them up. I can't recall a player that put another team over the top that we had to release. Because usually they were getting claimed by teams that needed players, but were far from ready to contend.
Now those players may have played decent and some very good. But they did not make a champion of the team they went too. If they did get to the playoffs or a Sb, it was because they already had talent in place.

So Coleman or whoever going to Oakland or Tennessee, is not going to harm us. But a trade for a pick would be nice.

 

[Stash]

I was about to post the same. Why is McClain a shoe in? Hayden has the pix on Marinelli, etc. so won't even bother there. Give me Coleman/Gardner.

I'm with you. And I think there's also a significant cap savings if they let Terrell McClain go in favor of Coleman. It looks like the light has come one for Coleman, and McClain once again missed significant time with another injury while Coleman hasn't missed anything.

 

[Nexx]

close call but id rather have a healthy Hayden over an injured McClain.

 

[jazzcat22]

I think McClain has returned to practice this week. But I understand what you mean about him. Time to show something now. But I would want to see the younger guys push for the roster spot here.

 

[xwalker]

I'm with you. And I think there's also a significant cap savings if they let Terrell McClain go in favor of Coleman. It looks like the light has come one for Coleman, and McClain once again missed significant time with another injury while Coleman hasn't missed anything.

They save about 290K on this years cap by keeping Coleman over McClain.

 

[Stash]

They save about 290K on this years cap by keeping Coleman over McClain.

Oh, I thought I had read the savings on releasing McClain was closer to $1 million. $290k isn't much of a factor at all.

 

[ShiningStar]

They save about 290K on this years cap by keeping Coleman over McClain.

is the cost worth it?

 

[xwalker]

is the cost worth it?

My point is that it's not a significant amount relative to the cap. The decision on the cut down day is unlikely to be made based on money.

The only area where I see them thinking about money is in terms of who they might have to cut when Hardy and RoMc return. If they cut a vested veteran then they still have to pay them because their salary is guaranteed for the season. If they keep a veteran like T. McClain, then they are likely planning to keep him all season.

 

[xwalker]

Oh, I thought I had read the savings on releasing McClain was closer to $1 million. $290k isn't much of a factor at all.

You have to factor in that Coleman also gets paid. It would be 800K in cap space in 2015 if T. McClain is released but Coleman makes 510K so the difference is 290K.

 

[erod]

It's hard to believe, but it's just true.

Just the season before last, Dallas was playing with Jason Vega, Everette Brown, Jarius Wynn, Drake Nevis, Edgar Jones, Corey Irvin, Caesar Rayford, Marvin Austin, Landon Cohen, Frank Kearse, Michael Carter.....

And now look. Good players will have to be cut.

 

[Direwolf63]

Tough call, and good position to be in. We haven't been in this situation since the 90's. You hate the thought of losing a player to another team. But also, how many players in the past, even the 90's. Did we lose that made a huge difference to the team that picked them up. I can't recall a player that put another team over the top that we had to release. Because usually they were getting claimed by teams that needed players, but were far from ready to contend.
Now those players may have played decent and some very good. But they did not make a champion of the team they went too. If they did get to the playoffs or a Sb, it was because they already had talent in place.

So Coleman or whoever going to Oakland or Tennessee, is not going to harm us. But a trade for a pick would be nice.

This is my hope as well. Hopefully the team can get a late round pick for one or 2 of those bubble guys from a team short on d-lineman.