Doug Free is a liability

[ConstantReboot]

Doug Free is a liability.. I counted about 5-6 plays if not more that Matt Cassell was getting hit on while trying to throw the ball, one of which was that controversial fumble that got overturned in the last minutes of the game.

Free was getting abused all day, you know what, xwalker was right, we should have kept Parnell. He definitely had more upside and strength..

I don't know how you can blame the QB when a great deal of his pass attempts were disrupted while getting drilled by Free's assignment..

Free has been the weak link in this O-line for a while but yesterday he got totally exposed, that dude is complete garbage..

There was even one play where if the whistle had not been blown ole Dougie would have gotten Cassell killed, yeah that's right even the refs saved our bacon once...

I was on the Parnell bandwagon too. Not in the level as xwalker - but I did agree that Free was the liability on our oline last year.

Free played decent last year not great. But better than this year. The reason for that was because Parnell isn't on the team anymore and he doesn't have to look over his back. Thus the probability for his lazy *** play.

Its not only this game that Free was getting owned. Earlier this year Free let his man take a clean shot on Romo on that winning TD play. Seeing that I just SMH. Its time for Free to go. I wished we should have given the contract to Parnell instead.

 

[superonyx]

You do realize they could negotatiate with him before free agency. It is highly likely that he would have signed for less, especially if they made the offer during the 2014 season.

Free average 5M
Parnell average 6.2M

Of course I do. It just doesn't change the fact that Parnell was an inferior player his entire career to Free.
Not many people were upset that we didn't lock Parnell up in the offseason for a reason. We can't know if they did negotiate with him and he refused to take less. What we do know is he was overpaid by the Jags and he has 6 career starts that were not overly impressive anyway.

We didn't make a mistake not paying Parnell. He is a 29 year old lifetime practice squad player that got 6 career starts and he looked average in these starts.

 

[RunDMC]

Free is done. He was once a solid player for Dallas, but I think we need to consider kicking out Martin or Collins and inserting Leary again if he's healthy.

 

[superonyx]

What's wrong with Crawford? He's absorbing all the double teams that Hayden is supposed to be dealing with. Don't turn this into another we need a real 1 tech and Hayden is Gaaaawbage thread..

And are we really comparing Parnell to Dez and Murray? C'mon man....

What's wrong with Crawford? Nothing for a medium salary. We overpaid for potential that he may never live up to. My point was that players know what they can get on the open market and locking them up early doesn't guarantee a discount.

We are not comparing Parnell to Dez and Murray. I simply stated that if it was so easy to just sign a player to a discount contract before they became free agents then Murray would have taken the 4 year 16m offer we made him before the season last year. The comparison isn't what you are trying to imply.

But since you mentioned it....Demarco Murray and Doug Free are better than Parnell and McFadden. So if you want to throw around money it would have been better to keep Murray than Parnell.

 

[CF74]

What's wrong with Crawford? Nothing for a medium salary. We overpaid for potential that he may never live up to. My point was that players know what they can get on the open market and locking them up early doesn't guarantee a discount.

We are not comparing Parnell to Dez and Murray. I simply stated that if it was so easy to just sign a player to a discount contract before they became free agents then Murray would have taken the 4 year 16m offer we made him before the season last year. The comparison isn't what you are trying to imply.

But since you mentioned it....Demarco Murray and Doug Free are better than Parnell and McFadden. So if you want to throw around money it would have been better to keep Murray than Parnell.

That was very glossy...

 

[Nightman]

It isn't the amount of money that matters, it is the players you end up with

No one wanted to pay Murray, Parnell, Harris or Durant so we end up with McFadden, Free, Beasley and McClain.
Then we spend big on TCrawford and a third on CGreen.

Murray 5/40m
Parnell 5/32.5m
Harris 5/17.5m
Durant 3/11m
TCrawford 1/800k= 22m for 2015

versus

TCrawford 6/46m
Free 3/15m
Beasley 4/13.5m
McClain 1/3m
McFadden 2/3m= 19.5m for 2015

 

[xwalker]

Of course I do. It just doesn't change the fact that Parnell was an inferior player his entire career to Free.
Not many people were upset that we didn't lock Parnell up in the offseason for a reason. We can't know if they did negotiate with him and he refused to take less. What we do know is he was overpaid by the Jags and he has 6 career starts that were not overly impressive anyway.

We didn't make a mistake not paying Parnell. He is a 29 year old lifetime practice squad player that got 6 career starts and he looked average in these starts.

He was never on the Cowboys practice squad.

He was their gameday backup and 8 time starter for 3 years.

Fans think anybody that didn't start in their 1st two years must not be good; however, most fans can't comprehend that he did't really play college football because he played basketball which created a longer learning curve.

He only allowed 1/2 sack total in 7 starts in 2014 which included 2 playoff games. Free averaged that many sacks per game in 2014.

The one person that is the top expert on the subject thought he was better than Free. Bill Callahan the OL coach wanted to bench Free in 2012 and start Parnell but Garrett refused. Jerry intervened and the compromise was to rotate them in the final 4 games that season. This was the first sign of the rift between Callahan and Garrett and the beginning of Callahan interfacing directly with Jerry which eventually lead to Callahan becoming the playcaller in 2013 over Garrett's objections. This then resulted in Callahan wanting to leave for the equivalent job in Washington.

Parnell tested as having the best punch power of any player that the Strength coach had ever measured and he had coached Larry Allen.

This season Parnell is playing well for 6.2M per while Free is terrible for 5M per.

The Cowboys who thought Weed was a legit backup NFL QB and thought Joseph Randle could handle being the starting RB decided to sign Free for 5M and let Parnell go because Garrett claims Free is a leader. This is the same HC that let Leary play two games on a bad groin while Collins was inactive. Leary wad terrible with the injury and Collins hss been dominant. It seems that they never gave Collins a chance to play RT because Garrett still thinks Free is a leader while he is playing worse than ever.

I doubt if you acknowledge any of this because you have some type if agenda on the subject. Most media and many fans have acknowledged the Cowboys made a mistake on this subject.

 

[xwalker]

Give it a rest already.


Can't be.

When you give the whining/sniping routine a rest.

You know that PFF is complete garbage.

 

[superonyx]

He was never on the Cowboys practice squad.

He was their gameday backup and 8 time starter for 3 years.

Fans think anybody that didn't start in their 1st two years must not be good; however, most fans can't comprehend that he did't really play college football because he played basketball which created a longer learning curve.

He only allowed 1/2 sack total in 7 starts in 2014 which included 2 playoff games. Free averaged that many sacks per game in 2014.

The one person that is the top expert on the subject thought he was better than Free. Bill Callahan the OL coach wanted to bench Free in 2012 and start Parnell but Garrett refused. Jerry intervened and the compromise was to rotate them in the final 4 games that season. This was the first sign of the rift between Callahan and Garrett and the beginning of Callahan interfacing directly with Jerry which eventually lead to Callahan becoming the playcaller in 2013 over Garrett's objections. This then resulted in Callahan wanting to leave for the equivalent job in Washington.

Parnell tested as having the best punch power of any player that the Strength coach had ever measured and he had coached Larry Allen.

This season Parnell is playing well for 6.2M per while Free is terrible for 5M per.

The Cowboys who thought Weed was a legit backup NFL QB and thought Joseph Randle could handle being the starting RB decided to sign Free for 5M and let Parnell go because Garrett claims Free is a leader. This is the same HC that let Leary play two games on a bad groin while Collins was inactive. Leary wad terrible with the injury and Collins hss been dominant. It seems that they never gave Collins a chance to play RT because Garrett still thinks Free is a leader while he is playing worse than ever.

I doubt if you acknowledge any of this because you have some type if agenda on the subject. Most media and many fans have acknowledged the Cowboys made a mistake on this subject.

I don't have "agendas" on anything related to my cowboys. That's childish. Certainly not an agenda that would involve Parnell or Free. Come one man. Who does that? It's just weird.
Most media and fans have not acknowledged that paying Parnell $35 million for 5 years at 29 years old would be a good decision.

You seem to way to invested in your love of an average offensive tackle not even on the Cowboys.
He is an average player in every way. Not worth even arguing about.

 

[jnday]

Doug Free is not very good right now.

To be honest, Free has never been anything but average on his best days.

 

[Floatyworm]

I can think of 3 other positions that need more attention as of right now.

Really? Name them...because Doug Free's is killing our QBs and RBs...he is that big of a liability right now.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Really? Name them...because Doug Free's is killing our QBs and RBs...he is that big of a liability right now.

QB, RB, WR and you can probably add CB and safety to the mix.

Doug Free is not who's stopping this offense.

 

[Floatyworm]

QB, RB, WR and you can probably add CB and safety to the mix.

Doug Free is not who's stopping this offense.

If Doug Free was doing his job QBs would be able to stand in the pocket....RBs would have huge lanes..... and QBs would have time to get he ball to the WRs. He's that big of a liabilty right now.

 

[Tenkamenin]

Doug Free is not very good right now.

He only had 1 good year.

 

[Illini88228]

The physical deterioration from the guy in this clip to the guy playing today is depressing. They called him Doug Freak in college because of his quick feet and athleticism. The lower body injuries have just rocked that guy's ability to move in space.

I agree that he likely needs to be replaced, but he's certainly somebody who has sacrificed his body for this franchise.

 

[Redball Express]

I think we resigned Free out of fear, more than anything else. We had no plan to replace him, and we still don't.

This was BC..

Before Collins.

I expect some reshuffling next year in the OL once they get enough snaps from him to know how best to place everybody.

Also..our draft pick who went on IR back in TC should be ready to contribute.

Things should improve.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

If Doug Free was doing his job QBs would be able to stand in the pocket....RBs would have huge lanes..... and QBs would have time to get he ball to the WRs. He's that big of a liabilty right now.

Floaty, am I saying he's good or even average?

No.

But to expect each and every member of this offensive line to be dominate on every play is not realistic.

You can't expect "dominant" at every position on the offensive line... It's not going to happen.

Not when you have 22 starters.

Nor is Free the worst RT in the NFL.

This offense is going to have to work around the limitations at RT... Other offenses do it and this one can too.

 

[burmafrd]

Floaty, am I saying he's good or even average?

No.

But to expect each and every member of this offensive line to be dominate on every play is not realistic.

You can't expect "dominant" at every position on the offensive line... It's not going to happen.

Not when you have 22 starters.

Nor is Free the worst RT in the NFL.

This offense is going to have to work around the limitations at RT... Other offenses do it and this one can too.

We should not have to. THAT is the point. The Boys blew it thinking Free was still good enough to help us win. NOW he is a liability.
Back UP QB
RT
RB
three positions (though maybe FS is no longer a concern if we put Jones there) that are KILLING us now.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We should not have to. THAT is the point. The Boys blew it thinking Free was still good enough to help us win. NOW he is a liability.
Back UP QB
RT
RB
three positions (though maybe FS is no longer a concern if we put Jones there) that are KILLING us now.

I would add a WR who can get separation is greatly needed.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

Free has been hot garbage. It's impossible to argue that. Turn on the tape and you'll see him getting abused every series.