Emotionally Hard Decisions

[Verdict]

One of the things I have noticed about that Cowboys is that at times they seem to have a hard time making logical decisions when there is an emotional aspect to those decisions.

We made the hard decision to move on from Romo (prematurely from my point of view) so i concede that's not always the case. But pretty much everyone with two good eyes and any degree of football knowledge would say that Witten's ability is not what it once was. But the Cowboys can't seem to find the ability to force a reduction in his snaps. That would clearly benefit the team.

We can't seem to find the ability to tell Dez to shut up and run a good route. Instead we placate him to keep him happy. That's poor coaching and an organizational issue.

It would be a good idea to force a salary reduction on Dez at the very least. But they know he won't agree to that so instead they will probably let Dez play another year at an excessively high cap number.

It seems like they can make a hard decision when forced to due to cap constraints (Romo and Ware come to mind). I know reasonable minds can differ on believeing Dez can come back to past form (3 bad years in a row says he can't) but how they can continue to pay top 5 money to a guy who hasn't done much in 3 full years is pretty far out there.

Likewise with Witten, I just don't get how 90 percent of this board would agree that Witten's snaps need to be cut and the team can't see it, or sees it but won't do anything about it.

 

[Sydla]

Jerry can't quite Jason.

It's the biggest example of what you are stating.

 

[big dog cowboy]

One of the things I have noticed about that Cowboys is that at times they seem to have a hard time making logical decisions when there is an emotional aspect to those decisions.

They want to be one big happy family and I get that. But in todays NFL it doesn't work that way. See NE.

 

[conner01]

7th in catches at his position
Not what he once was but still better than most
He will be gone soon as we have a better option

 

[Idgit]

They're probably waiting until after the draft to have the compensation discussion with Dez, which makes sense, given how volatile the guy is.

I don't agree with your characterization of Witten's play, and suspect the team wouldn't agree with it, either. That's a lot less likely a case of them thinking his play as dropped off and not wanting to make the hard call than it is them not thinking his play has dropped off substantially. Certainly no other TE on the roster is outplaying him right now.

The benched Tony, as you say. That's about as tough as it gets. They let Demarco Murray walk, and he was really well regarded in the locker room at that point. They held out on a deal for Martin last year. Jason laid off his own brother at one point.

I think it's more the case that this staff really, really values consistency and wants to eliminate players who might make mistakes, and so you see them behaving stubbornly for that reason sometimes. I do wish they do things like bench Dez for drops or for fumbles the way they benched Demarco back in 2014. I'm a big fan of those in-game messages. And Dez really ought to be playing better given his contract. I'm not even talking about getting open more. Just catching the balls that hit him in the hands or facemask.

 

[DallasEast]

One of the things I have noticed about that Cowboys is that at times they seem to have a hard time making logical decisions when there is an emotional aspect to those decisions.

We made the hard decision to move on from Romo (prematurely from my point of view) so i concede that's not always the case.

It was the case. There was nothing logical about not returning Romo to his starting role once he was medically cleared. Jones and Garrett were understandably giddy with Prescott's legendary rookie performance--so much so that the mass euphoria influenced them into making the premature permanent change.

 

[BigD_95]

I admit. I don't think they should cut Witten. But maybe he would take a pay cut.

Dez has to take a pay cut or they should cut him.

I think its hard to make tough choices on players that are a corner stone of the team for a long time. But Witten play is still good. Dez has seen a major drop off. Not sure if its all on him or some falls on Dak. Romo used to throw that back shoulder pass to him all the time. Dak never does. I just have a strange felling if Romo was our QB last year Dez numbers would be twice as good.

 

[yimyammer]

Jerry can't quite Jason.

what a difference an "e" makes!

 

[Nightman]

Jerry can't quite Jason.

Verdict can't quit Dez

Dude is obsessed

 

[Tangle_Foot]

I think coaches become sentimentally invested in players that has been with them throughout. Players that not only produce but go about their business the right way. But this is a tough business and there's no room for sentiment but lots of room for respect. I believe you can respectfully move on from anyone, it's all about production and being the best you can be competitively. As far as the problem with Diva players this starts early on. Out of control players are labeled passionate and coaches are often afraid to put their best players in check. From an old school fans perspective, it sickens me to see this. Years ago football was as much about discipline as it was about Inflicting your will upon your opponents. Now it seems to be more about smack talk after every play and a twitter laced higher opinion of oneself. My apologies as I seem to be heading towards a rant

 

[hornitosmonster]

If it was New England, Dez would have been gone 2 years ago. Jerry needs to be more cutthroat

 

[OmerV]

One of the things I have noticed about that Cowboys is that at times they seem to have a hard time making logical decisions when there is an emotional aspect to those decisions.

We made the hard decision to move on from Romo (prematurely from my point of view) so i concede that's not always the case. But pretty much everyone with two good eyes and any degree of football knowledge would say that Witten's ability is not what it once was. But the Cowboys can't seem to find the ability to force a reduction in his snaps. That would clearly benefit the team.

We can't seem to find the ability to tell Dez to shut up and run a good route. Instead we placate him to keep him happy. That's poor coaching and an organizational issue.

It would be a good idea to force a salary reduction on Dez at the very least. But they know he won't agree to that so instead they will probably let Dez play another year at an excessively high cap number.

It seems like they can make a hard decision when forced to due to cap constraints (Romo and Ware come to mind). I know reasonable minds can differ on believeing Dez can come back to past form (3 bad years in a row says he can't) but how they can continue to pay top 5 money to a guy who hasn't done much in 3 full years is pretty far out there.

Likewise with Witten, I just don't get how 90 percent of this board would agree that Witten's snaps need to be cut and the team can't see it, or sees it but won't do anything about it.

They've been goofy about the TE position all along. That's not to say Witten wasn't a great player or that he didn't deserve his targets, he clearly did, but the team also used high (2nd round) draft picks on TE's three different times and indicated that they wanted to run a lot of 2 TE sets and needed 2 TEs who can catch the ball, then they never got the TE's they drafted involved in the passing game. For that matter, Hanna can catch the ball, and despite the fact he has reliable hands he doesn't get targeted. I wouldn't expect a 2nd TE to be a major factor as a receiver, but even 25-30 receptions in a season would be enough to add a weapon. It's always been a head scratcher to me.

 

[Sydla]

what a difference an "e" makes!

LOL. Whoops.

 

[Verdict]

They want to be one big happy family and I get that. But in todays NFL it doesn't work that way. See NE.

Making players happy doesn't make it a more productive franchise. I agree with your premise.

 

[Verdict]

7th in catches at his position
Not what he once was but still better than most
He will be gone soon as we have a better option

No. He's not better than most. He's just not very good anymore.

 

[Beaker42]

They're probably waiting until after the draft to have the compensation discussion with Dez, which makes sense, given how volatile the guy is.

I don't agree with your characterization of Witten's play, and suspect the team wouldn't agree with it, either. That's a lot less likely a case of them thinking his play as dropped off and not wanting to make the hard call than it is them not thinking his play has dropped off substantially. Certainly no other TE on the roster is outplaying him right now.

The benched Tony, as you say. That's about as tough as it gets. They let Demarco Murray walk, and he was really well regarded in the locker room at that point. They held out on a deal for Martin last year. Jason laid off his own brother at one point.

I think it's more the case that this staff really, really values consistency and wants to eliminate players who might make mistakes, and so you see them behaving stubbornly for that reason sometimes. I do wish they do things like bench Dez for drops or for fumbles the way they benched Demarco back in 2014. I'm a big fan of those in-game messages. And Dez really ought to be playing better given his contract. I'm not even talking about getting open more. Just catching the balls that hit him in the hands or facemask.

Idgit, how do we know if any of the other TE’s can outplay him when we don’t even use them?

 

[Verdict]

They're probably waiting until after the draft to have the compensation discussion with Dez, which makes sense, given how volatile the guy is.

I don't agree with your characterization of Witten's play, and suspect the team wouldn't agree with it, either. That's a lot less likely a case of them thinking his play as dropped off and not wanting to make the hard call than it is them not thinking his play has dropped off substantially. Certainly no other TE on the roster is outplaying him right now.

The benched Tony, as you say. That's about as tough as it gets. They let Demarco Murray walk, and he was really well regarded in the locker room at that point. They held out on a deal for Martin last year. Jason laid off his own brother at one point.

I think it's more the case that this staff really, really values consistency and wants to eliminate players who might make mistakes, and so you see them behaving stubbornly for that reason sometimes. I do wish they do things like bench Dez for drops or for fumbles the way they benched Demarco back in 2014. I'm a big fan of those in-game messages. And Dez really ought to be playing better given his contract. I'm not even talking about getting open more. Just catching the balls that hit him in the hands or facemask.

I have to disagree on Witten. You can't really say Witten is outplaying the other tight ends when they don't get any snaps. Witten has no speed and can't even get to the first down marker anymore. He's a class act in every way except he is a snap hog. He knows his playing days are numbered as soon as the guys behind him get real playing time because they will out produce him.

 

[Verdict]

I admit. I don't think they should cut Witten. But maybe he would take a pay cut.

Dez has to take a pay cut or they should cut him.

I think its hard to make tough choices on players that are a corner stone of the team for a long time. But Witten play is still good. Dez has seen a major drop off. Not sure if its all on him or some falls on Dak. Romo used to throw that back shoulder pass to him all the time. Dak never does. I just have a strange felling if Romo was our QB last year Dez numbers would be twice as good.

I don't know. Dez has sucked for a weak years in a row now.

 

[erod]

To me, it's not emotional with this team right now. This simply isn't a very likeable team. I feel very little connection to it.

I'd be fine with trading off all the high value players and starting over.

This team needs a new identity. The one in place is hard to suffer through.

 

[Verdict]

They're probably waiting until after the draft to have the compensation discussion with Dez, which makes sense, given how volatile the guy is.

I don't agree with your characterization of Witten's play, and suspect the team wouldn't agree with it, either. That's a lot less likely a case of them thinking his play as dropped off and not wanting to make the hard call than it is them not thinking his play has dropped off substantially. Certainly no other TE on the roster is outplaying him right now.

The benched Tony, as you say. That's about as tough as it gets. They let Demarco Murray walk, and he was really well regarded in the locker room at that point. They held out on a deal for Martin last year. Jason laid off his own brother at one point.

I think it's more the case that this staff really, really values consistency and wants to eliminate players who might make mistakes, and so you see them behaving stubbornly for that reason sometimes. I do wish they do things like bench Dez for drops or for fumbles the way they benched Demarco back in 2014. I'm a big fan of those in-game messages. And Dez really ought to be playing better given his contract. I'm not even talking about getting open more. Just catching the balls that hit him in the hands or facemask.

It does make sense for them to discuss a Dez pay cut after the draft. The smartest move would be quietly shopping a trade for Dez. Maybe some Dez Fan Boi runs a team out there that would take Dez off our hands and give us a pick. It would probably never happen. Too bad of a contract. But it would be the first logical step.

Also, waiting until after the draft to discuss a salary reduction or a cut or trade probably also makes sense from a draft perspective because we probably wouldn't want the other teams to know how badly (or not) we want to get a replacement in the draft.