jday
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I had a Kong ** Panda moment this morning…
Lemme Splain:
In the best Kong ** Panda installment of the beloved series (the first one, if you didn’t already know), a phenomenon that I hold near and dear, was brought to light. Often times when you act on a fear, in your efforts to prevent whatever it is you are afraid of happening actually works against you to make that fear a reality.
Master Oogway (the Kong ** turtle) prophesied that a nefarious and notorious villain Tai Lung would soon escape. His pupil (and eventual master of the Panda), Master Shifu, decided to send an emissary to the prison where Tai Lung was being held to confirm that all was as it should be and that the prisoner had no hope of escape. This servant of Shifu was a bird of some type (not sure which); the important detail of that is this bird, of course, had feathers. Upon his arrival and admittance into the prison, a lone feather escaped his body and drifted down, down, down to the very bottom depths of the prison where Tai Lung was being held. That feather proved to be Tai Lung’s eventual salvation and ultimately facilitated his escape. Brilliant storytelling, really…
In essence, Master Shifu’s efforts to prevent what was prophesied from happening, was the very step required to ensure it would happen. Booooooom! Mind blowing, right?
On a much smaller scale, that happened to me this morning. You see, my cellphone is also my alarm clock. Ordinarily I wake up before my alarm, because I have children…nuff said. But my children are visiting my parents today because it is their Spring Break. So when I woke up and realized I could actually sleep to the alarm, I foolishly decided to confirm my alarm clock was in fact still set for the last possible minute for me to sleep and still get to work in a timely manner. Some of you may already be ahead of me here…
If you guessed that in those efforts I somehow accidentally turned said alarm off, you guessed right and I subsequently overslept by a little over a half an hour. If you got cut off this morning in the DFW area by a little white compact car flying down the road at speeds in excess of a 100 miles per hour, that was me. In the end I was only 6 minutes late, but for a guy who prides his self in arriving at work at least 15 minutes early every day, that’s a big 6 minutes and, for me, is unacceptable. I hate being late. I’d rather miss the whole day then be late. That’s just me.
Anywho, here comes the tie-in (thank you for your patience):
As I was dangerously flying down the road, I got to thinking about how ironic it was that had I just staid my hand in checking my alarm that goes off every morning without fail, I would not have been late in the first place. And of course, as my thoughts dangerously drifted at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, I got to thinking about our beloved Cowboys and how many of their Front Office practices over the years have created similar situations.
On October 14, 2008 the Cowboys acquired Roy Williams (and a 7th round pick in the 2009 draft) in exchange for a first, a third, and a sixth round pick in the 2009 draft…a draft that would later by infamously dubbed the Special Teams draft. The Cowboys pulled the trigger on this move in response to losing Pacman Jones to suspension for 4 games. I suspect the hope was an improved offense would offset an inept defense. How did that work out? Roy Williams went on to catch 19 passes and one touchdown in seven starts. Pathetic.
Ironically, the very next year, following the infamous release of Terrell Owens, Roy was Walley-Pipped by none other than Miles Austin. Roy Williams was missing due to sore ribs (or something) and Miles Austin went on to set club records against the Kansas City Chiefs putting up 250 yards on 10 receptions, breaking Bob Hayes 246 yard single game record. From that moment, Roy Williams was bumped down below Miles Austin and Roy’s career subsequently slowly but surely slid into abject obscurity.
And the “What if” game began.
A similar situation, albeit different circumstances, occurred on March 14, 2012 when the Cowboys acquired Brandon Carr at a premium. Brandon’s contract guaranteed him $ 26.5 million and included a $10 million signing bonus. His career here was up and down, but at no point did anyone, be it fans, the front office or the national media, ever think he actually earned the contract he was handed.
If we were to reduce these two particular situations down to their basest elements, Jerry touched a hot stove and decided it would probably not be a good idea to ever touch that hot stove again.
The point is, at this place in Jerry’s career, due to those types of gaffes on his resume, he is now more prone to sit on his hands than make those type of blockbuster moves. And I do wonder if in his effort to not pull the trigger on those types of acquisitions he is actually creating a similar situation through the opposite approach? In his efforts to stick to the plan, obey the board, don’t overspend in Free Agency, even though to acquire anyone in Free Agency by default means you will have to overspend, he is yet again creating a talent-deficient team that seems woefully unprepared to compete with the opposition, given all the moves they are not making…?
Now I get it. It is still early. Patience is certainly important. But just because you burned your hand once when touching a stove doesn’t necessarily mean the stove is always on. I guess what it is I am trying to say here is situation should always dictate. If you have to overspend to get a Dontari Poe or a Zach Brown (my Free Agent pet cats) to make your defensive line dominant (which I believe pairing Poe with DLaw and DIrving would do) or to replace Anthony Hitchens with what many would term as an upgrade, you at least should consider it….right? And for all we know, they did consider it and ultimately decided the price tag would likely prevent them from keeping their guys down the road. I fully understand and furthermore support that sentiment.
But there is a part of me that thinks they really never even tried to consider it. I think (though I could certainly be wrong) that they aren’t making case by case decisions, but have rather established a Free Agency policy; an end all be all rule to how the approach this period of the NFL year. To protect themselves from themselves they refuse to make offers in the first week, no matter how much better said prospect stands to make them and I honestly question whether or not that is a good way to approach roster improvement.
Like I said before. Sometimes the stove is on. Sometimes the stove is off. The onus falls on the FO to know when and when not to touch the stove….savvy?
Now I get it. You do have to be patient. And there are only a handful of Free Agents available each year worth overspending for. But I do believe there are times were that is absolutely what you have to do if you expect to compete with the rest of the league. I’m not advocating buying Super Bowls. I do believe you should try to build exclusively through the draft. But there are exceptions to every rule.
What I believe this “policy” lacks is conditional allowances. I think if they were to simply narrow down what the will and won’t pay for it would do wonders for the roster. Here’s what I mean:
If you are going to attempt to use Free Agency to address roster deficiencies, the following must be true of said available player:
1. He cannot be over 30. I fully understand that players have successful careers beyond 30…but if you inherently are going to overpay, it’s not worth it in Free Agency.
2. The player in question has to be a boyscout. Again, I realize you can still win with problem-children (and in some cases at certain positions, it is preferred) but if he is a suspension risk, you don’t overpay for that. Period.
3. Ideally said player is entering their second contract. Exceptions can of course be made in certain circumstances, so long as your exception does not infract upon rule #1.
4. You only overspend for a Free Agent if you determine that given the talent pool in the draft for that specific position and your picking position within that draft precludes you from any chance of addressing it in any other meaningful way. Example: If you, for instance, need a starting quality Guard, Linebacker, Defensive Tackle, and Safety and the upcoming draft is particularly weak at any of those positions, it may behoove you to address that position in Free Agency before all other options to address that position dry up.
In my limited opinion, this, in a manner of speaking, would be the equivalent of making sure the oven is off before you touch it.
Thoughts?
Lemme Splain:
In the best Kong ** Panda installment of the beloved series (the first one, if you didn’t already know), a phenomenon that I hold near and dear, was brought to light. Often times when you act on a fear, in your efforts to prevent whatever it is you are afraid of happening actually works against you to make that fear a reality.
Master Oogway (the Kong ** turtle) prophesied that a nefarious and notorious villain Tai Lung would soon escape. His pupil (and eventual master of the Panda), Master Shifu, decided to send an emissary to the prison where Tai Lung was being held to confirm that all was as it should be and that the prisoner had no hope of escape. This servant of Shifu was a bird of some type (not sure which); the important detail of that is this bird, of course, had feathers. Upon his arrival and admittance into the prison, a lone feather escaped his body and drifted down, down, down to the very bottom depths of the prison where Tai Lung was being held. That feather proved to be Tai Lung’s eventual salvation and ultimately facilitated his escape. Brilliant storytelling, really…
In essence, Master Shifu’s efforts to prevent what was prophesied from happening, was the very step required to ensure it would happen. Booooooom! Mind blowing, right?
On a much smaller scale, that happened to me this morning. You see, my cellphone is also my alarm clock. Ordinarily I wake up before my alarm, because I have children…nuff said. But my children are visiting my parents today because it is their Spring Break. So when I woke up and realized I could actually sleep to the alarm, I foolishly decided to confirm my alarm clock was in fact still set for the last possible minute for me to sleep and still get to work in a timely manner. Some of you may already be ahead of me here…
If you guessed that in those efforts I somehow accidentally turned said alarm off, you guessed right and I subsequently overslept by a little over a half an hour. If you got cut off this morning in the DFW area by a little white compact car flying down the road at speeds in excess of a 100 miles per hour, that was me. In the end I was only 6 minutes late, but for a guy who prides his self in arriving at work at least 15 minutes early every day, that’s a big 6 minutes and, for me, is unacceptable. I hate being late. I’d rather miss the whole day then be late. That’s just me.
Anywho, here comes the tie-in (thank you for your patience):
As I was dangerously flying down the road, I got to thinking about how ironic it was that had I just staid my hand in checking my alarm that goes off every morning without fail, I would not have been late in the first place. And of course, as my thoughts dangerously drifted at speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour, I got to thinking about our beloved Cowboys and how many of their Front Office practices over the years have created similar situations.
On October 14, 2008 the Cowboys acquired Roy Williams (and a 7th round pick in the 2009 draft) in exchange for a first, a third, and a sixth round pick in the 2009 draft…a draft that would later by infamously dubbed the Special Teams draft. The Cowboys pulled the trigger on this move in response to losing Pacman Jones to suspension for 4 games. I suspect the hope was an improved offense would offset an inept defense. How did that work out? Roy Williams went on to catch 19 passes and one touchdown in seven starts. Pathetic.
Ironically, the very next year, following the infamous release of Terrell Owens, Roy was Walley-Pipped by none other than Miles Austin. Roy Williams was missing due to sore ribs (or something) and Miles Austin went on to set club records against the Kansas City Chiefs putting up 250 yards on 10 receptions, breaking Bob Hayes 246 yard single game record. From that moment, Roy Williams was bumped down below Miles Austin and Roy’s career subsequently slowly but surely slid into abject obscurity.
And the “What if” game began.
A similar situation, albeit different circumstances, occurred on March 14, 2012 when the Cowboys acquired Brandon Carr at a premium. Brandon’s contract guaranteed him $ 26.5 million and included a $10 million signing bonus. His career here was up and down, but at no point did anyone, be it fans, the front office or the national media, ever think he actually earned the contract he was handed.
If we were to reduce these two particular situations down to their basest elements, Jerry touched a hot stove and decided it would probably not be a good idea to ever touch that hot stove again.
The point is, at this place in Jerry’s career, due to those types of gaffes on his resume, he is now more prone to sit on his hands than make those type of blockbuster moves. And I do wonder if in his effort to not pull the trigger on those types of acquisitions he is actually creating a similar situation through the opposite approach? In his efforts to stick to the plan, obey the board, don’t overspend in Free Agency, even though to acquire anyone in Free Agency by default means you will have to overspend, he is yet again creating a talent-deficient team that seems woefully unprepared to compete with the opposition, given all the moves they are not making…?
Now I get it. It is still early. Patience is certainly important. But just because you burned your hand once when touching a stove doesn’t necessarily mean the stove is always on. I guess what it is I am trying to say here is situation should always dictate. If you have to overspend to get a Dontari Poe or a Zach Brown (my Free Agent pet cats) to make your defensive line dominant (which I believe pairing Poe with DLaw and DIrving would do) or to replace Anthony Hitchens with what many would term as an upgrade, you at least should consider it….right? And for all we know, they did consider it and ultimately decided the price tag would likely prevent them from keeping their guys down the road. I fully understand and furthermore support that sentiment.
But there is a part of me that thinks they really never even tried to consider it. I think (though I could certainly be wrong) that they aren’t making case by case decisions, but have rather established a Free Agency policy; an end all be all rule to how the approach this period of the NFL year. To protect themselves from themselves they refuse to make offers in the first week, no matter how much better said prospect stands to make them and I honestly question whether or not that is a good way to approach roster improvement.
Like I said before. Sometimes the stove is on. Sometimes the stove is off. The onus falls on the FO to know when and when not to touch the stove….savvy?
Now I get it. You do have to be patient. And there are only a handful of Free Agents available each year worth overspending for. But I do believe there are times were that is absolutely what you have to do if you expect to compete with the rest of the league. I’m not advocating buying Super Bowls. I do believe you should try to build exclusively through the draft. But there are exceptions to every rule.
What I believe this “policy” lacks is conditional allowances. I think if they were to simply narrow down what the will and won’t pay for it would do wonders for the roster. Here’s what I mean:
If you are going to attempt to use Free Agency to address roster deficiencies, the following must be true of said available player:
1. He cannot be over 30. I fully understand that players have successful careers beyond 30…but if you inherently are going to overpay, it’s not worth it in Free Agency.
2. The player in question has to be a boyscout. Again, I realize you can still win with problem-children (and in some cases at certain positions, it is preferred) but if he is a suspension risk, you don’t overpay for that. Period.
3. Ideally said player is entering their second contract. Exceptions can of course be made in certain circumstances, so long as your exception does not infract upon rule #1.
4. You only overspend for a Free Agent if you determine that given the talent pool in the draft for that specific position and your picking position within that draft precludes you from any chance of addressing it in any other meaningful way. Example: If you, for instance, need a starting quality Guard, Linebacker, Defensive Tackle, and Safety and the upcoming draft is particularly weak at any of those positions, it may behoove you to address that position in Free Agency before all other options to address that position dry up.
In my limited opinion, this, in a manner of speaking, would be the equivalent of making sure the oven is off before you touch it.
Thoughts?
