Twitter: Free Retiring***Merged***

They must have a good idea about Green. Perhaps Rico is going to train there.
 
Deep_Freeze said:
Man there is nothing wrong with saying we screwed up. We do it all the time, hopefully we can get better after screwing up.

We can always have hope, we have it with Dak and Zeke. Get some cap space, the Romo thing, and we will be fine. I guess.
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this is not a screw up.
it is a choice that was made with full understanding of free will retire.
 
Myself, leave all else as is, and then develop up a quality right tackle with Green/draft pick.
 
...2. Taylor Moton, OG — Western Michigan
A guard? But Doug Free is a tackle. Right, but the Cowboys do have the luxury of having a player like La’El Collins who is currently at left guard. Collins was a top rated tackle prospect in 2015 out of LSU before being questioned in a double homicide. After his name was cleared he went to Dallas as an undrafted free agent. He has been a guard since arriving in Dallas, but could kick out to tackle —something the team has considered.

Vitals
Height: 6-5
Weight: 319 Pounds
Bench Reps: 23

What the Scouts Say:
Moton played tackle in 2016, which wasn’t his normal spot. He is incredibly strong and can hold his own against anyone. Per Lance Zierlein’s NFL.com Draft Profile, here’s what one NFC scout had to say:

I had to go back and watch his 2015 tape when he played guard. He was a little rough at tackle this year but that isn’t his spot. Big and strong as a guard. He was moving guys from Ohio State around like it was nothing.”

Is He a Fit in Dallas?
Moton would be a solid starter, and could fill in at left guard from Day 1. There could be a little bit of a learning curve as Collins would need to adjust to playing right tackle, but he may be even better in that spot than where he currently plays. Another potential Day 2 pick, Moton has all the tools Dallas would look for in an offensive lineman...

http://www.foxsports.com/nfl/story/dallas-cowboys-5-nfl-draft-prospects-to-replace-doug-free-031117
 
with leary leaving and free retiring this will effect the line play this season and with the cowboys playing lots of defensive teams it will hurt their offensive production and they really don't know for sure how good Collins really is and t smith has had back problems last year
 
Just turned 33
Retiring

Just, retirement is a real option (20% maybe?) for a certain 36 year old.
In fact, it would be the norm if it was almost any other player.
 
Doug Free wasn't a turnstile. The issue for him was that he would have those occasional bad games in pass pro and when you have Tyron, Fred and Martin on your O-Line, each of whom are easily top-3 players at their position...any subpar performance gets magnified. It also didn't help when he had that dreadful 2011 season, right after that big contract signing. That really hurt him in the eyes of many Cowboys fans.

His foot speed slowed down from 2010 to 2011 (he was very good in 2009 and 2010). That no longer made him LT worthy. They moved him back to RT in 2012 and that's a very large transition to make and he did a decent job. By 2013 he was very good. And he was a big reason for our running game success as he's a very good run blocker. In fact, the only reason why we don't run better going at RT is Tyron has difficulty at times doing his job on the backside of runs towards the RT.

I think Free was slowing down this year, but was still very effective. I can see why the Cowboys wanted him for another year. Personally, I would have liked to keep Leary and move Collins to RT, but Leary got a big contract from Denver and I have my doubts he will live up to that value. I thought Green looked good when he played this season. I think the idea that Green was 'only brought here to replace Parnell as the backup swing tackle' is ludicrous. The question for Green is can he stay healthy and for Collins is can he learn to pick up stunts properly on a consistent basis.

I think we got a good career out of a former 4th round pick in Free. There were some real lows, but some quality highs and if anything it showed that with good coaching, the team could find a quality O-Lineman and develop that player that wasn't a 1st round pick.




YR
 
Yakuza Rich said:
Doug Free wasn't a turnstile. The issue for him was that he would have those occasional bad games in pass pro and when you have Tyron, Fred and Martin on your O-Line, each of whom are easily top-3 players at their position...any subpar performance gets magnified. It also didn't help when he had that dreadful 2011 season, right after that big contract signing. That really hurt him in the eyes of many Cowboys fans.

His foot speed slowed down from 2010 to 2011 (he was very good in 2009 and 2010). That no longer made him LT worthy. They moved him back to RT in 2012 and that's a very large transition to make and he did a decent job. By 2013 he was very good. And he was a big reason for our running game success as he's a very good run blocker. In fact, the only reason why we don't run better going at RT is Tyron has difficulty at times doing his job on the backside of runs towards the RT.

I think Free was slowing down this year, but was still very effective. I can see why the Cowboys wanted him for another year. Personally, I would have liked to keep Leary and move Collins to RT, but Leary got a big contract from Denver and I have my doubts he will live up to that value. I thought Green looked good when he played this season. I think the idea that Green was 'only brought here to replace Parnell as the backup swing tackle' is ludicrous. The question for Green is can he stay healthy and for Collins is can he learn to pick up stunts properly on a consistent basis.

I think we got a good career out of a former 4th round pick in Free. There were some real lows, but some quality highs and if anything it showed that with good coaching, the team could find a quality O-Lineman and develop that player that wasn't a 1st round pick.




YR
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Well said.

Free seems to have been the type that took a while to learn a new system/position.

Overall he was a good player and a positive part of the team.

Oh and a very solid 4th round selection.
 
"Yawn"......Well, I guess it's time to draft another rookie 1st team All-Pro. Isn't that what every team does with their 1st round picks?
 
Doug Free had a real good career especially for his draft selection. He became a easy scapegoat for fans but I think fans will miss what he brought to right tackle.
 
Until I see it on the Cowboys website I won't believe it. Which means he can be talked out of it.
 
I'd imagine the boys are doing all they can to talk him into one more year. They are not in good position to replace him this offseason.

If he does leave it's going to hurt the running game. His pass blocking is easily replaced.
 
cowboyblue22 said:
with leary leaving and free retiring this will effect the line play this season and with the cowboys playing lots of defensive teams it will hurt their offensive production and they really don't know for sure how good Collins really is and t smith has had back problems last year
Click to expand...

You realize we're talking about Doug Free here?
 
Let me try to understand all the panic here. So Leary goes to Denver and we have a 1st round talent who is 4 years younger, cheaper, has a higher ceiling, and has already beaten Leary out of the starting job as a rookie to replace him. And Doug Free, one of the worst rated tackles in the NFL and only getting older, retires, freeing up $5 million in cap space to sign another veteran RT or go with Green or Cleary, who both looked pretty good this year, to replace him. What am I missing? Where is the panic? Did we lose our All Pro LT, OC or RG?
 
JoeyBoy718 said:
You realize we're talking about Doug Free here?
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JoeyBoy718 said:
Let me try to understand all the panic here. So Leary goes to Denver and we have a 1st round talent who is 4 years younger, cheaper, has a higher ceiling, and has already beaten Leary out of the starting job as a rookie to replace him. And Doug Free, one of the worst rated tackles in the NFL and only getting older, retires, freeing up $5 million in cap space to sign another veteran RT or go with Green or Cleary, who both looked pretty good this year, to replace him. What am I missing? Where is the panic?
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there should be no panic for Free, unless the FO refuses to sign someone to replace him, even at a lower AAV.
green is very fragile and cannot be counted on to be a starter - at best a swing tackle who hopefully does not need to play too much.
cleary did well in that one game, but at least i am not sure how much they swung protection to help him.
 
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