FEATURED Future of the Cowboys

[LatinMind]

Ill start this off by saying this isnt going to be a good post for Romonites or Jerry Jones is the devil crowd. I dont like what i see in this team, but im never going to desrespect the team ive loved all my life. Me as a fan i just love watching my team play, win or lose. Doesnt make me a bad fan or a homer because i dont think this team is a joke. Now down to business.

IMO it doesnt start with Jerry, it starts with the Coaches and PLAYERS. Jerry gives his coaches what they need. In todays watered down NFL you arent going to a complete team from top to bottom. Thats why you have coaches and training staff. Players arent ready? Coaches and Staff develop the player. Vets take them players and show them the ropes in how the nfl works. As former players have said, there is a disconnect from players and coaches in Dallas. Thats telling in that theyre both just going through the motions. Or it can all just be hearsay. I go with hearsay because I wouldve heard it on Talking Cowboys. Broaddus is very honest in what goes on in VR as he just let the cat out the bag in what players are thinking and saying about Hatcher right now.

Jerry has blame in the enviroment around VR. Theres no doubt he pampers players too much. But thats just the way he's always been with his team. He treats it like a family, from HC all the way to his practice team players. Is that wrong? IDK thats subjective to the person you are i guess. I have no problem with that except in a few instances. Ratliff one is big problem i have with Jerry. There was plenty of red flags that Jerry should have been listening to his team reguarding Rat before he gave him that new contract. Even Ware came out and said Rat was disconnected from the team, being a hot head. Jerry needs to allow his coaches to their will and their direction on players. He could step back some but he wont so im not going to complain about it every day. I just hope Dallas can get a coach who is man enough to tell his players you can go to Jerry but Im the coach and what i say goes. Grow the fortitude to stand up to these players and demand the work to be put in to the way he wants it done, and not the way Jerry allows. And its clear JG doesnt have the fortitude to step up to his team like that.

Now to the Team, 2014 im guessing will be much like 2013 in terms of team. They probably wont have the cap to make any significant moves but moves that will be minor but can upgrade some spots that need to be upgraded along the depth.

I dont see how this team can restructure Romo again. Theres no doubt he will be in Dallas on the 3rd day of 2014 league season so 7.5 mil will go guaranteed to 2015 right off the bat. Not to mention his 13.5 mil base salary is already guaranteed for 2014. so basically almost 22mil of Romos 40 mil guaranteed money is paid next yr. But already are on the hook for 7.5 mil in 2015 because he will be on the team in 2014. So Romo's guaranteed money is now 47.5 mil. So you cant restructure Romo. So 2015 comes and you are now on the hook for 7.5 mil of Romos 17mil base salary along with 5 mil signing bones and 3.273 for a misc bonus im guessing work out bonus. thats almost 16 mil guaranteed money for 2015, so the homer might say just restructure right? Wait, it doesnt stop. If romo is on the team on the 3rd league day of 2015 another 7.5mil of his base salary is guaranteed. so that makes 23.273 mil of Romos 25.273 mil cap charge in 2015 guaranteed. Noway can this team handle that with contracts to Dez, Tyron and Carter coming up. So 2015 might be the yr we see Romo released. Or traded. But this is the perfect yr to draft a QB. Let him sit a yr and hand over the reins.

Veteran core of the team:
Demarcus Ware
Jason Hatcher
Jason Witten
Brandon Carr
Doug Free

Demarcus Ware, heres a guy who has been great his entire career for Dallas. But it just seems that his body has taken a dive for the worst. He no longer has that explosion or strength we saw when he was healthy. I dont want to hear about he is not right for the scheme. Type of players like Ware can play any scheme. Thats why he is great. Well was anyways. I think it would be best to send him along but I think he has one more yr in Dallas. His guaranteed money is basically split in half after 2014. So a restrucutre might be more ideal for the cap but not for the future but This is spot the Jones' have put themselves in. So it is what it is.

Jason Hatcher, now this is a guy i love. But i love the Cowboys more, hearing that teammates are growing tired of the guy going on and on about his contract is turned my opinion to whats best for the team. And selfishness is not. But i do think he deserves to be paid bigtime. It just wont happen in Dallas.

Jason Witten will be a Cowboy for life. He will get restructured and will get his money upfront. Witten personifies what being a Dallas Cowboy should be like.

Brandon Carr, Heres a guy who you just have to keep restructuring in because its just a bad contract for the cap. But he got a contract that was the going rate for a CB of his caliber in FA. Thats just something you cant control. I just think Kiffin needs to adjust his scheme and keep Carr in situations that have him posistions where he can play to his strengths. Not hang him out to dry and expose his weaknesses. Getting Claiborne back will help both Carr and Scandrick too.

Brian Waters, he was great for Mack but he will not be back.

WR core is not as fluid as we all thought they would be. But i think that has alot to do with the coaches not knowing kind of offense they want to be.

Moving forward i think the WR will not change except for Austin being shipped out at some point. DEz, TW, Beasley and Harris are going to be the core for a long time. I just cannot understand why This team refuses to put Beasley in the game. People seem to spew the same bull about Dallas needing a deep threat. Throw the ball up and let Dez come down with it....Theres your deep threat. Run slants in front of them deep safeties that teams play dallas with, and there are your 3rd down conversions.

OL im loving right now. But it has some questions moving on. Tyron is going to need to be resigned and he will be a big cap hitter trust that. One of the best LTs in football. Leary is going to improve but his knee at some point is going to start becoming a problem. Thats just reality so Dallas is not going to have the luxury to sit pat on drafting OL. Then Doug Free he's not going to be a pro bowler but he can give you a guy who can get the job done. Next yr is his last yr, he probably wont be resigned in 2015, so his replacement will be? While the OL is not a issue anymore its not a finished job, some work still needs to be done.

DL is a mess right now. But thats not jerrys fault. Nobody knew they were only going to have 1 productive player of their starting 4 that was projected. Ill start with spencer. I think he could be resigned cheap but i think he will be somewhere else just to get out of Dallas. He could end up going to a 3-4 team. Dallas has some very good backups on its roster right now bu need starters. Selvie, Wynn, Nevis, Hayden can all be good backups. I think Dallas could have its 3tech DT on the roster already in Crawford. The team was really high on his before he got hurt. Dont count him out. But i dont think they should stand pat expecting he will be up for the job. But preperation shouldnt be a problem since he was hurt early and should be ready. Dallas does need a 1 tech. Dallas needs a LE and im hoping that DE is Troy Murphy. Dallas needs to dedicate a Draft to def. Specifically DL. Dallas doesnt have a horrible group of defensive backs. Its average, but they have a group of DL who were off the streets. This wont be fixed in 1 offseason but it can be helped because theres only 1 way to go with this group and thats up. Theres no way it can get worse.

LB core is i think the group thats mismanaged the most on this team. I think even worse then WR. Kiffin has left this group out to dry from the word go. His stubborness to use the dime when most teams would most certainly do it. Leaving Carter out on a island in open space. Carter is very athletic but remember he is still a LBer and not a safety. Broddaus talked about Kiffin and Lee having a meeting and said he wouldnt be suprised if Lee was in there telling Kiffin what he sees and a change in situations for the lbers coming. Its obvious Carter isnt this bad as his play has shown he is very good player when you play him and put him in situations that are to his strengths. Hollomon has a degenerative issue with his knee so i dont think he will be in Dallas' long term future. Wilber could be a good find there but he needs to come off the field in them obvious passing situations. And thats not happening with Kiffin. He's keeping his best players on the field no matter what formation the opposing team is going with. While Wilber and Carter might be better players then the DBs Dallas has, they arent DBs. They arent designed to cover WRs as we seen too many times with Kiffins defense.

Barry Church needs to be playing SS, up on the line up scrimmage. Plain and simple. Kiffin has him in coverage and he does a decent job but he cant cover wrs either. Church when Lee was out was shifted down to play the Weak side close to the LOS and he flourished there. Lee comes back and you move Church back and there is a wreck in that def. having Church in that same posistion would be that much better having Lee next to home. The problem is you have Heath and Wilcox and neither are very good. Wilcox might be better later but he should be Church's backup. And Dallas should have a real FS back there. Behind DT and DE FS should be at the top of the list for the Cowboys.

If youre miserable because of this team this yr, i suggest you take next yr off because you are going to see much of the same in terms of players in Dallas. This is what it is, but I will say this. If Jerry pulls the plug on JG and brings in a coach like a Gruden, Lovie, Shannahan that arent affraid of management this team will be alot better.

 

[yimyammer]

he just let the cat out the bag in what players are thinking and saying about Hatcher right now.

What'd I miss? What are they saying about Hatch?

 

[LatinMind]

What'd I miss? What are they saying about Hatch?

That players are getting tired of Hatcher going on every show that wants to talk about his contract status. Calling him selfish

 

[xwalker]

They can't trade Romo. It would be a 20+ million cap hit in 2014. They could only free up that much space after June 1st, however, then it would add another 7.5M to the cap from Romo's March bonus.

What possible reason would there be to keep Ware but cut Romo?

 

[LatinMind]

They can't trade Romo. It would be a 20+ million cap hit in 2014. They could only free up that much space after June 1st, however, then it would add another 7.5M to the cap from Romo's March bonus.

What possible reason would there be to keep Ware but cut Romo?

I didnt say they would. I said the earliest they could even think bout it is 2015.

 

[Common Sense]

To say that this team's problems start with the players and not Jerry Jones is contradictory. Jerry picks the players. Poor roster talent starts and ends with the GM. Same with old players saddled with large contracts that make it impossible to move on. It starts and ends with Jerry.

 

[slomoxn]

I quit reading after Jerry isnt the problem, it seems that letting Jerry continue to be Jerry is ok. So another 17 years of of of of.......this. Well I could do without that, at this juncture it begins and ends with Jerry for me, I've already give up any hope of winning number 6 while he is still alive or at least able to drink a scotch and soda by himself so if he is not changing were done.

 

[BoysFan4ever]

I quit reading after Jerry isnt the problem, it seems that letting Jerry continue to be Jerry is ok. So another 17 years of of of of.......this. Well I could do without that, at this juncture it begins and ends with Jerry for me, I've already give up any hope of winning number 6 while he is still alive or at least able to drink a scotch and soda by himself so if he is not changing were done.

So did I. Jerry gets no pass. It's his toy that needs fixing.

 

[Roadtrip635]

The mess on the DL can be partially blamed on Jerry. They were making the switch to a 4-3 and there was a need to bolster the DL and it was largely neglected during the off season, that's on the GM. Jerry couldn't control the extent of the injuries we have suffered, but 2 projected starters were injured and he was hoping the starting DL of 30+ yr olds would hold up for the entire season. That's a case of a GM wishing, not planning for success.

 

[Deep_South]

Yeah, if you're putting up a book-length post that you want everyone to read, always save anything about Jerry not being the problem for the last line.

 

[LatinMind]

So asking the HC to basically infuse their will on their players and making it known while Jerry might be paying the check you play for me? Any of you talking about Jerry is the problem this and that are telling me that Belichek, Harbaugh's, Gruden, Lovie, Reid. Couldnt win with this team? This exact same team? Nobody is going to have a team like SF or SEA unless you have a teamm full of players on their first contract. Look at Sf and SEA and the cap trouble they are going to be in, in about 2 more yrs.

Dallas has depth problems but thats not whats making them look bad. Its the disconnect between player and coaches. You dont think jerry would respect JG even more if he were to lay the law down on these players? What Jerry is going to fire JG if he really went hard on the team and they started winning? Theres no doubt JG has some talent, but what he doesnt have is the team. These players just dont seem to fear him. Ive never heard a player say he's a tough coach, he expects more. Its all JG is the guy we want. A coach isnt going to be fired because he demands his players to follow his rules. Parcells didnt feel like he needed to cuddle anybody.

Jerry is a meddlesome owner, but he's not god. At some point the coaches and players are just going to have to look at themselves and say i wanna win it one time. And it just seems like they dont.

 

[LatinMind]

To say that this team's problems start with the players and not Jerry Jones is contradictory. Jerry picks the players. Poor roster talent starts and ends with the GM. Same with old players saddled with large contracts that make it impossible to move on. It starts and ends with Jerry.

They have had success in 2007 and 2009. Was Jerry the reason for that success? Since he picks the players. Or was that parcells? Or was it parcells success they had some success in the regular season, but Jerrys fault they lost the playoffs?

 

[LatinMind]

In all honesty this forum sounds like a bunch of lil kids blaming one kid four getting caught stealing the candy because that one kid had the idea to do it. Jerry doesnt shy away from the blame. And he takes it better than most owners or gm. But he isnt alone in blame. Theres been yrs this team couldve won it but coaches and players blew it like in 2007 and in 2009.They shouldve been in the superbowl in 2007.

 

[Fritsch_the_cat]

 

[Hoofbite]

IMO it doesnt start with Jerry, it starts with the Coaches and PLAYERS. Jerry gives his coaches what they need. In todays watered down NFL you arent going to a complete team from top to bottom. Thats why you have coaches and training staff. Players arent ready? Coaches and Staff develop the player. Vets take them players and show them the ropes in how the nfl works. As former players have said, there is a disconnect from players and coaches in Dallas. Thats telling in that theyre both just going through the motions. Or it can all just be hearsay. I go with hearsay because I wouldve heard it on Talking Cowboys. Broaddus is very honest in what goes on in VR as he just let the cat out the bag in what players are thinking and saying about Hatcher right now.

Jerry has blame in the enviroment around VR. Theres no doubt he pampers players too much. But thats just the way he's always been with his team. He treats it like a family, from HC all the way to his practice team players. Is that wrong? IDK thats subjective to the person you are i guess. I have no problem with that except in a few instances. Ratliff one is big problem i have with Jerry. There was plenty of red flags that Jerry should have been listening to his team reguarding Rat before he gave him that new contract. Even Ware came out and said Rat was disconnected from the team, being a hot head. Jerry needs to allow his coaches to their will and their direction on players. He could step back some but he wont so im not going to complain about it every day. I just hope Dallas can get a coach who is man enough to tell his players you can go to Jerry but Im the coach and what i say goes. Grow the fortitude to stand up to these players and demand the work to be put in to the way he wants it done, and not the way Jerry allows. And its clear JG doesnt have the fortitude to step up to his team like that.

What do you mean "hope". It's not a crapshoot where if you try enough you'll eventually get such a guy. It's entirely up to Jerry to make that happen which means any statement about Jerry giving the players what they need (authoritarian coach) is flat out wrong.

He doesn't give the players what they need.

He gives them Dave Campo. He gives them 3 different defensive coordinators in a span of 4 seasons, 4 in the span of 5. He gives them multi-site training camps that are more about exposure than they are about preparation.

He gives the coaches even less. Well, except for the Golden Boy. All the other coaches are given toaster leavens and asked to get the job done and when they don't do it up to whatever standard he puts out there, he gives them a pink slip. You didn't make this awful unit a dominant force is less than 2 years? Later.

And then to say that he pampers them too much but we're not going to count that against him because that's "just Jerry".

Come on.

 

[LatinMind]

What do you mean "hope". It's not a crapyshoot where if you try enough you'll eventually get such a guy. It's entirely up to Jerry to make that happen which means any statement about Jerry giving the players what they need (authoritarian coach) is flat out wrong.

He doesn't give the players what they need.

He gives them Dave Campo. He gives them 3 different defensive coordinators in a span of 4 seasons, 4 in the span of 5. He gives them multi-site training camps that are more about exposure than they are about preparation.

He gives the coaches even less. Well, except for the Golden Boy. All the other coaches are given toaster leavens and asked to get the job done and when they don't do it up to whatever standard he puts out there, he gives them a pink slip. You didn't make this awful unit a dominant force is less than 2 years? Later.

And then to say that he pampers them too much but we're not going to count that against him because that's "just Jerry".

Come on.

Didnt Phillips get what Parcells had? Didnt Phillips go 13-3. Didnt Jerry give Parcells what he wanted and shouldve gone to the superbowl in 2007. Im not saying jerry is immune from blame.But what i am saying is he doesnt deserve all the blame. Ryan from words of people at VR that know whats going on said Ryan was gone. The def coaches werent even talking much. Ryan would meet with eberflus and thats it. Those are words from Broaddus, Mickey and Rowan. Even Sydney talked about it last yr. So there was alot going on that they kept inhouse involving Ryan. And Broaddus had said it was more Garrett that thought Ryan needed to go not jerry. But Jerry took the blame, and he isnt affraid to take it.

I count it against him as i said in the post. But is it too much to expect your head coach to straighten that out? Isnt it the players job that are working their butts off to pull them players that are slacking aside? Is that too much to ask from these guys? Theyre all grown men are they not?

Isnt that what shannahan is doing right now? Coaches should coach and control their team. No matter who the owner is.

 

[Clove]

The All-American golden boy Witten is a Cowboy for life, but the aging nobody Ware is crap, just throw him out? Your thread stinks.

 

[LatinMind]

The All-American golden boy Witten is a Cowboy for life, but the aging nobody Ware is crap, just throw him out? Your thread stinks.

Which one is producing?

 

[OhSnap]

The mess on the DL can be partially blamed on Jerry. They were making the switch to a 4-3 and there was a need to bolster the DL and it was largely neglected during the off season, that's on the GM. Jerry couldn't control the extent of the injuries we have suffered, but 2 projected starters were injured and he was hoping the starting DL of 30+ yr olds would hold up for the entire season. That's a case of a GM wishing, not planning for success.

There isn't a team in the NFL that could plan on replacing Spencer, Crawford, and Bass with any kind of real talent. NO ONE has starting quality players backing up the back ups.

 

[OhSnap]

In all honesty this forum sounds like a bunch of lil kids blaming one kid four getting caught stealing the candy because that one kid had the idea to do it. Jerry doesnt shy away from the blame. And he takes it better than most owners or gm. But he isnt alone in blame. Theres been yrs this team couldve won it but coaches and players blew it like in 2007 and in 2009.They shouldve been in the superbowl in 2007.

I always thought if they had played any other team besides the Giants in 07 they would have gotten allot further if not all the way. Having to beat one team 3 times in a season is a tall order for anyone.