cowboyjoe
Well-Known Member
- Messages
- 28,433
- Reaction score
- 753
Going Young
Spagnola: Age Just Might Have A Little To Do With Moves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 31, 2009 5:12 PM Change Font Size A A A A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRVING, Texas - True story.
After reading every one of Wade Phillips' comments at last Wednesday's media breakfast from the NFL meetings, this occurred to me:
Either by coincidence or on purpose with the off-season moves already having taken place, the Dallas Cowboys are trying to get younger. Or, if you want to flip the coin over, are trying to prevent themselves from growing old.
And there is nothing worse than a football team growing old, one trying to hang on with guys who have either helped win championships or pushed the club to the precipice of winning one. Getting rid of guys you trust, guys who have won for you, is never easy, but if you don't in time, you end up fighting a losing battle.
So upon arrival here at The Ranch Tuesday morning I drew up three lists, because over my 25 seasons of covering the Cowboys, there were two times this franchise seemed to grow old before my very eyes. So the lists comprised:
The Thirtysomething players on the roster to begin training camp in 1988.
The Thirtysomething players to begin camp in 1999.
The Thirtysomething players on the Cowboys' current roster.
See, the downfall of Tom Landry back in the late '80s was sticking with the likes of Randy White and "Too Tall" Jones and Danny White and Doug Cosbie and Timmy Newsome and the like for far too long. And it showed, the Cowboys finishing 3-13 in what turned out to be Landry's 29th and final year coaching the team, his worst finish since going 0-11-1 in the 1960 inaugural season.
And if we want to be honest about it, the downfall of the '90s Cowboys was continuing to hang on after 1997 season's warning bell, stubbornly trying to take one last shot but finishing 8-8 that season and losing a first-round playoff game for the second straight year - a precursor for the 5-11, cap mess the next three seasons.
So here were the counts: 15 Thirtysomething players in 1988, including six who were at least 34 years old; 17 Thirtysomething players in 1999, including seven at least 33 years olds; and right now nine Thirtysomething players heading toward the 2009 season, but only one (Jon Kitna) older than the three 34-year-olds.
My research pleased me, and about 10:30 I walked back to fax something in the TV department, passing the weight room where I'm told for the second straight day the team had perfect attendance for the start of the off-season workouts. Veteran Greg Ellis made eye contact with me, and sort of flagged me down, seemingly wanting to talk.
Ah, he must have thought I was trying to run him out of town, the headline in Monday's Roster Rundown reading Ellis Likely To Be Challenged For Starting LB Role. After all, it's not like some state's secret the Cowboys want third-year backer Anthony Spencer to start at the strong outside linebacker spot in place of Ellis. They made that quite obvious last year, allowing Ellis to start all 16 games but ending up giving Spencer nearly as many snaps when healthy.
And with Ellis turning 34 in August and entering the final year of his contract, making the switch now just seemed to make common sense if the switch was going to be made.
Well, evidently I was right on the money, and the only beef Ellis had was with the word "Challenged," giving off the perception there would be competition for the starting job. So Ellis wanted to make one thing perfectly clear:
"They already told me I'm not going to be the starter."
Ellis wasn't steamed or anything, he just wanted to set the record straight so that if all goes according to plans and Spencer does start at the strong outside linebacker position, no one thinks he was beaten out of the starting job.
There has been some thought the Cowboys might just release Ellis since the last year of his contract calls for a $4.15 million base salary, a tad hefty for a guy no longer a three-down player. And that obviously still could happen.
But there are two reasons the Cowboys should err on the side of caution here: Releasing Ellis would dump another $2.1 million into the dead money pot against the cap, raising the total to some $23 million already; and two, as pointed out in the Roster Rundown, who are the backups at outside linebacker if Ellis is not here? Justin Rogers and Matt Stewart, and whatever happens in the draft? Oh my.
"I figured they would just let me go," Ellis said.
Now understand, unlike Ellis' previous off-seasons of discontent, his beef is not about how much he's going to make. He'd be foolish to say anything of the like after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones basically bought him out of the insurance policy he desperately was clinging to that summer of 2007 and turned that into salary these past two seasons.
This time it's about the Cowboys simply assuming he's no longer a starter, maybe just a pass-rush specialist, which isn't bad duty for a guy going on 34, but not to Ellis, not yet anyway.
"Competing is what I do," Ellis said. "If he outperforms me and he's the starter, then, hey, OK."
He would go on to use a track analogy, saying, "If he races me and outruns me, OK, that's the way it should be. But to say I can't do it anymore, it ain't right.
"We aren't competing for the job."
The why-not of the matter?
Just another fact to support my theory Jerry and Stephen Jones are trying to make sure while scrambling to get back in the playoffs and finally rid themselves of that playoff monkey, not having won one of those games since 1996, they don't allow this team to grow old in the process.
Look at it in all these ways:
Keep Terrell Owens (going on 36) another year, and you stunt the growth of Roy WR Williams and Miles Austin, who they just have to find out about this year since he could become an unrestricted free agent next year if there is a salary cap.
Keep Anthony Henry (going on 33) and no matter what Mike Jenkins or Orlando Scandrick do, the coaching staff would err on the side of comfort, sticking with the trusty veteran as the starter. So another chance to get younger.
Re-sign Keith Davis (going on 31, if you can believe that), and you don't give a younger safety a chance to make this team as a special teams player, and as you saw last year, the more Davis played, the more injuries started piling up.
Keep hoping for Roy SS Williams (going on 29) to turn around, and soon you'd have a 30-year-old safety who already seemed to have lost a step. Or, roll the dice on another year, and you don't roll some dice on Gerald Sensabaugh (going on 26) and you sure don't use a second- or third-round pick on a safety, which stills needs to be done if possible.
Recycle Brooks Bollinger (going on 30) as the third quarterback and they might never pick up a young quarterback either late in the draft or rookie free agency to groom.
Jump on now re-signing Carlos Polk (32) and lessen the chance of some 23-year-old sixth-round draft choice of making the team.
Signing linebacker Keith Brooking (going on 34) doesn't get the Cowboys considerably younger at the weak inside linebacker position, although he's two years younger than Zach Thomas (going on 36), but because they didn't sign him to an enormous contract, they can qualify say a linebacker taken in the second or third round eventually displacing him as the starter. And not immediately re-signing Kevin Burnett says one of two things, that either the Cowboys did not project him as a starter or they never could get right on the money, the nickel backer eventually signing with San Diego.
And hey, trading out Brad Johnson (going on 41) for Kitna (going on 37) isn't getting a whole lot younger at backup quarterback, but it's still four years younger and for a guy who at least had been starting the past three seasons until a back injury after four games last year gave the Lions an excuse to walk a different avenue.
So to me, seems as though this has been a conscious effort to get younger. Because bring back the seven aforementioned Thirtysomethings, and that jumps the Cowboys current total from nine to 14, since Johnson to Kitna and Thomas to Brooking are pushes.
Just look at one of Phillips' explanations last week for releasing Owens:
"Because we feel like we can move forward with the guys we have. We think we have some emerging players that are going to make a difference."
Or what he said about releasing Henry:
"Well, we've got two young players that we think can really help us and did help us last year. Jenkins really played better and better in the last part of the year. I thought Jenkins was playing really well. Scandrick played better and better all year. Both are really talented and I think that's going to be a really good thing for us."
So obviously someone also thinks utilizing the opportunity to get younger at outside linebacker, moving from the going-on-34 Greg Ellis to the 25-year-old Spencer, is a good thing, too . . . for the Cowboys, that is. And that's nine years younger if the Cowboys are right about Spencer.
But to Ellis, "just to say I can't do it anymore, it ain't right."
Right?
Well, with that and all of this about obviously trying to get younger, we all know what determines right in the end.
Wins and losses.
And that my friends is as true as it gets. Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS
Spagnola: Age Just Might Have A Little To Do With Moves
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 31, 2009 5:12 PM Change Font Size A A A A
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IRVING, Texas - True story.
After reading every one of Wade Phillips' comments at last Wednesday's media breakfast from the NFL meetings, this occurred to me:
Either by coincidence or on purpose with the off-season moves already having taken place, the Dallas Cowboys are trying to get younger. Or, if you want to flip the coin over, are trying to prevent themselves from growing old.
And there is nothing worse than a football team growing old, one trying to hang on with guys who have either helped win championships or pushed the club to the precipice of winning one. Getting rid of guys you trust, guys who have won for you, is never easy, but if you don't in time, you end up fighting a losing battle.
So upon arrival here at The Ranch Tuesday morning I drew up three lists, because over my 25 seasons of covering the Cowboys, there were two times this franchise seemed to grow old before my very eyes. So the lists comprised:
The Thirtysomething players on the roster to begin training camp in 1988.
The Thirtysomething players to begin camp in 1999.
The Thirtysomething players on the Cowboys' current roster.
See, the downfall of Tom Landry back in the late '80s was sticking with the likes of Randy White and "Too Tall" Jones and Danny White and Doug Cosbie and Timmy Newsome and the like for far too long. And it showed, the Cowboys finishing 3-13 in what turned out to be Landry's 29th and final year coaching the team, his worst finish since going 0-11-1 in the 1960 inaugural season.
And if we want to be honest about it, the downfall of the '90s Cowboys was continuing to hang on after 1997 season's warning bell, stubbornly trying to take one last shot but finishing 8-8 that season and losing a first-round playoff game for the second straight year - a precursor for the 5-11, cap mess the next three seasons.
So here were the counts: 15 Thirtysomething players in 1988, including six who were at least 34 years old; 17 Thirtysomething players in 1999, including seven at least 33 years olds; and right now nine Thirtysomething players heading toward the 2009 season, but only one (Jon Kitna) older than the three 34-year-olds.
My research pleased me, and about 10:30 I walked back to fax something in the TV department, passing the weight room where I'm told for the second straight day the team had perfect attendance for the start of the off-season workouts. Veteran Greg Ellis made eye contact with me, and sort of flagged me down, seemingly wanting to talk.
Ah, he must have thought I was trying to run him out of town, the headline in Monday's Roster Rundown reading Ellis Likely To Be Challenged For Starting LB Role. After all, it's not like some state's secret the Cowboys want third-year backer Anthony Spencer to start at the strong outside linebacker spot in place of Ellis. They made that quite obvious last year, allowing Ellis to start all 16 games but ending up giving Spencer nearly as many snaps when healthy.
And with Ellis turning 34 in August and entering the final year of his contract, making the switch now just seemed to make common sense if the switch was going to be made.
Well, evidently I was right on the money, and the only beef Ellis had was with the word "Challenged," giving off the perception there would be competition for the starting job. So Ellis wanted to make one thing perfectly clear:
"They already told me I'm not going to be the starter."
Ellis wasn't steamed or anything, he just wanted to set the record straight so that if all goes according to plans and Spencer does start at the strong outside linebacker position, no one thinks he was beaten out of the starting job.
There has been some thought the Cowboys might just release Ellis since the last year of his contract calls for a $4.15 million base salary, a tad hefty for a guy no longer a three-down player. And that obviously still could happen.
But there are two reasons the Cowboys should err on the side of caution here: Releasing Ellis would dump another $2.1 million into the dead money pot against the cap, raising the total to some $23 million already; and two, as pointed out in the Roster Rundown, who are the backups at outside linebacker if Ellis is not here? Justin Rogers and Matt Stewart, and whatever happens in the draft? Oh my.
"I figured they would just let me go," Ellis said.
Now understand, unlike Ellis' previous off-seasons of discontent, his beef is not about how much he's going to make. He'd be foolish to say anything of the like after Cowboys owner Jerry Jones basically bought him out of the insurance policy he desperately was clinging to that summer of 2007 and turned that into salary these past two seasons.
This time it's about the Cowboys simply assuming he's no longer a starter, maybe just a pass-rush specialist, which isn't bad duty for a guy going on 34, but not to Ellis, not yet anyway.
"Competing is what I do," Ellis said. "If he outperforms me and he's the starter, then, hey, OK."
He would go on to use a track analogy, saying, "If he races me and outruns me, OK, that's the way it should be. But to say I can't do it anymore, it ain't right.
"We aren't competing for the job."
The why-not of the matter?
Just another fact to support my theory Jerry and Stephen Jones are trying to make sure while scrambling to get back in the playoffs and finally rid themselves of that playoff monkey, not having won one of those games since 1996, they don't allow this team to grow old in the process.
Look at it in all these ways:
Keep Terrell Owens (going on 36) another year, and you stunt the growth of Roy WR Williams and Miles Austin, who they just have to find out about this year since he could become an unrestricted free agent next year if there is a salary cap.
Keep Anthony Henry (going on 33) and no matter what Mike Jenkins or Orlando Scandrick do, the coaching staff would err on the side of comfort, sticking with the trusty veteran as the starter. So another chance to get younger.
Re-sign Keith Davis (going on 31, if you can believe that), and you don't give a younger safety a chance to make this team as a special teams player, and as you saw last year, the more Davis played, the more injuries started piling up.
Keep hoping for Roy SS Williams (going on 29) to turn around, and soon you'd have a 30-year-old safety who already seemed to have lost a step. Or, roll the dice on another year, and you don't roll some dice on Gerald Sensabaugh (going on 26) and you sure don't use a second- or third-round pick on a safety, which stills needs to be done if possible.
Recycle Brooks Bollinger (going on 30) as the third quarterback and they might never pick up a young quarterback either late in the draft or rookie free agency to groom.
Jump on now re-signing Carlos Polk (32) and lessen the chance of some 23-year-old sixth-round draft choice of making the team.
Signing linebacker Keith Brooking (going on 34) doesn't get the Cowboys considerably younger at the weak inside linebacker position, although he's two years younger than Zach Thomas (going on 36), but because they didn't sign him to an enormous contract, they can qualify say a linebacker taken in the second or third round eventually displacing him as the starter. And not immediately re-signing Kevin Burnett says one of two things, that either the Cowboys did not project him as a starter or they never could get right on the money, the nickel backer eventually signing with San Diego.
And hey, trading out Brad Johnson (going on 41) for Kitna (going on 37) isn't getting a whole lot younger at backup quarterback, but it's still four years younger and for a guy who at least had been starting the past three seasons until a back injury after four games last year gave the Lions an excuse to walk a different avenue.
So to me, seems as though this has been a conscious effort to get younger. Because bring back the seven aforementioned Thirtysomethings, and that jumps the Cowboys current total from nine to 14, since Johnson to Kitna and Thomas to Brooking are pushes.
Just look at one of Phillips' explanations last week for releasing Owens:
"Because we feel like we can move forward with the guys we have. We think we have some emerging players that are going to make a difference."
Or what he said about releasing Henry:
"Well, we've got two young players that we think can really help us and did help us last year. Jenkins really played better and better in the last part of the year. I thought Jenkins was playing really well. Scandrick played better and better all year. Both are really talented and I think that's going to be a really good thing for us."
So obviously someone also thinks utilizing the opportunity to get younger at outside linebacker, moving from the going-on-34 Greg Ellis to the 25-year-old Spencer, is a good thing, too . . . for the Cowboys, that is. And that's nine years younger if the Cowboys are right about Spencer.
But to Ellis, "just to say I can't do it anymore, it ain't right."
Right?
Well, with that and all of this about obviously trying to get younger, we all know what determines right in the end.
Wins and losses.
And that my friends is as true as it gets. Home | Email | Print | Register for New Alerts | RSS
