***Gurode released*** MERGED

[MichaelWinicki]

Agreed, and a big part of the reason for that is that they don't sign a lot of these guys to disproportionately high cost salaries that render the players untradable. Barber, Williams, Gurode, Davis, etc.

Solid observation.

 

[Stash]

True.

Instead you could simply look at Gurode's last season of play and come to a conclusion concerning his level of play.

No question he was not deserving of a Pro Bowl nod.

But simply releasing him outright with nothing in return to hand the reigns over to an undrafted free agent, making his first NFL start at center, along with two other rookies, a second year left tackle and a guard switching positions?

That's a lot of moving parts requiring a lot of faith.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

To equate these two situations is equally mind boggling. This team is now set at virtually every offensive position, with the exception of FB. That team had virtually zero talent on offense, with the exception of Aikman, who was a rookie, and Walker, who the Vikings were willing to give us the world for. We were going nowhere without a serious injection of youth and talent back in 1989. This offense is young and talented and championship caliber.

To equate the two situations is to imply they are identical, and I've done no such thing. I was merely pointing out a circumstance in which a coach felt compelled to play lesser talents for the sake of the team's future betterment. It does happen, and it needn't necessarily mean a coach is "giving up" on the season.

 

[Venger]

I'm going to miss the lobs to Romo...

Took until post #253 in this thread... not going to miss those backwards punts Gurode was known for.

 

[Ken]

As the Chris Johnson holdout continues, is there a chane we cleared this cap out of nowhere to trade for him?

I'm hoping that is not the case but we should have about 10 million in cap room now...

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Dallas Cowboys fans once again bashing on an exiting player. Whatever makes you feel better i guess. Gurode was at worst average and at best one of the best in the game. He was 34 and i can understand cutting your losses but I am not so sure that we are a better football team without him.

I will have faith that the brass at VR knows what they are doing and hope that we are right on the future at the position but this smacks of rebuilding to me.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

No question he was not deserving of a Pro Bowl nod.

But simply releasing him outright with nothing in return to hand the reigns over to an undrafted free agent, making his first NFL start at center, along with two other rookies, a second year left tackle and a guard switching positions?

That's a lot of moving parts requiring a lot of faith.

Do I think it requires a lot of faith?

Yeah, there needs to be some faith in there. And I think everyone should expect some flubs along the way. There is going to be some ugliness.

But I'm excited.

I haven't been pleased with the offensive line's play for the last couple of years... But who has?

I'm not mindless homer. I did not expect this to be a SB contender this year. I would be thrilled with a playoff contender and I don't think going to a young offensive line is going to harm that.

Also I'm very pleased with the amount of cap space this team is clearing, which can be rolled into next season. Having 16% of your available cap room already used on dead money isn't a good thing. Right now the Cowboys have about $11 mil to roll into next season to cut the amount of dead money in half.

That pleases me greatly.

Finally I have faith in Garrett. If he's confident in this move, then it becomes much easier for me to support.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

As the Chris Johnson holdout continues, is there a chane we cleared this cap out of nowhere to trade for him?

I'm hoping that is not the case but we should have about 10 million in cap room now...

Hopefully you're not serious about Chris Johnson.

 

[Beast_from_East]

Its now officially a rebuilding year.

Agreed.

I think most of this board already figured this was going to be a rebuilding year. Just look at the prediction thread, over half the posters on this board predicted 8-8 +/- a game here or there.

The lockout really hurt this team, you just cant implement a totally new defensive scheme in just a matter of a month or two. We are going to have to rely on our offensive to win games for us and with 2, maybe 3 rookies on the offensive line............well, lets just say its going to be interesting.

 

[Hostile]

Dallas Cowboys fans once again bashing on an exiting player. Whatever makes you feel better i guess. Gurode was at worst average and at best one of the best in the game. He was 34 and i can understand cutting your losses but I am not so sure that we are a better football team without him.

I will have faith that the brass at VR knows what they are doing and hope that we are right on the future at the position but this smacks of rebuilding to me.

Fuzzy, Gurode has been bashed here for years. This has little to do with his exit.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Fuzzy, Gurode has been bashed here for years. This has little to do with his exit.

True.

And there was a certainly an "undercurrent" on the board about cutting Gurode over the last couple of weeks.

 

[Hostile]

True.

And there was a certainly an "undercurrent" on the board about cutting Gurode over the last couple of weeks.

Yes, and now the tide has turned and this is a stupid move.

By the same freaking voices.

 

[newlander]

Dallas Cowboys fans once again bashing on an exiting player. Whatever makes you feel better i guess. Gurode was at worst average and at best one of the best in the game. He was 34 and i can understand cutting your losses but I am not so sure that we are a better football team without him.

I will have faith that the brass at VR knows what they are doing and hope that we are right on the future at the position but this smacks of rebuilding to me.

...really solid and well thought out. However, I agree it will hurt us in the short run. Sure hope those kids can run block and block well in the short passing game because Red will HAVE to resort to that in order to not get Romo killed. The Jets are hard to scheme for if you have a vet line but this might be......tough to watch the first few weeks.

 

[Stash]

Do I think it requires a lot of faith?

Yeah, there needs to be some faith in there. And I think everyone should expect some flubs along the way. There is going to be some ugliness.

But I'm excited.

I haven't been pleased with the offensive line's play for the last couple of years... But who has?

I'm excited too, but concerned plenty as well. The team is asking a lot of several young and inexperienced players all at once. And in an abbreviated offseason to boot!

I'm not mindless homer. I did not expect this to be a SB contender this year. I would be thrilled with a playoff contender and I don't think going to a young offensive line is going to harm that.

If a young lineman misses a key block and gets Romo hurt, there will be harm.

Also I'm very pleased with the amount of cap space this team is clearing, which can be rolled into next season. Having 16% of your available cap room already used on dead money isn't a good thing. Right now the Cowboys have about $11 mil to roll into next season to cut the amount of dead money in half.

That pleases me greatly.

That's definitely a good point, but I wasn't overly concerned as some restructuring could balance out the losses of 2012 with the large cap space of 2013.

Finally I have faith in Garrett. If he's confident in this move, then it becomes much easier for me to support.

I have some faith as well, though apparently not as much as many of us.

 

[Dave_in-NC]

Dallas Cowboys fans once again bashing on an exiting player. Whatever makes you feel better i guess. Gurode was at worst average and at best one of the best in the game. He was 34 and i can understand cutting your losses but I am not so sure that we are a better football team without him.

I will have faith that the brass at VR knows what they are doing and hope that we are right on the future at the position but this smacks of rebuilding to me.

Happens just about every time.

 

[Bizwah]

It's always tough to see a guy that's been with the organization this long go.

But, it's a new era.

I think we're going to have some growing pains with our new OL. But I think this is the right move.

Call it rebuilding....I tend to think of it as trusting your scouts.

We haven't really trusted our scouts for some time....for good reason.

The consistently good teams in the NFL trust their scouts. The Pats, Eagles, and Colts will lose key cogs in their machine, yet still win. I don't think there's any great mystery with their scouting.

They know their systems....and teach it well. How many of the players they let go actually succeed elsewhere? I don't think they necessarily are better at drafting. They teach their systems well. They trust new players to learn that system.

Hopefully, that's where we're headed.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

...really solid and well thought out. However, I agree it will hurt us in the short run. Sure hope those kids can run block and block well in the short passing game because Red will HAVE to resort to that in order to not get Romo killed. The Jets are hard to scheme for if you have a vet line but this might be......tough to watch the first few weeks.

The defense the Cowboy line has been facing the past month is as complicated, if not more so, than what the Jets run.

Corner blitzes. Zone blitzes. Delayed blitzes.

This offensive line has seen a bunch of that already.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

We haven't really trusted our scouts for some time....for good reason.

I'm not sure how much of the previous draft "messes" were the result of a lack of ability by the scouts OR was it a case of the Jones and whomever the current coach was, over-riding the wishes of the scouts?

There certainly have been stories about coaches and such having too much say over who gets drafted.

 

[Risen Star]

No.

This isn't a move to free up more cap space this year to add a player.

It's about rolling over what cap space the team does have into next year in order to offset some of the dead cap money.

I'd like to know where we stand with that.

 

[Da Hammer]

Romo is going to get roughed up versus the jets. Romo better be willing to throw that ball away when there is no opening in the defense.