How do we avoid another giant whiff in free agency?

[Sydla]

Carroll was simply the cheapest, biggest CB with experience and knowledge of the division. Moore is Linehans call 100% Thornton wasnt horrible, to me.

I actually was OK with Thornton's signing. But he was a bust here. That's just the reality. Carroll was another bad signing and the rationalizations after don't fly IMO. Marinelli loved him and they were hot after him two years earlier.

 

[jobberone]

I could agree with "middle" of the barrel... or, at least, what was perceived at the time as the middle.

Maybe but I'd disagree.

 

[ThatJerryKid]

sign Eric Reid if he would just stand................

 

[irishline]

you only sign a free agent piece if you're missing that one key part but Dallas isn't anywhere close to needing just one main piece...

That right there is the problem. We haven't been anywhere close to needing just one main piece in decades... It's the definition of insanity at this point...

Gotta start somewhere and/or do something differently if you want to get to just being one main piece away (whatever that may be).

 

[The Natural]

Will those 3 still look good next year? They got lucky and that is about all it is. FA signings are a gamble. You either spend way to much vs the service you get in return or you spend less on lesser signings and get more or less than you bargained for.

The arrogance permeating from this fan base is pure comedy.

 

[T-RO]

Inconvenient fact, as much as any of us, including myself, think highly of McClay and his player assessment staff...

Those MILLIONS of dollars spent on THOSE players last off-season could have served us well if, instead, they had been spent on players who ACTUALLY PLAYED... ie, well enough to MERELY stick on the roster.

So, nonsense. You'd have to be convinced that chronically filling gaps with undrafted free agents is a good thing in order to defend the giant W-H-I-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F, and to suggest it's nothing. (Someone convinced of that???)

It was, of course, something.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong! To W-H-I-F-F-F-F-F-F-F-F....you have to swing for the fences. The Cowboys wisely avoided doing that. They barely played free agency--which was the right call. They've stacked up the draft on compensatory picks by letting some guys walk.... and now have a talented young secondary for years.

The season didn't turn out because of suspensions, injuries and a bit of decline with Dak. Personnel decisions--with just a couple of exceptions--were nothing short of brilliant. Yes...brilliant.

This endless whining, moaning is mindless and foolish. It's also such a BORE.

 

[Blast From The Past]

The arrogance permeating from this fan base is pure comedy.

How so?

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Fire the GM?

Oh wait, this is Dallas. That does not happen.

I am not the "most" so no it is not.

 

[Sydla]

How so?

I think his point surrounds your statement that free agency is just luck. It's most definitely not luck. Sure there's some luck in turning a bargain bin guy into a legit stud for you. But it shouldn't be that surprising nor considered luck that AJ Bouye is playing a very good CB for Jacksonville or that Alshon Jeffrey was productive in Philly.

The draft is far more luck based than FA.

 

[ABQcowboyJR]

Guess what your little guy is up to Son.

Must be asleep.

 

[Blast From The Past]

Why is it luck if a FA actually plays well and becomes a key component for a team?

Because a lot of players do not produce for their new teams for whatever reason. Could be they got paid or are not a good fit in the new scheme or could just not have been as good as the new teams decision makers thought. Who knows? Lots of teams in the salary cap era have done better through the draft rather than FA.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I actually was OK with Thornton's signing. But he was a bust here. That's just the reality. Carroll was another bad signing and the rationalizations after don't fly IMO. Marinelli loved him and they were hot after him two years earlier.

I dont think he was a bust. I just think the team got a similar level of production out of younger guys and the writing was on the wall. Carroll didn't play well here, I agree with that but you get what you pay for.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Must be asleep.

Nope, watching Harry Potter.

 

[_sturt_]

Nonsense, @T-RO .

To whiff, you merely have to (a) swing... weakly or big time or anything in-between, and (b) MISS-S-S-S-S.

I agree with you on the philosophy. It's the execution that, by any measure, sucked.

 

[Sydla]

Because a lot of players do not produce for their new teams for whatever reason. Could be they got paid or are not a good fit in the new scheme or could just not have been as good as the new teams decision makers thought. Who knows? Lots of teams in the salary cap era have done better through the draft rather than FA.

That's an overstatement. I know it's trotted out a lot here but that's expected when you are a fan of a team that has basically shopped the bargain bin for slop the last few years. Tricking oneself into believing FA is luck helps justify the failures of this team in FA IMO.

Sure, there are some "busts" in FA. But there are a lot of hits as well.

 

[Sydla]

I dont think he was a bust. I just think the team got a similar level of production out of younger guys and the writing was on the wall. Carroll didn't play well here, I agree with that but you get what you pay for.

What younger guys outplayed Thornton? Shoot, Paea was our starting 1 Tech and that DT spot wasn't loaded with stud youngsters. We eventually had to move Collins from the 3 Tech to the 1 Tech because we had holes there.

Thornton was not a good signing. And yes, I thought it was. I was wrong.

 

[Idgit]

VFA is tough, because you know for a fact you're going to overpay for a good player, and because elite players almost never make it to market. You have to really be right on a signing to make it worthwhile, and it's easy to be wrong when you haven't seen the guy in your system and when the amount of money involved can easily change motivations.

I can see, and agree with, the philosophy of really limiting your risk with the big free agent signings. The problem is, there are other teams in good competitive situations who are willing to take those risks. The ones that do are going to pass you unless you can out draft and out-develop them via other means. And that's a really tall order.

What I'd like to see them do is take chances where you pay large one and two year deals where you can afford to to see if a guy works out, and then extend from there if you can. Deals like Poe signed are a good example. In our current situation, I wouldn't be opposed to one big long-term deal on an impact defender with a high floor, if you think you can find one. A deal like that for a veteran S and a try-before-you-buy deal for a DT would make sense for me, given our cap situation. Though I want Hitchens and Lawrence and Martin and even Irving covered before I do that if at all possible.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Not sure, but I do hope we hang onto Demarcus Lawrence.

 

[JoeKing]

Fire and replace Will McClay?

Fire and replace his staff?

Both?

Discuss.

It's not Will McClay, it's Stephen Jones that is the penny pinching free agency scrooge.

 

[diefree666]

I would try and copy the Pats. They have signed big FA's and been successful and they have signed mid range FA's and been successful. Certainly more than anyone else.