How do you propose we fix the offensive line and entire defense if Dak gets paid?

[InTheZone]

we paid smith. we paid martin. we paid fredrick. we paid collins. we paid lawrence. we paid Jaylon. we paid zeke. we paid cooper. we had enough to pay crawford, griffin, mccoy, Poe some substantial money....
and all with Dak against the books for 31M....

its not a question of do we have enough money. its a question of did we pay the right people and what are we getting in return. right now, only Martin is playing up to his contract. cooper and zeke are producing at a level that we could argue about. the rest are giving us ZILCH. NADA. ZERO. NOTHING BURGER.

We're not going to find quality defensive starters paying them what we currently have. Our offense, I believe, is being paid almost 3x as much as the defense. At a minimum we need 2 linebackers, 2 defensive tackles, 1 CB, 1 safety. And we have to hope these players pan out. And then there's the OL.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

We're not going to find quality defensive starters paying them what we currently have. Our offense, I believe, is being paid almost 3x as much as the defense. At a minimum we need 2 linebackers, 2 defensive tackles, 1 CB, 1 safety. And we have to hope these players pan out. And then there's the OL.

its a combination of better drafting and better contracts. almost none of the defensive draftees over the past 4 years are contributing anything of significance or are injured (same, no contribution). LVE, Chido, Taco, Hill, Jaylon, Jones (gone), and we have several over paid backup level players like Crawford, Poe, McCoy( now gone), Griffin and two bloated contracts of Jaylon and Lawrence...these are supposed to be foundations of a good defense. premium picks. top dollars

none of the investments are panning out at all. you figure we get half of what they are paid or to half the level of where they were drafted and we would have an average defense.

and then we have our starting saftey saying, we can't play hard for 70 snaps.....he should be cut right there and then. who allowed him to speak like that. and if he is saying it out loud, then is that the defensive culture?....cut the idiot....what do we have to lose. light a fire under their rears.....no mediocrity of effort is accepted. you can see Jaylon is playing half speed. he is just not into it. he is not hustling. his head is not in the game. Bench him. despite his contract. doesn't like it? is bad attitude, then suspend him.

and yes, on the offensive side we handed out several bloated contracts that we are not really getting a return on, except maybe for one....Martin, the rest...are often injured or past their prime or not playing to the level of their contract, like Smith, Collins, Zeke, Cooper......are we getting our money's worth? and why pay a huge contract to Zeke with two years left on the contract...>Jones blinked...... look at the Rams, they let Gurley go and they are actually a better team.

now, we can sit here and all of us banter because we are mad. point fingers at offense. point fingers at defense.....one thing is clear, this is the mess that Jerry created as the GM/President/Owner....

 

[jaythecowboy]

its a combination of better drafting and better contracts. almost none of the defensive draftees over the past 4 years are contributing anything of significance or are injured (same, no contribution). LVE, Chido, Taco, Hill, Jaylon, Jones (gone), and we have several over paid backup level players like Crawford, Poe, McCoy( now gone), Griffin and two bloated contracts of Jaylon and Lawrence...these are supposed to be foundations of a good defense. premium picks. top dollars

none of the investments are panning out at all. you figure we get half of what they are paid or to half the level of where they were drafted and we would have an average defense.

and then we have our starting saftey saying, we can't play hard for 70 snaps.....he should be cut right there and then. who allowed him to speak like that. and if he is saying it out loud, then is that the defensive culture?....cut the idiot....what do we have to lose. light a fire under their rears.....no mediocrity of effort is accepted. you can see Jaylon is playing half speed. he is just not into it. he is not hustling. his head is not in the game. Bench him. despite his contract. doesn't like it? is bad attitude, then suspend him.

and yes, on the offensive side we handed out several bloated contracts that we are not really getting a return on, except maybe for one....Martin, the rest...are often injured or past their prime or not playing to the level of their contract, like Smith, Collins, Zeke, Cooper......are we getting our money's worth? and why pay a huge contract to Zeke with two years left on the contract...>Jones blinked...... look at the Rams, they let Gurley go and they are actually a better team.

now, we can sit here and all of us banter because we are mad. point fingers at offense. point fingers at defense.....one thing is clear, this is the mess that Jerry created as the GM/President/Owner....

Longterm that is the answer but for the next two years the Cowboys don't have many options. I don't think we can cut Zeke, Jaylon, Dlaw, or Cooper for at least two seasons. Pretty much all the available cap space will be going to Dak's extension or franchise tag. That also assuming the cap only stagnates and doesn't go down. I doubt the cap will go down because some franchises wouldn't be unable to field a team. More likely they will borrow against future cap increases which means the cap likely isn't going up for 2-3 seasons. That's also assuming COVID doesn't continue to impact revenue in 2021 and beyond.

 

[Wezsh0T]

My point is to build the trenches (DLine) with top-level talent......see Washington Football Team

Wait...what? The same Washington Football Team that is also 1-3?

 

[Beast_from_East]

We have this overlapping issue it seems where we wasted the prime of our offensive line with Dak, including the previous group of receivers that got tossed out as well because of Romo's situation.

Now we have all the young talented receivers you could ask for but in this time the oline has fallen apart and the defense has a bunch of brandon carrs at literally every position.

We know what Dak cant do with lesser receivers, we know what Dak still cant do with great receivers, how do we get a jump start to fixing this team within 1-2 seasons rather than hopefully building up over several seasons, by then losing whatever talent we had left at OL, RB, and possibly WR?

The offense is already stacked vs the defense in terms of cap space used, and there's no way we could expect better results on offense if those key talents are gone so what do we do?

Its called rebuild..............every pick in next year's draft should be on defense.

 

[InTheZone]

Its called rebuild..............every pick in next year's draft should be on defense.

was asking for this in the last draft and they picked a friggin wr..smh

 

[aria]

I can live with the Zeke deal, since if there were actually holes, he would run through them and be useful. Lawrence, Jaylon, Crawford, etc... that money I would like to have back. If that simple ******* even says hot boyz once, someone needs to bash him with a ball bat.

That’s the issue, if there were actual holes 90% of the starting RB‘s in the league would be useful and many even more so than Zeke. You don’t pay a RB top money for his position to not be a difference maker unless he has a top 5-10 O line. Barkley had one of the worst lines in the league his first two seasons and was still producing as a top back. Many other successful RB’s, including older vets and UFA’s, play behind much worse O lines than zeke and still produce.

We’ve now seen what happens to zeke behind an O line that isn’t one of the best and it’s not pretty. His flaws of elusiveness, broken tackles, yards after contact, yards after reception, fumbles, yards from scrimmage, forced missed tackles, etc are finally being exposed when he doesn’t have holes I can drive a semi through.

Sure, he’ll have some good games against scrub teams to pad his stats but as usual, when facing good competition he falls short at least half the time, if not more. Top paid RB’s should deliver consistently and be difference makers that aren’t solely reliant on a top O line.

Unfortunately, Jerrah was too dumb to realize this and caved to zeke’s demands, now we’re stuck for at least another year or two.

 

[Swanny]

We have this overlapping issue it seems where we wasted the prime of our offensive line with Dak, including the previous group of receivers that got tossed out as well because of Romo's situation.

Now we have all the young talented receivers you could ask for but in this time the oline has fallen apart and the defense has a bunch of brandon carrs at literally every position.

We know what Dak cant do with lesser receivers, we know what Dak still cant do with great receivers, how do we get a jump start to fixing this team within 1-2 seasons rather than hopefully building up over several seasons, by then losing whatever talent we had left at OL, RB, and possibly WR?

The offense is already stacked vs the defense in terms of cap space used, and there's no way we could expect better results on offense if those key talents are gone so what do we do?

Draft

 

[Sandyf]

We have this overlapping issue it seems where we wasted the prime of our offensive line with Dak, including the previous group of receivers that got tossed out as well because of Romo's situation.

Now we have all the young talented receivers you could ask for but in this time the oline has fallen apart and the defense has a bunch of brandon carrs at literally every position.

We know what Dak cant do with lesser receivers, we know what Dak still cant do with great receivers, how do we get a jump start to fixing this team within 1-2 seasons rather than hopefully building up over several seasons, by then losing whatever talent we had left at OL, RB, and possibly WR?

The offense is already stacked vs the defense in terms of cap space used, and there's no way we could expect better results on offense if those key talents are gone so what do we do?

I still haven't given up on this year simply because ever team is suffering terrible injuries to their best players. If anyone would have told me Cleveland and Chicago would have two of the best records after the first 4 games I would have laughed very LOUD. Are the Cowboys going to get better with a make shift O line, remains to be seen. Is the defense going to be able to stop any runner, again remains to be seen. What can we do to fix in during the season, really not much without sacrificing many years down the road.

We are going to see if Knight is going to be a true swing tackle, going to see if the new drafted center is the answer to Travis, going to see if McGovern was a wasted pick or not and if they all pan out then the offense will thrive this year and years to come even paying Dak a huge amount of money. One thing the Boys will never do is tank to get a better pick in the draft besides even with one win, the best draft spot currently would be 11 and out of the 10 ten teams ahead of us six of them probably draft a QB plus the fact that the Jones are going to pay Dak, whether you like him or not.

As to the defense, scheme is still the biggest problem. I do believe they will start to play better when we have Brown, Awuzie, Vander Esch, Lee and Gregory back. Now better doesn't mean great but at least allow fewer points. As to fixing it, well it will be the draft in 2021 and take your pick between CB, S, DT and DE. For me, unless a true can't miss CB or DE are there when we pick then I am going for a DT who can make a difference. If you think there will be trading everywhere, I just wouldn't count on it until we see what the cap will be because every team is going to be in a crunch. But would believe we need to draft quality defense in the first two rounds the next 3 years unless a great OT can be had.

As to can they fix the defense because of the cap, we go through this every year about the cap and yet every year every team manipulates it to get what they want, never what the fan wants.

 

[Sevenup3000]

I will say it again, Dak, according to most, stepped into an elite/historically great OL in 2016. Dak did this despite the fact that Tony Romo, at one point, was the highest paid player in the NFL. Tony Romo got that contract yet two years later, Dallas had given Romo this same elite/historically great OL.

No excuses. Whatever Dallas did that allowed Romo to be the highest paid player in NFL history AND still allowed Dallas to obtain the "greatest OL" in the NFL...

DO THE SAME THING FOR DAK. PERIOD. END OF DISCUSSION.

 

[OmerV]

Did you read the title?

For those complaining about the past...."Cowboys make mistakes in compiling roster" isnt a headline it's an ongoing reality....one that is potentially perpetuated if we give Dak a three year contract.

The problem I have with the "pay Dak what he wants" brigade is that there's no suggestion on how we 're able to structure the whole team, im sorry but if you're using comments like "people overlook market factors" you may as well wish upon a star.

Some say, WE'VE ALWAYS FOUND MONEY FOR OUR STAR QB's, why not Dak?....well it's because the Jones/previous QB's have agreed long term deals which have allowed flexibility. To be fair to the Jones' they have always looked at long deals (at all positions), it's their MO. It really depends on what Dak feels is his priority, if he isnt prepared to negotiate on: 3 year contract or rate of pay, he's best off going to New England or Indianapolis as a 3 year market rate contract is counterproductive in us able to improve an awful defense and injury ravaged roster.

On your other points:
I dont expect, or think we need an immediate "elite" QB, i'd prefer to strengthen the Defense and have money to spend rather than dumpster diving for players like: Poe, Clinton-Dix and McCoy.
Strengthen the depth of the O-Line to enhance running game.

Titles often don’t reflect content.

 

[Chuck 54]

The only way Dak’s contract stops us from fixing the Defense and OL is if you think those will be fixed by giving out big contracts in free agency. And that is NOT the way to go.

The defense must be rebuilt through the draft and inexpensive FA additions when you just need guys who can do the grunt work. The OL is already being rebuilt through the draft. This has been a freak year losing both OT’s, but Tyron had no reported back issues, and his neck surgery could mean a great 2021. Collins should be back. Biadasz is the center of the future, and a year of NFL training will benefit him. We have some young players who may never be stars, but they are getting valuable experience this season and should develop into valuable backups.

Next draft, we must select players at all three levels of the defense. This year’s rookies will improve, so adding even 1 player to the secondary, LB, and DL groups will make a significant impact.

There will always be money, even after paying Dak, to add a key FA if you think he’s the final key to a significant jump on defense.

Pay your QB, and the offense is good enough and can still be tweaked with a single draft pick per year.
Draft your defense, while certain contracts eventually disappear from the landscape.

 

[Jake]

We are strapped on the Oline as the previous coach thought we needed All Pro’s at every position. I blame him for that mess.

Garrett drafted them? Garrett paid them?

 

[Aven8]

Garrett drafted them? Garrett paid them?

He couldn’t survive without them and his crappy scheme.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Titles often don’t reflect content.

And posters often ignore the content that they cant respond to.

 

[CowboyoWales]

The only way Dak’s contract stops us from fixing the Defense and OL is if you think those will be fixed by giving out big contracts in free agency. And that is NOT the way to go.

The defense must be rebuilt through the draft and inexpensive FA additions when you just need guys who can do the grunt work. The OL is already being rebuilt through the draft. This has been a freak year losing both OT’s, but Tyron had no reported back issues, and his neck surgery could mean a great 2021. Collins should be back. Biadasz is the center of the future, and a year of NFL training will benefit him. We have some young players who may never be stars, but they are getting valuable experience this season and should develop into valuable backups.

Next draft, we must select players at all three levels of the defense. This year’s rookies will improve, so adding even 1 player to the secondary, LB, and DL groups will make a significant impact.

There will always be money, even after paying Dak, to add a key FA if you think he’s the final key to a significant jump on defense.

Pay your QB, and the offense is good enough and can still be tweaked with a single draft pick per year.
Draft your defense, while certain contracts eventually disappear from the landscape.

No, the only way the Dak's contract stops us from fixing the holes is by continuing with his demand for 3 year top market value contract.

You're solutions sound plausible, until you factor in:

Draft picks take time to mature. From this years draft we've got 1 player playing to an above average standard (and 2019 - Pollard), if we give Dak his three year contract then we're not going to get enough help through the draft.

We DONT have money to add a key fa (go check OVERTHECAP.COM) we've got enough money to look the same inexpensive players that other teams have passed over your: Clinton-Dix, Poe, McCoy, Worley's.

Oh and those "certain contracts" dont "disappear", they involve Dead Money and money spent on extending the Pollards and/or Gallup's or signing replacements.

We may be able to free up some money by restructuring, however, we've already started doing that and the danger is that some of these (Tyron and La'el) are already health concerns, who do we turn to next? Martin- yep, but then you're looking at the bad contracts you'll be considering cutting.

 

[Captain-Crash]

who cares about the offensive line or dense! I want stats prescott signed, screw the cowboys.