Hypothetical situation, but one that is plausible

[the kid 05]

Damn. I thought this was about me being Jessica's rebound guy.

he said it was plausible

 

[silverbear]

too late, I have a date with her tomorrow

Only because I told her I was busy...

I also told her to stop calling, or I'd have to take out a restraining order on her... that woman's just been hounding me here the past week or so...

 

[Vintage]

Would you REALLY want to trust your Franchise QB's blind side to an unproven, untested, rookie?

No way in hell.

Sincerely,
Peyton Manning

 

[Woods]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but in this weak FA market, aren't Hamlin and Flo "Top FA's"????

I meant to sign any OTHER top FAs not on our team in 2007.

(i.e., Trufant types)

 

[sago1]

It won't be like we've never started a rookie at LT. We drafted Adams in 2nd round of 98 and he started the season opener at LT protecting Troy Aikman's blindside; did a good job. While Doug Free was a 4th rounder, he projected by most mocks to go late in 2nd round/mid 3rd but slipped to us because of foot injury. Now it was Hudson Houck who got Adams ready to start immediately; so if coaching staff really liked Free in 07 preseason. you better believe Jerry thinks he can do the same for Free this year or at least Jerry will value Houck's opinion/work lot more then the unknown but also highly valued Solire.

Doubt the Cowboys can re-sign Adams and also sign one of the very few WRs out there in FA (or trade for Roy Williams?) who can help us under our cap & still re-sign Canty, Hamlin, Barber & TO?? . And franchising Adams will cost about $8M for 1 year. If Cowboys decide they must keep Adams cause Free not ready, they'll look for a bargain WR in FA or maybe see if we can find a RFA like Welker on another team who can help out. I know the coachng staff really likes Stanbach but how much realistically can he help us this year & Austin whose got real speed still drops too many passes but is the best return man we've got.

 

[Sandyf]

Flozell will sign probably a five year contract with us for around a 12 million signing bonus and a 30 million contract in total. Cap would look saying like this:

2008 2.3 million bonus + 565K salary = cap #3 mil
2009 2.3 million bonus + 765K salary = cap #3.3 mil
2010 2.3 million bonus + 1565M salary = cap #3.8 mil
2011 2.3 million bonus + 7M salary = cap #9.4 mil
2012 2.3 million bonus + 8M salary = cap #10.4 mil

Then Flo either retires after the 2010 season or we cut him, he will be 37 then.

Just the way contracts usually works.

 

[Vinnie2u]

Say no to Flo.. Yes to Hamlin

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Let me spell out a difficult hypothetical situation

Assumptions
Let's assume that JJ re-signs Hamlin.

The coaching staff isn't "sold" on Free/McQ being able to hold down the LT spot. They don't trust them yet. And they are worried that Romo could get hit/injured unless they keep a TE/RB/FB to help with protection.

Flo wants to re-sign, but he's "fairly" expensive. Let's say about $7-8mm/year area.

-----------------------------------------------------------
So what would you do? We have the money to re-sign both Hamlin and Flo. Plus enough to sign our draft picks and tender Canty and MBIII (at the equivalent of a Round 1 draft pick).

But the dilemma is then, we don't necessarily have the money to sign any top FA. MAYBE only 1 or 2 MID-level FAs (at best).

Do you draft a LT and hope for the best? Or even though the staff is unsold on Free/McQ, you risk it anyway, and instead shore up other weaknesses on your team?

Or, maybe you restructure a couple of other contracts?

Unfortuantely, I think there is a reasonable possibility that JJ will have to make a decision similar to this.

So, what would you do under the above assumptions?

I question that we have the money to resign Adams and Hamlin.

We have about $16 in cap space.

About $8 mill will be gone on draft picks plus the large offers tendered to Canty and Barber.

That's $8 mil left.

Figure $3 mil in cap space for Hamlin.

That's $5 mil in cap space left... That's not alot considering we still haven't resigned Davis, nor have we signed a vet WR or even a nickel DB. And then there is the Newman contract extension looming in the horizon.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

too late, I have a date with her tomorrow

More likely her "sister" Rosie-palm.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Flozell will sign probably a five year contract with us for around a 12 million signing bonus and a 30 million contract in total. Cap would look saying like this:

2008 2.3 million bonus + 565K salary = cap #3 mil
2009 2.3 million bonus + 765K salary = cap #3.3 mil
2010 2.3 million bonus + 1565M salary = cap #3.8 mil
2011 2.3 million bonus + 7M salary = cap #9.4 mil
2012 2.3 million bonus + 8M salary = cap #10.4 mil

Then Flo either retires after the 2010 season or we cut him, he will be 37 then.

Just the way contracts usually works.

We've stopped doing ridiculous contracts like that with all the bs backloading.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

Do you draft a LT and hope for the best? Or even though the staff is unsold on Free/McQ, you risk it anyway, and instead shore up other weaknesses on your team?

I'm trying to figure out why if we started Free or McQ at LT next season it would be a huge risk? This coaching staff has was these guys in practice for a long time now. If they think they can do a credible job at LT, and choose to start one of them then I'm on board with it. At some point your backups have to be capable of starting or they shouldn't be on the team.

Rich showed that Adams wasn't even in the top-10 of LT's this year due to his penalty yardage.

You have to transition to younger players if this franchise is to continue winning over several seasons-- not just one or two.

At one point this team had 20 straight winning seasons because that braintrust knew how to transition from the aged player to the younger player. And I'm hoping after the A. Glenn cut of last year that this braintrust has learned the same thing.

 

[Stash]

You have to give the young players an opportunity at some point. Or else cut them loose and look for better young players. But at some point, someone other than Flozell Adams has to protect Romo's blindside.

If he's looking for a reasonable contract and staying in Dallas is a priority for him I think something can get done for the next two years. But if he's looking for a big payday and another team is willing to pay it, I think the team has to move on and let McQuistan and Free battle it out to start.

I think Rock Cartwright and Shawn Springs could be two moderately-priced free agents who could significantly help the Cowboys (while hurting the Commanders). Springs is currently under contract to Washington, but given their cap situation, I feel it's a matter of time until they're forced to release him.

In my opinion, Springs would add a great deal to the Cowboys' secondary as a third corner/possible starter - certainly a significant improvement over Jacques Reeves or Nate Jones.

And Cartwright could fill the role of #3 running back and special teams ace/return man. He would certainly be an improvement over the increasingly inactive Tyson Thompson. And I can't see a player like Cartwright being prohibitively expensive either.

I don't see this team needing to chase high-priced free agents, but more focused on retaining their own.

Any other areas of improvement can be addressed in this year's draft.

 

[Woods]

You have to give the young players an opportunity at some point. Or else cut them loose and look for better young players. But at some point, someone other than Flozell Adams has to protect Romo's blindside.

If he's looking for a reasonable contract and staying in Dallas is a priority for him I think something can get done for the next two years. But if he's looking for a big payday and another team is willing to pay it, I think the team has to move on and let McQuistan and Free battle it out to start.

I think Rock Cartwright and Shawn Springs could be two moderately-priced free agents who could significantly help the Cowboys (while hurting the Commanders). Springs is currently under contract to Washington, but given their cap situation, I feel it's a matter of time until they're forced to release him.

In my opinion, Springs would add a great deal to the Cowboys' secondary as a third corner/possible starter - certainly a significant improvement over Jacques Reeves or Nate Jones.

And Cartwright could fill the role of #3 running back and special teams ace/return man. He would certainly be an improvement over the increasingly inactive Tyson Thompson. And I can't see a player like Cartwright being prohibitively expensive either.

I don't see this team needing to chase high-priced free agents, but more focused on retaining their own.

Any other areas of improvement can be addressed in this year's draft.

I am leaning your direction.

But assuming we let Flo go if the contract is expensive, I think it's imperative we land a another WR as well.

If we can land a number 2 WR (or marginal number 2 WR even), plus Springs or Florence, and 1 veteran RB, we'd be in good shape going into the draft.

We could go multiple directions in the draft if that were to happen.

I still hope we'd take a CB in Round 1, but the other 1st rounder could be either a WR, OT, RB, or who knows . . . . even a LB. We really would be in a position to take the best player on the board.

 

[Stash]

I am leaning your direction.

But assuming we let Flo go if the contract is expensive, I think it's imperative we land a another WR as well.

If we can land a number 2 WR (or marginal number 2 WR even), plus Springs or Florence, and 1 veteran RB, we'd be in good shape going into the draft.

We could go multiple directions in the draft if that were to happen.

I still hope we'd take a CB in Round 1, but the other 1st rounder could be either a WR, OT, RB, or who knows . . . . even a LB. We really would be in a position to take the best player on the board.

I'm waiting to see how the situation in Detroit regarding Roy Williams plays out. If the Cowboys could acquire him for the reported 2nd round draft choice, I would make the deal yesterday. That would give them even more draft flexibility.

I'd also like to see a corner drafted in Round 1. If not to necessarily start immediately, to groom as Anthony Henry's eventual successor. Someone like McKelvin would bring much-needed punt return abilities as well.

If both WR and CB were addressed, the team could have the luxury of drafting the best player available with the #28 pick or taking a running back they really like to platoon with Marion Barber. They seem to like Chris Johnson and his stock is rising, he could be a potential target at #28....

 

[Woods]

I'm waiting to see how the situation in Detroit regarding Roy Williams plays out. If the Cowboys could acquire him for the reported 2nd round draft choice, I would make the deal yesterday. That would give them even more draft flexibility.

I'd also like to see a corner drafted in Round 1. If not to necessarily start immediately, to groom as Anthony Henry's eventual successor. Someone like McKelvin would bring much-needed punt return abilities as well.

If both WR and CB were addressed, the team could have the luxury of drafting the best player available with the #28 pick or taking a running back they really like to platoon with Marion Barber. They seem to like Chris Johnson and his stock is rising, he could be a potential target at #28....

The guys I like at 28 include,

Cromartie, CB
C Johnson, RB
C Williams, OT
E Doucet, WR

I don't think any of these guys would be a reach at 28, though I do think we could get a very good RB in round 2, 3, or even 4.