Yakuza Rich
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I think Stephen Jones has wanted the Cowboys to be more patient, cap conservative and being very wary of age when it comes to contracts for quite some time.
Garrett probably has been as well, but we know that Garrett's big thing is about assembling top notch position coaches with the idea of developing a 'program' and having the best coaching from top-to-bottom.
I think Stephen has pushed for that as well and now with Garrett and now with the success they had last season...Jerry is buying into it.
Last year, EVERY SINGLE STARTER on the offense was either drafted by the Cowboys or was signed as a UDFA. That shows, at least on offense, that we have the coaching to develop a great offense. It's extremely rare to see that from any side of the ball on any team in the league where the entire starting roster on offense or defense was all home-grown talent. But, Dallas did it and our offense was exceptional last season. And many of the key backups like Dunbar, Randle, Escobar, Hanna, Beasley and Harris were all home-grown as well.
I think they wanted to re-sign Dez, but they wanted to clear up some cap space and figure out who they are going to re-sign and who they are going to let go first...then work out a deal with Dez. Yes, he was franchised, but players get franchised all of the time and then get a deal worked out before the season starts. Teams are not exactly fond of using the franchise tag, either.
Parnell got an outrageous contract from the Jaguars. He's pretty limited in what he can do and is a nice backup, but as a starter the team lost its edge. We re-signed Free who is 30 years old, but the contract seems very favorable and allows us to develop some of the backups we have or possibly draft a RT and allow Free to be the backup swing tackle if need be.
Harris got a very good contract for himself. I was a Dwayne Harris fan, but the past 2 seasons his technique in punt returns slipped dramatically. He's not a good kick returner and he's not very effective in the passing game. Dallas basically used him to block, which he's ferocious at. And they would put him in 12 and 21 personnel with Dez to show run because of his blocking ability, but also threaten to pass. But if they passed with him in the game, they almost always went to Dez or Witten.
Why?
Because Harris is a non-factor in the receiving game.
If Harris can get his old punt return skills back and still does well in punt coverage and still blocks great (and stays healthy), then it's a solid pickup for the Giants. But if he continues to play like he did last season, I think they overspent. And they still have to hope he stays healthy.
Meanwhile, I think it's apparent that the Cowboys think they can get the same, if not more, from Devin Street. He was a very good blocker as well. He doesn't get great separation, but has better hands and can catch passes in closed quarters due to his height and jumping ability. They probably feel they can get somebody else cheaper to do punt coverage and somebody else can do punt returns. I don't think any of that is unreasonable logic.
We did end up re-signing Beasley to a favorable contract. Teams are able to find more slot receivers these days, but it's still not as easy as finding somebody that is as effective as Beasley is as he constantly gets great separation, has good hands and has been injury free. To me, Beasley should have been a high priority for the team and he was and he got re-signed.
We still don't know with Murray, yet. I will say that I think his signing with whoever he does end up with will be the most interesting of the draft because just a few years ago Murray would have been a top FA in the market. But now with the game changing, how teams value the tailback and the # of carries he logged...it makes you wonder how much he will sign for. Murray deserves far more credit for the team's running game than he gets. However, the team does have arguably the best O-Line in football and has a solid combination of backups in Randle and Dunbar. Plus, the team could always find an elite athlete in tailback in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft. Remember, Murray himself wasn't selected until the 3rd round. I think you certainly would want him back, but at very high rate makes no sense.
If he's going to get paid $9 million a year, even if the team he signs with has tons of cap room, it's just likely a very unwise decision.
It's hard to say on Carter because while I wanted him to say, he was given a pretty good contract by the Bucs. And the issue with Carter is you don't know which Bruce Carter will show up to play. And I think it's also reasonable to believe that he performed better last season because he was in a contract year. I also think that Marinelli just is not keen on the guy.
Durant turns 30 years old and had his best season ever as a pro and got injured. Meanwhile, we still have Lee (although I have zero confidence he'll stay healthy) and Hitchens along with possibly McClain. We will also have to figure out something with Carr and possibly Moore.
But in all, I think most of the guys that have gone have either signed contracts that are too much or they are players that signed reasonable contracts, but they are iffy as far as if they will perform to that contract.
YR
Garrett probably has been as well, but we know that Garrett's big thing is about assembling top notch position coaches with the idea of developing a 'program' and having the best coaching from top-to-bottom.
I think Stephen has pushed for that as well and now with Garrett and now with the success they had last season...Jerry is buying into it.
Last year, EVERY SINGLE STARTER on the offense was either drafted by the Cowboys or was signed as a UDFA. That shows, at least on offense, that we have the coaching to develop a great offense. It's extremely rare to see that from any side of the ball on any team in the league where the entire starting roster on offense or defense was all home-grown talent. But, Dallas did it and our offense was exceptional last season. And many of the key backups like Dunbar, Randle, Escobar, Hanna, Beasley and Harris were all home-grown as well.
I think they wanted to re-sign Dez, but they wanted to clear up some cap space and figure out who they are going to re-sign and who they are going to let go first...then work out a deal with Dez. Yes, he was franchised, but players get franchised all of the time and then get a deal worked out before the season starts. Teams are not exactly fond of using the franchise tag, either.
Parnell got an outrageous contract from the Jaguars. He's pretty limited in what he can do and is a nice backup, but as a starter the team lost its edge. We re-signed Free who is 30 years old, but the contract seems very favorable and allows us to develop some of the backups we have or possibly draft a RT and allow Free to be the backup swing tackle if need be.
***
Harris got a very good contract for himself. I was a Dwayne Harris fan, but the past 2 seasons his technique in punt returns slipped dramatically. He's not a good kick returner and he's not very effective in the passing game. Dallas basically used him to block, which he's ferocious at. And they would put him in 12 and 21 personnel with Dez to show run because of his blocking ability, but also threaten to pass. But if they passed with him in the game, they almost always went to Dez or Witten.
Why?
Because Harris is a non-factor in the receiving game.
If Harris can get his old punt return skills back and still does well in punt coverage and still blocks great (and stays healthy), then it's a solid pickup for the Giants. But if he continues to play like he did last season, I think they overspent. And they still have to hope he stays healthy.
Meanwhile, I think it's apparent that the Cowboys think they can get the same, if not more, from Devin Street. He was a very good blocker as well. He doesn't get great separation, but has better hands and can catch passes in closed quarters due to his height and jumping ability. They probably feel they can get somebody else cheaper to do punt coverage and somebody else can do punt returns. I don't think any of that is unreasonable logic.
We did end up re-signing Beasley to a favorable contract. Teams are able to find more slot receivers these days, but it's still not as easy as finding somebody that is as effective as Beasley is as he constantly gets great separation, has good hands and has been injury free. To me, Beasley should have been a high priority for the team and he was and he got re-signed.
***
We still don't know with Murray, yet. I will say that I think his signing with whoever he does end up with will be the most interesting of the draft because just a few years ago Murray would have been a top FA in the market. But now with the game changing, how teams value the tailback and the # of carries he logged...it makes you wonder how much he will sign for. Murray deserves far more credit for the team's running game than he gets. However, the team does have arguably the best O-Line in football and has a solid combination of backups in Randle and Dunbar. Plus, the team could always find an elite athlete in tailback in the 2nd or 3rd round of the draft. Remember, Murray himself wasn't selected until the 3rd round. I think you certainly would want him back, but at very high rate makes no sense.
If he's going to get paid $9 million a year, even if the team he signs with has tons of cap room, it's just likely a very unwise decision.
***
It's hard to say on Carter because while I wanted him to say, he was given a pretty good contract by the Bucs. And the issue with Carter is you don't know which Bruce Carter will show up to play. And I think it's also reasonable to believe that he performed better last season because he was in a contract year. I also think that Marinelli just is not keen on the guy.
Durant turns 30 years old and had his best season ever as a pro and got injured. Meanwhile, we still have Lee (although I have zero confidence he'll stay healthy) and Hitchens along with possibly McClain. We will also have to figure out something with Carr and possibly Moore.
But in all, I think most of the guys that have gone have either signed contracts that are too much or they are players that signed reasonable contracts, but they are iffy as far as if they will perform to that contract.
YR