CFZ I'm All About Hard Work and Development, But Today's NFL is Different

Pass2Run

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The NFL has always been a what-have-you-done-lately, prove-it-to-me league. In a player development league, NFL teams believe they can often times draft or sign a guy with traits, and develop those traits into the player they envision a player with those traits to be like.

The only problem? Humans are only a little bit like clay, some are more like clay more than others, and others can just never be molded, at least for the purpose of a coach developing a 5'5'' quarterback...we've just never seen that happen. But even the most athletically gifted, and instinctive players have limitations. It's called being human. Not all of us are athletic.Some aren't interested, et cetera.

But, in today's times, competition is fierce. The athletes coming through college football programs nowadays come in like they always have. However, it's not just the best athletes in high school, who were the best athletes in college, and then only the very best of those athletes in the pros: it's still that; we still get the very best athlete per capita from a much larger population — a population where a significant portion of those youth puts as much time into football as, say, literature. I realize not everyone plays, some stick with the band, some play other sports (whereas I wis I would have focused on one year round), and aren't full time players.

But still, the NFL is a numbers game. Ever since I can remember, there have been guys who come in as rookies and take almost no time at all getting up to the speed of the game. Times are changing. Or, in other words, the NFL is evolving. But before we take a look at that, let's recap.

The Late 1990s Decline

The 90s was a time when Jerry couldn't solve the algebraic portion of the cap rules. Bleeding money and indebted for selling his soul for three Super Bowls in four years, Jerry was heavily involved in the business aspect of the Dallas Cowboys.They had succeeded in establishing Dallas as a juggernaut when it came to bragging rights, team loyalty, the brand, and all of the flash.

It was at that time that Jerral seemed to forget something very crucial along the way: the business of winning. That proverbial thrill of winning was gone for our beloved nostril picker. Jerral Wayne had been there done that. He'd conquered Texas with his childhood joy and part-time obsession.Everyone needs a hobby, Jerral Wayne had made his a business, which propelled him amongst the cushest of the cush. Was his complacency in regards to winning was borderline abusive?

Those were my worst times as a fan, and I resented Jerry deeply for it. The same goes for all of those torturous clapper years, with that . . . rosy clapper.

I accepted the idea after mulling it over for a while, thinking I was just being too critical. But I knew after a full year of Jason Garret that that dog would never hunt. I'm pretty sure even the good Lord would tell Jerral that he stuck with the wrong coach, for far too long.I mean, cripes, this is his team. We can't have that up here. You are commanded.

28 Years! But, No, Really, Now What?

If you're here, it's possible you're among the most fortunate to have been born after those glorious 1990s. Because as we all know, 28 years has gone by, and that means, well, you're still young compared to us oldies. But Jerry has a duty to the legacy of this team. If he wants to get the most bang for his buck in terms of what he passes on to his heirs, solidifying its longevity with a win before he slips on the old banana peel is probably the top priority on his agenda.

Anyway, let's fast forward some. I liked the Zeke pick, and Dak worked out. If you had to have two players work out from that draft, those would be it, in my opinion. I don't think many foresaw the drastic impacts additions like Mike McCarthy, CeeDee Lamb, Diggs, Micah Parsons would have year one, and two, now coming into his third year. It actually feels like I've been watching Parsons forever. But his freakishness is what brought me back from a football hiatus after I was spending time and focus embedded into some other things, and I would watch some highlights, but I really fell off there with engagement. Most of my life, I've been pretty tuned in, however.

What I've noticed, back in the 90s days, it was that nearly impossible to find a team of top-notch athletes to plug-and-play in a team and fill hole. You needed free agency. Not only that, the league upped the ante with competition by implementing the salary cap, which I think is the best thing that ever happened to the league. Otherwise, it's just sort of Harlem Globetrotter-esque. But now, with the population booming, the league is hybridizing, the chess board aspect of the game is changing, the X's and O's scheme, and all aspects because we have more talented athletes here. So it takes a lot of moving parts nowadays. Continuing on with their focus on culture change is likely going to be their best best.

I think the Cowboys need to win now, for their brand. To set the stage for the NFL as a whole, bring on the haters, but also building the Cowboys brand is great for the league, and every other team in the NFL. And most important, not only take advantage of, but nurture the young talent they have.
 
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Pass2Run

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I also meant to add the two year rule is now the three year rule. Although you may have some who are 3 year "tweener" types. Somehow, my post published by itself and I ran out of time to edit what I was going to edit.. oh well.
 

Creeper

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I think the Cowboys have been excellent hyping the team and their players. Give Jerry credit for that. Sure, they need to win more than they lose, but the fact they have been able to sustain their popularity for 28 years without winning even an NFC championship game is a testament to how good the Jerry hype machine is. The Cowboys just need to be competitive and Jerry's hype machine will do the rest.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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The salary cap doesn't make the league more competitive, the owners are all billionaires.

What the cap does is allow owners to be cheap and choke player salaries.
 

leeblair

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The rookie salary cap is crooked and should be declared illegal. It unfairly limits what rookies can make and then if their team struggles they are cast aside for more rookies.
 

Swanny

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The rookie salary cap is crooked and should be declared illegal. It unfairly limits what rookies can make and then if their team struggles they are cast aside for more rookies.
The union negotiated it. Players have no one to blame but themselves
 

Rockport

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The salary cap doesn't make the league more competitive, the owners are all billionaires.

What the cap does is allow owners to be cheap and choke player salaries.
No it prevents teams in big market cities to use that money to sign all the best players. Some of you yahoos will ***** about anything.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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No it prevents teams in big market cities to use that money to sign all the best players. Some of you yahoos will ***** about anything.
Big market doesn't matter because TV revenues are split. The Packers generate something like $600m per year in revenue and are one of the smallest markets. Shad Kahn's net worth is over $10b.

The cap exists purely as a means for owners to suffocate salaries and protect their revenue streams. The idea that it is for competitive balance is just a talking point. It's not like the league is ever competitive top to bottom.
 

TwoDeep3

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There was a comment made on 105.3 a few days ago that was just tossed out there and not made into perhaps the big deal it is.

Dallas has more players drafted who are in the NFL than any other team. I believe the number was 87, and the closest was 76 or so.

This is a two edged sword. They draft well, but don't retain talent well. But then that assumes these guys floating around other team's rosters are real contributors.
 

Rockport

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Big market doesn't matter because TV revenues are split. The Packers generate something like $600m per year in revenue and are one of the smallest markets. Shad Kahn's net worth is over $10b.

The cap exists purely as a means for owners to suffocate salaries and protect their revenue streams. The idea that it is for competitive balance is just a talking point. It's not like the league is ever competitive top to bottom.
The cap exists to prevent rich owners from hoarding all the talent. You can say differently but you’re wrong.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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The cap exists to prevent rich owners from hoarding all the talent. You can say differently but you’re wrong.
The owners are all rich lmao

But this is an argument for reducing salaries. By not allowing owners to hoard talent, you're saying that they're trying to prevent heavy increases on pay for talent. That's suffocating wages.
 

Vtwin

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No it prevents teams in big market cities to use that money to sign all the best players. Some of you yahoos will ***** about anything.
With revenue sharing there is no such thing as a big market city anymore.

Don't you know anything about the NFL you yahoo?
 

StarOfGlory

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The salary cap doesn't make the league more competitive, the owners are all billionaires.

What the cap does is allow owners to be cheap and choke player salaries.
The salary cap is there to allow for more competitiveness among all the franchises. All billionaires are not equal, nor do all billionaires have ready access to windfalls of liquidity. The NBA knows this, and even with their very strong union support the salary cap, although they do want a few tweeks. You can write a list of franchises from both the NFL and NBA that would quickly become an afterthought without a salary cap. The REAL stars are worth more than what they are being paid (Mahomes in the NFL, Jokic in the NBA, etc.), but how much imbalance do you want in a team's salary structure?

You can argue that having a solid front office that knows what it is doing is more important to success. What no salary cap does for the bad front offices is allow them to buy their way out of mistakes. And with all things equal, the team with the most money has a huge advantage.
 

StarOfGlory

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With revenue sharing there is no such thing as a big market city anymore.

Don't you know anything about the NFL you yahoo?
Take away the salary cap and your statement falls flat once the big money rolls out. Revenue sharing has nothing to do with monies earned outside of the NFL.
 

StarOfGlory

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Nope. It's there to protect revenues.

NFL owners are myopic in what they want to do.
Really? Let's do a little exercise here.

The NFL no longer has a salary cap, and every player is a free agent. Bill Gates decides he wants a team, and gets one. He decided to put $20 billion into building a team. He buys Mahomes, Jefferson, Adams, McCaffery, T. Kelce, an O-line of Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, J. Kelce (or Humphries, he's younger), Martin, and Lindstrom. Who is stopping that offense? No one. Might as well give him the trophy for the next five years.
 

Mac_MaloneV1

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Really? Let's do a little exercise here.

The NFL no longer has a salary cap, and every player is a free agent. Bill Gates decides he wants a team, and gets one. He decided to put $20 billion into building a team. He buys Mahomes, Jefferson, Adams, McCaffery, T. Kelce, an O-line of Trent Williams, Lane Johnson, J. Kelce (or Humphries, he's younger), Martin, and Lindstrom. Who is stopping that offense? No one. Might as well give him the trophy for the next five years.
Cool. Other owners would then have to get new investors spend a lot more to try to keep pace. In other words, salary suppression.

Owners don't care about winning, the buy teams to make money.
 

StarOfGlory

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Cool. Other owners would then have to get new investors spend a lot more to try to keep pace. In other words, salary suppression.

Owners don't care about winning, the buy teams to make money.
Bull****. There are owners who care about winning.
 
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