CFZ Instead of a soft rebuild, the 2024 season became a kamikaze mission

[Bobhaze]

This last off-season, most Cowboys fans watched mystified as a team that had won 36 games in three seasons lost 6 starters and other key contributors to free agency, and saw them replaced with rookies and dumpster dive free agents in a so called “soft rebuild”. And we were supposed to believe this would just fly on auto-pilot.

And on top of all that, fans were fed a steady off-season diet of gaslighting about cap restrictions not allowing them to sign any of the better FAs. Which was not only false, it was mostly due to the owner’s own dilly-dallying waiting to sign people he already knew he was going to sign.

All the while piling on his lies with the infamous, “I’m all in” statement. Then putting his head coach and entire coaching staff in a hangman’s noose “all or fall” year with a team full of holes. And a first place schedule, making this team twist in the wind with gigantic holes in its roster while playing the better teams in the league.

Soft rebuild? More like a free fall kamikaze mission. How did this season become a suicide mission?

• Losing some really good players who in fairness we mostly could not have kept. But here’s the mistake: replaced them ALL with either untested rookies or dumpster dive free agents no other team wanted. That’s not a wise rebuild.
• Instead of signing their big contract WR and QB in the spring so they could turn those extensions into cap space, the owner/GM decides to turn that into a PR game of dragging out negotiations, then when it’s too late for other meaningful FA moves, they sign those guys anyway at the price they could’ve made in May instead of Sept.
• When given the opportunity to sign a generational RB talent in Derrick Henry, at a very reduced price (about the same cap hit as their third string QB who never plays) this FO didn’t even make a phone call. Then lied saying “we can’t afford him”. Then lied again saying, “He wouldn’t fit our scheme”.
• When multiple opportunities to draft a RB in the 2024 draft fell their way in rounds 4-7, this FO said “We’re good” with Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Royce Freeman, and washed up vets Zeke Elliott and Dalvin Cook. Not surprisingly this is the worst rushing team in the NFL.
• And finally, with the trade deadline looming and multiple options available to help this anemic offense have at least some weapons to threaten a defense, they have made it clear, they will pass.

Soft rebuild? This season has turned into a very hard pill to swallow as we all watch helplessly as our once talented team heads into a very predictable crash. And the guy 100% responsible refuses to ever take responsibility. Jerry has become the Joker in the Batman series. He would rather “watch it burn“ than ever acknowledge this organization needs someone else in charge of football operations.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Jerry will never admit that it was, why because he's a money man and telling fans etc that we're in a soft rebuild might just cause people to not show up!!

 

[Coogiguy03]

We can't be doing all of this, only to have a dry/stale off season like we had this summer "we're not going to be active in Free agency!'

 

[Bobhaze]

We can't be doing all of this, only to have a dry/stale off season like we had this summer "we're not going to be active in Free agency!'

They might as well have said, “We aren’t going to try very hard to get better”.

 

[Coogiguy03]

They might as well have said, “We aren’t going to try very hard to get better”.

He says anything else he wants to say might as well lol

 

[Kevinicus]

6 Starters?

Hankins
Smith
Tyler Biad...
Pollard

And?
Gilmore (I'd consider him the backup if he were here and Bland was healthy).
Gallup? (Maybe if you count the 3rd wr as the starter. Tolbert has almost as many yards in 7 games as he had in 17).

Outside of T. Smith, I'm not sure the starters lost matter that much.
Now, 2 All-Pros, 1 pro-bowler, DE's 3 and 4, Corner 3 and an ex-pro-bowl experienced vet LB all missing time is a much bigger issue.
The number 2 WR out doesn't help much (did he play hurt?).


There was no "All-In" Lie. Jerry clearly explained what he was talking about when he said it. The fact that people refuse to look beyond one sentence when they listen to people doesn't make it a lie, it just makes the people who ran with it lazy or dishonest.

I still think it's funny people think a RB is going to make a difference with this team. Whether it's the OL players, or the OL scheme, no blocking = no success, no matter the RB.

 

[Bullflop]

The FO's offseason reaction seems to say "we're doing everything possible to spend as little as we possibly can and get the very cheapest players possible to replace the talents that we've cut. It's just my way to get revenge on the players that failed to impress me." Thanks a lot, Mr. GM, sir!

 

[lukemartin79]

This last off-season, most Cowboys fans watched mystified as a team that had won 36 games in three seasons lost 6 starters and other key contributors to free agency, and saw them replaced with rookies and dumpster dive free agents in a so called “soft rebuild”. And we were supposed to believe this would just fly on auto-pilot.

And on top of all that, fans were fed a steady off-season diet of gaslighting about cap restrictions not allowing them to sign any of the better FAs. Which was not only false, it was mostly due to the owner’s own dilly-dallying waiting to sign people he already knew he was going to sign.

All the while piling on his lies with the infamous, “I’m all in” statement. Then putting his head coach and entire coaching staff in a hangman’s noose “all or fall” year with a team full of holes. And a first place schedule, making this team twist in the wind with gigantic holes in its roster while playing the better teams in the league.

Soft rebuild? More like a free fall kamikaze mission. How did this season become a suicide mission?

• Losing some really good players who in fairness we mostly could not have kept. But here’s the mistake: replaced them ALL with either untested rookies or dumpster dive free agents no other team wanted. That’s not a wise rebuild.
• Instead of signing their big contract WR and QB in the spring so they could turn those extensions into cap space, the owner/GM decides to turn that into a PR game of dragging out negotiations, then when it’s too late for other meaningful FA moves, they sign those guys anyway at the price they could’ve made in May instead of Sept.
• When given the opportunity to sign a generational RB talent in Derrick Henry, at a very reduced price (about the same cap hit as their third string QB who never plays) this FO didn’t even make a phone call. Then lied saying “we can’t afford him”. Then lied again saying, “He wouldn’t fit our scheme”.
• When multiple opportunities to draft a RB in the 2024 draft fell their way in rounds 4-7, this FO said “We’re good” with Rico Dowdle, Deuce Vaughn, Royce Freeman, and washed up vets Zeke Elliott and Dalvin Cook. Not surprisingly this is the worst rushing team in the NFL.
• And finally, with the trade deadline looming and multiple options available to help this anemic offense have at least some weapons to threaten a defense, they have made it clear, they will pass.

Soft rebuild? This season has turned into a very hard pill to swallow as we all watch helplessly as our once talented team heads into a very predictable crash. And the guy 100% responsible refuses to ever take responsibility. Jerry has become the Joker in the Batman series. He would rather “watch it burn“ than ever acknowledge this organization needs someone else in charge of football operations.

I didn't see replacing the Armstrongs, Fowlers or Hankins with Sam Williams, Mazi, etc all that crazy because at some point you have to see what you really have with them. Williams injury was just unfortunate, but expecting them to step up wasn't nuts - they should have been able to by now, if they are going to ever. Replacing Biadasz and Tyron with Guyton and Beebe was crazy either. Expecting or needing all of them to work well was very risky though I agree and not realistic.
Never will get why he drug out the Dak and CD signing so long to just give in so big anyway. I really thought he was playing hardball with Dak and going to make him play out that final year and earn it this year - like fat Mike and Zimmer. All on make it or break it seasons. I was ok with that. This 60 million a year contract is awful for any team and nobody is worth having a cap git that high for one guy with a salary cap.
Didn't get the Henry whiff either. The dude lives in Dallas apparently, may have preferred being at home his last seasons. May have taken a lower deal for that, which is usually up Jerrys alley, although its usually injured guys he likes to sign cheaper.
I was thinking during the game when they showed that Niners rookie RB Guerendo gashing our porous and poor tackling D, that he was a 4th rounder last draft. Wouldn't it have been nice to HAVE HAD a 4th round draft pick to use on a RB like him for this year, instead of having Lance being a emergency QB and playing games that don't count in the preseason. Ridiculous.
Instead of missing the playoffs and win 7-8 games, Id rather get a decently high first round draft pick in next years draft. Get an immediate impact - difference maker.
As you always point out - the issues start with the owner who PLAYS GM.

 

[CyberB0b]

More of a gas lighting campaign by the Jones boys.

 

[Doomsday]

I am confused where all the noise about them not having money came from.

If they had gotten a deal done with Dak and Lamb before free agency began they could have resigned some of their players and added a couple of free agents. Instead they decided to throw away 2024 after 3 twelve win seasons in a row. I honestly believe they waited to sign them so they could roll the savings into next season and use the CAP as an excuse for not being active in free agency. They are going to learn the hard away that the draft isn't enough to fill all your holes.

 

[Bobhaze]

6 Starters?

Hankins
Smith
Tyler Biad...
Pollard

And?
Gilmore (I'd consider him the backup if he were here and Bland was healthy).
Gallup? (Maybe if you count the 3rd wr as the starter. Tolbert has almost as many yards in 7 games as he had in 17).

Outside of T. Smith, I'm not sure the starters lost matter that much.
Now, 2 All-Pros, 1 pro-bowler, DE's 3 and 4, Corner 3 and an ex-pro-bowl experienced vet LB all missing time is a much bigger issue.
The number 2 WR out doesn't help much (did he play hurt?).


There was no "All-In" Lie. Jerry clearly explained what he was talking about when he said it. The fact that people refuse to look beyond one sentence when they listen to people doesn't make it a lie, it just makes the people who ran with it lazy or dishonest.

I still think it's funny people think a RB is going to make a difference with this team. Whether it's the OL players, or the OL scheme, no blocking = no success, no matter the RB.

Starters or major contributors lost from last year:

• OL: LT Tyron Smith, C Tyler Biadz
• RB: Tony Pollard
• WR: Michael Gallup
• LB: Leighton Vander Esch (retired)
• DL: Jonathan Hankins
• DE: Dorance Armstrong, Dante Fowler
• DB: Stephon Gilmore, Jayron Kearse

Thats 10 players who played key roles with this team, 8 of them starters at one time - T Smith, Biadz, Pollard, Gallup, LVE, Hankins, Gilmore, and Kearse. That’s a lot of at the very least, good players who have been replaced with: Tyler Guyton, Cooper Beebe, Zeke, Tolbert, Eric Kendriks (good signing), Linval Joseph, Marshawn Kneeland, Carl Lawson, Caelen Carson, and Malik Hooker.

Some of those rookies will certainly get better. But almost all the vet FAs we brought in were certainly cast-offs no one else wanted. “All in” was a lie.

 

[Bobhaze]

I didn't see replacing the Armstrongs, Fowlers or Hankins with Sam Williams, Mazi, etc all that crazy because at some point you have to see what you really have with them. Williams injury was just unfortunate, but expecting them to step up wasn't nuts - they should have been able to by now, if they are going to ever. Replacing Biadasz and Tyron with Guyton and Beebe was crazy either. Expecting or needing all of them to work well was very risky though I agree and not realistic.
Never will get why he drug out the Dak and CD signing so long to just give in so big anyway. I really thought he was playing hardball with Dak and going to make him play out that final year and earn it this year - like fat Mike and Zimmer. All on make it or break it seasons. I was ok with that. This 60 million a year contract is awful for any team and nobody is worth having a cap git that high for one guy with a salary cap.
Didn't get the Henry whiff either. The dude lives in Dallas apparently, may have preferred being at home his last seasons. May have taken a lower deal for that, which is usually up Jerrys alley, although its usually injured guys he likes to sign cheaper.
I was thinking during the game when they showed that Niners rookie RB Guerendo gashing our porous and poor tackling D, that he was a 4th rounder last draft. Wouldn't it have been nice to HAVE HAD a 4th round draft pick to use on a RB like him for this year, instead of having Lance being a emergency QB and playing games that don't count in the preseason. Ridiculous.
Instead of missing the playoffs and win 7-8 games, Id rather get a decently high first round draft pick in next years draft. Get an immediate impact - difference maker.
As you always point out - the issues start with the owner who PLAYS GM.

Well said.

I am confused where all the noise about them not having money came from.

If they had gotten a deal done with Dak and Lamb before free agency began they could have resigned some of their players and added a couple of free agents. Instead they decided to throw away 2024 after 3 twelve win seasons in a row. I honestly believe they waited to sign them so they could roll the savings into next season and use the CAP as an excuse for not being active in free agency. They are going to learn the hard away that the draft isn't enough to fill all your holes.

The cold, hard facts all laid out.

 

[Diehardblues]

6 Starters?

Hankins
Smith
Tyler Biad...
Pollard

And?
Gilmore (I'd consider him the backup if he were here and Bland was healthy).
Gallup? (Maybe if you count the 3rd wr as the starter. Tolbert has almost as many yards in 7 games as he had in 17).

Outside of T. Smith, I'm not sure the starters lost matter that much.
Now, 2 All-Pros, 1 pro-bowler, DE's 3 and 4, Corner 3 and an ex-pro-bowl experienced vet LB all missing time is a much bigger issue.
The number 2 WR out doesn't help much (did he play hurt?).


There was no "All-In" Lie. Jerry clearly explained what he was talking about when he said it. The fact that people refuse to look beyond one sentence when they listen to people doesn't make it a lie, it just makes the people who ran with it lazy or dishonest.

I still think it's funny people think a RB is going to make a difference with this team. Whether it's the OL players, or the OL scheme, no blocking = no success, no matter the RB.

Talent always matters.

 

[beware_d-ware]

I honestly thought this season was going to be a tank-out. Letting vets walk, not replacing them, not resigning Dak, every coach signed to a lame-duck 1 year deal.... what else could the plan be?

Then we resigned Dak at the 11th hour, and all those hopes were for naught. We got the roster and coaching staff of a tank-out, with a Dak contract that says "long haul".

It's just sickening. By about March, we knew the 2024 season would have no hope. But next season doesn't have any hope either.

 

[LACowboysFan1]

The worst thing about this season is that if they are telling us the truth, at some point (barring other injuries) Parsons, Lawrence, Bland and Cooks will return in a game or two, players who are either starters or first backups. Also will get Phillips back on the DL probably but he's an unknown commodity for the most part at this time.

The return of those players will probably result in an improved Cowboys team, and likely a few more wins, but that will do nothing except push them farther down in the draft and give Jerry ammunition to say, "I told you, we're a very good team, just had too many unfortunate injuries" and let him do nothing major to improve the team. That will placate some fans and keep butts in the seats and lines at the merchandise stores. While the rest of us will have to suffer through either another first round playoff loss or a season with few wins.

And if wins don't occur, we'll have to suffer through another 4-6 or more losses and have to watch the Commanders and Eagles play in the playoffs/win the division.

We're screwed either way...

 

[JohnnyTheFox]

You know the first thing I thought after reading this, if only Jerry and son were actually flying a Japanese zero

 

[Whirlwin]

I don’t know what the plan is, but I can’t think it’s nothing,

 

[LACowboysFan1]

I don’t know what the plan is, but I can’t think it’s nothing,

Hey, that's a plan! They didn't say it'd be a good one!

 

[Whirlwin]

Hey, that's a plan! They didn't say it'd be a good one!

I think he wanted to blow up the season, when you sell a team, don’t you want it to be good. When you go to the draft, don’t you want the best pic. I don’t know what this senile owner is thinking.

 

[Whirlwin]

Hey, that's a plan! They didn't say it'd be a good one!

You have to pick your head up, it’s not good to keep holding your hand against it . Paper bags are better.