Mike McCarthy is a good hire. He gives us a realistic chance to maximize the talent we have, but perhaps more importantly, he gives us the opportunity to have a fresh set of eyes to evaluate this team’s roster. This team needs a really good offseason to evaluate its talent and upgrade where needed.
One of the weaknesses of our organization the last two decades is too often having a rosy estimate of our talent. The best NFL GMs are willing and able to look at players critically and determine how much tread is on the tire of a player and their true value in a hard salary cap.
I’m of the opinion that most of us as fans, and sadly even the Jones power brokers, tend to overvalue our talent. That’s normal for fans. It’s not normal for a good front office.
With that in mind, here are some positions and roster spots (in no particular order) I believe need some real scrutiny:
- LT- Truly one of the 3 most important positions on a team includes LT. From 2011-2018, Tyron Smith was one of the best players in the NFL and perhaps even the best player on the Cowboys roster. But back and knee injuries have made Ty Smith a lot more human. We need to consider that his days as a top LT are winding down.
- Safety- a no brainer. We haven’t had great talent at this position for too long. It’s time for this team to invest in a premium draft pick at a long time position of need.
- DT- a close second to safety in obvious need. Another position where we have settled for mid-late round draft picks or cheap retreads. It’s past time to address this position early in the draft.
- WR- Amari Cooper is a great talent and he certainly helped this team for two years. But I don’t believe in investing huge cap space on a position that is one of the easiest to find talent. Michael Gallup’s emergence also makes giving huge cap dollars to Cooper less attractive. I favor moving on from him and saving some cash.
- LB- I still believe a healthy LVE is a great talent. I’m a little concerned about Jaylon after his big contract but he’s still certainly a talent. This team still needs LB talent. We should probably say goodbye to Sean Lee though. Love the guy and what he has meant to this team. But it’s better to cut a guy a year early than too late.
- Guard- I’m not convinced that Connor Williams is a starter. He’s ok at best. Maybe Connor Macgovern is an upgrade and Williams just becomes a decent backup. But this position needs to be addressed.
- TE- Jason Witten needs to go. He’s a HOFer but he’s done. We need another TE probably from the draft to complement the emergence of Blake Jarwin.
There are probably more positions of need not mentioned above. But it’s certainly clear this team needs upgrades at multiple positions. In general, I would say the defense has the most glaring needs. But I also hope Coach Mac is able to bring a more discerning eye on this roster. And that we can stop being married to a player too long because “we love them”.