If you look at what he's done since Jimmy left, the things you grade a GM on are acquiring good talent and hiring good coaches. He clearly hired bad coaches in Switzer, Gailey and Campo. Those were poor decisions. The draft for the most part was run poorly from 1994-2001.
Since then though he hired Bill Parcells as HC and gave him total control while he was here. Now Parcells the coach wasnt as productive as we wanted in terms of wins, but he did help change the atmosphere, he did restructure the scouting dept and did help us get alot of good players. He then interviewed a ton of potential replacements, but made the call to hire the guy who had the best resume in terms of getting the most out of 3-4 defenses in hopes of making our ordinary defense very good, if not dominant. Who could honestly say they didnt think that at the LEAST Wade would make the defense BETTER, and hence improve our team that way? Put aside the bias against his previous HC stints and answer that question. I doubt very many can honestly say they thought Wade's defense, with the players we have would suck like it has this year.
While its too early to grade the two post-Parcells drafts, early indications are we did very well. Thats a plus.
And for the most part Jerry has done very well with free agency. We havent signed very many out and out busts and have actually found alot of good value in free agency over the years. Rarely have we signed a free agent and after a few seasons thought we vastly overpaid the guy.
Despite what most think, I do believe Jerry basically "gets it" when it comes to his role in Dallas, and he is not the out and out failure that the media and alot of fans want to paint him as. His #1 job as GM is to assemble a talented roster, and he has clearly done that. He cant play for the guys. He doesnt make the game plans or call the plays.
I think Wade's gone after the season regardless of how we finish. Jimmy was the most critical hire he ever made, Parcells was also a very critical hire at that time. This next hire will be the deciding factor in whether we are a championship contender for years to come or float around in mediocrity for the next few yrs, while all the talent in their primes rots away. If he gets the next hire right, all will be well.
