JJ Wilcox will be our starting FS, Stephen Jones pretty much says

[Doomsday]

I dont see how you can watch tape of our Safeties last year and not bring in a veteran to compete with these guys.

 

[Proximo]

I dont see how you can watch tape of our Safeties last year and not bring in a veteran to compete with these guys.

I see what you're saying, but I don't think the pool of available veterans is very impressive. I'd rather see what we have in the young bucks we've picked up the past few years. Grabbing safeties off the scrap heap hasn't worked out for us very well recently.

If we're ever going to finally get that position locked down it's going to have to be a draft pick we hit on. Let's hope we have that in either Wilcox, or dare I say, Johnson.

 

[iceberg]

That's part of the problem!Stephen Jones is naming who starts.

And did you read the quote or just went off on hype?

 

[BigStar]

I see what you're saying, but I don't think the pool of available veterans is very impressive. I'd rather see what we have in the young bucks we've picked up the past few years. Grabbing safeties off the scrap heap hasn't worked out for us very well recently.

If we're ever going to finally get that position locked down it's going to have to be a draft pick we hit on. Let's hope we have that in either Wilcox, or dare I say, Johnson.

I agree for the most part; Byrd signed for an insane number in NO but TJ Ward signed a very reasonable contract with DEN (4/22.5) There is no way he is not immediately better than what we currently have (Wilcox potential withstanding).

2014
*$5 million signing bonus
*2 million salary (fully guaranteed)
*2014 total: $7 million

2015
*4 million salary (injury guaranteed; converts to full skill/injury/cap guarantee on fifth day of free agency).
*$2.5 million roster bonus (injury only; converts to full skill/injury/cap guarantee on fifth day of free agency).
*2015 total: $6.5 million.

Basically a one year prove it contract that the team can cut bait on in the second season if it didn't turn out.

Very cap friendly and similar to the Melton contract the team lucked into. Could have allowed some competition bw Church/Wilcox/Ward for the starting positions (draft withstanding). This is the only player that I felt the team should have looked into more but didn't show interest. The Ware drama was distracting from this miss. The team evidently sees Wilcox as a FS but personally see him as the new ideal SS who is athletic enough to cover the athletic TEs and and scat backs out of the backfield. Either way, this would have given the team a very respectable foundation to build upon without sacrificing a large future investment (cap wise).

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I see what you're saying, but I don't think the pool of available veterans is very impressive. I'd rather see what we have in the young bucks we've picked up the past few years. Grabbing safeties off the scrap heap hasn't worked out for us very well recently.

If we're ever going to finally get that position locked down it's going to have to be a draft pick we hit on. Let's hope we have that in either Wilcox, or dare I say, Johnson.

It hasn't worked because we cut them before the season even started for some reason. I can't imagine that the young'ns we've started the last season would have done better than the veterans we signed (Poole and the guy from the Steelers last year). I don't understand why we cut those guys so early. We coulda really used that guy last year. We acted prematurely.

 

[xwalker]

I dont see how you can watch tape of our Safeties last year and not bring in a veteran to compete with these guys.

This season is a good time to give young players a chance to develop. There are too many holes in the roster to patch them all. The more young players that develop in 2014, the better the team will be in 2015. They can save their cap money to fix any issues that don't get resolved in 2014.

Throwing money at free agents in 2014 would be like adding drops of water to the Ocean; whereas, they have a chance to have narrowed down many of those issues before the end of the season. The goal should be to get to free agency in 2015 with only 1 or 2 obvious needs/question marks instead of about 10 at this point.

Unlike previous years, they should not be losing any players to age or expense after 2014. They will have a better cap situation in 2015 than they've had in a long time.

Bottom like: Don't do anything in 2014 that does not make you better in 2015.

 

[Woods]

This season is a good time to give young players a chance to develop. There are too many holes in the roster to patch them all. The more young players that develop in 2014, the better the team will be in 2015. They can save their cap money to fix any issues that don't get resolved in 2014.

Throwing money at free agents in 2014 would be like adding drops of water to the Ocean; whereas, they have a chance to have narrowed down many of those issues before the end of the season. The goal should be to get to free agency in 2015 with only 1 or 2 obvious needs/question marks instead of about 10 at this point.

Unlike previous years, they should not be losing any players to age or expense after 2014. They will have a better cap situation in 2015 than they've had in a long time.

Bottom like: Don't do anything in 2014 that does not make you better in 2015.

I think this is the right way to think of it. There is virtually no way to fix our defense this year alone. We need two solid drafts. Worst thing we can do is to draft for need and end up with duds. It'll just put us back even further.

 

[Doomsday]

This season is a good time to give young players a chance to develop. There are too many holes in the roster to patch them all. The more young players that develop in 2014, the better the team will be in 2015. They can save their cap money to fix any issues that don't get resolved in 2014.

Throwing money at free agents in 2014 would be like adding drops of water to the Ocean; whereas, they have a chance to have narrowed down many of those issues before the end of the season. The goal should be to get to free agency in 2015 with only 1 or 2 obvious needs/question marks instead of about 10 at this point.

Unlike previous years, they should not be losing any players to age or expense after 2014. They will have a better cap situation in 2015 than they've had in a long time.

Bottom like: Don't do anything in 2014 that does not make you better in 2015.

Right, but there were also cheap veterans with actual playing experience out there. The Panthers signed DeCoud to a deal that is worth a maximum of $3.75 million and includes a $500,000 signing bonus.

There are middle of the road veterans that can be added to the roster for a reasonable price that dont require big singing bonuses that would at least create competition and give you options.

 

[iceberg]

Right, but there were also cheap veterans with actual playing experience out there. The Panthers signed DeCoud to a deal that is worth a maximum of $3.75 million and includes a $500,000 signing bonus.

There are middle of the road veterans that can be added to the roster for a reasonable price that dont require big singing bonuses that would at least create competition and give you options.

and we've signed a few that didn't do a thing for us. i'm not saying DON'T DO IT i'm just saying i also hear a lot of people saying we must draft a safety high and i completely disagree. i just don't see any "vet" out there that can come in and make a huge difference at this point. Ed Reed? a bit old so we'd likely pass. Huff? Don't see any reason why we'd kick those tires. I don't discount the value of a vet, but i do question if the value is there at this point.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Esp when that player(mistake) is a small school prospect out of the 4th round. What is he so proud of? Actually finding talent in the 4th like many teams do routinely? You got us Stephen...

I agree though that he is insinuating that the team will not likely draft a S high in the top 3 rounds though the team is in need of an upgrade even if it is to supplant Church. Ideally, Wilcox would be this team's SS who is much more capable of keeping up with the athletic TEs and rbs being incorporated in the passing game. Ideally, a more athletic "natural" cover FS could handle the back end and finally stop the confusion and lackluster zone play that has been displayed in the secondary since 2009. I am a fan of Pryor to supplant Church and feel Wilcox is adequate. I am reading more on Ward from board's influence, etc. and he does look like a player the team should target, even fitting more to the ideal I'm speaking of. Still like Pryor as a great SS though.

Pryor played the deep middle and half most of the time. He can handle either spot in the NFL. I just wish he had better size.

 

[xwalker]

Right, but there were also cheap veterans with actual playing experience out there. The Panthers signed DeCoud to a deal that is worth a maximum of $3.75 million and includes a $500,000 signing bonus.

There are middle of the road veterans that can be added to the roster for a reasonable price that dont require big singing bonuses that would at least create competition and give you options.

Then you end up playing them instead of developing the young players.

That's one of the costs of trying too hard to win with marginal team. That's a big reason the Cowboys have been 8-8. It's easier to go from 4-12 to 12-4 than from 8-8 to 12-4.

The Cowboy 8-8 teams have had middle round draft picks and have spent a lot of time and money on middle of the road veterans.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I just watched all the games draftbreakdown had for Jimmie Ward. I can understand why he is getting top consideration. He is clearly better in coverage than both Clinton-Dix and Pryor. Haha has better size but I definitely would rather have Ward over Pryor and I like Pryor.

Ward just has tremendous ball skills, coverage skills and zone awareness. I love his willingness to stick his nose in there and his 2012 game vs FSU sold me on his ability to play with top guys.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Right, but there were also cheap veterans with actual playing experience out there. The Panthers signed DeCoud to a deal that is worth a maximum of $3.75 million and includes a $500,000 signing bonus.

There are middle of the road veterans that can be added to the roster for a reasonable price that dont require big singing bonuses that would at least create competition and give you options.

I hate to say this cause it prob comes across as baiting -it's not- but this is not Madden. Stop gap Will Allen types do not help overly much and I would rather have Wilcox growing than Decoud stagnating. Uncertainty is a pita no doubt.

 

[Bullflop]

I'm venturing a wild guess the motive behind Stephen declaring Wilcox a starting safety before the season even gets underway is to prepare the fans for the scenario that they probably won't even address the safety position in the draft at all. I suspect if they do, it might just be a token late pick. Both Stephen and Jerry have previously made comments indicative of such a likelihood.

 

[theSHOW]

For some reason, I think he could be a decent FS. Maybe not the best tackler in the world, but he has pretty good ball awareness and a nose for the ball

great looking Sig.

 

[Frozen700]

That's part of the problem!Stephen Jones is naming who starts.

So what are you going to do about it?

 

[Gaede]

I just watched all the games draftbreakdown had for Jimmie Ward. I can understand why he is getting top consideration. He is clearly better in coverage than both Clinton-Dix and Pryor. Haha has better size but I definitely would rather have Ward over Pryor and I like Pryor.

Ward just has tremendous ball skills, coverage skills and zone awareness. I love his willingness to stick his nose in there and his 2012 game vs FSU sold me on his ability to play with top guys.

Ward is the best safety in the draft. Doubt we draft him, barring a trade down.

I also think we ignore the position altogether if we don't draft Ward. I can see us drafting a guy like Joyner because he doubles as CB and S, but none of the second tier safeties are better prospects than JJ.

As bad as I think the position currently is, we basically have to roll with what we have due to the lack of depth in the draft and the investments we've already made.

Ward sure would be sweet though.

 

[Doomsday]

I hate to say this cause it prob comes across as baiting -it's not- but this is not Madden. Stop gap Will Allen types do not help overly much and I would rather have Wilcox growing than Decoud stagnating. Uncertainty is a pita no doubt.

Nothing wrong with a few Madden references now and again. The thing is Will Allen would of been been a heck of a lot better than Heath the second 1/2 of the year. Its hard to argue that Dallas wouldn't of made the playoffs with better play opposite Church. So many big plays, and third downs given up by having a guy way in over his head. Just cause Heath didn't pan out doesn't mean some one else might. I just think you have to at least bring in more competition at one of the biggest weaknesses on your team, not go with the same lineup. Like the old saying goes, doing something over and expecting different results. I've scene this scenario play out too many times lately.

One could also argue that guys like Heath are nothing but a bad stop gap, so you really aren't taking away from their development. Heath should of been on the practice squad not getting lit up on Sunday.

As for Wilcox, he should earn his spot by beating out a guy like DeCoud etc, other wise he isnt ready and can develop in practice, like plenty of other players have done.

 

[chicago JK]

I liked what I saw of Wilcox last year. Now whether he is ready to be a solid starter next year in another question. IMO, if a safety is not drafted in the first two rounds a veteran capable starter has to be brought in and given a legit chance to win the job. You can't go into the season with Church, Wilcox, Heath and Johnson as your safety depth chart with a few other camp bodies. That has disaster written all over it if Wilcox proves he is not ready yet or if there is an injury with someone.

 

[Zekeats]

I'll believe it when I see it

So it looks like we are going safety in the first round