Last year's moves didn't pan out

[Paniolo22]

The reason JF was traded was because of the workout warrior Tank Johnson n the off season. He was the strongest lineman IN THE WEIGHT ROOM, but weakest on the field.

 

[Scranton Tiger]

I agree with three of the four. The one I disagree with, letting Fazano go, was in retrospect a good move. Bennett is without question an upgrade there.

 

[Beast_from_East]

If half the moves a team makes actually pan, thats pretty dam good.

Not every trade or every pick is going to work out, in fact a 50% success rate is actually pretty good, all things considered.

 

[nathanlt]

I think the talent on the Cowboys last year was ridiculously good. Last year proved that assembling the most and best talent will pale in comparison to having the players work together as a tough, disciplined team.

That's where the changes need to happen. The draft is a side issue this year.

 

[jterrell]

The only move that really hurt us was the Fergy deal. That's the only guy who would have made a demonstrable difference for us on the field.

The problem was we needed Fergy to restructure because we couldn't pay him what he was gonna cost against the cap as a part-timer. At the same time Fergy and his agent knew BP would pay him.

So we had little leverage there. Pay him, cut him or trade him. We actually did the best we could with it.

Fasano, we may have made the wrong call on but I do not think so.
For all the cheers in Miami the guy was a middle of the league performer in actual production from a starter. He went in knowing the offense and being on a team with no real wideout threats and a QB known for check downs so he probably was about as good as he'll ever be.

We probably did need to upgrade at the position and again BP liked Fasano so was going to sign him if we didn't want to pay him sooner or later.

Pac-Man is a tougher call. We gave up a pick, yet got one in return and we really did get some use out of him as a CB. He was awful as a returner but we weren't ready to start scandrick or jenkins day 1 and the guy bought us some time back when we were actually winning games almost every week.

Akin is a non-issue imho. We were gonna cut him because he wasn't a good fit for us. We got better play from Zach especially the first 10 or so weeks of the season. Zach did a little of what Dat did which is wear down as the season went on.

 

[jterrell]

I think the talent on the Cowboys last year was ridiculously good. Last year proved that assembling the most and best talent will pale in comparison to having the players work together as a tough, disciplined team.

That's where the changes need to happen. The draft is a side issue this year.

I agree with your first post a good deal but disagree with the second.

If you want guys that are willing to work together and be disciplined the best way to obtain them is to draft them. Teams are willing to pay and even overpay their own guys who show those traits.

If by your first point you mean we could have Detroit level talent but good guys and still win then I would strongly disagree.

Its about being talented but also taking care of business and performing to the best of your abilities.

 

[EPL0c0]

1. Yes, Ayodele was that bad. Where you see Zach Thomas' contribution to the defense is in Bradie James' stats. While also down, there was a greater balance between the two interior LBs. With Ayodele, Bradie James was basically carrying the load. It was the ability of Thomas to take care of things that allowed Wade Phillips to use James as a pass rusher a bit more.

2. I'd take Bennett over Fasano any day. The problem in 2008 was not Bennett's ability but Garrett's inability to draw up a game plan to better take advantage of Bennett's talent. I don't think he can push Witten for the starting job (yet) but I certainly think he can do things now that Witten and Curtis cannot.

3. This is one where I agree: Ferguson. The guy wasn't a great talent but he was better than Tank for sure. I think having had Ferguson would have let Ratliff play more DE (in place of Spears) and may have helped the defense get better overall/more consistant pressure on the QBs.

 

[JD_KaPow]

2. I'd take Bennett over Fasano any day. The problem in 2008 was not Bennett's ability but Garrett's inability to draw up a game plan to better take advantage of Bennett's talent.

I'm sorry, our rookie backup TE (backing up a future HOFer in his prime, no less) catches 20 passes for 14+ ypc and 4 TDs, and this somehow reflects badly on Garrett? I think Garrett gets a big pat on the back for seeing what he had and getting the guy involved.

 

[nathanlt]

I agree with your first post a good deal but disagree with the second.

If you want guys that are willing to work together and be disciplined the best way to obtain them is to draft them. Teams are willing to pay and even overpay their own guys who show those traits.

If by your first point you mean we could have Detroit level talent but good guys and still win then I would strongly disagree.

Its about being talented but also taking care of business and performing to the best of your abilities.

I guess I should have said that the draft is of lesser importance than the building of a tough, disciplined teamwork philosophy.

 

[jday]

Not that it's worth mentioning, but I'm pretty much with the majority here. The Cowboy's offseason moves in 08, while they did not render the expected results hoped for, was quite possibly one of the best I've seen in quite sometime.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

3. This is one where I agree: Ferguson. The guy wasn't a great talent but he was better than Tank for sure. I think having had Ferguson would have let Ratliff play more DE (in place of Spears) and may have helped the defense get better overall/more consistant pressure on the QBs.

And have a cap hit of $5 mil in order for Ferguson to ride the pine most of the season? No way.

 

[CATCH17]

The only move im upset about is losing Terd Ferguson.

I blame that on Tank Johnson though for molding himself into nothing but a workout warrior.

Bennett over Fasano is a no brainer.

I liked Fasano and I always thought he would be a solid guy in this league but he is in now way shape or form going to be the player that Martellus Bennett will be.

 

[SMCowboy]

Adoyele - We were going to cut Ayodele for sure, and yes he did need to be cut, to free up his salary. He was horrible here.

Fasano - A 4th rounder for Fasano proved to be a fair trade, and a good trade for both teams. Miami needed a TE badly and Fasano proved to be decent, but far from special as a TE. We wanted to get someone else at TE instead of Fasano, and were able to get a 4th round DP for him and Adoyele who we were going to cut anyway.

Ferguson - Sure, I would LOVE to have Ferguson still in Dallas, but not at anywhere near what his salary was. And with Parcells in Miami, there was no way we were going to get Ferguson to restructure his contract. Lets not forget, that the Ferguson trade was NEVER about fair value for the player, it was about getting the most that we could for a guy that we HAD to get rid of because we could not afford to pay him $5 million dollars to sit the bench.

Pacman Jones - We gave up a 4th last year, but get a pick back from Tennesse this year, so it was not a horrible trade by any means, and while Pacman never was what we thought he could be for us, he was definately helpful early in the season when we were battling injuries at CB.

 

[keds]

Bennett and all of the other knuckleheads on this team did affect team discipline which carries over into team chemistry... there are guys on this team like Witten that are very mature and businesslike in their approach to the game and there are guys like Bennett who are immature... Bennett's rap video is a prime example of his immaturity and lack of good judgement... if you have half a team that is committed to their job and disciplined while the other half are unprofessional and undisciplined you're gonna got botched plays, missed assignments... all things we saw this year out of this team...