Every year I try and share the info I've gotten regarding the Draft.
The first thing I want to confirm is that Jerry is getting A LOT of calls about trades. This is encouraging to me because it could mean we are going to get a pretty screaming deal from someone. Who it could be I don't know at this point.
Okay, we do have a trade on the table with Cleveland if Patrick Peterson makes it to number 6. Cleveland is looking WR and expects to land Julio Jones and feels they can get him at 9. The scouting department and front office and coaching staff all see Peterson as a once a decade talent at his position. That is why we would go up for him and give away our 3rd round pick to do it.
If we stay put at #9, don't be shocked but that pick is most likely Tyron Smith. I know Mosley is saying absolutely not, but I want you to think about this. He is the guy we've invested the most time in. The media wrongly reported he is the only guy Jason Garrett went to see. Why would we spend that much and pass on him?
He is the player we have probably the greatest chance of ending up with. I would say 80% chance this is our guy. He will be used at RT despite what some publications are saying about not taking RTs in the top 10. Free is the LT and Smith played RT at USC. No need to screw with that.
If Smith is gone for some reason we would likely accept an offer from either Detroit or St. Louis to move down. You've seen rumors about Aldon Smith. Forget them. No one I have talked to gives those any credence at all. The pick is most likely Castonzo if we trade down from 9th unless Smith also falls for some reason. There is a chance we are hearing he is falling and we're going to capitalize on this. Not saying it is a given, but it could happen.
Some will ask, what about Carimi? They like him but not as much as those two. Those two would have to be gone for them to take Carimi. They feel similar about Solder, but he might drop out of round 1.
I also feel I need to comment on Mike Pouncey. Yes, we absolutely could end up taking him if we trade down to middle of round 1 and there is a deal on the table to do this. I would probably actually put him ahead of Carimi and Solder as a possibility. So his reason for being so sure he's coming to Dallas could be that he was told we may trade down to the middle of the round and we would take him. Players are almost always told where we might take them. Some get excited about this. He would be a Guard most likely. He can play Center, but is seen as better at Guard.
I give a trade up or a trade down and equal 10% chance of happening. 1st round money is still on Tyron Smith.
******
Jason Garrett loves TCU QB Andy Dalton. The Cowboys will not take him with the #40 pick and if we take Peterson in a trade up we will not take him at all because #40 will be for a RT. I think Solder, Sherrod, or Ijalana if we end up with Peterson and one of the first two falls.
If we get our RT in round 1, be it Smith or Castonzo, and we trade down in the 2nd round to add picks watch closely because we may be taking Dalton. If he is there in the 3rd round we absolutely will take him. He won't make the 3rd round. I am sure of that. What I am not sure of is how much we want him. Basically I am just telling you that the interest in him is absolutely genuine and high.
Right now at #40 the odds are we will decide between 2 players in the defensive backfield. Rahim Moore of UCLA and Aaron Williams of Texas (he would move to Safety). Williams is the player more likely to be gone of the 2. He might end up at the bottom of the 1st round. If a surprise player is there this could change, but these 2 are the most likely choices at this time that are expected to be in that area.
There is one surprise player we could take in the 2nd that would kind of thrill me because I sent the word to the Cowboys a few months ago. Mason Foster is an OLB at Washington but I told one of my guys to watch the Oregon State game where he shadowed Jacquizz Rogers all over the field. You generally mirror a RB with an ILB not an OLB. It showed Foster's incredible range and instincts. Excellent ILB traits. About a week ago one of the Draft sites mentioned Foster being looked at as an ILB instead of an OLB and mentioned Dallas as interested.
Hey, I can hope.
******
As I said above, if Dalton is there with this pick, we take him. 100% guarantee.
Right now the 2 main players they are looking at here are OG Will Rackley out of Lehigh and NT Kenrick Ellis out of Hampton. We love both players and it is doubtful we could land both unless we ignore S in round 2 and take one of them. If both are gone it could be Brandon Harris if he continues to fall or Marcus Cannon or Danny Watkins on the OL. If both Rackley and Ellis are there I think we could take one and trade back into the 3rd almost immediately and take the other too.
I would be thrilled if we do that.
******
Lots of room in the 4th through 7th rounds and nothing is really concrete anywhere. My pet cat, Cecil Shorts is a very serious option. I have not heard a peep about my FB Henry Hynoski, so I assume he is not. If we do not take Andy Dalton I will bet my favorite hat we take Greg McElroy of Bama on Saturday in one of the rounds. His dad works for the Cowboys.
DeMarcus Van Dyke is someone who we are showing a bit of interest in for these rounds. If Mark Herzlich makes it to the 4th round I think we'd pounce on him. I would love that too. If you watched the story about him hosted by Steve Mariucci on NFLN you had to be jazzed. What a great kid.
******
What I am hearing right now as it pertains to Free Agency. We will hopefully re-sign Kosier, Free, and Sensabaugh. There are 5 high priced veterans who may either be cut outright, cut and re-signed to better deals, or renegotiated deals immediately. These moves need to clear cap room if we get a CBA.
Right now, I do not think we will get a CBA. I believe they will play with another uncapped year and on the 2010 Guidelines. This disturbs me, but I think the owners want this more than they want to get a deal done. Think about it. UFA again moves to 6 years instead of 4 and then an even bigger UFA pool next year. More pressure on the players association because more guys without deals.
It absolutely would help Jerry though, because all of these guys would likely be kept for depth if he doesn't have to care about a Cap.
The player most in danger of being gone is Terence Newman. His cap savings if we cut him is huge. I would hate to lose him and he may re-sign at a lower deal. I hope so.
I'll be shocked if Marion Barber is here. I love him, but his production does not match his salary at all.
Colombo is one I think will be cut and re-signed to a lower deal as insurance and Barron would be gone. If Colombo is gone we keep Barron as insurance.
I think Leonard Davis is safe, but his deal is not good for the team. If we do draft Rackley in the 3rd I can see us starting Holland at RG and letting Davis go and developing Rackley to start. Both our OGs are long in the tooth.
Keith Brooking will be back but probably backs up Sean Lee.
Roy Williams costs us nothing if we release him after this season. That and the troubles Dez has had keep him around 1 more year at least.
I absolutely think Michael Huff will be our starting FS in 2011. He may be the only UFA we sign due to the cap.
EDIT...One thing I want to add. If SDogo chimes in for this thread and shares anything, you should absolutely give it more credence than my report here. His Draft sources are better than mine. I pay absolute attention to his info.
