Off-season step one: House cleaning

[kramskoi]

I just don’t get the desire to keep Clowney. I appreciate what he gave us last year. He was decent. On a really bad defense.

Clowney will be 34 next year and I just can’t see him being more than a bit player. Clowney has basically been a one year gun for hire the last few seasons, usually for teams that aren’t very good.

No disrespect to him or any Cowboys fan who wants him back. I just don’t get it. It just seem like we settle for average because we act like we can’t do better.

Clowney had 8.5 sacks and 12 TFLs, and he only played 13 games. Osa played 17 games and had 3.5 sacks and 6 TFLs. Osa was more of a liability against the run down the stretch, when NOT in the 5 man front. His game against Detroit was particularly horrible.

 

[kramskoi]

It isn't necessarily a desire. It's a question of what do we get to replace him. Let me ask you this, if your choice is either Clowney or Payton Turner, which do you choose?

I'm trying to be realistic about this front office. Wanting them to get rid of players and improve positions is fine. But because we are cheap in free agency, there's a great chance that we won't improve those positions.

In saying I would keep Clowney and bring in someone like Miller, I'm doing that only with our approach to free agency in mind. If I had my druthers, I'd forget them both and go after the top FA DE on the market.

Clowney was the best pass rusher (sacks) and TFL guy (combined) on the d-line. He played only 13 games to boot. If he's cheap...bring him back. He'd be 33 but the guy can still ball.

 

[kramskoi]

It isn't necessarily a desire. It's a question of what do we get to replace him. Let me ask you this, if your choice is either Clowney or Payton Turner, which do you choose?

I'm trying to be realistic about this front office. Wanting them to get rid of players and improve positions is fine. But because we are cheap in free agency, there's a great chance that we won't improve those positions.

In saying I would keep Clowney and bring in someone like Miller, I'm doing that only with our approach to free agency in mind. If I had my druthers, I'd forget them both and go after the top FA DE on the market.

Clowney played good enough to earn another one year deal...if he'd take it. 8.5 sacks and 12 TFLs on just 13 games and an initiation period on defense to get up to speed. That's above average, especially at 32 years of age. No one else on the d-line had more sacks (Houston had 5.5). No one else had more than 9 TFLs (Ezieruaku).

 

[kramskoi]

The only person I have questions about is Thomas. He did show in a few games and I think he could provide depth (at the right price, of course).

Sam Williams...gave his best this past year and couldn't beat out guys like a beat up Fowler, Kneeland (RIP), Eze...and apparently is either too stiff or too thick-headed for linebacker. Tweener with a ton of physical talent who can't "put it all together". Probably a function of being apart of the circus Jerry created.

Yeah...he wasn't great against Detroit but I'd want to keep hold of Thomas for depth. He's signed through 2026 so it would be next year before you would need to make a decision. I think he's on 2 - 3 mil/yr iirc. So he's relatively cheap. We just got the DT room to a respectable level and unless some young buck steps up and flashes then I wouldn't want to tamper with it until next year. I doubt you are going to find anything in the 4th but another "project" player. Been there...done that.

 

[kramskoi]

Yes, he played well last year and is worth keeping. Problem is, all other teams saw the same thing and good DTs are in short supply.

I’d give him 2/12 with 7 guaranteed in a second. I’m figuring he gets a better offer, but I would like to keep him in Dallas.

Thomas is still under contract until 2027...so you don't have to do anything with him.

 

[Diehardblues]

I’ve never understood why this FO falls in love with their own players. Fans can do and do it all the time.

The love fest for keeping players that have literally gotten you almost nothing is mystifying.

Looking at Seattle’s off-season moves the last two seasons, they got rid of a bunch of players that had been “pretty good” for them. But they understood you don’t get better standing pat with a safe hand.

We need to stop falling in love with players just because they’ve worn the star. We need to fall more in love with doing whatever it takes to get another Lombardi. Don’t consider any player “always untouchable”.

Pet cats are fun for fans. I think one of JJ’s biggest faults as a GM is he thinks like a fan instead of a cold, calculating roster builder who isn’t afraid to move on from a player just because he sells tickets.

Unfortunately Jethro is probably going to continue running Cowboys football thru the eyes of a fan.

He’s only cold and calculating when his ego is hurt like with Parsons. And we can all watch to see how he deals with Pickens to see if this trend continues .

While I’d agree with most of your Cap cuts whatever secondary we draft and or acquire in FA will be dependent on a pass rush.

 

[conner01]

I don't care. FA and draft is a good start. It's impossible to get 4 new Safeties that are worse than the 4 we have now.

Plenty of draft capital and money to get LB's, Edge and CB's this off season. Plenty.

I think we will draft a safety if the right guy is there. But there’s not a lot of safeties I’d take in first rnd and it’s awhile before we pick after that. We could probably sign one in FA but it’s seems much more likely you add one this year, one the next abd hopefully develop one you drafted late or that’s already here. A new staff might get more out of a player we got

 

[shabazz]

Yeah...those guys were stellar!!! NOT!!

Mary, those ballers just weren't used correctly by Uberpuss.

Just wait till Christian's scheme gets all the pistons pumping in coordinated excellence.

 

[Vanilla2]

i bet steele, hooker, logan and thomas stay.

 

[MyFairLady]

A bunch of meaningless old guys no trainers not exactly what I would call cleaning house. We will be left with the exact same house just a new end table.

 

[atlantacowboy]

Now is the time to prove that this organization is serious about winning again. It’s time to start cleaning house. Time to release players that are not in future plans. Time to let go of guys that either cost too much, aren’t what we need anymore, or are just not good enough.

Who needs to be released?
Here’s a list of players who need to be released for cap savings and/or just aren’t what we need:

• S Donovan Wilson - hits like a freight train but couldn’t cover his grandma. Designate him a June 1 cut and we save approximately $7 mil.
• RT Terance Steele - Another guy who should get a June 1 cut. Saves about $13 mil in cap space.
• S Malik Hooker - Is 30 now and is not the future. Making him a June 1 cut saves around $6 mil in cap space.
• DE Sam Williams - I believe he is now a free agent but we should just let him walk. Never showed he was capable of fulfilling his potential. Goodbye.
• LB Logan Wilson - turns 30 this yr. Will not be part of this defensive rebuild. Can save about $6 million with his release.
• LB Kenneth Murray - he was a joke last year at LB. Pretty sure he was just on a one year deal so…adios KM.
• DL Solomon Thomas - getting older, costs 3 million next yr…not a lot but he can’t be considered a key cog in our future.
• S Marquese Bell - every time I see him in the field it reminds me of watching him get trucked over and over in the run game vs the packers in that playoff disaster. He needs to go.

These are just the major names. The Cowboys need not only a talent face lift - especially on defense. They need a complete reset on D.

If JJ is serious about swimming in FA waters, we need to start cutting bait.

I just don't beleive the organization is going to bring in 3 new safeties.

 

[DogFace]

I would keep Thomas. The rest can go…

 

[SteveTheCowboy]

It’s a good question Mary. But what I always keep in mind is remembering what we were with those players. Back to back losing seasons, no playoffs and not a bright future with them.

So my answer to your question is, we will be replacing them with what we think IS the future. Obviously some in the draft but equally important will be finding a few impact starters in FA that fit what we want to become.

The guys on that list are anchors not helpers at least IMO. I believe one of this organization’s biggest bad habits is hanging on to players too long who haven’t given you that much anyway.

I doubt we can do that in such a short time. We have trouble doing it with just a couple spots that we KNEW we needed.

We're just not that competent, let alone committed.

Not sayin gyou are wrong...spot on really. We're filled with JAGS (maybe LESS than)...but would only replace them with more of the same, if at all.

 

[gtb1943]

Two offside
One illegal use of hands
One unnecessary roughness

A total of 24 yards

Seven other players also had four.

Not sure how to define “boneheaded”, but he’s not Kenneth Murray, Jr

I believe that Williams became the whipping boy after his reckless driving/vape pen incidents and never got away from it. Everything was magnified after that.

you fixate on accepted penalties and forget about the bonehead plays that cost us that were not penalties

 

[Kwyn]

you fixate on accepted penalties and forget about the bonehead plays that cost us that were not penalties

You said too many penalties. Thats quantifiable so i quantified it.

You said boneheaded plays. Much less quantifiable. How many examples do we have?

 

[DC Cowboy]

Some of these guys haze we saw so much potential in, I think they're better off either win Washington, or another team. Time is over here, can we please add MINGO too???!

If I could get LB Styles w/ the 12th pick

Can't release Mingo, IMO, b/c if an injury occurs ...
LB Wilson and LB Murray can both go
I would keep DE Williams and DL Thomas for 1 more year if possible
Steele can stay
S Wilson, S Bell, and S Hooker, have to see how the draft goes

 

[kramskoi]

Do

I think we will draft a safety if the right guy is there. But there’s not a lot of safeties I’d take in first rnd and it’s awhile before we pick after that. We could probably sign one in FA but it’s seems much more likely you add one this year, one the next abd hopefully develop one you drafted late or that’s already here. A new staff might get more out of a player we got

You have two chances. Caleb Downs (long shot) and Dillon Thieneman. Both are chess piece type players. Thieneman "should" be there at 20 if you want him. Problem is that they haven't prioritized the safety position since they drafted Roy Williams (8th overall pick) in 2002. Williams was the last Cowboy safety to make the pro-bowl (2007).

 

[sdfidaho]

Now is the time to prove that this organization is serious about winning again. It’s time to start cleaning house. Time to release players that are not in future plans. Time to let go of guys that either cost too much, aren’t what we need anymore, or are just not good enough.

Who needs to be released?
Here’s a list of players who need to be released for cap savings and/or just aren’t what we need:

• S Donovan Wilson - hits like a freight train but couldn’t cover his grandma. Designate him a June 1 cut and we save approximately $7 mil.
• RT Terance Steele - Another guy who should get a June 1 cut. Saves about $13 mil in cap space.
• S Malik Hooker - Is 30 now and is not the future. Making him a June 1 cut saves around $6 mil in cap space.
• DE Sam Williams - I believe he is now a free agent but we should just let him walk. Never showed he was capable of fulfilling his potential. Goodbye.
• LB Logan Wilson - turns 30 this yr. Will not be part of this defensive rebuild. Can save about $6 million with his release.
• LB Kenneth Murray - he was a joke last year at LB. Pretty sure he was just on a one year deal so…adios KM.
• DL Solomon Thomas - getting older, costs 3 million next yr…not a lot but he can’t be considered a key cog in our future.
• S Marquese Bell - every time I see him in the field it reminds me of watching him get trucked over and over in the run game vs the packers in that playoff disaster. He needs to go.

These are just the major names. The Cowboys need not only a talent face lift - especially on defense. They need a complete reset on D.

If JJ is serious about swimming in FA waters, we need to start cutting bait.

With question marks at LT, I’d be reluctant to jettison Steele this year, and I believe Thomas has rotational value for that amount.
The rest…..bye, bye

 

[ConstantReboot]

• S Donovan Wilson - hits like a freight train but couldn’t cover his grandma. Designate him a June 1 cut and we save approximately $7 mil.
• RT Terance Steele - Another guy who should get a June 1 cut. Saves about $13 mil in cap space.
• S Malik Hooker - Is 30 now and is not the future. Making him a June 1 cut saves around $6 mil in cap space.
• DE Sam Williams - I believe he is now a free agent but we should just let him walk. Never showed he was capable of fulfilling his potential. Goodbye.
• LB Logan Wilson - turns 30 this yr. Will not be part of this defensive rebuild. Can save about $6 million with his release.
• LB Kenneth Murray - he was a joke last year at LB. Pretty sure he was just on a one year deal so…adios KM.
• DL Solomon Thomas - getting older, costs 3 million next yr…not a lot but he can’t be considered a key cog in our future.
• S Marquese Bell - every time I see him in the field it reminds me of watching him get trucked over and over in the run game vs the packers in that playoff disaster. He needs to go.
  
  

Releasing the highlighted players can save us $20 to $25 million. With that money, I could spend it on Devin Bush and Reed Blankenship. Than we draft wisely.

We can replace them all with UDFAs or draft picks. Dallas needs to prioritize spending its free-agent money on top players, not bargain-bin garbage.

 

[ConstantReboot]

Do

You have two chances. Caleb Downs (long shot) and Dillon Thieneman. Both are chess piece type players. Thieneman "should" be there at 20 if you want him. Problem is that they haven't prioritized the safety position since they drafted Roy Williams (8th overall pick) in 2002. Williams was the last Cowboy safety to make the pro-bowl (2007).

Thieneman reminds me of Cooper Dejean. Same built and athleticism. He would he the perfect replacement for either Hooker or Wilson.