CFZ Offense: What free agents should the Cowboys have signed?

[Ekspozed]

Watt's a Watt. I said Collins was trash. Be interesting how he plays this week.

It would be nice to see Dlaw do some damage other than "being sound" for once.
Make daddy Jerry proud and prove letting go of Collins was the right move.

 

[Brooksey]

• This is about Offense only. We can have another tread about defense.

• Keep in mind that this was a year when other teams paid:
  • Connors Williams 7M per season.
  • Cedrick Wilson 7.35M per season.
  • Traded a 1st & 2nd for WR Davante Adams & gave him a 140M contract.
  • Traded 5 picks (1, 2, 4, 4, 6) for Tyreek Hill & gave him a 120M contract.

• What should the Cowboys have done if they spent more money:
  • They couldn't give a big contract to a free agent LT to backup Tyron.
    • Signing another journeyman swing Tackle was not going to make things better.
  • They opted to give Tyron 1 more season to see if he could stay reasonably healthy.
    • They used a 1st round pick on a LT and kept Tyron for this final year.
    • It was a reasonable decision.

• Moving on from Amari Cooper was about more than money.
  • Remember the Raiders also got tired of him.
  • Yes, obviously the Raiders got a premium pick from him, but there was a reason they were ready to move on.

• Should they have signed another WR?
  • CeeDee had 79 catches for 1102 yards with a 65.8% catch rate in 2021.
    • Comp: Mike Evans had 74 catches for 1035 yards with a 54.9% catch rate (Yards/Catch +0.1 over CeeDee).
    • Evans had less catches/yards despite playing more snaps.
  • Gallup is a quality #2 WR and arguably #1 type NFL WR.
  • The Bucs signed Julio Jones for 1-year, 6M.
    • That looked good for game 1, however...
      • He played less snaps for 2020 & 2021 combined than CeeDee played in 2021.
      • i.e. Relatively high risk of injury at this point.
    • Also, Julio Jones only signed with the Bucs because of Brady.
      • Jones has made a ton of money already.
  • If just signing a free agent was the answer...
    • The Raiders could have saved themselves a 1st and 2nd round pick.
    • They gave up the picks and gave Davante Adams a big contract.
  • The Dolphins gave up 5 picks (1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 6th) for Tyreek Hill.
    • They also gave him a mega-contract.

Allen Robinson, Ju-Ju Smith-Shuster or Christian Kirk would have been big signings

I like the one year deal with Ju-Ju

 

[Mr_437]

The question is rigged. It shouldn't even be a question because they shouldn't have cut RT Collins, and they shouldn't have trade a #1WR for nothing. This is where they ****ed up.

 

[Ekspozed]

Allen Robinson, Ju-Ju Smith-Shuster or Christian Kirk would have been big signings

I like the one year deal with Ju-Ju

I was hoping they would pick up Chark myself.

 

[Cowboyny]

• This is about Offense only. We can have another tread about defense.

• Keep in mind that this was a year when other teams paid:
  • Connors Williams 7M per season.
  • Cedrick Wilson 7.35M per season.
  • Traded a 1st & 2nd for WR Davante Adams & gave him a 140M contract.
  • Traded 5 picks (1, 2, 4, 4, 6) for Tyreek Hill & gave him a 120M contract.

• What should the Cowboys have done if they spent more money:
  • They couldn't give a big contract to a free agent LT to backup Tyron.
    • Signing another journeyman swing Tackle was not going to make things better.
  • They opted to give Tyron 1 more season to see if he could stay reasonably healthy.
    • They used a 1st round pick on a LT and kept Tyron for this final year.
    • It was a reasonable decision.

• Moving on from Amari Cooper was about more than money.
  • Remember the Raiders also got tired of him.
  • Yes, obviously the Raiders got a premium pick from him, but there was a reason they were ready to move on.

• Should they have signed another WR?
  • CeeDee had 79 catches for 1102 yards with a 65.8% catch rate in 2021.
    • Comp: Mike Evans had 74 catches for 1035 yards with a 54.9% catch rate (Yards/Catch +0.1 over CeeDee).
    • Evans had less catches/yards despite playing more snaps.
  • Gallup is a quality #2 WR and arguably #1 type NFL WR.
  • The Bucs signed Julio Jones for 1-year, 6M.
    • That looked good for game 1, however...
      • He played less snaps for 2020 & 2021 combined than CeeDee played in 2021.
      • i.e. Relatively high risk of injury at this point.
    • Also, Julio Jones only signed with the Bucs because of Brady.
      • Jones has made a ton of money already.
  • If just signing a free agent was the answer...
    • The Raiders could have saved themselves a 1st and 2nd round pick.
    • They gave up the picks and gave Davante Adams a big contract.
  • The Dolphins gave up 5 picks (1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 6th) for Tyreek Hill.
    • They also gave him a mega-contract.

-We knew as soon as Lamb was drafted, they weren't going to be able to keep all 3 receivers. Cooper seems like he was always banged up and disappeared in the big games. Fine with the decision to go with youth and Gallup, but not ok with the stop gap veteran they signed. When they lost Beasley they signed a Randall Cobb, who was injury prone, but was a quality receiver, Washington hasn't shown anything on the NFL level, despite a aging QB. The front office knew Gallup was going to be ready and they went the cheap option. Both JuJu or Landry would of been better signings and they didn't cost too much.

-Fine with the release of Collins. He struggled with availability since he signed his extension and outside of that 1 yr with Columbo his play wasn't up to that contract. Steele as a undrafted fa showed he can be a solid RT starter at almost zero cost and they knew he can be counted on. Liked the Jason Peters signing and the drafting of Tyler Smith. Would of liked a fa starting Center but the best one is already out for the season.

-Didn't like using the franchise tag on Shultz, but they pretty much had no choice. First they were taking Cooper out of the offense, then Jarwin was forced to retire, depleting the whole unit was a recipe for success. Fa class wasn't great, believe they made the right move.

 

[AKATheRake]

We just played a FA we should have signed.

Julio Jones….

 

[charron]

As he said what other veterans would tou sign?

I wouldnt have moved cooper. Should have kept wilson, could have attempted to sign juju, julio, watkins, to name a few. Dont tell me there werent better free agent receivers than brown or houston or fehoko. Thats non sense those guys are very bottom of the roster unfortunately they make up 80% of our wr room, no wonder they going to struggle all year

 

[Ekspozed]

I wouldnt have moved cooper. Should have kept wilson, could have attempted to sign juju, julio, watkins, to name a few. Dont tell me there werent better free agent receivers than brown or houston or fehoko. Thats non sense those guys are very bottom of the roster unfortunately they make up 80% of our wr room, no wonder they going to struggle all year

What's crazy is them thinking it was adams/hill/next top guy or bust. When in reality countless guys who are on a new team this season would have been upgrades over brown/simi/Houston

 

[charron]

What's crazy is them thinking it was adams/hill/next top guy or bust. When in reality countless guys who are on a new team this season would have been upgrades over brown/simi/Houston

Im all for developing a guy. But they wouldnt play simi last year. They rarely use brown. So we know those 2 cant fill the void by themselves.

 

[xwalker]

-We knew as soon as Lamb was drafted, they weren't going to be able to keep all 3 receivers. Cooper seems like he was always banged up and disappeared in the big games. Fine with the decision to go with youth and Gallup, but not ok with the stop gap veteran they signed. When they lost Beasley they signed a Randall Cobb, who was injury prone, but was a quality receiver, Washington hasn't shown anything on the NFL level, despite a aging QB. The front office knew Gallup was going to be ready and they went the cheap option. Both JuJu or Landry would of been better signings and they didn't cost too much.

-Fine with the release of Collins. He struggled with availability since he signed his extension and outside of that 1 yr with Columbo his play wasn't up to that contract. Steele as a undrafted fa showed he can be a solid RT starter at almost zero cost and they knew he can be counted on. Liked the Jason Peters signing and the drafting of Tyler Smith. Would of liked a fa starting Center but the best one is already out for the season.

-Didn't like using the franchise tag on Shultz, but they pretty much had no choice. First they were taking Cooper out of the offense, then Jarwin was forced to retire, depleting the whole unit was a recipe for success. Fa class wasn't great, believe they made the right move.

Good post.

I also thought JuJu would have been a good option. His contract with KC is small.

I also wanted a FA Center; although, I don't know if a good one was available.

 

[ChronicCowboy]

I just would have kept Cooper and Collins on offense. Von Miller and Suh on defense. Not sure why Suh is still unsigned. His contract demands must be crazy.

 

[xwalker]

Veteran WRs past their prime can often be had for a stick of gum. When Noah Brown is your top WR, knowing that Gallupe was going to miss games and would be in a recovery year, you didn't really do anything for depth.

And I think you're overestimating CD and certainly Gallup. Those are guys who made a living off of the attention Cooper commanded. Both of those guys are a bad fit for Dak. Low speed, average route running, little separation. The guys who looked good with Dak - Cooper and Beasley, quick, excellent route runners with good hands.

Interior oline is often cheap too, but we brought in *no* depth. Farniok was it. For 3 positions. That was just too thin.

The plan wss for McGovern to also be a backup.

I reviewed past year's game footage of James Washington and he appeared to be a decent stopgap signing.

Free agents like JuJu go where they think they have a good chance to be a starter. It's not always a money decision.

 

[Creeper]

• This is about Offense only. We can have another tread about defense.

• Keep in mind that this was a year when other teams paid:
  • Connors Williams 7M per season.
  • Cedrick Wilson 7.35M per season.
  • Traded a 1st & 2nd for WR Davante Adams & gave him a 140M contract.
  • Traded 5 picks (1, 2, 4, 4, 6) for Tyreek Hill & gave him a 120M contract.

• What should the Cowboys have done if they spent more money:
  • They couldn't give a big contract to a free agent LT to backup Tyron.
    • Signing another journeyman swing Tackle was not going to make things better.
  • They opted to give Tyron 1 more season to see if he could stay reasonably healthy.
    • They used a 1st round pick on a LT and kept Tyron for this final year.
    • It was a reasonable decision.

• Moving on from Amari Cooper was about more than money.
  • Remember the Raiders also got tired of him.
  • Yes, obviously the Raiders got a premium pick from him, but there was a reason they were ready to move on.

• Should they have signed another WR?
  • CeeDee had 79 catches for 1102 yards with a 65.8% catch rate in 2021.
    • Comp: Mike Evans had 74 catches for 1035 yards with a 54.9% catch rate (Yards/Catch +0.1 over CeeDee).
    • Evans had less catches/yards despite playing more snaps.
  • Gallup is a quality #2 WR and arguably #1 type NFL WR.
  • The Bucs signed Julio Jones for 1-year, 6M.
    • That looked good for game 1, however...
      • He played less snaps for 2020 & 2021 combined than CeeDee played in 2021.
      • i.e. Relatively high risk of injury at this point.
    • Also, Julio Jones only signed with the Bucs because of Brady.
      • Jones has made a ton of money already.
  • If just signing a free agent was the answer...
    • The Raiders could have saved themselves a 1st and 2nd round pick.
    • They gave up the picks and gave Davante Adams a big contract.
  • The Dolphins gave up 5 picks (1st, 2nd, 4th, 4th, 6th) for Tyreek Hill.
    • They also gave him a mega-contract.

It is hard to talk about what trades they should have made because we have no idea who was available and what other teams wanted in return.

As for the Cooper trade, I think the problem was not moving on from him but how it was done and what they got in return. Trashing Cooper in the media while leaking he was available, then saying he would get cut if no deal was found, was kind of dumb. Most people when they are about to sell a property stage it so it looks way better than it is. The Cowboys did the opposite with Cooper and Collins. I would not have traded Cooper for less than a 3rd round pick in the top half of the round. I would not have traded Collins for less than a 2nd round pick. There was no desperation to get rid of either player. Cooper was going to cost a lot against the CAP but his contract was made to be restructured. They could have restructured him and saved $12 million easily, and still been able to trade him next year if they were unsatisfied with him without taking a huge CAP hit..

As for free agency, before the draft I would have signed an OG and a DT. Akim Hicks would look good in a Cowboys uniform. Maybe Austin Corbet to play LG. But there were other options. Neither would be too expensive but both would provide adequate play in the lines in case the draft did not fall the right way. I also would have made sure Randy Gregory was signed. No way I would have let him go to Denver the way he did.

Keep in mind as things played out, I would have kept Cooper even though I am not a big fan, and Collins, making Steele my swing tackle. But at any time if someone offered me a 2 for Collins, I would happily move him. The Cowboys entered the draft with gaping holes at WR, OG, OT, and DE. They created the problem at OT, WR, and DE.

 

[Dre11]

I wouldnt have moved cooper. Should have kept wilson, could have attempted to sign juju, julio, watkins, to name a few. Dont tell me there werent better free agent receivers than brown or houston or fehoko. Thats non sense those guys are very bottom of the roster unfortunately they make up 80% of our wr room, no wonder they going to struggle all year

You wouldn't have let Cooper go, you would've let Gallup go? They weren't giving Wildson 7 million, Julio wasn't coming here, Watkins sucks. JUju maybe, so it wasn't much out there.

 

[Dre11]

I’m okay with what we did at OT. We had our starters in place and used a #1 on OT, along with drafting another. I’m not okay with what we did at OG. If the rookie was the left guard of the future, and the best option at OT by injury, why did we go with only Connor and practice squad guys at guard?

Im also not happy with what we did at WR. We learned in 2018 that you need more than a #1. Any defense can limit your #1, even Cooper. That’s when you need an excellent #2 and good #3 who can beat man coverage. I also don’t like talking about being a run team and not securing a good FB, but I know that’s not as popular.

2018 was different , there wasn't a ceedee Lamb or a 3 rd year Gallup, there was a rookie Gallup and that's it.

 

[Portnoy1]

Who the hell would argue that Michael Gallup is a #1 WR?

A major homer that's who LOL. Gallup is a great no. 3 WR and a solid no. 2 WR

 

[charron]

You wouldn't have let Cooper go, you would've let Gallup go? They weren't giving Wildson 7 million, Julio wasn't coming here, Watkins sucks. JUju maybe, so it wasn't much out there.

They didn't try to sign anyone. The only plan to replace coop was wash and a bunch of wr that are terrible that may grow into backup roles if given enough years. Get out of here with the julio isn't coming here, how do you know did they even try? no. Their plan sucked as evidenced on the field. I'd rather have kept cooper over gallup yes. Gallup will have his own struggles once he's back. But if you are going to send your best receiver away you have to have as better plan than a bunch of guys who can barely make a roster and 1 decent vet. And they failed to even try to bring anyone else in. I'ts a huge F for failure.

 

[ghst187]

Would’ve kept Cooper and Wilson and let Gallup walk.
Should’ve definitely signed Wagner and Miller.
Thinking perhaps we also should’ve gotten Matt Ryan.

 

[Majic]

Cooper's contract was not set up as they would have wanted, mainly because they re-signed him too late and to fend of competition from Washington paid him too much. That meant he was really only on a 2 year deal (crazy when you have given up a first for him). Jerry refused to pay him $20 million this year and because of the Covid issues, missed practices, disappearing in cold weather games and washed his hands of him.

I would have kept him this year as I believe he is a WR1.

When they traded for him, I was not that pleased because I did not think he would gel with the Cowboys as he had not settled with the Raiders. I'm not at all surprised with what has happened.

 

[rambo2]

*maybe not as left guard

He has trouble moving and spent a lot of time on the ground in game one. He also was lined up wrong. For some reason they were letting him line up off the line of scrimmage. He was cheating back and still got destroyed.