Cowboyny
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The Cowboys Front Office under Stephen Jones has used Fa in the past to plug holes with low level talent. He wants team building to come exclusively from the draft, resign their own players and will not get into a bidding war over overpaid veterans on the open market. That strategy has really failed over the last few seasons, just look at this year for example, Haha, Poe, Worley were complete fa fails and surprisingly Everson Griffen never panned out. Point is this strategy hasn't worked and are too reliant on drafting well.
I understand there isn't going to be an abundance of cap room, trying to keep it somewhat realistic. In this projection, I am predicting Dak sign a long-term extension and he won't playing on the franchise tag again. This will allow the Cowboys more cap flexibility, along with some other contract restructures for players that the front office views apart of the long-term future. No not touching Jaylon's contract, but I might for Cooper.
This projection is just for the defense, outside of Dak will not discuss any offensive fa's.
In-house free agents/cuts
-X. Woods, Awuzie, Lewis can all test the market and won't return. Thompson is released. Joe Thomas leaves, Sean Lee retires and Aldon Smith plays elsewhere. So pretty much cleaning house. However, that leaves many holes.
Free Agents signed
-DaQuan Jones NT Titans-there aren't many quality 1 tech's available this year, it's basically him or Tomlinson from the Giants, who told teams he wasn't available prior to the trade deadline. If the Cowboys gave Poe 2 years over 10 million, they can sign Jones for a little more. If they are going to be able to stop the run, they are going to need to shore up their interior of the DL.
-Deatrich Wise DE Patriots-we need a replacement for Tyrone Crawford. One who can play multiple spots and become a quality, rotational player. When the Cowboys used Gregory paired up with Crawford, they got excellent production out of the position.
-Mackensie Alexander SCB Bengals-the Cowboys haven't signed a tier 1 fa CB starter since Brandon Carr, I don't believe they will get into a bidding war to overpay for one. The likes of Kevin King, William Jackson, Shaq Griffen will all be out of the team's price range. Alexander was Minnesota's best corner two seasons ago, he is a quality nickel corner.
-Jarrad Davis LB Lions-Davis didn't have his 5th yr option picked out and currently is a backup for the Lions Defense. We need a backup Linebacker who has the ability to play all spots. With Lee/Thomas gone, we need to improve our depth. Would love to sign a player like Perryman, but that will be too expensive. I will address the need in the draft projection.
Two players that have an excellent chance of being released:
-Harrison Smith FS Vikings-Hawkeye mentioned him recently to me that there are rumblings that he will be a cap casualty in the off-season, that they may keep Anthony Harris. Looking at their cap, there is over a 10 million cap savings and they don't have much space. Makes perfect sense to bring in a veteran who can line everyone up and make sure they know their assignments. He should come at a more reasonable rate then a player like Simmons or a Marcus Williams due to his age.
-Geno Atkins DT Bengals-he is another veteran that looks very likely to be a cap casualty, close to 10 million in cap savings. This is another Gerald McCoy type of signing. You take a flyer on an aging veteran to allow our prospects to develop behind him show them what it takes to make it in this league. He has been injured this year, but the prior six years he played at full 16 games.
I think this free agent signing are realistic and feasible. As you noticed they is a common theme, reinforcements up the middle with familiarity to Coach George Edwards.
Final Installment will take an early look at the draft
I understand there isn't going to be an abundance of cap room, trying to keep it somewhat realistic. In this projection, I am predicting Dak sign a long-term extension and he won't playing on the franchise tag again. This will allow the Cowboys more cap flexibility, along with some other contract restructures for players that the front office views apart of the long-term future. No not touching Jaylon's contract, but I might for Cooper.
This projection is just for the defense, outside of Dak will not discuss any offensive fa's.
In-house free agents/cuts
-X. Woods, Awuzie, Lewis can all test the market and won't return. Thompson is released. Joe Thomas leaves, Sean Lee retires and Aldon Smith plays elsewhere. So pretty much cleaning house. However, that leaves many holes.
Free Agents signed
-DaQuan Jones NT Titans-there aren't many quality 1 tech's available this year, it's basically him or Tomlinson from the Giants, who told teams he wasn't available prior to the trade deadline. If the Cowboys gave Poe 2 years over 10 million, they can sign Jones for a little more. If they are going to be able to stop the run, they are going to need to shore up their interior of the DL.
-Deatrich Wise DE Patriots-we need a replacement for Tyrone Crawford. One who can play multiple spots and become a quality, rotational player. When the Cowboys used Gregory paired up with Crawford, they got excellent production out of the position.
-Mackensie Alexander SCB Bengals-the Cowboys haven't signed a tier 1 fa CB starter since Brandon Carr, I don't believe they will get into a bidding war to overpay for one. The likes of Kevin King, William Jackson, Shaq Griffen will all be out of the team's price range. Alexander was Minnesota's best corner two seasons ago, he is a quality nickel corner.
-Jarrad Davis LB Lions-Davis didn't have his 5th yr option picked out and currently is a backup for the Lions Defense. We need a backup Linebacker who has the ability to play all spots. With Lee/Thomas gone, we need to improve our depth. Would love to sign a player like Perryman, but that will be too expensive. I will address the need in the draft projection.
Two players that have an excellent chance of being released:
-Harrison Smith FS Vikings-Hawkeye mentioned him recently to me that there are rumblings that he will be a cap casualty in the off-season, that they may keep Anthony Harris. Looking at their cap, there is over a 10 million cap savings and they don't have much space. Makes perfect sense to bring in a veteran who can line everyone up and make sure they know their assignments. He should come at a more reasonable rate then a player like Simmons or a Marcus Williams due to his age.
-Geno Atkins DT Bengals-he is another veteran that looks very likely to be a cap casualty, close to 10 million in cap savings. This is another Gerald McCoy type of signing. You take a flyer on an aging veteran to allow our prospects to develop behind him show them what it takes to make it in this league. He has been injured this year, but the prior six years he played at full 16 games.
I think this free agent signing are realistic and feasible. As you noticed they is a common theme, reinforcements up the middle with familiarity to Coach George Edwards.
Final Installment will take an early look at the draft
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