Rarely does a 13-3 team have this many question marks

[xwalker]

He picked a good year to explode.

Nick Perry had 12.5 sacks heading into this season and responded with a career high 11 QB drops in 2016.

Perry had a production ratio (sacks + TFL / # gms played) of 1.64 this regular season, which is very good.

But Green Bay has a ton of salary cap space available and may get him locked up prior to the start of free agency.

Mario Addison has been a key reserve for Carolina the last three seasons while always logging more than 6 sacks each year.

He also saved his best for the final year of his contract, hitting 9.5 sacks despite the Panthers having a losing record.

Addison had a production ratio of 1.46 this season.

Carolina has bigger fish to fry among their own free agents and Addison might make for a nice addition to our Rushmen.

It wouldn't be a headline grabbing signing the way a Perry would be, but it would be a positive move that wouldn't cause eyes to start bleeding when looking at the contract numbers.

Addison and Benson Mayowa (1.07 production ratio) would combine for 10+ sack potential in a rotation next season.

Yes, Addison seems like the next best option.

In regards to Perry, GB tends to let good players leave, so you never know. Peppers is a free agent also, so that does increase GB's need to re-sign one of them and Perry is obviously much younger.

I have not studied Addison very much, but I assume that he is limited against the run considering that he appears to have been used primarily as a pass rush specialist. I'm OK with a pass rush specialist if that is the only way to get a better pass rusher, but it does make the lineup more difficult because Mayowa seems limited against the run also; although, he did seem to improve as the season progressed.

I'm just not overly impressed with the draft options. Most that will be available at #28 look like they will take time to develop AND I prefer to stay BPA and not force the pick on a specific position.

 

[jobberone]

The word is out that the Cowboys will let all the DL go except two. The draft and UDFA will be the DL this year. I mean, how bad can that be when last years DL could not put pressure on the other teams QB? Same results but younger. What do you say?

Do you have a source(s)? I find it hard to believe.

DT: I see McClain, Crawford, Thorton, and Collins. Sure there could be a draft pick or VFA acquisition
DE: Lawrence, Mayowa, Irving, R1-2, VFA to compete. The other Crawford is ok but I want to upgrade.

Edit: I left Tapper out of it.

 

[gimmesix]

I believe RT is only an issue on this board.

Although I have stated my belief that Dallas should re-sign Leary and use the savings it would get from cutting Free to do it, then let Collins and Green compete to start at RT, I don't expect Dallas to see it that way. I fully expect Free to be the starter again this fall and for the Cowboys to have not considered any other alternative.

The only real issue on the offensive side is No. 2 WR.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

With the large number of free agents and the Romo issue this is shaping up to be an extremely important offseason.

3/4 of the starting defensive backfield could be gone and one key contributor as a backup
Starting LG could be gone.
WR2 and his backup could be gone.
Unless Morris is kept, or Mcfadden re-signed backup RB is an issue
DE is a sore spot
DT might need an addition.
RT might be an issue
Who will be the backup QB?
Jaylon Smiths uncertainty makes the LB position not set in concrete.

I like to view these question marks as an opportunity to improve the team in most cases.

Carr, Claiborne and Wilcox. None of these guys have lived up to their potential but amazingly all 3 showed some glimpses of what they are capable of. Contract years have a way of bringing out the best in people.

Church has outplayed expectations but really could stand to be upgraded. I think an improvement at SS makes the entire defense better.

I am fine if all 4 are gone but it would require using some resources.

Leary leaving is probably not a big problem as we have his replacement in house.

WR 2 is not a huge issue to me either as there will be some quality receivers in the draft and there are usually some decent low priced FA's available for our needs. Worst case scenario is Butler is re-signed and he shouldn't be too expensive.

RB I would like to see Mcfadden re-signed but this might be his last chance to get paid so he might be looking for more than we can offer.

DE looks like an area that will definitely need to be addressed and possibly twice.

DT If DE is addressed then Crawford and even Irving can move to DT and it is resolved.

RT Chaz Green is the key. Do they think he is going to be ready? If not keeping Free one more year might be in the works as well as finding another RT via draft or FA. I personally would like to see us move on from Free.

QB I would like to see Moore re-signed as backup and he shouldn't break the bank.

LB let's hope Jaylon Smith is ready to go this year and he is what he was believed to be.

Will we be plugging in replacements or will we be upgrading? That is the key to this offseason. IMO!

How many 13-3 teams have you analyzed?

 

[AbeBeta]

Don't forget about our situation at TE. Witten might retire after next season, we have 2 other TEs coming back from season-ending surgeries, and a basketball player trying to make the transition to football.

Hanna won't be back.

 

[Silverstar]

Would like to resign TWill, Cooper and Claiborne back on the cheap....that's it.

Collins, Thornton and Scandrick can take over Leary, McClain and Carr's starting spots.

Kavon Frazier, a FA or high draft pick can take over Church's spot....we need some kind of upgrade at SS and not Wilcox.

 

[DogFace]

At this point I'm comfortable with Heath starting over either Church or Wilcox. I am the one years ago that said "he is not good a football". I was wrong. He's proven to be a playmaker and I'd like him to get a real opportunity. I'd also like to draft a nice prospect and maybe resign Wilcox as a backup. Church can only get worse at this point.

 

[waving monkey]

McClain - It's really hard to know how much T.McClain will cost. If they can sign him a contract similar to what they gave Thorton (4M average), I think he will return.

Thorton - Likely to stay. His salary is just 3M for 2017.

Davis - I thought Davis flashed and showed more potential than J.Crawford but he was benched for some games so the coaches might not think they same way; although, injury might have been a factor.

J.Crawford - Try hard guy but if he is one of the top 8, then they probably have not upgraded much. Too small at DT and too slow at DE.

Mayowa - Flashed some potential. Decent as the backup RDE but need to find a starter in front of him.

DLaw - Needs to be a LDE. Worst case have him rotate with Irving or T.Crawford at LDE.

Collins - Should continue to be one of the starting DTs. Played mostly 3tech but with a full year of NFL strength training could likely be the starting 1tech if they want to put T.Crawford or Irving at 3tech.

Tapper - Good upside is he remains healthy, but they should not count on him when making off-season decisions.

Bottom Line: If they could add a legit, well above average RDE, then all the other positions will likely work out fine. If they can't find a legit full time starting RDE, then they might need to consider a high quality pass rush specialist or even consider drafting a guy that plays both LB and DE similar to how Seattle used Bruce Irvin in the past.

can you see going after a D1 if they miss on a disruptive DE in the draft. Of course they'll draft a DE but if a strong DT like montravious adams [example] is there they take him.
Both Adams and MCollins could bring it up the middle. Best case of course is a disruptive DE

 

[Silverstar]

At this point I'm comfortable with Heath starting over either Church or Wilcox. I am the one years ago that said "he is not good a football". I was wrong. He's proven to be a playmaker and I'd like him to get a real opportunity. I'd also like to draft a nice prospect and maybe resign Wilcox as a backup. Church can only get worse at this point.

Forgot all about Heath...yes he deserves a shot to be our SS.

 

[Future]

At this point I'm comfortable with Heath starting over either Church or Wilcox. I am the one years ago that said "he is not good a football". I was wrong. He's proven to be a playmaker and I'd like him to get a real opportunity. I'd also like to draft a nice prospect and maybe resign Wilcox as a backup. Church can only get worse at this point.

Based on 1 game?

 

[DogFace]

Based on 1 game?

No. Not at all. Based on his career. I'd like to see an int per snap stat. He made two great plays when it really counted. One, of course, was called back. It was still an excellent clutch play.

His production when given a chance is impressive. Combine that with his measurables and I think he's a better option than Church or Wilcox. I'm basing that on their caterers as well.

 

[willia451]

The only way to immediately make this defence better is to gamble on some FA, just because the last big name FA (Carr) didn't work out as well as some would have liked is no reason not to gamble on trying to land a solid DE and DT. This team and FO is not New England, yes the last offseason we had an excellent draft, that's also rare for this organisation since Johnson left. And we may have hit big by finding a franchise QB in the 4th round but let's not kid ourselves that was purely by accident...Unless you are the Patriots or Steelers (always competitive most years), the window to win is short 4-5 years...so I think our best chance to fix this defence comes through FA, the Giants fixed their defence in a single offseason, just think where we'd have ended up with their defence...

Bold Text #1: Another way is the Cowboys could replace the DC. But everyone seems comfortable with RM even though he **** the bed in the playoffs. So ultimately you're probably right.

Bold Text #2: Nor do they want to be.

Bold Text #3: Very tired of hearing about how the Pats and Steelers are good enough to field a SB competitive team every season. Not that its untrue. Just tired of hearing it.

Bold Text #4: Agreed. With this FO and coaching staff, we're literally going to need a super team to get past the divisional round.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

No. Not at all. Based on his career. I'd like to see an int per snap stat. He made two great plays when it really counted. One, of course, was called back. It was still an excellent clutch play.

His production when given a chance is impressive. Combine that with his measurables and I think he's a better option than Church or Wilcox. I'm basing that on their caterers as well.

Yeah several of us have been in the Heath camp for years at this point.

 

[DFWJC]

For this team to progress to a 13-3 regular season record as they did, to me, it serves to emphasize the impact that Dak and Zeke had on the offense to glean as much success as they did. They did so, despite a limited defense. If the defense progresses sufficiently to allow them to be better than average, another 13-3 season might even be repeatable, despite a tougher schedule being in store for us next season.

I wouldn't count it out!
Then again, if you forced be to bet that they'd win 13, I'd probably bet against. That's hard to do...and especially with a first place schedule.
Bottom-line is the arrow is up for Dallas.

 

[Bullflop]

I wouldn't count it out!
Then again, if you forced be to bet that they'd win 13, I'd probably bet against. That's hard to do...and especially with a first place schedule.
Bottom-line is the arrow is up for Dallas.

I'm not so sure I'd bet on it either, although my statement was something of a best-case scenario more than anything else. Still, who knows what surprises might be in store if our defense improves substantially, especially involving the pass rush? That could very possibly help tremendously.