RECAP: Mickey's Ranch Report on Dunham and Miller

[InmanRoshi]

D&M: We’re starting to hear more and more stories of TO getting released. People are now reporting that it’s a sure thing.

Mick: I’ve been on vacation and just got back on Monday, but it seems like it’s leaning that way. If the stories leaking out that Jerry is asking players about releasing him, it seems like they’re leaning that way. I can sit here today and make a passionate argument for getting rid of him. The next day I can make a passionate argument for keeping him. So it’s not a cut and dried decision. Especially when you pay a guy $15 million for essentially 1 year of service, when you count base salary and service. That’s a lot of money in this economy, and Jerry didn’t become the businessman he did today by throwing away millions of dollars. If that means saving the integrity of the team and the lockerroom, then that’s what you got to do. Does TO’s numbers just automatically transfer to Roy Williams because he’s now the #1 WR? It’s hard to say given what they saw from him last year.

D&M: Who would be interested in trading for him?

I can’t imagine the demand will be high. All teams have to take on are his base salary, but why would teams trade a lot for him when they know the Cowboys are going to get rid of him? You can’t trade him until the official trade season begins, which I believe is February 27th. There’s no rush to release him. You still get charged all of his escalated signing bonus. It doesn’t give you any more money to spend in free agency.


Junior Miller: We’re all on board with getting rid of him. But when you get rid of him, now you have a new set of problems. Half the lockeroom that followed TO now blames the other half of the lockeroom for running him out. You have to replace his production. So you got a new set of problems. I don’t know if his followers just immediately fall in line.

Mickey: Yeah, and I look at the production. He’s not a favorite of mine as a person, but I just don’t know 1,000 yard WRs with 10 TDs grow on trees. Roy Williams may have done it in Detroit, but he didn’t do it here last year. Maybe harmony in the lockerroom gets things going, but it seems that for whatever reason Cowboys have had problems developing WRs. I thought the best situation would be for TO to get it through his thick skull that he’s now the #2 and make Roy the #1, because he’s lost some ability. You notice that now teams play more Cover 2 to take away a WR. To beat it you have to have the ability to run slant routes to the inside, and from what I’ve heard he’s lost a lot of ability to run the slant route. He could run the drag route really well. But to make that hard quick cut on the slant route, he was having a lot of problems.

Are they in danger of losing Mile Austin and Sam Hurd to free agency?

They’ll have to tag Miles Austin with a 2nd round tender to keep someone from signing him. You probably take your chances on Hurd as a minimum tender guy, but someone will sign Austin just as a kick returner. And if they lose Austin, you better start looking to draft a WR high to develop.

 

[Hostile]

Mickey just buys into the evil media hype. There have been no official declarations after all from anyone on the team that they are even actually considering this. All the innuendos are hollow. Fans are distracted but the players know who plays the Pied Piper tunes.[/sarcasm off]

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I thought the best situation would be for TO to get it through his thick skull that he’s now the #2 and make Roy the #1, because he’s lost some ability.

Good luck with that.

But I'm kind of that the Mickeroo would even admit it seems like they're "leaning that way" to releasing TO.

 

[theebs]

I really cant imagine them losing austin. I think they will do everything they can to keep him.

If we lose him, it says all we need to know about this current setup.

release matt moore.
Trade ferguson for no reason, he was a locker room leader.
Trade two starters for nothing in fasano and akin.
Sign pacman and tank johnson.
Trade 3 picks for spencer.

It would really signal something bad. We simply cant lose austin.

 

[WoodysGirl]

I thought the best situation would be for TO to get it through his thick skull that he’s now the #2 and make Roy the #1,

Not if we're going based on production.

Roy didn't earn the #1 spot last year...and T.O. didn't lose it, either.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Junior Miller: We’re all on board with getting rid of him. But when you get rid of him, now you have a new set of problems. You have to replace his production.

Mickey: Yeah, and I look at the production. He’s not a favorite of mine as a person, but I just don’t know 1,000 yard WRs with 10 TDs grow on trees.

By far my biggest concern with getting rid of TO.

 

[Arch Stanton]

Thanks for the recap IR.

Appreciate it.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I really cant imagine them losing austin. I think they will do everything they can to keep him.

If we lose him, it says all we need to know about this current setup.

release matt moore.
Trade ferguson for no reason, he was a locker room leader.
Trade two starters for nothing in fasano and akin.
Sign pacman and tank johnson.
Trade 3 picks for spencer.

It would really signal something bad. We simply cant lose austin.

I agree on Moore and the Jones and Johnson signings. I don't think we've seen enough of Spencer to know whether that one will work out or not.

I liked Ferguson, as a person, but he didn't produce anything more on the field for Miami this year, as their starter, than Tank did while rotating time behind Ratliff with Spears.

And we upgraded from Fasano, IMO. I think Bennett is a better TE and will prove to be a much greater threat at the TE position than Fasano ever has.

Akin...meh. Akin and Thomas were pretty much the same player, except with the whole fact that Thomas actually made a lot more tackles than Akin ever did.

 

[theogt]

Mickey just buys into the evil media hype. There have been no official declarations after all from anyone on the team that they are even actually considering this. All the innuendos are hollow. Fans are distracted but the players know who plays the Pied Piper tunes.[/sarcasm off]

Doesn't he literally say that it "seems that way" ONLY IF "the media reports are true?"

He's not reporting anything new -- just saying that the media reports seem to indicate it's true. And the only "sure thing" report out there was by Michael Lombardi. Since when has that guy had any contacts in the organization?

 

[Venger]

By far my biggest concern with getting rid of TO.

Bingo. If you can upgrade, fine. But you are ditching your #1 receiver, in a pass happy offense.

Venger

 

[Apollo Creed]

Roy Williams had 189 yards in 10 games.

Are we really prepared for him to be our number 1 receiver? Aikman called him out every single game he covered. Poor route running, rumors of being a lazy player, not very intelligent, etc.

And he's being paid like hes the best WR in football, when he's the 3rd or 4th best receiving option on this team right now. Behind Owens, Witten, and possibly Austin.

 

[InmanRoshi]

I liked Ferguson, as a person, but he didn't produce anything more on the field for Miami this year, as their starter, than Tank did while rotating time behind Ratliff with Spears.

Yeah, I'm sure Fergie manning the nose had absolutely nothing to do with Miami going from dead last in the NFL in rush defense in 2007 to Top 10 in 2008.

Everyone knows the best way to judge a nosetackle is on his sack totals.

 

[theogt]

I really cant imagine them losing austin. I think they will do everything they can to keep him.

If we lose him, it says all we need to know about this current setup.

release matt moore.
Trade ferguson for no reason, he was a locker room leader.
Trade two starters for nothing in fasano and akin.
Sign pacman and tank johnson.
Trade 3 picks for spencer.

It would really signal something bad. We simply cant lose austin.

Would we not have Scandrick and Choice if not for one of those trades? I can't remember which one netted us the picks for those guys.

Pacman and Tank are gone, so I can't fathom how anyone could point to us signing them under no-risk terms as a sign of the Apocalypse, and then not point to them being gone as a good thing.

And as for the Spencer situation, that whole set of trades netted us Spencer and Felix Jones. Call my crazy, but I'll take that over Brady Quinn and a third round pick any day.

 

[Stash]

I honestly don't see any valid reason to release Owens.

I really don't.

I have yet to see any blowups on the level of what went on with the Eagles - none.

Everything is behind the scenes rumor and innuendo.

And cutting him now or later doesn't do the team any favors with regard to the cap, so why do it?

Why not sit the guy down and law down the law with him?

Tell him exactly what the team expects from him if he wants to remain a Cowboy.

And if that ultimatum causes the guy to 'blow up', then so be it - release him then.

The same would hold true if he plays the boy scout until the season starts.

If he acts up during the season, cut him then. His million dollar bonus is a drop in the bucket at that point.

But I don't see any legitimate reason to lose that kind of production over rumors.

If it were my decision, I'd demand the people around him - the coaches and teammates - step up and enforce team discipline. That's the area I feel this team truly lacks and I don't see where sending Owens packing suddenly fixes that deficiency.

 

[Alexander]

By far my biggest concern with getting rid of TO.

We have gaping holes at ILB, DE and along the offensive line in terms of depth. We simply can't afford to spend picks or money at wide receiver right now.

Now we just traded two premium choices for Roy Williams yet his lack of production is having an impact on this decision?

It is a mess. The easiest solution is to keep him. I realize that the disruptions are an issue. I just do not see how we simply plug Crayton and/or Austin in there and match the production. I also am far from confident Roy Williams will be able to command the kind of attention Owens did in 2007.

This is just a nasty mess.

 

[Apollo Creed]

I honestly don't see any valid reason to release Owens.

I really don't.

I have yet to see any blowups on the level of what went on with the Eagles - none.

Everything is behind the scenes rumor and innuendo.

And cutting him now or later doesn't do the team any favors with regard to the cap, so why do it?

Why not sit the guy down and law down the law with him?

Tell him exactly what the team expects from him if he wants to remain a Cowboy.

And if that ultimatum causes the guy to 'blow up', then so be it - release him then.

The same would hold true if he plays the boy scout until the season starts.

If he acts up during the season, cut him then. His million dollar bonus is a drop in the bucket at that point.

But I don't see any legitimate reason to lose that kind of production over rumors.

If it were my decision, I'd demand the people around him - the coaches and teammates - step up and enforce team discipline. That's the area I feel this team truly lacks and I don't see where sending Owens packing suddenly fixes that deficiency.

Because one man is stronger than 52, and an entire organization that has 5 super bowls.

Owens may be insecure and a tool sometimes, but at least he has balls. Something I don't know if many people outside Barber, Ware, and Witten have on this team.

 

[Real1st]

By far my biggest concern with getting rid of TO.

We have a better defense.

Also we could be a run based offense. I think if we commit to the run we could possibly pick up the slack of not having T.O.'s numbers.

 

[Apollo Creed]

We have a better defense.

Also we could be a run based offense. I think if we commit to the run we could possibly pick up the slack of not having T.O.'s numbers.

Did you see how hard Choice was fighting for yards down the stretch? Our line was doing absolutely nothing.

 

[Alexander]

Yeah, I'm sure Fergie manning the nose had absolutely nothing to do with Miami going from dead last in the NFL in rush defense in 2007 to Top 10 in 2008.

Everyone knows the best way to judge a nosetackle is on his sack totals.

I also love the use of statistics. Take a look at Casey Hampton's statistics, they were very comparable to Ferguson's.

I guess we could simply say he "didn't produce anything on the field" for Pittsburgh too.

 

[Real1st]

Did you see how hard Choice was fighting for yards down the stretch? Our line was doing absolutely nothing.

Did you see Felix breaking 60+ yard runs?

Your acting as if Choice is going to be our starter.

MB3 + Felix with a little bit of choice.

Our running wasn't bad at the beginning of the year. When Barber got hurt and Felix got hurt it was over.