Season concerns

[dckid]

Guys,
Being a lifelong Cowboy as we all are, I'm having a really tough time figuring out how we make the playoffs.
The NFC is so strong this year, even better than last year. 10 wins are a must to even consider making the playoffs.

I just don't understand our team mindset. I agree with building through the draft, but we seem to ignore FA these days. We seem to be missing out on some real value, low risk players.
I still cant understand why we didn't take a risk with one year contracts?

Sheldon Richardson- Went to the Vikings
Mathieu- Went to Texans
Eifert- Stayed with Bengals
Mo Wilkerson- signed with Packers
Josh Sitton- 2 years 15 million guard signed with Fins

We are not taking advantage of Dak's contract. We have a stud RB and still great O-line who knows what happens over the next 3 years? Is Elliott going to get a second contract, will he even be good after how much we run him? Will the O-line stay healthy enough with Tyron & Travis Frederick. Jerry & Stephen have dropped the ball with not being aggressive in FA. Our draft has been good enough, but you gotta go out and round out your team in FA. Just like the Eagles did last year. Always improve your roster, don't keep saying we like what we have.

I honestly think we are doing just enough to stay afloat and make Jerry Jones a ton of free cash flow. The Cowboys name will carry him forever. He is a HOF'er now, has 3 SB's, most valuable sports franchise. I feel like he wants to be NFL commish more than an owner.

I have a bad feeling that things have the possibility of going really bad this year. I hope I'm wrong but I also don't want to win 8 games and be in the middle and really be in the same situation next year.
Who wants to be .500 and Jerry saying.. "lets run this back one more time". We are stuck with Clapper & company again. I would give JG an ultimatum, playoff win or bust.

 

[lukin2006]

If the NFL wants to take Jerry off our hands and appoint him commish .... I will support this move.

I think Jerry wants to win, he is just to stubborn to admit that him and his family should be running the business of football and hire someone to make football decisions...

 

[DallasEast]

You did not mention Bridgewater to the Saints.

Those who do not understand Jerry Jones (or Stephen for that matter) after 29 years will never comprehend what he is thinking. In my opinion, Jones does not think he has built a competitive team. Jones always believes he has fielded teams that can challenge for Super Bowls if ‘this’ or ‘that’ happens.

That is the central difference in opinion. Fans may see a 2018 roster that will struggle. Jones sees a roster that will end up holding a Lombardi if everything falls into place.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I wanted me some honey badger so badly. Next to Thomas he would be been almost a godsend to the safety position.

When it comes to free agents, our FO sucks.

 

[dckid]

You did not mention Bridgewater to the Saints.

Those who do not understand Jerry Jones (or Stephen for that matter) after 29 years will never comprehend what he is thinking. In my opinion, Jones does not think he has built a competitive team. Jones always believes he has fielded teams that can challenge for Super Bowls if ‘this’ or ‘that’ happens.

That is the central difference in opinion. Fans may see a 2018 roster that will struggle. Jones sees a roster that will end up holding a Lombardi if everything falls into place.

Good point but that was the Saints playing chess while teams like the Cowboys play checkers. Great coaches and FO's make a move like the Saints did.
If your roster is SB caliber, which the Saints truly are do you want to lose that opportunity because your 40 year old QB gets injured? Of course not!
Lets look at the Packers from last year.. yes I know Rodgers is not 40 but their season went off the rails. At the opposite end of the spectrum lets look at what the Eagles did with Foles.

 

[ClappingCarrot]

I'm the most mad about not making a splash in FA to get a quality, veteran Tight End.

Other than that, the rest was to be expected. Stephen and Jerry have been abundantly transparent in not wanting to overpay in FA. I agree through that you constantly want to be looking at ways to improve your roster. This crew baffles me. Every year they feel that they have fielded a Super Bowl team, and when it doesn't come even remotely close to working out, they do the same exact thing next season.

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

You did not mention Bridgewater to the Saints.

Those who do not understand Jerry Jones (or Stephen for that matter) after 29 years will never comprehend what he is thinking. In my opinion, Jones does not think he has built a competitive team. Jones always believes he has fielded teams that can challenge for Super Bowls if ‘this’ or ‘that’ happens.

That is the central difference in opinion. Fans may see a 2018 roster that will struggle. Jones sees a roster that will end up holding a Lombardi if everything falls into place.

The Jones have three flaws that hurt this team, overvaluation of players, over the top player loyalty, and scratch and dent player acquisition.

Overvaluation - This is not uncommon in the NFL. It is a natural occurrence that happens when familiarity clouds judgement. I feel this FO is more guilty than most.

Over the top player loyalty - Jerry has on many many many occasions, placed his loyalty to a player or coach over the good of the team.

Scratch and dent player acquisition - What I mean by this is that the Cowboys philosophy in both the draft and FA is to go after these players that have talent, but have for different reasons either dropped in the draft, been cut prematurely, or are in their team's doghouse. Don't get me wrong, you can buff out the scratches and fill in the dents once in awhile, but this FO seems to be place a higher value in acquiring these players than most teams. Not a sustainable philosophy in my opinion because the success rate of these players is so low.

 

[DallasEast]

Good point but that was the Saints playing chess while teams like the Cowboys play checkers. Great coaches and FO's make a move like the Saints did.
If your roster is SB caliber, which the Saints truly are do you want to lose that opportunity because your 40 year old QB gets injured? Of course not!
Lets look at the Packers from last year.. yes I know Rodgers is not 40 but their season went off the rails. At the opposite end of the spectrum lets look at what the Eagles did with Foles.

You are still looking at it from your perspective and New Orleans’ perspective and even Green Bay’s perspective while not willing to acknowledge Dallas’ front office sees themselves as chess masters.

 

[Longboysfan]

I wanted me some honey badger so badly. Next to Thomas he would be been almost a godsend to the safety position.

When it comes to free agents, our FO sucks.

Maybe they know that and stay away from it.

 

[LittleD]

If the NFL wants to take Jerry off our hands and appoint him commish .... I will support this move.

I think Jerry wants to win, he is just to stubborn to admit that him and his family should be running the business of football and hire someone to make football decisions...

It matters not if Jerry leaves or retires as Stephen is destined to take over the reins and he's cheaper than Jerry. They only really believe in the draft and McClay to run and develop this team. That is the new and improved Cowboy Way.

 

[DallasEast]

The Jones have three flaws that hurt this team, overvaluation of players, over the top player loyalty, and scratch and dent player acquisition.

Overvaluation - This is not uncommon in the NFL. It is a natural occurrence that happens when familiarity clouds judgement. I feel this FO is more guilty than most.

Over the top player loyalty - Jerry has on many many many occasions, placed his loyalty to a player or coach over the good of the team.

Scratch and dent player acquisition - What I mean by this is that the Cowboys philosophy in both the draft and FA is to go after these players that have talent, but have for different reasons either dropped in the draft, been cut prematurely, or are in their team's doghouse. Don't get me wrong, you can buff out the scratches and fill in the dents once in awhile, but this FO seems to be place a higher value in acquiring these players than most teams. Not a sustainable philosophy in my opinion because the success rate of these players is so low.

True. The decades long mindset has been gambling on a percentage of players acquired via the draft or free agency. Jaylon Smith is a good example of the former. His potential is phenomenal and that may be understating it in his case but the payoff has yet to come.

 

[lukin2006]

It matters not if Jerry leaves or retires as Stephen is destined to take over the reins and he's cheaper than Jerry. They only really believe in the draft and McClay to run and develop this team. That is the new and improved Cowboy Way.

Maybe Jerry can take Stephen with him...

I don't think the Jones family would have be able to have anything to do with the team if Jerry was commish. Every close call would go our way. Suspend Wentze, just because ... lol

 

[ConstantReboot]

Maybe they know that and stay away from it.

Maybe they haven"t a clue.

 

[Denim Chicken]

I wanted me some honey badger so badly. Next to Thomas he would be been almost a godsend to the safety position

Meh, average slot DB with injury issues.

 

[erod]

I think they're reluctant to pay high-priced free agents until they are sure about Dak.

I'm hoping they're still pursuing ET.

 

[JonesBoys]

I'm the most mad about not making a splash in FA to get a quality, veteran Tight End.

Other than that, the rest was to be expected. Stephen and Jerry have been abundantly transparent in not wanting to overpay in FA. I agree through that you constantly want to be looking at ways to improve your roster. This crew baffles me. Every year they feel that they have fielded a Super Bowl team, and when it doesn't come even remotely close to working out, they do the same exact thing next season.

Some of these free agents have an inexpensive 1 year deal or short deals. I get not throwing big money out but Mathieu 1 year 7 million? Iloka 1 year 800k? Two players that are on 1 year deals in a position of need. There are other examples. Again I get the first few days of free agency throwing around the big money but there were plenty of opportunities to improve this roster without dishing out long term contracts and huge money and the FO decided to look at undrafted players. Cap space just wasting away for this year when 1 year deals were there to be had. This organization acts like their the model franchise when they haven't won squat in over 20 years. You would think they would have been a little more aggressive with Dak and Zeke on cheap contracts to go after it but nope, still in rebuild mode going on year 22.

 

[EGTuna]

I don't get cutting Dez and then not using that cap $ on a trade and extension for Earl Thomas. I get cutting Dez. His production was trending down, and he clearly was no loner the explosive player we saw from 2010-2014 (with flashes in 2016 and 2017), but to not use that $ on a Safety, especially one that WANTS to be here is ludicrous. I would absolutely give up a 2nd for ET and maybe even a 1st.

 

[JonesBoys]

I don't get cutting Dez and then not using that cap $ on a trade and extension for Earl Thomas. I get cutting Dez. His production was trending down, and he clearly was no loner the explosive player we saw from 2010-2014 (with flashes in 2016 and 2017), but to not use that $ on a Safety, especially one that WANTS to be here is ludicrous. I would absolutely give up a 2nd for ET and maybe even a 1st.

Exactly, not using the cap space on one 1 year deals doesnt make sense. I wouldn't give up a 1st for Thomas but a 2nd yes especially the way this FO takes gamble picks with that round anyway. Why not use it for arguably the best safety in the game in a big position of need?

 

[DFWJC]

If the NFL wants to take Jerry off our hands and appoint him commish .... I will support this move.

I think Jerry wants to win, he is just to stubborn to admit that him and his family should be running the business of football and hire someone to make football decisions...

If Will Clay, Stephen and Jason all went to Jerry and said they needed a certain player, he would go get them.
Period

 

[staubach24]

I don't get cutting Dez and then not using that cap $ on a trade and extension for Earl Thomas. I get cutting Dez. His production was trending down, and he clearly was no loner the explosive player we saw from 2010-2014 (with flashes in 2016 and 2017), but to not use that $ on a Safety, especially one that WANTS to be here is ludicrous. I would absolutely give up a 2nd for ET and maybe even a 1st.

I agree with the Dez cut as well, but I do not give up a 1st rd pick for a 29 year old player with a very physical style of play, who has already had a serious injury. He's got about 3 to 4 good years left in a best case scenario, if he can stay healthy. A 2nd maybe, but a 3rd more likely.