SI's Peter King: Cowboys acquisition of La'el Collins was a 'stealth bombing'

[AsthmaField]

In any event, someone grew a huge brain lately.

 

[SunspotJonz]

For the next 2 seasons, Free, Collins,Frederick and Martin is roughly 18 mil in cap.

Jeremy Parnell will cost the Jaguars $14.5M over that same span. Let's say that we pick up Fred's 5th year option at 4 mil, it will be $32M through 2017.

That's $2.6M per player per year.

 

[Joe_Fan]

For the next 2 seasons, Free, Collins,Frederick and Martin is roughly 18 mil in cap.

Jeremy Parnell will cost the Jaguars $14.5M over that same span. Let's say that we pick up Fred's 5th year option at 4 mil, it will be $32M through 2017.

That's $2.6M per player per year.

I appreciate what Parnell did for us last season but man oh man what an upgrade for us.

This is the guy that I'm rooting for due to all he's been through. I haven't bought a jersey in a while but will definitely make a custom one of his just to show my support of him and for having such a positive attitude despite all he's been put through.

He could have very easily become bitter, and I don't blame him one bit if he had, but what an inspiration he was.

 

[jobberone]

Could they get a scarier pic of Jerry? I thought my avatar was scary. I might have nightmares now.

Man up Bob!

 

[jobberone]

***snip***

Frankly, I don't think you could get Jerry to abandon that vision no matter how hard you tried now. He bought into it and he has seen the results. I think Jerry has, after all of these years, and with a lot of help from Jason and Stephen, finally learned how to be a GM.

He learns even if it is s l o w at times.

 

[jazzcat22]

I might agree if there wasn't that pesky war room cam that showed Jason was reluctant when the team took Gregory at 60. It seems, as discussed by several of the radio guys in Dallas on multiple channels that Jason was the only one not visibly celebrating the pick of Gregory.

Not very compelling evidence, I would suggest, but it seems the guy who has Jerry's ear the most, or has an almost equal say in the final decision is Stephan.

And frankly, while I have nothing to back this up, I'd say Stephan is listening to McClay.

Garrett is turning me around on his appointment. I don't call it being hired as much as being doffed by Jerry's sword and knighted.

In any event, someone grew a huge brain lately.

I won't go by what is interpreted from a draft room camera. Supposedly the defense coaches weren't happy about not getting Floyd over an OL either either, but that turned out pretty well.
Only to come out later Floyd was not considered a great fit in the D system.
The radio guys and local media are more biased against than for, no matter what happens. They been known to skew their opinions.

We don't know what was going on or Jason's thought "process" at that particular moment.
Maybe he had a sudden gas issue....lol...

And if Jerry doffed Garrett as HC as opposed to hiring him, just shows King Jerry is on top of his regime and is in control of his Knights of the Death Star.

 

[Stash]

One might make the argument that once he did start deferring to others like Stephen and his head of scouting that he won the Exec of the Year this past season.

I find that interesting, and maybe final proof positive that he has released his death grip on decision making that cost this team a nice twenty years of no NFC Championship games.

But having said that, if it is Jerry, Stephen and McClay, or a bald circus clown named Mr. Jangles, this franchise has really stepped up to the plate the last several years.

I totally agree. It looks like every member of this staff is exactly where they need to be. No it starts with Jerry releasing some control. This has allowed him to do what he does best, as evidenced by the historic Collins acquisition. Stephen is handling the part of being responsible in decision-making and contract and cap decisions, and Garrett is the head coach and voice of the team and not a coordinator.

And it goes down to the coordinators in their roles as well as the position coaches. Everyone is in exactly the role they are best-suited. And I feel that will pay huge dividends for the entire organization.

 

[adbutcher]

My guess is that he just has better advisers now.

And BINGO was his NAME O.

 

[Risen Star]

I might agree if there wasn't that pesky war room cam that showed Jason was reluctant when the team took Gregory at 60. It seems, as discussed by several of the radio guys in Dallas on multiple channels that Jason was the only one not visibly celebrating the pick of Gregory.

I'm glad there wasn't such a thing as a war room cam during the Landry era.

"OMG, everybody's celebrating and Landry's just sitting there stoic! Something's wrong!"

 

[Fredd]

Hey man, at least you're admitting that Jerry is doing a better job. Frankly, I can't fault you for worrying that the old Jerry might come back either.

I don't think it will though. Of all of Jerry's faults, one that I can't say is that he doesn't learn. The guy makes his mistakes but once he's realized he was doing it wrong, he will change more quickly than most.

From Jimmy's exit until Parcells arrived, Jerry thought he knew what he was doing, IMO. He thought he had put together a 3-time super bowl champion and knew how to do it.

By the time he hired Parcells, I think Jerry realized he was on the wrong path and knew he needed some help. Bill showed Jerry a lot about drafting and how to oversee pro personnel department. There was a definite change in Jerry's methods after Parcells. He still wasn't doing great but he had made changes that have been permanent. He never went back to where he was prior to Bill.

He made a bad hire in Phillips as coach and the 2009 draft was and still is an abomination... but when Garrett came in, Jerry had two guys who he truly listened to in Jason and Stephen.

Jerry has always been the final decision maker and he still is. The difference, IMO, is that prior to 2010 he would listen to the coaches and scouts and then try to pick the best player for the Cowboys. It was much closer to drafting for need than BPA, I think. It was a collaborative effort, just like Jerry always said... but the problems were that:

1. He was forcing too much for need, letting better players like Shady McCoy get past him.

2. He would project players too much, IMO. Looking at what they could be and not what they were. Guys like Jason Williams and Akwasi-Owusu-Ansah are examples of this.

3. He considered himself a wheeler-Dealer, and liked to try to get cute instead of just picking the best player.

4. This is the big one, IMO... he didn't really have a vision and a direction for the franchise, so his personnel decision were willy-nilly and was Jerry taking who he thought fit a need. In other words, he didn't take a global view of the team and its needs. It was just, "Our weakest link on defense is a CB, so lets get the best corner we can in the draft." He would then listen to everyone to come to a group decision on the best CB and draft him. No real vision of the direction of the team. No plan laid out on who they wanted the team to be, how they wanted to play, or what kind of player they wanted to bring in. He would spend freely on big name free agents because they were good players, but how they fit and what they were going to do to the cap long term wasn't a consideration necessarily.

You can't really blame Jerry entirely for Dallas being a rudderless ship in the night because the biggest piece he needed to make that stop was a head coach that he completely trusted. Switzer, Gailey, and Campo were just glorified coordinators who truly just coached up whoever Jerry brought in. They didn't have much of a vision for the team and if they did, I don't think Jerry would have trusted them enough to follow it.

Then came Parcells. He was a hell of a coach and knew how to structure a scouting department. He knew the type of players he wanted and he indeed did give some direction to the franchise. Jerry trusted him too. The problem was that he was always going to be a short-timer in Dallas. Even if you don't consider that Parcells always grew tired of a situation, his age meant he wasn't going to be there long.

Then, the Wade Phillips era began and while Jerry had indeed learned a lot from Parcells, the ship was again rudderless. Jerry didn't trust him with anything more than the defense and with no direction and nobody that he really trusted other than Stephen, the personnel decision were still being made in a scattered, helter-skelter sort of way.

Then, along comes Garrett. Jerry likes him. Likes him a lot. Not only that though, Jerry knows that Jason is smarter than him. The best thing of all though is that Garrett has a true, long-term vision for the team and the kind of players he wants to bring in. He tells Jerry that he wants a young team. He wants to build in the trenches and have a team that looks more like the early 90's Cowboys. A physical team full of guys that love to play the game and to whom winning is very important. The kind of guys Jason wants is more important than the position they play at. Spending free agent money only on young guys who still have their prime ahead of them so they can play out their entire contract. Big name guys who had a couple of good years left weren't the way he wanted to go. Those kind of contracts will kill your cap in the long run and you always have an old roster. Let go of your old stars when they are no longer worth the money they make.

He wanted older guys like Flozell Adams, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis, Marc Colombo, Roy Williams, and eventually guys like Demarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher, gone. Draft BPA so when you don't pay age, you have a replacement. Get guys who want to win as much as Jason, Stephen and Jerry. Physical, young guys who wear out the other team by the 4th, instead of petering out themselves.

Finally, they had a plan. A vision for not only the kind of team they wanted to be... but the kind of franchise they wanted to be.

Stephen Jones bought it, IMO and with the two of them pointing the way... Jerry was simply convinced that it was the best thing for the franchise.

So finally, after all these years, Jerry fully bought in to someone else's vision for the team. It took a coach who he completely trusted and his son, who he had grown to trust over the years to get him to follow them, but he finally did it.

Now, I think Jerry sees the fruits of that vision. He sees how being frugal with dollars, and getting lower priced free agents is helping the franchise. He sees the toughness of the team and the talent put together from 5 years of drafting BPA, and he loves it.

Frankly, I don't think you could get Jerry to abandon that vision no matter how hard you tried now. He bought into it and he has seen the results. I think Jerry has, after all of these years, and with a lot of help from Jason and Stephen, finally learned how to be a GM.

Extremely nice work on this post...the only thing I would add is that you can see that the FO is also bringing in A LOT of guys that were team captains, thus, promoting the RKG mantra...our first round pick was a team captain, Martin was one and I think in the Fred year, virtually everyone was...love a team with a plan

 

[TwoDeep3]

I won't go by what is interpreted from a draft room camera. Supposedly the defense coaches weren't happy about not getting Floyd over an OL either either, but that turned out pretty well.
Only to come out later Floyd was not considered a great fit in the D system.
The radio guys and local media are more biased against than for, no matter what happens. They been known to skew their opinions.

We don't know what was going on or Jason's thought "process" at that particular moment.
Maybe he had a sudden gas issue....lol...

And if Jerry doffed Garrett as HC as opposed to hiring him, just shows King Jerry is on top of his regime and is in control of his Knights of the Death Star.

One of them was Broaddus.

 

[Redball Express]

I might agree if there wasn't that pesky war room cam that showed Jason was reluctant when the team took Gregory at 60. It seems, as discussed by several of the radio guys in Dallas on multiple channels that Jason was the only one not visibly celebrating the pick of Gregory.

Not very compelling evidence, I would suggest, but it seems the guy who has Jerry's ear the most, or has an almost equal say in the final decision is Stephan.

And frankly, while I have nothing to back this up, I'd say Stephan is listening to McClay.

Garrett is turning me around on his appointment. I don't call it being hired as much as being doffed by Jerry's sword and knighted.

In any event, someone grew a huge brain lately.

I'm in with what you say.

I've been a fan of this team since 1965 and I have seen it all.

Not making me an expert..but die hard fan..yes.

And one of the things I see in Jones and Garrett is the same thing I first saw with Clint Murcheson and Tom Landry

and then again with Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson..

..and now I'm seeing it again with Jerry and Garrett.

When Murchason gave Landry a 10 year deal and let Tex be GM and Tom run the team as HC

it changed everything about the Franchise..

and when Jerry brought in Jimmy as HC and fired Landry and gave Jimmy complete control over the team while he became GM..

It changed everything about the Franchise.

Now that Garrett is HC and has a capable staff around him..

Jerry is firmly seen in the GM role and is getting all the credit there.

So there is never any one person or one decision that makes it happen.

It a lot of different things that make it work.

The is a team within the team here at work.i

After so many years of it not happening..I'll take it any which way, bro.

 

[xwalker]

I appreciate what Parnell did for us last season but man oh man what an upgrade for us.

This is the guy that I'm rooting for due to all he's been through. I haven't bought a jersey in a while but will definitely make a custom one of his just to show my support of him and for having such a positive attitude despite all he's been put through.

He could have very easily become bitter, and I don't blame him one bit if he had, but what an inspiration he was.

If the Cowboys had kept Parnell, he would be terrific with a few more starts to fine tune his awareness and technique. None of the OL in the draft are physically any better. I don't know what will happen in Jax because that team does not seem to bring out the best in players and he's not ready to be one of the lead guys on an OL, but in Dallas he would have been terrific by mid-season.