Stephen Jones "Players we want to keep, we keep them,"

[Beast_from_East]

Here's a wild and crazy thought.

If you want a defense that attacks the QB and forces turnovers why not go out and get a DC who brings that type of defense?

I know. I just blew your mind Stephen with that outside the box thinking.

Exactly..............if your defensive scheme is to give 8 yard cushions to the WRs, don't cry like a baby when they cant get picks.

Stephen is just as dumb as his daddy...............the apple did not fall far from the tree

 

[waving monkey]

And people may complain about it right now, that they are gone.

But for the most part many complained and complained about Clairborne and Carr. One could not stay healthy, the the other did not make plays.

Some wanted to keep Church and just as many were willing to let him go as they thought he would cost too much.

Many thought wilcox was always taking bad angles and or lost out there.

Heck I think the one that had the more liking him than the others was McClain and that was not a large majority of people mad that he was gone.

I was hoping we would get to see more of Awuzie this season so far, just to get a feel of how we think he will pan out.
I think we got a decent look at Lewis and I feel most believe he has a future here.

I think most feel about Heath now as they did at the start of the season..>He might make a play here and there but he should not be the starter.
Have to see more of X.Woods. He seems to flash here and there but at other times you can tell he is still a rookie that has missed time as he can get lost.

I imagine we will see more of Woods and Awuzie.

This should help us going into the next offeason/draft in seeing if we still need to work on CB or S.

reasonable+

 

[waving monkey]

Exactly..............if your defensive scheme is to give 8 yard cushions to the WRs, don't cry like a baby when they cant get picks.

Stephen is just as dumb as his daddy...............the apple did not fall far from the tree

yes and no Beastie
that cushion and expecting turn overs isnt reasonable
Stephen I like. Of course Jerry but he wasn't a personal guy
and thats a GM's duty

 

[big dog cowboy]

The money that was 'saved' was invested in garbage pile FAs that have both since been released - Paea and our favorite Carroll.

You still don't understand why those players were signed.

 

[waldoputty]

You still don't understand why those players were signed.

Any cap savings is gone after having to cut all these 'value' FAs.
The DBs that were not kept due to their limited upside are thriving outside due to better coaching and modern schemes.
If cheaper DBs were found, those gains were lost in opportunity lost when one factors in using up a year of cheap salaries from the class of 2016 as well as 2015 and 2014 drafts. Also squandered is whatever good time remaining in older stars like Lee, Dez etc. After the phenomenal draft of 2016, the FO tried to outsmart everyone AGAIN and the results speak for themselves.

Thought it was extremely dumb in March, and the results are even worse than I feared.
The 'clever' strategy to save money has wasted more cap dollars than expected.
Now cap dollars wasted, year wasted, and the coaches and schemes exposed as the complete fraud that they are.

Could have spent the money and have the real contender to enjoy for a few years before having the down year.
Now we had the down year upfront, with no further along in the team construction.
Furthermore, having the down year upfront does not eliminate the need for a down year in ~4 years when the full cap impact of extensions for the class of 2016 (1-2 years after the extensions are signed).

The only saving grace is the draft position this year IF the FO would capitalize with a proper tank.
Though they seem to be more busy trying to save face, while the coaches try to save their jobs.
God forbid they win another game or 2 and squander any positive outcome for the season or if Dak gets injured seriously from the decimated OL and lack of running game.

 

[big dog cowboy]

The 'clever' strategy to save money has wasted more cap dollars than expected.

Not exactly right. They were signed as bandaids until the rooks take over. Once they did, the vets were cut almost immediately.

 

[Sydla]

You still don't understand why those players were signed.

LOL. Are we still trotting out this, "they were signed as stop gaps"?

They absolutely were not. They were brought in to be players and help this team in 2017. They failed. Who is the young stud 1 Tech that Paea was the stop gap for?

And Carroll? Marinelli dogged him for two offseasons because he thought he would be a good CB in his zone schemes.

The Cowboys FA plan in 2017 was a stone cold disaster.

 

[khiladi]

I thought Carr was decent and the Calvin Johnson being the greatest example of it, was the fault of he safeties not picking him up on zone than anything else. He always took unnecessary PR hits. Wilcox was the weakest link... Church was serviceable for us.

Claiborne was decent last year finally, in MAN but couldn’t shake the injury bug.

We primarily sucked in zone.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Carr and Clairborne - Players that were not 'worth keeping' are now in the top 10 in CB ratings.
Clariborne, given injury history, is understandable. But the steady though not flashy Carr was also discarded because he cost more than the famous Carroll, who has since been released.

According to Stephen Jones from http://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/201...se-free-agency-nfl-2017-draft-cap-allocation/:
“We are not going to get any better on defense if we just keep paying the guys we got,” Jones said. “What we have to do better on defense is we have to get pressure on the passer. And we have to make plays on the ball. We have to do that better. Obviously we haven’t been doing that with the guys we got. So how do you get better if you keep paying the guys you got who aren’t making plays on the ball a lot of money?”

Thus, 1 season after 13-3, the team has boldly turned over its defensive backfield starters. Instead of paying to keep them, the 2nd round, 3rd round and 2 6th round picks were invested into CBs and S, perhaps talented but inexperienced players. Furthermore, the 2nd round pick has barely gotten onto the field due to hamstring injury. The money that was 'saved' was invested in garbage pile FAs that have both since been released - Paea and our favorite Carroll. These bargain FAs were released along with Thornton the prized FA from 2015, combining to count more than $10 million against the sacred salary cap. How much more would it have cost to keep the steady Carr instead of questionable Carroll??? The Cowboys based their FA approach on their 'unique' ability to capture value in players that other teams do not - partly because of legendary coach Marinelli's ability to turn lead into gold.

In a year eerily similar to 2015 after going 12-4 when a top RB was not kept because of a couple million and that anybody could get 1000 yards behind the Dallas OL, the defensive backfield was completely revamped by the team. Another reason these CBs were released - they can only play man and are lost in zone coverage. DC Marinelli's brilliant tampa defense requires zone coverage so the DBs can play 10 yards back from LOS. If the player does not fit the brilliant scheme, they are garbage and must be replaced.

As provided by @SeanLee50 :
Carr - 35 tackles, 3 picks (is it not amazing the player that does not make plays at Dallas is making plays now?)
Claiborne - 31 tackles, 1 pick
Church - 46 tackles, 1 Sack, 1 pick
McClain - 19 tackles, 2 sacks
Dunbar - 5 carries, 31 yards
Escobar - out of the league
Wilcox - 12 tackles, 1 pick

Said many times how good I thought Claiborne was. Outside of his injury history I would have had no problem resigning him for a decent contract. Of course the homers blabbered about how much he stunk. Because he wasnt a Cowboy anymore.

 

[CWR]

Maybe they will wake up and see the players aren't the problem!!

 

[waldoputty]

Not exactly right. They were signed as bandaids until the rooks take over. Once they did, the vets were cut almost immediately.

no, the rooks were barely able to play due to injury when the DB with the 3 year contract was cut.
the DT was cut because of injury - there is a reason he was in the scrap pile.

the only FA that was the clear bandaid was the safety that did not make the 53 cut.

 

[Sydla]

no, the rooks were barely able to play due to injury when the DB with the 3 year contract was cut.
the DT was cut because of injury - there is a reason he was in the scrap pile.

the only FA that was the clear bandaid was the safety that did not make the 53 cut.

I mean the contract they gave Carroll indicated they didn't think of him as some short term stop gap for the young CBs. There were other CBs that could have been signed for just one year to be that stop gap.

They signed Carroll because they actually thought he could play and that he would be a solid CB for them for a couple of years.

 

[Bowdown27]

Our defense is not built for cover 2 like marinelli likes. And we never blitz so qb can pick apart our defense when our best player (Lee) is not on the field. We need to draft linebacker early because we can not rely on lee to stay healthy. He’s out we’re out.

 

[waldoputty]

Carr 4 years 23.5M 4M signing bonus 4M guaranteed
Clairborne 1 year 5M 2M signing bonus

Carroll 3 years 10M 3M guaranteed
Paea 1 year 2M 0.5M guaranteed
Thornton 6M cap hit spread over 2017 and 2018
Blanton 0.08M cap hit
D Moore 0.1M guaranteed

basically carroll/Paea dead money = 3.5M
including thornton - we are up to 9.5M wasted away

 

[waldoputty]

I mean the contract they gave Carroll indicated they didn't think of him as some short term stop gap for the young CBs. There were other CBs that could have been signed for just one year to be that stop gap.

They signed Carroll because they actually thought he could play and that he would be a solid CB for them for a couple of years.

i am in agreement with you.
carroll was not a stop gap.
he was a CB designed for 2-3 years who was so bad he had to be cut.

 

[noshame]

We generated absolutely no pass rush last year so trying to rate defensive backs was a waste of time.
all Rod had to do last year was Rush four instead of 3. Quarterbacks got six or seven seconds to throw the ball the entire secondary will look like crap.

Third and 15 was an automatic first down

 

[jjktkk]

Said many times how good I thought Claiborne was. Outside of his injury history I would have had no problem resigning him for a decent contract. Of course the homers blabbered about how much he stunk. Because he wasnt a Cowboy anymore.

I'd have a hard time believing you wouldn't of crucified this FO for resigning Claiborne. Claiborne has been injury prone his whole career and is injured, yet again, this year.

 

[haleyrules]

They should have kept Church. The rest are no big loss.

 

[silver]

It doesn't matter who we have in the backfield if we don't have pass rushers who can pressure the QB. We need to first get the War Daddy Jerry keeps mentioning but since the drafting of Demarcus Ware has failed to land. Charles Hailey was the difference maker in the '90's. Deion was the cherry on top.

 

[CWR]

Carr 4 years 23.5M 4M signing bonus 4M guaranteed
Clairborne 1 year 5M 2M signing bonus

Carroll 3 years 10M 3M guaranteed
Paea 1 year 2M 0.5M guaranteed
Thornton 6M cap hit spread over 2017 and 2018
Blanton 0.08M cap hit
D Moore 0.1M guaranteed

basically carroll/Paea dead money = 3.5M
including thornton - we are up to 9.5M wasted away

Complete and total mismanagement. I gave our front office a ton of credit for last year. Now I will give them a ton of blame for this year. I had my reservations about losing so much of our defensive backfield in the offseason, but most said they sucked anyways. That doesn't mean you can replace veterans with a bunch of rookies and expect them all to perform. It was reckless and arrogant.