The 22 - Defense (2015)

[Galian Beast]

Who stays and who goes?

Let's say that you get 5 defensive players in the draft/udfa and two free agents.

That's 7 defensive players, nearly 1/3rd of the current defense, gone.

I was thinking about this today, and I think you have to start with who you definitely want to keep first.

1. Lee
2. R. McClain
3. Scandrick
4. Hitchens
5. Durant
6. Crawford
7. Mincey

So right there that is 14 players, give or take. It's also probable that an UDFA will have a harder time making this defense if it is a defensive heavy draft, but let's ignore that for now. Besides, we still have to consider guys like Okoye and Gardner who

So the real battle becomes more about that middle 7.

Players that are either not long term players or have limited upside. The players who I'd say are most likely to be replaced in 2016.

Spencer (if re-signed)
Hayden
Church
Wilcox
Patmon
Moore
Wilber

When you look at it from the stand point of the 22, I think you can rebuild this defense pretty quickly.

 

[xwalker]

Who stays and who goes?

Let's say that you get 5 defensive players in the draft/udfa and two free agents.

That's 7 defensive players, nearly 1/3rd of the current defense, gone.

I was thinking about this today, and I think you have to start with who you definitely want to keep first.

1. Lee
2. R. McClain
3. Scandrick
4. Hitchens
5. Durant
6. Crawford
7. Mincey

So right there that is 14 players, give or take. It's also probable that an UDFA will have a harder time making this defense if it is a defensive heavy draft, but let's ignore that for now. Besides, we still have to consider guys like Okoye and Gardner who

So the real battle becomes more about that middle 7.

Players that are either not long term players or have limited upside. The players who I'd say are most likely to be replaced in 2016.

Spencer (if re-signed)
Hayden
Church
Wilcox
Patmon
Moore
Wilber

When you look at it from the stand point of the 22, I think you can rebuild this defense pretty quickly.

You're looking at it backwards, IMO. You should look at what are the options all each position, not who should be gone. You bring as many players to training camp with some talent/ability and go from there.

I don't worry about any players that will definitely be here for training camp. Which leaves the Cowboys own free agents, possible outside free agents, draft picks/udfas, and over-paid players.

Two of your top 7 are free agents (RoMc and Durant). There is a good chance that Wilcox is long term starter. Patmon and Moore could be here for several years, just not as starters. They don't even have a backup for Church and definitely not a replacement on the roster. I'm waiting for the reactions at CZ when the Cowboys re-sign Matt Johnson after the season.

A quick summary:
Carr has to take a pay cut or they have to replace him with a free agent. They could also stand to add a draft pick at this position. Carr's pay cut would pay for a free agent.

They need to add talent on the DL. It could be DT or DE if it's a difference maker. I see a fairly expensive free agent being adding and an early draft pick. Guys like Selvie, Hayden, etc. could come to training camp, but hopefully the team can find more talented options to replace them. They have many options with all of the guys on IR and the practice squad.

At LB it's Lee and Hitchens under contract. They likely re-sign 1 or 2 of RoMC, Durant and Carter. I see a fairly early draft pick being added. It's also not that difficult to find free agent 4-3 LBs for a reasonable price if needed for some reason.

At Safety, it's highly likely the Church and Wilcox are the starters in 2015. They don't have much in the way of either depth or high upside developmental players at this position. A draft pick is likely.

 

[Bluefin]

Who stays and who goes?

I'm willing to let Anthony Spencer, George Selvie, Nick Hayden and Henry Melton walk as free agents.

One or more may return, Spencer's the most likely, Selvie and Hayden would be minimum deals with no guarantee of making the final cut.

Brandon Carr will need to take a big, multi-year pay cut in order to return. He will probably get released.

Let's say that you get 5 defensive players in the draft/udfa and two free agents.

That's 7 defensive players, nearly 1/3rd of the current defense, gone.

I'm hoping for a free agent DE, right side or left side, I'm good with either.

I'm not expecting to spend on a UT or NT.

Rolando McClain is the priority at LB with Justin Durant and maybe James Anderson also possibilities.

A CB addition will be in order if Carr leaves, which is what I expect.

Safety could also use a body.

The DE signing might be Jerry Hughes, Jabaal Sheard or maybe Brian Orakpo on a minimum risk "prove it" contract.

Any LB moves should involve re-signing our own guys, I'll go with Ro' and Durant.

Byron Maxwell is a scheme fit if the price doesn't get out of hand.

A cheap safety worth a looky-loo could be Louis Delmas. The team liked him once upon a time.

Pre-draft, we could be looking at:

RDE: DeMarcus Lawrence, Jeremy Mincey
NT: Josh Brent, Ken Bishop
UT: Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain, Davon Coleman
LDE: Jabaal Sheard, Jack Crawford

WLB: Sean Lee, Keith Smith
MLB: Rolando McClain, Anthony Hitchens
SLB: Justin Durant, Kyle Wilber

RCB: Orlando Scandrick, Sterling Moore
LCB: Byron Maxwell, Morris Claiborne
SS: Barry Church, Louis Delmas
FS: J.J. Wilcox, Jeff Heath

 

[jblaze2004]

hitch might deserve to be a starter........but lets see how this all plays out.

 

[Irvin88_4life]

I'm sorry but i see us resigning Bruce Carter. All the hate he gets is crazy. He leads the team in interceptions and has more then Richard Sherman this season.

Rather have Carter over Durant but don't see why we can't have both. Lee and Durant are always injuried and Ro has had numerous issues this season. Hitchens, Lee, Carter, Durant, Ro, Wilber make for a strong LB corps. You fans always talking about depth now you want to let the best playmaking LB leave. ....... I'm stunned

 

[blindzebra]

Lawrence?

 

[MWH1967]

Selvie is a pet cat.....remember "Rotation" is the word....i knowww stupid cap

 

[d_dub88]

I'm sorry but i see us resigning Bruce Carter. All the hate he gets is crazy. He leads the team in interceptions and has more then Richard Sherman this season.

Rather have Carter over Durant but don't see why we can't have both. Lee and Durant are always injuried and Ro has had numerous issues this season. Hitchens, Lee, Carter, Durant, Ro, Wilber make for a strong LB corps. You fans always talking about depth now you want to let the best playmaking LB leave. ....... I'm stunned

I'd like to have Carter over Durant also.

 

[ConstantReboot]

I'd like to have Carter over Durant also.

Ro, Carter, Durant will be the starters if all of them remain healthy. Lee and Hitchens will be on rotation.

 

[nathanlt]

Who stays and who goes?

Let's say that you get 5 defensive players in the draft/udfa and two free agents.

That's 7 defensive players, nearly 1/3rd of the current defense, gone.

I was thinking about this today, and I think you have to start with who you definitely want to keep first.

1. Lee
2. R. McClain
3. Scandrick
4. Hitchens
5. Durant
6. Crawford
7. Mincey

So right there that is 14 players, give or take. It's also probable that an UDFA will have a harder time making this defense if it is a defensive heavy draft, but let's ignore that for now. Besides, we still have to consider guys like Okoye and Gardner who

So the real battle becomes more about that middle 7.

Players that are either not long term players or have limited upside. The players who I'd say are most likely to be replaced in 2016.

Spencer (if re-signed)
Hayden
Church
Wilcox
Patmon
Moore
Wilber

When you look at it from the stand point of the 22, I think you can rebuild this defense pretty quickly.

Wait a minute, did I sleep through the playoffs? Did we make it to the Super Bowl? Did we win it?

Oh, hang on, it's still Jan 8th, with games to play.... I thought it was the offseason!

 

[Galian Beast]

@Irvin4Life not hating on Bruce Carter at all. I'd love to see him return at this point, but I don't know what we're going to do with cost. You can't have steaks on every plate, and I think this team is going to have to make adjustments somewhere. I'd love to have the linebacker depth by bringing everyone back. I also think that is a testament to how good of a job Eberflus is doing.

@blindzebra, total oversight on my part. Thanks for the correction.

@xwalker, I think that only works on paper. I think in reality you work back from where you are and you throw resources mostly towards what you need. We have plenty of needs across the board not to have to reach, but I don't think we're going to draft any linebackers if we re-sign a bunch of these guys.

@Boys#1 95, if Selvie is on this team next year, something terrible has happened. Our goal should be for Mincey would be to have him be our #4 defensive end next year. This means you need to bring in at least two defensive ends between the draft and free agency. We also probably need to get a 1 technique in the draft. Notice however that is only two spots. We also need to draft well for the secondary. Cornerback to replace Carr is key, but a safety as well wouldn't hurt. I don't think we're going to get a ton of starters in the draft next year, so we need to recognize that we'll be lucky if we can get 1 or 2 starters on defense from the draft.

 

[Galian Beast]

Wait a minute, did I sleep through the playoffs? Did we make it to the Super Bowl? Did we win it?

Oh, hang on, it's still Jan 8th, with games to play.... I thought it was the offseason!

Making this post now has no impact on anything, we're still playing football, but this is still a discussion board.

 

[Zekeats]

hitch might deserve to be a starter........but lets see how this all plays out.

Might deserve.....lol

 

[DogFace]

Ro, Carter, Durant will be the starters if all of them remain healthy. Lee and Hitchens will be on rotation.

Lee starts I say

With Ro and Carter or Hichens

 

[xwalker]

@Irvin4Life not hating on Bruce Carter at all. I'd love to see him return at this point, but I don't know what we're going to do with cost. You can't have steaks on every plate, and I think this team is going to have to make adjustments somewhere. I'd love to have the linebacker depth by bringing everyone back. I also think that is a testament to how good of a job Eberflus is doing.

@blindzebra, total oversight on my part. Thanks for the correction.

@xwalker, I think that only works on paper. I think in reality you work back from where you are and you throw resources mostly towards what you need. We have plenty of needs across the board not to have to reach, but I don't think we're going to draft any linebackers if we re-sign a bunch of these guys.

@Boys#1 95, if Selvie is on this team next year, something terrible has happened. Our goal should be for Mincey would be to have him be our #4 defensive end next year. This means you need to bring in at least two defensive ends between the draft and free agency. We also probably need to get a 1 technique in the draft. Notice however that is only two spots. We also need to draft well for the secondary. Cornerback to replace Carr is key, but a safety as well wouldn't hurt. I don't think we're going to get a ton of starters in the draft next year, so we need to recognize that we'll be lucky if we can get 1 or 2 starters on defense from the draft.

I said you should look at the options at each position instead of just looking at who you want to cut. You need as many options as possible because players get injured in training camp and rookies don't always work out.

Selvie is currently a starter. The 1st goal should be to replace him as a starter. There are 4 DEs active on game day and usually a couple of more that are on the 53 but inactive on game day. If Selvie is currently the #2 DE, then you have to upgrade not only his current spot, but you have to come up with #3, #4, #5 and #6 DEs on the roster that are better than your current #2 before it makes sense to cut him loose.

 

[Zimmy Lives]

I said you should look at the options at each position instead of just looking at who you want to cut. You need as many options as possible because players get injured in training camp and rookies don't always work out.

Selvie is currently a starter. The 1st goal should be to replace him as a starter. There are 4 DEs active on game day and usually a couple of more that are on the 53 but inactive on game day. If Selvie is currently the #2 DE, then you have to upgrade not only his current spot, but you have to come up with #3, #4, #5 and #6 DEs on the roster that are better than your current #2 before it makes sense to cut him loose.

Agreed. I would not cut anyone until there was a viable replacement option. I would focus on high draft picks to rebuild the d-line/secondary and fill in areas of need with targeted free agents.

 

[DeaconMoss]

Carr has to take a pay cut or they have to replace him with a free agent. Agree
They need to add talent on the DL. Agree
At LB it's Lee and Hitchens under contract. They likely re-sign 1 or 2 of RoMC, Durant and Carter. Agree but I would rather keep them all than looking elsewhere. Those 5 guys make a solid unit and not a very expensive either.
At Safety, it's highly likely the Church and Wilcox are the starters in 2015. A draft pick is likely.Agree. And I really hope Safety is a priority in the draft and/or FA.

 

[xwalker]

I'm willing to let Anthony Spencer, George Selvie, Nick Hayden and Henry Melton walk as free agents.

One or more may return, Spencer's the most likely, Selvie and Hayden would be minimum deals with no guarantee of making the final cut.

Brandon Carr will need to take a big, multi-year pay cut in order to return. He will probably get released.



I'm hoping for a free agent DE, right side or left side, I'm good with either.

I'm not expecting to spend on a UT or NT.

Rolando McClain is the priority at LB with Justin Durant and maybe James Anderson also possibilities.

A CB addition will be in order if Carr leaves, which is what I expect.

Safety could also use a body.

The DE signing might be Jerry Hughes, Jabaal Sheard or maybe Brian Orakpo on a minimum risk "prove it" contract.

Any LB moves should involve re-signing our own guys, I'll go with Ro' and Durant.

Byron Maxwell is a scheme fit if the price doesn't get out of hand.

A cheap safety worth a looky-loo could be Louis Delmas. The team liked him once upon a time.

Pre-draft, we could be looking at:

RDE: DeMarcus Lawrence, Jeremy Mincey
NT: Josh Brent, Ken Bishop
UT: Tyrone Crawford, Terrell McClain, Davon Coleman
LDE: Jabaal Sheard, Jack Crawford

WLB: Sean Lee, Keith Smith
MLB: Rolando McClain, Anthony Hitchens
SLB: Justin Durant, Kyle Wilber

RCB: Orlando Scandrick, Sterling Moore
LCB: Byron Maxwell, Morris Claiborne
SS: Barry Church, Louis Delmas
FS: J.J. Wilcox, Jeff Heath

Delmas torn his ACL at the beginning of December. The Cowboys do seem to like to sign guys coming off injuries.