The Open Window

[Jumbo075]

Frankly, I have stopped caring about the money side of football. The money has gotten to be so much that it is comical to think that the players are being "disrespected" by earning $14M per season instead of $17M per season. And the Owners are backing up multiple Armored Vehicles to transport their loot to the bank. I am not at all interested in a dispute between the ultra-rich about how to divide up the money.

The ONLY critical position is QB. Dak may not be the best in the NFL, but he's good enough to be a winner, as his record and statistics show. I'm bored with the Romo vs. Dak argument, and it's a moot point anyway. Romo's body gave out, and the Cowboys were fortunate to have Dak waiting in the wings to take over. One way or another, the deal with Dak will get done, and I really don't care how much the Cowboys pay him. And I refuse to get caught up in the drama, drama, drama as each side patiently waits out the other to try to get the best possible deal.

At just about every other position, the Cowboys are not only loaded with talented starters, but have really good depth.

• RB - I've always respected the workmanlike ability of Alfred Morris. Of course, he's not as good as Zeke, but a combination of Morris, Pollard and Weber can be effective. And Olawale can be more than just a blocker and special teams player at Fullback
• OL - The Cowboys are deep at every position on the Oline, with All-Pro starters, and very capable backup players. Assuming a starting lineup of Smith, Williams, Frederick, Martin and Collins, the interior backups are former solid starters in Fleming, Su'a Filo & Looney, plus some promising youngsters in McGovern, Campos and Hyatt.
• TE - The old war horse is back for at least another season, but the two young stallions Jarwin and Schultz are ready to contribute
• WR - While Cooper is the premier player, Gallup is likely to take a big step forward, Austin can contribute, and Cobb is an upgrade over Beasley. Behind them, there is a stable of young talent, some of which will make the team, and others who will land on the Practice Squad. Davis, Johnson and Guyton are upgrades over Lance Lenoir, and I'm still intrigued by the possibilities of having a healthy Devin Smith, who is a former top 40 pick in the draft. And last year's 6th round pick Cedrick Wilson is my odd's on favorite to be the 5th receiver to start the season.
• DE - The Dline position is ridiculously talented, as evidenced by 2017 1st round pick Taco Charlton having difficulty breaking into the lineup. Assuming that Randy Gregory gets reinstated at some point in 2019, a 4-man rotation of Lawrence, Quinn, Gregory and Crawford is stout. That's before you even get to Hyder, Charlton, Armstong, Jackson and Jelks. Someone who could be a starter in the NFL is going to get cut.
• DT - Maliek Collins is a stud player when healthy, and Hill is going to be a good backup to start the year at 3-tech. Meanwhile, Antwaun Woods has been a good find, and Christian Covington is a very solid 2-gap rotational player The rookie Wise and the Veteran Ross provide good additional depth.
• LB - The Cowboys have the best young duo of linebackers in the NFL, and some pretty good depth behind them.
• CB - The Cowboys are at least 4 deep at the CB position, with youngsters Jackson and Olumba looking pretty solid as the 5th and 6th players.
• S - Woods is coming on strong, and Thompson is a former 3rd round pick who might finally start living up to his draft status at the free safety position. While Heath is not a top safety, he's reliable and is one of the fastest players on the team. The Cowboys have some room to get better at safety, but the rest of the defense is good enough to overcome a lack of talent at the strong safety position.
• Specialists - the Cowboys have two of the best in the NFL with Ladouceur and Jones. Maher is a bit of a mystery, and the Cowboys can always make a change if necessary. With Cobb, Pollard, and Austin, the Cowboys have a trio of good punt and kick returners.
• Assistant Coaching - Adding Kris Richard a year ago transformed the defense. The hope is that Kellen Moore can transform the offense, but that is just a hope at this point. But it looks promising.
• Jason Garrett has provided the consistent theme the Cowboys need to get off the coaching merry-go-round in recent years, but he is now in a do-or-die situation. If the Cowboys don't break through this year, they may need a coaching change to take advantage of the talent that Garrett has assembled. Garrett may be the NFL version of Buck Showalter - a Major League Manager who was masterful at building teams, but could never take them to the next level like Joe Torre did for the Yankees, and Bob Brenley for the Diamondbacks. Showalter built both of those teams, but couldn't win the championships. Torre and Brenley took the teams Showalter built, and won World Series with them.

The Cowboys have done a masterful job of assembling a very young, talented roster, and shouldn't feel that they are held hostage by any one player for their success, with the possible exception of the QB position. Right now is the time the Cowboys need to make a move to become a Championship level team once again. They are stacked with talent on both sides of the ball as much or more than any other team in the NFL. But this type of thing only lasts for 2-4 years in the NFL. Then players get old, talented players leave for other teams because they become unaffordable, etc. The Jones family needs to strike while the iron is hot. The window is open for success NOW. In 3 years time, that will likely change.

 

[xwalker]

Frankly, I have stopped caring about the money side of football. The money has gotten to be so much that it is comical to think that the players are being "disrespected" by earning $14M per season instead of $17M per season. And the Owners are backing up multiple Armored Vehicles to transport their loot to the bank. I am not at all interested in a dispute between the ultra-rich about how to divide up the money.

The ONLY critical position is QB. Dak may not be the best in the NFL, but he's good enough to be a winner, as his record and statistics show. I'm bored with the Romo vs. Dak argument, and it's a moot point anyway. Romo's body gave out, and the Cowboys were fortunate to have Dak waiting in the wings to take over. One way or another, the deal with Dak will get done, and I really don't care how much the Cowboys pay him. And I refuse to get caught up in the drama, drama, drama as each side patiently waits out the other to try to get the best possible deal.

At just about every other position, the Cowboys are not only loaded with talented starters, but have really good depth.

• RB - I've always respected the workmanlike ability of Alfred Morris. Of course, he's not as good as Zeke, but a combination of Morris, Pollard and Weber can be effective. And Olawale can be more than just a blocker and special teams player at Fullback
• OL - The Cowboys are deep at every position on the Oline, with All-Pro starters, and very capable backup players. Assuming a starting lineup of Smith, Williams, Frederick, Martin and Collins, the interior backups are former solid starters in Fleming, Su'a Filo & Looney, plus some promising youngsters in McGovern, Campos and Hyatt.
• TE - The old war horse is back for at least another season, but the two young stallions Jarwin and Schultz are ready to contribute
• WR - While Cooper is the premier player, Gallup is likely to take a big step forward, Austin can contribute, and Cobb is an upgrade over Beasley. Behind them, there is a stable of young talent, some of which will make the team, and others who will land on the Practice Squad. Both Johnson and Guyton are upgrades over Lance Lenoir, and I'm still intrigued by the possibilities of having a healthy Devin Smith, who is a former top 40 pick in the draft. And last year's 6th round pick Cedrick Wilson is my odd's on favorite to be the 5th receiver to start the season.
• DE - The Dline position is ridiculously talented, as evidenced by 2017 1st round pick Taco Charlton having difficulty breaking into the lineup. Assuming that Randy Gregory gets reinstated at some point in 2019, a 4-man rotation of Lawrence, Quinn, Gregory and Crawford is stout. That's before you even get to Hyder, Charlton, Armstong, Jackson and Jelks. Someone who could be a starter in the NFL is going to get cut.
• DT - Maliek Collins is a stud player when healthy, and Hill is going to be a good backup to start the year at 3-tech. Meanwhile, Antwaun Woods has been a good find, and Christian Covington is a very solid 2-gap rotational player The rookie Wise and the Veteran Ross provide good additional depth.
• LB - The Cowboys have the best young duo of linebackers in the NFL, and some pretty good depth behind them.
• CB - The Cowboys are at least 4 deep at the CB position, with youngsters Jackson and Olumba looking pretty solid as the 5th and 6th players.
• S - Woods is coming on strong, and Thompson is a former 3rd round pick who might finally start living up to his draft status at the free safety position. While Heath is not a top safety, he's reliable and is one of the fastest players on the team. The Cowboys have some room to get better at safety, but the rest of the defense is good enough to overcome a lack of talent at the strong safety position.
• Specialists - the Cowboys have two of the best in the NFL with Ladouceur and Jones. Maher is a bit of a mystery, and the Cowboys can always make a change if necessary. With Cobb, Pollard, and Austin, the Cowboys have a trio of good punt and kick returners.
• Assistant Coaching - Adding Kris Richard a year ago transformed the defense. The hope is that Kellen Moore can transform the offense, but that is just a hope at this point. But it looks promising.
• Jason Garrett has provided the consistent theme the Cowboys need to get off the coaching merry-go-round in recent years, but he is now in a do-or-die situation. If the Cowboys don't break through this year, they may need a coaching change to take advantage of the talent that Garrett has assembled. Garrett may be the NFL version of Buck Showalter - a Major League Manager who was masterful at building teams, but could never take them to the next level like Joe Torre did for the Yankees, and Bob Brenley for the Diamondbacks. Showalter built both of those teams, but couldn't win the championships. Torre and Brenley took the teams Showalter built, and won World Series with them.

The Cowboys have done a masterful job of assembling a very young, talented roster, and shouldn't feel that they are held hostage by any one player for their success, with the possible exception of the QB position. Right now is the time the Cowboys need to make a move to become a Championship level team once again. They are stacked with talent on both sides of the ball as much or more than any other team in the NFL. But this type of thing only lasts for 2-4 years in the NFL. Then players get old, talented players leave for other teams because they become unaffordable, etc. The Jones family needs to strike while the iron is hot. The window is open for success NOW. In 3 years time, that will likely change.

I don't like the "window" thought process.

The core of many mistakes Jerry made over the years was the "1 player away" thought process.

The Patriots are at the opposite end of that type of roster management.
- They've traded away All-Pro type players despite being SB contender that season.


I would consider a small move with regards to winning now.
- People often claim decent RBs are not that hard to acquire.
- If Zeke is likely to holdout for game 1 or beyond, acquiring a legit RB is an option.
- There are likely options to upgrade over Morris without giving up a premium pick.

 

[Ranching]

Lol!!! When I read open window, I pictured some of our Cowboy Zoners jumping out of it!!

 

[Jumbo075]

I don't like the "window" thought process.

The core of many mistakes Jerry made over the years was the "1 player away" thought process.

The Patriots are at the opposite end of that type of roster management.
- They've traded away All-Pro type players despite being SB contender that season.

The Patriots have found a way to keep the window open longer. And that is primarily due to having a historical player in Tom Brady. Without Brady, the Patriot way doesn't work, which is why the QB position is so critical.

People forget that the early version of Tom Brady wasn't nearly as technically sound as he now is. Belichick went with Brady over Bledsoe primarily based on a gut feel of Brady's leadership and competitiveness. The Cowboys are in the same situation now with Prescott.

Just based purely on technical ability, Prescott doesn't warrant the trust the Cowboys have placed in him. But his leadership and competitive fire are similar to other great QB's from the past. And his performance in games exceeds his pure talent. That's no guarantee that Prescott can ever become the technician that Brady has become. But the potential is there, and the Cowboys at least need to commit to Prescott in the short term. They don't have any other options. To start over now with a different QB would waste the collection of young talent they now have.

Romo was a more talented technician than Prescott is now, but Romo didn't have the killer instinct of great players like Staubach, Montana, or Brady - who I would rate as the best 3 QB leaders over the past 50 years in the NFL. We can only hope that Prescott has a similar type killer instinct. But finding that is rare. The Cowboys have to bet on Prescott, and push all in on him. Or, they will waste the good work they've done building this roster as it is.

 

[jazzcat22]

Lol!!! When I read open window, I pictured some of our Cowboy Zoners jumping out of it!!

I will help push some out.
We can even have a...what's on the menu...thread for it.

 

[xwalker]

The Patriots have found a way to keep the window open longer. And that is primarily due to having a historical player in Tom Brady. Without Brady, the Patriot way doesn't work, which is why the QB position is so critical.

People forget that the early version of Tom Brady wasn't nearly as technically sound as he now is. Belichick went with Brady over Bledsoe primarily based on a gut feel of Brady's leadership and competitiveness. The Cowboys are in the same situation now with Prescott.

Just based purely on technical ability, Prescott doesn't warrant the trust the Cowboys have placed in him. But his leadership and competitive fire are similar to other great QB's from the past. And his performance in games exceeds his pure talent. That's no guarantee that Prescott can ever become the technician that Brady has become. But the potential is there, and the Cowboys at least need to commit to Prescott in the short term. They don't have any other options. To start over now with a different QB would waste the collection of young talent they now have.

Romo was a more talented technician than Prescott is now, but Romo didn't have the killer instinct of great players like Staubach, Montana, or Brady - who I would rate as the best 3 QB leaders over the past 50 years in the NFL. We can only hope that Prescott has a similar type killer instinct. But finding that is rare. The Cowboys have to bet on Prescott, and push all in on him. Or, they will waste the good work they've done building this roster as it is.

The Patriots success is far more than Tom Brady (see Dan Marino, etc..).

The Patriots play the odds that if you manage the team to get into the playoffs every year, then your chance of winning the Super Bowl multiple times is better than going All-In on specific seasons.


This past Super Bowl was Pats 13, Rams 3.
- That's more about their defense than their offense.
- The Cowboys scored 22 against the Rams.
- The Saints scored 23 against the Rams.

 

[Jake]

The Patriots have found a way to keep the window open longer. And that is primarily due to having a historical player in Tom Brady. Without Brady, the Patriot way doesn't work, which is why the QB position is so critical.

The Patriots have a window because they've actually won a championship (or more in their case). When the best your core has done is win a wild card game you don't have a window, you have hope.

The Cowboys appear set to invest heavily in a good team, hoping it can turn into a great one. That's not remotely the same thing as what is going on in New England, or on a lesser scale in places like New Orleans, Pittsburgh, and Green Bay as their SB winning QBs grow older.