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Whether or not it turns out to be the best strategy, it’s becoming very apparent it is indeed a team strategy. Dallas is trying to beat the system by finding the best talent a doctor’s diagnosis can buy. The free-spending Cowboys of yesteryear are gone and they’ve been replaced by a shopper who sifts through the irregular aisles of T.J. Maxx, Marshals and Ross Dress for Less but still try to get into the hottest nightclubs in town.
Executive vice president Stephen Jones made it very clear he is not interested in playing the game known as big-money free agency. Despite the lack of extended playoff success by Dallas and clear examples of how free agency helped teams like Los Angeles and New England reach the Super Bowl, Jones is destined to depend on resigning their home-grown talent and augmenting it. More than ever though, in 2019 it appears that plan centers around signing players with plenty of talent but with storied injury histories that have dampened their values on the market.
One has to now feel very confident that if Jason Witten hadn’t come out of retirement, they were going to ink a deal with TE Tyler Eifert very early in the process. The problem with every free agent target being a player with a storied injury history is that you can plan for their talent but also must plan for their eventual absence.
Dallas killed two birds with one stone in bringing back WR Tavon Austin, who’s injury history is more famous than his time-traveling game speed. They are bringing back Sean Lee, who has cost them over $15 million in lost man hours. The team’s first external free agent signing was defensive lineman Christian Covington, who missed half of 2017 with a torn biceps and only played in 12 games in 2018.
Things really became clear on Monday, though.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
First, Dallas hosted free agents Randall Cobb and Clayton Geathers. Cobb has missed six different stretches of games due to injury over the last three seasons. Geathers is an ascending strong safety but has played in just 26 of 48 games over the last three seasons due to his own injuries, both minor and severe.
Dallas followed up those visits by inking DE Kerry Hyde to a deal. Hyde missed 2017 with a torn achilles and played in just seven contests in 2018.
And now, the Cowboys are bringing in strong safety Eric Berry for a visit. Berry has played in just three games the last three seasons and has one of the league’s saddest injury histories imaginable. The former first round pick has been a Pro Bowler every season he’s played more than six games. It’s only happened five times in his nine-year career, though.
After making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2010, his second season was cut way short. In September 2011, Berry suffered a Grade 3 ACL tear during the first game of the season and was lost for the year. He returned the following season and played in all 16 games. He played 15 games in 2013 and not only made the Pro Bowl but also earned First-Team All-Pro with three inteceptions and two returned for touchdowns.
The following August (2014) he was diagnosed with a pedal heel bruise, and then suffered a high ankle sprain that September. He would play in a couple of games, before being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma that December.
After undergoing chemotherapy during the offseason and receiving a cancer-free diagnosis, Berry returned to the field, earning Comeback Player of the Year and going to back-to-back Pro Bowls with back-to-back All-Pro nods. he played 32 of 32 games over that stretch.
In 2017 however, a similar incident to his second season, Berry suffered a tear in the opening game, this time his left Achilles, and was lost for the year.
Berry then saw a return of his heel bruise during 2018 training camp. It turns out he was suffering from a condition known as Haglund’s Deformity.
Haglund’s deformity is a bony enlargement on the back of the heel. The soft tissue near the Achilles tendon becomes irritated when the bony enlargement rubs against shoes. This often leads to painful bursitis. Berry only played in two regular season games down the stretch and then the Chiefs’ home playoff loss to eventual champion New England.
Dallas will look to sign him, but clearly will be looking to minimize the financial risk associated with his injury track record.
Regardless whether the Cowboys work out a deal with Berry, Geathers or Cobb, it’s very clear that they are looking to head out on the dance floor and hope the light doesn’t hit their free agent’s flaws while doing the two-step with fate.
That’s a bold strategy Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off.
Gallery
Cowboys 7-round Mock Draft: March 15, 2019
Continue reading...
Executive vice president Stephen Jones made it very clear he is not interested in playing the game known as big-money free agency. Despite the lack of extended playoff success by Dallas and clear examples of how free agency helped teams like Los Angeles and New England reach the Super Bowl, Jones is destined to depend on resigning their home-grown talent and augmenting it. More than ever though, in 2019 it appears that plan centers around signing players with plenty of talent but with storied injury histories that have dampened their values on the market.
One has to now feel very confident that if Jason Witten hadn’t come out of retirement, they were going to ink a deal with TE Tyler Eifert very early in the process. The problem with every free agent target being a player with a storied injury history is that you can plan for their talent but also must plan for their eventual absence.
Dallas killed two birds with one stone in bringing back WR Tavon Austin, who’s injury history is more famous than his time-traveling game speed. They are bringing back Sean Lee, who has cost them over $15 million in lost man hours. The team’s first external free agent signing was defensive lineman Christian Covington, who missed half of 2017 with a torn biceps and only played in 12 games in 2018.
Things really became clear on Monday, though.
Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports
First, Dallas hosted free agents Randall Cobb and Clayton Geathers. Cobb has missed six different stretches of games due to injury over the last three seasons. Geathers is an ascending strong safety but has played in just 26 of 48 games over the last three seasons due to his own injuries, both minor and severe.
Dallas followed up those visits by inking DE Kerry Hyde to a deal. Hyde missed 2017 with a torn achilles and played in just seven contests in 2018.
And now, the Cowboys are bringing in strong safety Eric Berry for a visit. Berry has played in just three games the last three seasons and has one of the league’s saddest injury histories imaginable. The former first round pick has been a Pro Bowler every season he’s played more than six games. It’s only happened five times in his nine-year career, though.
After making the Pro Bowl as a rookie in 2010, his second season was cut way short. In September 2011, Berry suffered a Grade 3 ACL tear during the first game of the season and was lost for the year. He returned the following season and played in all 16 games. He played 15 games in 2013 and not only made the Pro Bowl but also earned First-Team All-Pro with three inteceptions and two returned for touchdowns.
The following August (2014) he was diagnosed with a pedal heel bruise, and then suffered a high ankle sprain that September. He would play in a couple of games, before being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma that December.
After undergoing chemotherapy during the offseason and receiving a cancer-free diagnosis, Berry returned to the field, earning Comeback Player of the Year and going to back-to-back Pro Bowls with back-to-back All-Pro nods. he played 32 of 32 games over that stretch.
In 2017 however, a similar incident to his second season, Berry suffered a tear in the opening game, this time his left Achilles, and was lost for the year.
Berry then saw a return of his heel bruise during 2018 training camp. It turns out he was suffering from a condition known as Haglund’s Deformity.
Haglund’s deformity is a bony enlargement on the back of the heel. The soft tissue near the Achilles tendon becomes irritated when the bony enlargement rubs against shoes. This often leads to painful bursitis. Berry only played in two regular season games down the stretch and then the Chiefs’ home playoff loss to eventual champion New England.
Dallas will look to sign him, but clearly will be looking to minimize the financial risk associated with his injury track record.
Regardless whether the Cowboys work out a deal with Berry, Geathers or Cobb, it’s very clear that they are looking to head out on the dance floor and hope the light doesn’t hit their free agent’s flaws while doing the two-step with fate.
That’s a bold strategy Cotton. Let’s see if it pays off.
Gallery
Cowboys 7-round Mock Draft: March 15, 2019
Continue reading...