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The Cowboys not playing in Dallas on Thanksgiving? That’s what one rival team was gunning for. Dez Bryant is eyeing a comeback, Randall Cobb says goodbye to Green Bay as he begins a new chapter, and Julio Jones may be helping Amari Cooper get a raise.
Those are just a few of the headlines for the Dallas Cowboys faithful as a busy week concludes.
Eagles proposed rule scrapping Cowboys’ standing Thanksgiving tradition | ProFootballTalk
Plenty of teams propose plenty of rule changes this time of year, but rarely do they threaten one of the league’s most recognized and longstanding traditions. The NFL confirmed this week that the Philadelphia Eagles proposed a rule that would have taken away the Cowboys’ (and Lions’) lock on playing a home game every Thanksgiving Day.
According to PFT’s Michael David Smith, “The text of the Eagles’ proposal read, ‘to continue the annual tradition of having Dallas and Detroit play on Thanksgiving, provided that one of these clubs host a home game with the other club playing away, and alternating home and away games each subsequent season.'”
The Cowboys hosted their first Thanksgiving Day game in 1966 in an attempt to capture an audience on an otherwise slow sports day. The St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team in 1975 and 1977 at the request of commissioner Pete Rozelle, but the Cardinals proved to be a weak draw, and the Cowboys were asked to resume annual hosting duties in 1978. To seal the deal, team president and general manager Tex Schramm had one condition.
“Pete asked if we’d take it back,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1988. “I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.'”
Whether or not current league owners would have honored Rozelle’s promise 40-plus years after the fact is unknown. Despite originally asking that other teams take turns as Thanksgiving hosts, the Eagles later withdrew their proposal.
The Eagles are the only Thanksgiving opponent Dallas has never scored on, shutting out the Cowboys twice by the total score of 60-0. It seems they want out before the Thanksgiving records start to resemble the all-time records between the organizations, which heavily favors Dallas, 65-51 after 2018’s sweep.
Mixed bag of grades for Cowboys’ free agency moves so far | Cowboys Wire
The Cowboys haven’t been big movers and shakers thus far this offseason, opting for a quieter, more methodical, lower-profile, let-it-unfold approach. It’s supremely frustrating for fans who want to see their team make a big splash. But are the moves being made at least good ones?
Cowboys Wire dissects the 20 decisions that the front office has made during free agency and assigns each one a letter grade. Review every decision everyone from bringing back Tavon Austin to breaking the Jason Witten emergency glass.
A+ moves involving two players who may not have been high on most fans’ priority lists are balanced by an abysmal grade given for the team’s most glaring and worrisome blunder of the offseason.
Gallery
Grading Cowboys 20 free agency decisions so far for 2019
Rico Gathers has charges reduced, still odd man out among Cowboys TEs | Cowboys Wire
The Rico Gathers experiment may well be over in Dallas, despite the good news he received on the legal front this week. Gathers, who was arrested on drug charges (marijuana possession) just before final cuts in 2018, reached a deal with authorities that reduce those charges to a Class C misdemeanor, with a $99 fine plus court costs owed, and 90 days deferred adjudication. He still faces possible punishment from the league in the matter.
Gathers, a college basketball star who never played football, was always a project for the Cowboys, who were intrigued by his 6-foot-6-inch height and playing weight of 285 pounds. He spent 2016 on the practice squad as he learned the sport, was injured for most of the 2017 season, and recorded just three catches for 45 yards in 2018.
Now on a tight end depth chart with Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, and first-ballot Hall of Famer Jason Witten, Gathers might be hard-pressed to make the roster for a fourth year.
Dez Bryant: ‘I will be a steal’ for some team in 2019 | NFL.com
After being unceremoniously dumped by the Cowboys in April of last year, wide receiver Dez Bryant waited for just the right offer to return to the field. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints after Week 9 and looked to be poised to help Drew Brees & Co. make a Super Bowl run. But he tore his Achilles tendon at just his second Saints practice.
As the 2019 season approaches, Bryant is making it known that his services may soon be available again. After a social media post showing him working out alongside New York Jets safety Jamal Adams, Bryant followed up with a tweet suggesting that he’s far from done with his football career.
“At 30 years old and coming off a serious lower body injury,” NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman points out, “it remains to be seen how much Bryant has left in the tank. In his last full season, Bryant caught 69 balls for 838 yards and six scores; his 12.1 yards per reception were a career low.”
“When he’s healthy,” Bergman concludes, “Dez’s services as a veteran receiver will be in demand… Until then, Bryant will continue to rehab. And tweet.”
New Cowboy Randall Cobb posts touching farewell to Green Bay | @rcobb18 (Instagram)
After agreeing to terms with the Cowboys on Tuesday and signing his deal on Thursday, new wide receiver Randall Cobb took to Instagram to post a heartfelt farewell to his former team and fanbase.
View this post on Instagram
Green Bay, From a high school QB to a do-it-all player out of UK, 20y/o Me found my way to Green Bay, WI to live out my dreams. •I will never forget the excitement of my first bike ride to training camp. The 1st Touchdown. The Barrel Roll. All of the Lambeau Leaps. The feeling I get when Packer fans can vividly remember where they were on the 4th down TD at Soldier field. The Hail Mary catch. We have many memories we will share together for the rest of our lives. •Even after all of those memories, it will always be the people that really made being a Packer special. •I want to thank the people of Green Bay and the state of Wisconsin for sharing their home with me for the past 8 years. I want to thank the organization for believing in me, drafting me, and giving me an opportunity to live out my dreams. I want to thank the many coaches, trainers, strength & conditioning staff, equipment staff, community outreach, marketing, digital, and everyone else I’m leaving out. You may think that you’re just doing your job, but in the process you were elevating me to be the best version of myself. •To all the individuals working with the vast charities, my goal was to sincerely honor and bring light to the cause. •Thank you to all my teammates over the years. I am NOTHING without each and every one of you. Football is the ultimate team game. All I ever wanted was to earn your respect with the way I practiced, played, and worked. The bond we have created goes well beyond the playing field. •To my family, thank you for supporting me wherever I go and being my biggest fans! To my parents, you sacrificed a lot to fuel my dreams. I hope I continue to make you proud. •To my wife, Aiyda, I’m sorry to keep moving you across the country but you have been my rock through the ups and downs. •In the end, I can promise you that I gave you everything that I had, every time I walked out of the tunnel. It was an honor to wear ‘The G’ and represent you all. •This was inevitable. All good things must come to an end. But this isn’t the end of the story. Just the end of this chapter. -18
In a Q&A with Cowboys Wire, Zach Kruse, the managing editor of Packers Wire, said of Cobb, “Tough to find a better guy in the Packers’ locker room than Cobb. He has been a kind, welcoming personality and he’ll be great in and around the community. Everyone in Green Bay respected him greatly.”
He doesn’t even have a star on his helmet yet, but based on that classy goodbye, it’s awfully hard not to welcome the newest Dallas Cowboy with arms wide open.
Julio Jones could be next WR whose payday impacts Amari Cooper | @clarencehilljr (Twitter)
An extension is coming for wideout Amari Cooper. That much is practically a given. The question is when. And the when may well decide how much. Antonio Brown’s new deal with Oakland made him the league’s highest-paid receiver and has set the financial bar for other wide receivers. Odell Beckham Jr. had been the top earner among wideouts and may soon be looking for a reconfigured contract from his new bosses in Cleveland.
Now sources around the league are theorizing that the Falcons are in talks to give Julio Jones a payday that tops them all. Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report estimates $20 million per year on a 4- or 5-year extension, with guarantees of $50-$60 million.
Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram quickly connected the dots to Cooper, who should stand to benefit handsomely from the skyrocketing salaries for pass-catchers.
The longer the Cowboys wait, the higher the price gets for Amari Cooper https://t.co/nNkf1yRglo
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) March 22, 2019
Here’s what Cowboys Wire had to say back in February about the rising costs of elite wideouts around the league and where exactly Cooper falls. He may not be in line for a record-breaking cash grab when it comes, but the price being driven up elsewhere certainly won’t hurt.
Follow Todd on Twitter @ToddBrock24f7.
Gallery
Cowboys 7-round Mock Draft: March 22, 2019
Continue reading...
Those are just a few of the headlines for the Dallas Cowboys faithful as a busy week concludes.
Eagles proposed rule scrapping Cowboys’ standing Thanksgiving tradition | ProFootballTalk
Plenty of teams propose plenty of rule changes this time of year, but rarely do they threaten one of the league’s most recognized and longstanding traditions. The NFL confirmed this week that the Philadelphia Eagles proposed a rule that would have taken away the Cowboys’ (and Lions’) lock on playing a home game every Thanksgiving Day.
According to PFT’s Michael David Smith, “The text of the Eagles’ proposal read, ‘to continue the annual tradition of having Dallas and Detroit play on Thanksgiving, provided that one of these clubs host a home game with the other club playing away, and alternating home and away games each subsequent season.'”
The Cowboys hosted their first Thanksgiving Day game in 1966 in an attempt to capture an audience on an otherwise slow sports day. The St. Louis Cardinals replaced Dallas as a host team in 1975 and 1977 at the request of commissioner Pete Rozelle, but the Cardinals proved to be a weak draw, and the Cowboys were asked to resume annual hosting duties in 1978. To seal the deal, team president and general manager Tex Schramm had one condition.
“Pete asked if we’d take it back,” Schramm told the Chicago Tribune in 1988. “I said only if we get it permanently. It’s something you have to build as a tradition. He said, ‘It’s yours forever.'”
Whether or not current league owners would have honored Rozelle’s promise 40-plus years after the fact is unknown. Despite originally asking that other teams take turns as Thanksgiving hosts, the Eagles later withdrew their proposal.
The Eagles are the only Thanksgiving opponent Dallas has never scored on, shutting out the Cowboys twice by the total score of 60-0. It seems they want out before the Thanksgiving records start to resemble the all-time records between the organizations, which heavily favors Dallas, 65-51 after 2018’s sweep.
Mixed bag of grades for Cowboys’ free agency moves so far | Cowboys Wire
The Cowboys haven’t been big movers and shakers thus far this offseason, opting for a quieter, more methodical, lower-profile, let-it-unfold approach. It’s supremely frustrating for fans who want to see their team make a big splash. But are the moves being made at least good ones?
Cowboys Wire dissects the 20 decisions that the front office has made during free agency and assigns each one a letter grade. Review every decision everyone from bringing back Tavon Austin to breaking the Jason Witten emergency glass.
A+ moves involving two players who may not have been high on most fans’ priority lists are balanced by an abysmal grade given for the team’s most glaring and worrisome blunder of the offseason.
Gallery
Grading Cowboys 20 free agency decisions so far for 2019
Rico Gathers has charges reduced, still odd man out among Cowboys TEs | Cowboys Wire
The Rico Gathers experiment may well be over in Dallas, despite the good news he received on the legal front this week. Gathers, who was arrested on drug charges (marijuana possession) just before final cuts in 2018, reached a deal with authorities that reduce those charges to a Class C misdemeanor, with a $99 fine plus court costs owed, and 90 days deferred adjudication. He still faces possible punishment from the league in the matter.
Gathers, a college basketball star who never played football, was always a project for the Cowboys, who were intrigued by his 6-foot-6-inch height and playing weight of 285 pounds. He spent 2016 on the practice squad as he learned the sport, was injured for most of the 2017 season, and recorded just three catches for 45 yards in 2018.
Now on a tight end depth chart with Blake Jarwin, Dalton Schultz, and first-ballot Hall of Famer Jason Witten, Gathers might be hard-pressed to make the roster for a fourth year.
Dez Bryant: ‘I will be a steal’ for some team in 2019 | NFL.com
After being unceremoniously dumped by the Cowboys in April of last year, wide receiver Dez Bryant waited for just the right offer to return to the field. He was signed by the New Orleans Saints after Week 9 and looked to be poised to help Drew Brees & Co. make a Super Bowl run. But he tore his Achilles tendon at just his second Saints practice.
As the 2019 season approaches, Bryant is making it known that his services may soon be available again. After a social media post showing him working out alongside New York Jets safety Jamal Adams, Bryant followed up with a tweet suggesting that he’s far from done with his football career.
“At 30 years old and coming off a serious lower body injury,” NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman points out, “it remains to be seen how much Bryant has left in the tank. In his last full season, Bryant caught 69 balls for 838 yards and six scores; his 12.1 yards per reception were a career low.”
“When he’s healthy,” Bergman concludes, “Dez’s services as a veteran receiver will be in demand… Until then, Bryant will continue to rehab. And tweet.”
New Cowboy Randall Cobb posts touching farewell to Green Bay | @rcobb18 (Instagram)
After agreeing to terms with the Cowboys on Tuesday and signing his deal on Thursday, new wide receiver Randall Cobb took to Instagram to post a heartfelt farewell to his former team and fanbase.
View this post on Instagram
Green Bay, From a high school QB to a do-it-all player out of UK, 20y/o Me found my way to Green Bay, WI to live out my dreams. •I will never forget the excitement of my first bike ride to training camp. The 1st Touchdown. The Barrel Roll. All of the Lambeau Leaps. The feeling I get when Packer fans can vividly remember where they were on the 4th down TD at Soldier field. The Hail Mary catch. We have many memories we will share together for the rest of our lives. •Even after all of those memories, it will always be the people that really made being a Packer special. •I want to thank the people of Green Bay and the state of Wisconsin for sharing their home with me for the past 8 years. I want to thank the organization for believing in me, drafting me, and giving me an opportunity to live out my dreams. I want to thank the many coaches, trainers, strength & conditioning staff, equipment staff, community outreach, marketing, digital, and everyone else I’m leaving out. You may think that you’re just doing your job, but in the process you were elevating me to be the best version of myself. •To all the individuals working with the vast charities, my goal was to sincerely honor and bring light to the cause. •Thank you to all my teammates over the years. I am NOTHING without each and every one of you. Football is the ultimate team game. All I ever wanted was to earn your respect with the way I practiced, played, and worked. The bond we have created goes well beyond the playing field. •To my family, thank you for supporting me wherever I go and being my biggest fans! To my parents, you sacrificed a lot to fuel my dreams. I hope I continue to make you proud. •To my wife, Aiyda, I’m sorry to keep moving you across the country but you have been my rock through the ups and downs. •In the end, I can promise you that I gave you everything that I had, every time I walked out of the tunnel. It was an honor to wear ‘The G’ and represent you all. •This was inevitable. All good things must come to an end. But this isn’t the end of the story. Just the end of this chapter. -18
A post shared by Randall Cobb (@rcobb18) on Mar 21, 2019 at 4:03pm PDT
In a Q&A with Cowboys Wire, Zach Kruse, the managing editor of Packers Wire, said of Cobb, “Tough to find a better guy in the Packers’ locker room than Cobb. He has been a kind, welcoming personality and he’ll be great in and around the community. Everyone in Green Bay respected him greatly.”
He doesn’t even have a star on his helmet yet, but based on that classy goodbye, it’s awfully hard not to welcome the newest Dallas Cowboy with arms wide open.
Julio Jones could be next WR whose payday impacts Amari Cooper | @clarencehilljr (Twitter)
An extension is coming for wideout Amari Cooper. That much is practically a given. The question is when. And the when may well decide how much. Antonio Brown’s new deal with Oakland made him the league’s highest-paid receiver and has set the financial bar for other wide receivers. Odell Beckham Jr. had been the top earner among wideouts and may soon be looking for a reconfigured contract from his new bosses in Cleveland.
Now sources around the league are theorizing that the Falcons are in talks to give Julio Jones a payday that tops them all. Mike Freeman of Bleacher Report estimates $20 million per year on a 4- or 5-year extension, with guarantees of $50-$60 million.
Clarence Hill Jr. of the Star-Telegram quickly connected the dots to Cooper, who should stand to benefit handsomely from the skyrocketing salaries for pass-catchers.
The longer the Cowboys wait, the higher the price gets for Amari Cooper https://t.co/nNkf1yRglo
— Clarence Hill Jr (@clarencehilljr) March 22, 2019
Here’s what Cowboys Wire had to say back in February about the rising costs of elite wideouts around the league and where exactly Cooper falls. He may not be in line for a record-breaking cash grab when it comes, but the price being driven up elsewhere certainly won’t hurt.
Follow Todd on Twitter @ToddBrock24f7.
Gallery
Cowboys 7-round Mock Draft: March 22, 2019
Continue reading...