Maybe you're not being critical but, just sound a bit critical... That's okay on a sounding board like this. I'm okay with your commentary.
I just think if they felt Nelson was that much better than Church, they would have already let him go and signed Nelson on the spot like
lots of teams did during the 1st week of FA. I think posters have to be realistic in that these teams are professionals and are doing a job
and being paid well to do it. It's just fine to have a contrary opinion but, their actions should tell you a lot about how they feel.
Let's dissect this.
1) I think they probably know Nelson is better than Church but they won't pay Nelson a penny more than they are willing for that safety spot. And FWIW, if Nelson is really holding out for a 4 year deal averaging around $8-9MM a year, I applaud the Cowboys for not even picking up the phone. That's way too much for Nelson.
2) I understand these people are paid to make decisions like this but then again, the flip side to this is that the Cowboys have pretty much been a non-factor in the upper echelons of the NFL for almost two decades. So it's not like there is a strong track record of sound roster building and team success to support the claim these guys actually know what they are doing. If anything, the fact this team hasn't sniffed a SB in 20 years should probably make a fan a bit more critical of the competency of the people making decisions, but that's just me.
3) I am actually looking at their actions. They inquired about Weddle. That tells me they know they can upgrade the safety position. They also sniffed around some other safeties, which again tells me they probably know they can do better at safety than what they have. Same with CB where they looked at nearly a half dozen guys. That tells me they know Carr probably isn't good enough (or worth what he's making). The fact they aren't signing any of these guys doesn't tell me they think they are OK at SS or CB. The fact they inquired about all these guys but didn't sign them tells me that they know they need to improve but think they can do it for cheaper than what's been out there and gone with other teams.
PS - Just so you think I am just bashing for the sake of bashing the front office............ I think they did very nice jobs by adding Thornton and Morris and I did like the signing of the kid from Oakland, if only for depth at DE. IMO, they could and should have done a bit more in free agency to the point where they wouldn't have to rely on just the draft and hopefully some lucky cuts in June to fill what are still a lot of holes on this team.
