Let 'em burn. Grab some marshmallows and a cold one, and watch the implosion of rosters and fan bases around the NFL as they slobber all over themselves over flawed temptresses and false illusions.
The 49ers are in free fall. The Eagles are no longer recognizable. Jacksonville is a Brinks truck without a GPS system to guide it. The Jets, the Bills, the Commanders.....well, they're still the Jets, Bills, and Commanders.
Meanwhile, the good teams stand pat and wait. Let the idiocy run its course, then find value and fill need with solid players that don't compromise every season through 2020. Note how little you hear from good teams during this first phase of free agency.
Stephen Jones said it best about the beginning of free agency, "You end up paying good players like great players." Yep, he's got that right.
There was a time when Jerry got caught up in the emotional energy of it all. It brought guys like Joey Galloway, La'Roi Glover, Ken Hamlin, Roy Williams, Brandon Carr - all pretty good players - but not the difference-making pieces for Super Bowl runs as hoped. Too many flaws to bandage with one or two hired hands.
I admit, I wanted Suh, and I'd like Hardy and Revis and Peterson and others. It's fun to play with other men's money and put together a seemingly perfect squad. Problem is, it never pans out that way.
It just doesn't work. These players are available for a reason, either because they bring baggage or they take up boatloads of cap space and displace too much leverage within an organization. When you owe a guy $60 million, he has an inordinate amount of power in a locker room over the coaches and players. You'd better make sure those are the right kind of guys that make that kind of money.
And so, my beloved Cowboys leave us waiting in the parlor like a nervous 16-year-old on a first date with the hottest girl in school. It's the biggest night of our life, and just another date for her.
The Cowboys are well-positioned to be opportunistic, or not. Don't lose sight of where things stand. The Cowboys are good - damned good - and will be even if they just draft their roster full.
Players want to play here again. Running backs want a chance behind that line. Receivers know what kind of ball Romo throws. Defensive players know what that offense can do for a defense, and that there's opportunity to start here on a good team. And there's always that star on the helmet that promises spotlight and attention not found in many places elsewhere.
That brings good players at fair prices. Maybe great ones at fair prices, too, but first you have to let the spending addicts have their turn. Unless a player is the final piece to a puzzle, it's best to let them go to languish in obscurity and grow old in a stack of another John's cash.
So as the Cowboys bide their time beautifully, just enjoy the overreaching, overpaying, and comical relief as bad teams try to find success through 30-day makeovers and roster supplementation. They're calling the Sham-wow guy for help in a bottle, and it ain't gonna work like the commercial.
Demarco Murray knows this. He doesn't want to leave, and he doesn't want another man running behind his offensive line. Dez has no desire to leave a fantastic situation here. Doug Free knows, too. It took stupid money to drag Parnell away, and wow are the Jaguars going to regret that one.
You have to just wait and see with Murray, and see if somebody wants to pay Hall of Fame money for just a good running back.
It's all good. Maybe Dallas gets a name guy, maybe not. Maybe Murray, maybe not. No matter what, they're going to be even better next season, so long as the great players already here stay upright, a couple of draft picks are the real deal, and a smart veteran or two are added to play Mincey-like roles.
