Will McClay

Blackthorn said:
How is that Joey Galloway and Roy Williams feeling? Mike Vanderjagt? Drew Henson? Alex Barron? I remember with Washington bought Albert Haynesworth, the Dallas fans lost their minds and ripped the FO for not making a deal. It kinduv worked out.

Sammy Watkins this past year, yep, the Boys dodged a bullet. Nate Solder for the Giants has been a dud, Malcolm Butler was a dud. Building through free-agency is difficult because of over paying above average players.
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Examples of bad decisions by a trash GM (who is still the GM btw) are not surprising from you

We are not "building the right way", we are incompetent and therefore unable to make sound football decisions and therefore not making FA signings for fear of looking stupid
 
robjay04 said:
NE won most of their Super Bowls building through the draft. They have got more aggressive in their later years but they’re a team primarily built through the draft. Pittsburgh also very rarely chases free agents, same with GB who you left out. You can argue their discount bin free agents have been better than ours but they rely heavily on the draft.

The Giants teams had a couple free agents, same with NO(namely the QB) but Pitt and NE are pretty awful examples.

The team building aspect isn’t bad, it’s the coaching. Even for Philly, they made some aggressive moves but the core of that team was there with Chip Kelly(OL and DL). They just brought in a new coach and things started looking up.
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All of those teams made significant FA acquisitions
It didn't take them 20+ years to "build"
Just stop with this blind excuse making
We're incompetent and scared
 
Zekeats said:
For as good as he has been in the draft and getting us some really good talent he has been equally as bad signing free agents.
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It isn't his job to sign free agents just find them.

You have to go higher up in the food chain for the root problem.
 
We really suck at free agency....its been painful

Maybe he can talk to the Rams and Patriots for tips
 
Blackthorn said:
Dallas has been building the team the correct way, through the draft. It hurts a team to overpay during free-agency then they are in salary cap H*II. The flip-side to that is what happens if the free-agent does not perform or gets hurt? We have seen that before. I want the team to stay focused on drafting great, building the trenches and drafting players that have athletic ability that love playing the game of football. I love this young passionate team.

I want the Boys to draft another Wolf-Hunter.
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Ok, I will say that Will McClay has IMPROVED the draft process but has not be something to brag about. Taco Charleston has been a bust. And while the 1st round has improved greatly, it has been the later rounds where this franchise continues to struggle. The 3rd round and later is where the good team separate from the .500 and lower ones. Its where you get the depth ! It's where you don't have to overpay for high price free agents because you have players to play adequately are fair less cost.
Keep building through the draft but getting the later players in 3rd round PLUS is the big key
 
Zekeats said:
For as good as he has been in the draft and getting us some really good talent he has been equally as bad signing free agents. I understand that he has had limited cap to work with and in the process he has set us up better financially but over the past 4-5 years he has had a ton of whiffs in free agency. Here is to hoping he could get some key additions this offseason and please, please stop with the bargain bin. It doesn't work here. We need some big time players. We need playmakers.
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This year:
OL Joe Looney (Re-Sign)
DLaw (Franchise Tag)
Zack Martin (Extension)

DT Antwaun Woods - Solid player
OL Xavier Su'a-Filo - Solid Player
K Brett Maher - Good Enough, something was wrong with Bailey
WR Allen Hurns - Stopgap player at 6M per. They tried to sign a WR to a big contract but didn't get into a bidding war.
WR Deonte Thompson - Solid veteran minimum contract type player. Cut to regain the comp pick. Started some games.
OL Adam Redmond - Solid in the few snaps that he played.
OL Cameron Fleming - Undetermined. Definitely better than Chaz Green.
LB Joe Thomas - Solid Player. Similar to Hitchens.
DL Caraun Reid - Solid Player.
DB Darian Thompson - Unknown. Seems like a guy they're looking at for the future.


The biggest issue with signing free agents to mega-contracts, is not the cap dollars per se. It's the fact that the team is "stuck" with the player for years due to the contract.

Great players with minimal baggage tend to get re-signed by their own teams.

Should they have gotten into a bidding war to top the 18M to WR Watkins instead of just signing stopgap Hurns for 6M this season?

Watkins is talented but his career stats are not impressive. The Rams gave up a 2nd round pick and a starting CB for him the previous year but didn't keep him as a free agent. He was arrested for drugs in college and didn't seem to fit with his 1st two NFL teams.

Watkins has also had social media meltdowns and numerous injury issues.

The Cowboys likely could have signed him if they wanted to go to 20M+ per season instead of the 18M he got with KC.

All "whiffs" they've had in the past few years on low/medium tier free agents don't add up to 1 whiff on a mega-contract player.
 
Last edited:
xwalker said:
This year:
OL Joe Looney (Re-Sign)
DLaw (Franchise Tag)
Zack Martin (Extension)

DT Antwaun Woods - Solid player
OL Xavier Su'a-Filo - Solid Player
K Brett Maher - Good Enough, something was wrong with Bailey
WR Allen Hurns - Stopgap player at 6M per. They tried to sign a WR to a big contract but didn't get into a bidding war.
WR Deonte Thompson - Solid veteran minimum contract type player. Cut to regain the comp pick. Started some games.
OL Adam Redmond - Solid in the few snaps that he played.
OL Cameron Fleming - Undetermined. Definitely better than Chaz Green.
LB Joe Thomas - Solid Player. Similar to Hitchens.
DL Caraun Reid - Solid Player.
DB Darian Thompson - Unknown. Seems like a guy they're looking at for the future.


The biggest issue with signing free agents to mega-contracts, is not the cap dollars per se. It's the fact that the team is "stuck" with the player for years due to the contract.

Great players with minimal baggage tend to get re-signed by their own teams.

Should they have gotten into a bidding war to top the 18M to WR Watkins instead of just signing stopgap Hurns for 6M this season?

Watkins is talented but his career stats are not impressive. The Rams gave up a 2nd round pick and a starting CB for him the previous year but didn't keep him as a free agent. He was arrested for drugs in college and didn't seem to fit with his 1st two NFL teams.

The Cowboys likely could have signed him if they wanted to go to 20M+ per season instead of the 18M he got with KC.

All "whiffs" they've had in the past few years on low/medium tier free agents don't add up to 1 whiff on a mega-contract player.
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I'm glad you posted this to save me the effort of doing it myself. Great post. We will end up getting Cooper on a cheaper contract than Watkins when you factor in he is almost free this year.
 
Zekeats said:
For as good as he has been in the draft and getting us some really good talent he has been equally as bad signing free agents. I understand that he has had limited cap to work with and in the process he has set us up better financially but over the past 4-5 years he has had a ton of whiffs in free agency. Here is to hoping he could get some key additions this offseason and please, please stop with the bargain bin. It doesn't work here. We need some big time players. We need playmakers.
Click to expand...

Amen! I’ve been waiting for someone to say this. You need a few mid level free agents that can be solid starters. On this team, safety comes to mind. I don’t think this team is focused on that market though. Rather keep subpar home grown talent than an upgrade with a vet FA
 
ReturnToGlory said:
Amen! I’ve been waiting for someone to say this. You need a few mid level free agents that can be solid starters. On this team, safety comes to mind. I don’t think this team is focused on that market though. Rather keep subpar home grown talent than an upgrade with a vet FA
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Antuaan Woods may be one of the single biggest "finds" in free agency this year and we picked him off of the scrap heap for peanuts.
 
Zekeats said:
I know but I would rather sign one impact player for 3-4 years than 3-4 guys with little to zero impact.
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He evaluate talent
He doesn’t set the teams philosophy for free agency
I too think the draft and free agency is better when you do what you have to for elite talent
I’d rather trade around and the the guy as opposed to drafting guys who aren’t gonna make the team
I’d rather sign one premier free agent than five Marginal guys
But overall the way to build a team is the draft
Free agency is for that guy or two you can’t find in the draft
 
Verdict said:
Antuaan Woods may be one of the single biggest "finds" in free agency this year and we picked him off of the scrap heap for peanuts.
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Considering our spending on FA we haven’t been that bad
Shopping at the dollar store is not the same as shopping at Nordstrom
 
xwalker said:
This year:
OL Joe Looney (Re-Sign)
DLaw (Franchise Tag)
Zack Martin (Extension)

DT Antwaun Woods - Solid player
OL Xavier Su'a-Filo - Solid Player
K Brett Maher - Good Enough, something was wrong with Bailey
WR Allen Hurns - Stopgap player at 6M per. They tried to sign a WR to a big contract but didn't get into a bidding war.
WR Deonte Thompson - Solid veteran minimum contract type player. Cut to regain the comp pick. Started some games.
OL Adam Redmond - Solid in the few snaps that he played.
OL Cameron Fleming - Undetermined. Definitely better than Chaz Green.
LB Joe Thomas - Solid Player. Similar to Hitchens.
DL Caraun Reid - Solid Player.
DB Darian Thompson - Unknown. Seems like a guy they're looking at for the future.


The biggest issue with signing free agents to mega-contracts, is not the cap dollars per se. It's the fact that the team is "stuck" with the player for years due to the contract.

Great players with minimal baggage tend to get re-signed by their own teams.

Should they have gotten into a bidding war to top the 18M to WR Watkins instead of just signing stopgap Hurns for 6M this season?

Watkins is talented but his career stats are not impressive. The Rams gave up a 2nd round pick and a starting CB for him the previous year but didn't keep him as a free agent. He was arrested for drugs in college and didn't seem to fit with his 1st two NFL teams.

Watkins has also had social media meltdowns and numerous injury issues.

The Cowboys likely could have signed him if they wanted to go to 20M+ per season instead of the 18M he got with KC.

All "whiffs" they've had in the past few years on low/medium tier free agents don't add up to 1 whiff on a mega-contract player.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

Rather have Cooper than Watkins.
 
Zekeats said:
For as good as he has been in the draft and getting us some really good talent he has been equally as bad signing free agents. I understand that he has had limited cap to work with and in the process he has set us up better financially but over the past 4-5 years he has had a ton of whiffs in free agency. Here is to hoping he could get some key additions this offseason and please, please stop with the bargain bin. It doesn't work here. We need some big time players. We need playmakers.
Click to expand...

The Jones' are responsible for signing-off on free agents as they pay the checks.
 
conner01 said:
Considering our spending on FA we haven’t been that bad
Shopping at the dollar store is not the same as shopping at Nordstrom
Click to expand...

We did a good job this year in FA. Much better than only the bargain bin stuff of prior years. Austin was a decent pick up. So was Woods. Sua FILO has been a great find as well.
 
If we moved on from Garrett and hired a HC who contractually demands player personnel control, McClay should be the Director of College Scouting. He's fairly decent at signing guys mid-season, waiver-wire type guys, but he has been awful in off-season free agency, awful...
 
Nah. Will is good. Look higher up if you don't like how DAL does FA.
 
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