Yahoo: Jones put Dez in bad situation

[G2]

That was 4 years ago. Different circumstances .

Jerry buckled there. He should have let Dez sit out. And that might have influenced the decision but it doesn’t answer the time table in which we released him.

So why would the FO/Staff make the same mistake twice? Especially the way he acts.

 

[OmerV]

What are your suspicions in why they let it play out a little longer?

I've said all these things before, but the first and most obvious explanation for at least part of the delay is they wanted to see what they could accomplish in terms of signing free agent WR's before making the firm decision to move on from Dez. I don't at all think they would have been comfortable had they been left with essentially the same group of receivers as last year, minus Dez. Replacing Butler with Thompson certainly wasn't enough.

Admittedly that may only explain about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks of the 5 week delay though, but that brings me to the possibility that was partially set out in the post you just quoted. Hurns clearly wasn't their first or only target, and he wasn't a high dollar signing, so the team may have still been weighing its options to sign another free agent, or even to keep Dez in addition to Hurns, and thefefore they may have chosen to let free agency play out longer before making a final decision. I wouldn't necessarily say that's a suspicion of mine, but I think it's a reasonable possibility.

The other thing I mentioned a few posts ago is that they probably were trying to trade Dez, and wanted to give it as much of a chance as possible to materialize. There certainly were reports that they did try to trade Dez. Realistically, why wouldn't they have given that as much of a chance as possible to happen?

I certainly think all of these things are more reasonable possibilities than that the team was just doing it out of spite.

 

[TheSkaven]

I agree that waiting a month into free agency kinda screwed Dez over but that wasn't the intention. I think it just took that long for the coaches to convince Jerry to pull the trigger. This decision wasn't a foregone conclusion at the end of the season.

Exactly. Jerry wanted him to stay for less money, I believe. But the truth is that he was stunting the growth of this offense, he dropped too many balls, and if he came back for less salary he'd be even more disgruntled and mercurial.

Football teams hate distractions, and that made Dez coming back with a big pay cut a non-starter.

 

[Diehardblues]

So why would the FO/Staff make the same mistake twice? Especially the way he acts.

I don’t think they did make a mistake releasing Dez. Just the timing is questionable .

 

[G2]

He had previously and publically said he would not take a pay cut, so he was the one that took it off the table. Its a little disingenuous that he claimed after getting released that he would have taken a cut.

I kind of doubt it mattered though. Even if he would have accepted a pay cut, it's unlikely it would have been significant enough to matter.

He was offered a contract and turned it down. I don't understand why but that was just another boneheaded decision on the long list. Maybe he thinks he's still an elite WR, I don't know. But all of the things he's said and done have probably made teams shy to pick him up.

 

[Diehardblues]

I've said all these things before, but the first and most obvious explanation for at least part of the delay is they wanted to see what they could accomplish in terms of signing free agent WR's before making the firm decision to move on from Dez. I don't at all think they would have been comfortable had they been left with essentially the same group of receivers as last year, minus Dez. Replacing Butler with Thompson certainly wasn't enough.

Admittedly that may only explain about 2 - 2 1/2 weeks of the 5 week delay though, but that brings me to the possibility that was partially set out in the post you just quoted. Hurns clearly wasn't their first or only target, and he wasn't a high dollar signing, so the team may have still been weighing its options to sign another free agent, or even to keep Dez in addition to Hurns, and thefefore they may have chosen to let free agency play out longer before making a final decision. I wouldn't necessarily say that's a suspicion of mine, but I think it's a reasonable possibility.

The other thing I mentioned a few posts ago is that they probably were trying to trade Dez, and wanted to give it as much of a chance as possible to materialize. There certainly were reports that they did try to trade Dez. Realistically, why wouldn't they have given that as much of a chance as possible to happen?

I certainly think all of these things are more reasonable possibilities than that the team was just doing it out of spite.

Spite seems unlikely. Trade seems even more unlikely given it was widely known we were releasing him.

 

[Captain-Crash]

I guess Jerry needed to find a new home for Dez before he released him. Sort like a new baby sitter.

 

[glimmerman]

Dez is still gone.

 

[G2]

I don’t think they did make a mistake releasing Dez. Just the timing is questionable .

Agreed, they didn't make a mistake. After all of the shenanigans maybe they just simply had enough. The article doesn't include all the information.

 

[cowboy_ron]

I think the bigger question is ;

Did the Cowboys intentionally put Dez in a bad place releasing him late?

I think it would have worked out much better for Dez with as much time as he had if after his "hell naw" response to the media when asked if he would be open to a paycut, had he approached the FO and said something like "if it would help the team,I would be open to discussing a paycut" and actually pretended to be more of a TEAM player and less of a ME player.

 

[Diehardblues]

He was offered a contract and turned it down. I don't understand why but that was just another boneheaded decision on the long list. Maybe he thinks he's still an elite WR, I don't know. But all of the things he's said and done have probably made teams shy to pick him up.

I certainly wouldn’t pursue him as an elite WR. But the bigger point is most teams by then didn’t have the Cap space left.

Ravens had some ,why they made an offer and then signed Crabtree.

Do you think we never intended to use the Cap savings ? Or was it too late in FA?

 

[G2]

I think it would have worked out much better for Dez with as much time as he had if after his "hell naw" response to the media when asked if he would be open to a paycut, had he approached the FO and said something like "if it would help the team,I would be open to discussing a paycut" and actually pretended to be more of a TEAM player and less of a ME player.

Whether or not he wanted to take a paycut, he did. It all could have been much easier and better for him.

 

[G2]

I certainly wouldn’t pursue him as an elite WR. But the bigger point is most teams by then didn’t have the Cap space left.

Ravens had some ,why they made an offer and then signed Crabtree.

Do you think we never intended to use the Cap savings ? Or was it too late in FA?

Yep, I get that excuse, but if I'm the FO I'm not worrying about what other teams need and/or have left to spend. And after all the unnecessary drama Dez brought, I don't really care much about that. That bridge was burned.

 

[Diehardblues]

I think it would have worked out much better for Dez with as much time as he had if after his "hell naw" response to the media when asked if he would be open to a paycut, had he approached the FO and said something like "if it would help the team,I would be open to discussing a paycut" and actually pretended to be more of a TEAM player and less of a ME player.

I agree. And I stated early on I thought Dez would renogiate. But Im not sure that was ever an option ?

The timing confuses me. I thought we’d use the Cap savings to pursue other talent . Like Crabtree or Someone on defense.

Hard to believe we are just pocketing the money. Who cares about the money? I’d rather have Dez another year than the money.

 

[Corso]

Spite seems unlikely. Trade seems even more unlikely given it was widely known we were releasing him.

I could have seen an interested team trading for him, if they thought he would never sign there as a FA.

 

[Diehardblues]

Yep, I get that excuse, but if I'm the FO I'm not worrying about what other teams need and/or have left to spend. And after all the unnecessary drama Dez brought, I don't really care much about that. That bridge was burned.

As much as couldn’t stand Dez the person and he was extremely over paid I really don’t care about the money saved if we aren’t using it elsewhere . Which if its just a money grab for one season I’d rather have his services one more year than the money if we aren’t using it.

 

[Captain-Crash]

I can see Dez and Marion Barber jumping up celebrating a 3 yard run, while a fat kid stands in the background motioning to "feed me"... go Cowboys.. rah rah.

 

[Diehardblues]

I could have seen an interested team trading for him, if they thought he would never sign there as a FA.

Why would they trade for his current contract if they knew we were releasing him?

 

[OmerV]

I’m looking for those other possible and reasonable explanations.

Thus far it appears to have either been intentional , poor planning or last minute decision making on our part?

Many want to dispute any ill will which might be the case but they haven’t yet provided how waiting enhanced our situation nor the intent for the use of Cap savings. It just doesn’t all add up to me.

I've given you several reasonable possibilities. See my last post.

I would ask you to think about other notable players that were released from their teams areound the same time or later than Dez was released. Surely people wouldn't suggest the Broncos waited until April 16 to cut C.J. Anderson out of spite. Or the Giants cut Brandon Marshall April 19 out of spite, Or that Daryl Worley, Coby Fleener and Derek Newton were cut when they were out of spite. I don't know what the circumstance were with most of those teams and players, but it seems much more plausible that there were reasons other than spite that those players weren't cut until they were.

 

[Corso]

Why would they trade for his current contract if they knew we were releasing him?

Obviously nobody was interested enough to actually do it, but like I said and shall repeat: if a team was interested enough and knew they simply couldn't get him in FA - I could see a team doing a trade for the player to get him on their team.