Jerry Jones has some very tough decisions to make in the near future. The Dallas Cowboys have a very good nucleus of players. In the NFL today, there are limitations as far as the salary cap goes, we all know that. It's all about how you pick and choose to pay your players. Teams like the Cardinals, Lions, and Raiders have had their issues of keeping their own players that they draft. The Cowboys have signed so many players that have been with the team for a while like: TE Jason Witten, QB Tony Romo, LT Flozell Adams, C Andre Gurode, RT Marc Colombo, RG Leo Davis, SS Roy Williams, MLB Bradie James, WR Patrick Crayton, RB Marion Barber, but still have many tough decisions too make. The Salary cap makes it to where every NFL team is almost equal. Teams have to decide what positions are most important for them. You look at the more successful teams and most of them build through the draft with one or two players in free agency. FA is so expensive these days its just rediculous.
The hardest decision is who to pay. The Cowboys will resign OLB DeMarcus Ware to one of the Biggest deals in Cowboy history. That is a great decision. But there are many spots that need to be addressed.
CB is the biggest issue of all on the Cowboys. Terrence Newman is a stud. But he is going to be 30 this season. He is in the last season of his contract and had an injury that will never really heal. The CB market is up to around 10 Mil per year. The Cowboys have to be smart about this. Unless T-Newman will take a deal that would give him 5 Mil per year the Cowboys should not resign him. Anthony Henry is very solid when healthy but has proven that he can't stay healthy. He is about to be 33. The Cowboys should really let both of these guys go in the offseason next year. This would ultimately free up 10 Million in cap space for 2009. The only other guys we have at CB are Brown and Ball....two late round picks that may contribute on special teams.
So what would I do? I would pull the trigger on Titan CB Pacman Jones. Why? Because he is a very good CB at 24, and a very dangerous PR. Is he worth the headache, Sure. The Cowboys will give up a 5th or 6th round pick for him. Pac has already said he will redo his contract to suit the Cowboys. This is his last chance to play in the NFL and with a team that has a great foundation already built it makes sense for him to succeed. Have you heard anything from Tank Johnson, T.O........??? I didn't think so. This would give the Cowboys a very Deep and talented CB position. But wait, there is more. Then I would use one of the first round picks on a CB like Aqib Talib of Kansas, or Mike Jenkins from USF. Then basically you have two very fast, young CB's that could take over in 2009 as the Starters half of the price that Henry and Newman cost. The Cowboys don't have the money to resign Ware and Newman. You would have a 25yr old and a 23yr old CB's taking over the starting positions in 2009 at one of the Highest paid positions in the NFL. It's like chess. How you make your moves.....it's got to be smart. What if Pacman does something? Cut him. You lose a 5th round pick and no money. No big loss at all.
I would even grab another CB in the third round like Penn State Justin King. If he would have had a good season he could be looking in at the top 10. But fueds with the coaching staff and concentraition issues have put him in the 3rd round. He is pretty big and runs a 4.32. He has all the makings to be a great CB in this league and a GREAT PR. So there you have 3 very solid CB's who are all fast and can hit. All can contribute on special teams and for 1/3 of the price you would pay for two old CB's. This is kinda like what the Eagles have done with Bobby Taylor and Troy Vincent, Lito Sheppard, Sheldon Brown, and Roderick Hood.
RB Marion Barber- He is a stud, a true work horse. But with every work horse you need a fast guy behind him. Marion will beat up defenses for the first 3 quarters and bring in a guy like RB Jamaal Charles who can hit the home run in the 4th quarter. Jerry Jones must get this guy signed to a 7yr deal.
RT Marc Colombo- He is solid but most likely won't be resigned due to his age and the deal that he will command. The Cowboys drafted RT James Marten and OT Doug Free last season to be CHEAP replacements at RT and LT.
OLB/DE Greg Ellis needs to be cut after this season. Spencer will be a force at OLB in the 3-4. Ellis is complaining again and will be 34. This move will save 3-4 Million in 2009. We have Spencer who is grooming to be the man.
DT/DE Tank Johnson needs to be resigned. It won't cost too much and he is a great player to have rotating and in the 4 down lineman packages.
DE Chris Canty must be resigned. This will cost quite a bit of money, but it is worth it.
I don't expect TO to be back next season. He will be 35 after this season and his contract will be up. I do think he can play at a high level for at least two more seasons. If he takes a pay cut to about 3 Mil per year, then he will get his superbowl ring along with helping out the team with cap space.
The last part that needs to be addressed is Safety. Roy Williams is garbage. He is not going to be a Cowboy after this season because he has continued to degress. He has to show a lot more than he has despite making the Pro Bowl (only by his name). Ken Hamlin needs to be resigned. It will cost about 4 Mil-5 Mil per year. The Cowboys have Patrick Watkins and are high on him. They can move Hamlin to SS and let Watkins take over at FS in 2010. If they Cut or trade Roy Williams after this season that will open more cap to keep Hamlin.
2009 Draft
Cowboys trade 5th round pick for CB Pacman Jones
22. WR Limas Sweed UT- 6-4 215 4.47 Big and fast. Great hands and will be a great red zone target. As polished as any WR in the NFL Draft.
28. CB Mike Jenkins USF- 5-10 197 4.38 Jenkins has the size, speed, and the hitting ability to make it big in the NFL. He also has the ability to be a great PR.
2nd. RB Jamaal Charles UT- 5-11 200 4.38 Charles has the speed but he can catch and break tackles. He can be the guy that helps the Cowboys even out there offensive attack.
3rd. CB Justin King PSU- 5-11 195 4.31 King has all the ability in the world. He can be great. Also he can return punts and kicks. He also has great hands for a DB. This would give the Dallas Cowboys one of the youngest, fastest DB backfield.
4th. DT Frank Okam UT 6-4 347 5.35 another longhorn, but this guy will give depth all over the 3-4 alignment. He will be a good rotational guy.
Baseball's All-Scandal Team
Comments (7)
Sorry brother, letting go of Newman will not happen.
Romo's deal can get restructured and will, which saves more money too.
The Boys will more than likely cut Ellis and Henry which saves at least 7-8 million.
They will NOT trade for McFadden b/c of cap reasons but instead sit tight in Round 1 and pick a young CB and a backup RB.
Ware, Newman, Barber, Canty, Columbo and Hamlin all will get re-signed to long term deals....
Don't forget, they already count against the cap, so giving them a longer term deal with up front money is no different than paying their larger base salaries now.
You will be VERY suprised as to how many guys stay.
Dallas is tight, but with Stephen Jones running the cap, they are going to keep everyone who counts.
JeffHart24 | 03/24/08, 12:33 PM
Report Offensive CommentI'm not so sure that we'll be resigning Newman, especially if Pacman does manage to stay out of jail for one whole season AND be a major contributor in our backfield. If he does those two things, then he'll be looking for a long term deal after next season and we won't be able to pay him and TNew. This is speculative of course because Goodell hasn't even reinstated him and he could sit out another year, probably not, but nobody will know until July (that's when Goodell said he would decide, he's probably waiting to see if Pacman can stay out of the strip clubs and jail for that long). It's great to have a team stock full of talent but frustrating when you can't afford to keep all the talent.
Thorn19 | 03/24/08, 02:25 PM
Report Offensive CommentThis report is inaccurate as can be. FIrst of all your strategy is terrible considering you would want to go into next year without a top 5 corner but pacman, who yourself said is a gamble and therefore can not be counted on. Lets say he does not pan out, then you are left with your two corners you drafted, now you need another one. The other flaw is that you say we can take Jenkins and King. One problem, third round??? he wont even be there when they pick in the second. You have to use logic when looking at how the cap situation is. Once Romo's contract is changed to free up some money, then we can address the Newman situation and he is worth a 5 yr 50 mil to me and the extra years on every contract usually do not matter. DWare will also get his money probaly in Dwight Freeney range but they are both worth it. THe 4 most important positions are QB CB LT DE and wanting to let go of one of the best corners because you think an injury will linger even though he played like always towards the end of the year is crazy. I have no problem with trading for Pac Man or drafting a corner in the first still, but letting go of TNew makes very little sense to me. I would rather have have Tnew and Ware if it means losing Barber and TO but there are ways to free up cap and from what I have heard the Romo contract can save nearly 6 million. Do not forget that by the time Ware's contract is up there is a great possibility that the there will be no salary cap.
tromo09goboys | 03/24/08, 02:58 PM
Report Offensive CommentT-Newman is great and I love him, but he is going to be 30. The Fact is that T-Newman's injury will be there for the rest of his life. The Plantar Fascia injury is a very tough injury for a CB to overcome. In his right heal.......He is right handed and he plays Left CB.....What does that mean, since your such a SuperStar and you know all........He plants off of his right foot 95% of the time. If you want to pay T-Newman 10 Mil per year that is fine. If you want to get rid of Marion Barber thats cool too. Pacman can be a top 5 corner back. Justin King could very well go in the 2nd round, but there is also the possibility that he will be in the third. Did you watch any PSU games this season? He got tore up all year and had issues with all of the coaches. Those reasons can put King into the third round........
Why would Romo want to restrucure his contract? He didn't even sign that big of a contract. He just signed it.......I mean c'mon. If he does that is fine, but it won't be that easy. But next season the cap will free more cap space. So maybe they can resign TNewman.
To get two young CB's in the Draft and Pacman, it would make a very athletic CB crew. You can never have enough CB's and that has been evident in the past two seasons.
The Cowboys could also find a Great CB in Free Agency next season that is still young and healthy. Did you think of that? Namdi Asomaghi, Marcus Trufant, Chris Gamble, Chris McCallister, Lito Sheppard, Fabian Washington..........Just to name a few guys that could all see the Free Agent Market next season.
America's Legend | 03/24/08, 03:32 PM
Report Offensive Commentgood blog,and your mock draft is perfect
Nyfan! | 03/24/08, 03:56 PM
Report Offensive CommentFirst of all I have seen King go late first in a lot of mocks and if he does drop to the third round great, but didnt you just say he got torn up and thats why he is not as good as a talent, not what I want from my corners. Second back to Tnew, what did you see that made you think he was still not a great corner and one of the best, and with an athlete like that is it out of the queston to switch positions. I think not. I also have no problem with adding corners because you cannot have to many corners but I am just being realistic, I would love your scenario to happen but I do not see him falling that far but if it does haappen it would be great.
Romo would not lose money it would just be restuctured and more guaranteed money to create more room, some of the people at Dallas Morning News have talked about this.
And lastly, I did think of that lets take a look at the corners u mentioned that would be young and healthy.
Namadi Asomaghi-If he gets away from Oakland which I do not think would happen, he is getting the same type of deal Samuals and Hall just got, which I mite remind you would be great but one of your arguments was TNew would not be affordable, you thinks he is coming any cheaper?? NO way
Marcus Trufant- Same story but he was only a 1 year wonder and he would demand same type of money and I believe TNew is a better corner anyway.
Chris Gamble- A possibiltity but he also fell out of favor and has not been the same since his rookie season, dont no much more about him besides that so u are probaly right about his situation.
Fabian Washington- Why do you think Al Davis traded for Hall, I am from Nebraska and have seen plenty of Fabian, he can run but there is a reason he would be expandable and it has nothing to do with speed and everything to do with lack of cover skills.
Chris McCallister- He has gotten old and is slowing down, what makes you think he wont break down being in the mid 30's over just paying a top 5 like Newman
Lito Shepperd- If you are a Cowboys fan you no Lito has skills but I do not see him ever being cut, I think he would be traded before that and he is approaching 30 to.
By the way, jsut two fans saying both sides of what we think, nice to have real fans talk about football,no hard feelings just havin a real football convo
tromo09goboys | 03/24/08, 04:38 PM
Report Offensive CommentLegend - just b/c Romo restructures his deal doesnt mean he makes less money....it means he takes less of a base salary and more in bonuses....thus allowing the Boys to lower the cap #.
Romo will do whatever is needed for the team - period. And he signed a solid deal for the amount of time he has been taking snaps.
Newman played well after coming back from the injury and Dallas will lock him up - you can bank on that.
The PacMan deal will happen and Dallas will still draft as if he isnt on the team....quite frankly, they need at least 5 CB's and they got 3 under contract now.
Dallas is going RB - CB in round 1, bank on it.....the only way they dont take a CB is if there is a run on them prior to their 1st selection and have no choice but to take a WR instead.
Either way, Dallas will re-sign its own and fill the holes that are needed.
This team is literally one step away from the SuperBowl....no need in massively changing things now.
JeffHart24 | 03/27/08, 12:41 PM
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