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BY CLARENCE E. HILL JR.
chill@star-telegram.com



Executive vice president Stephen Jones understands the frustration with the lack of free-agent moves by the Dallas Cowboys after last year’s 4-12 campaign.

But he is not worried, and he says Cowboys fans shouldn’t be either.

Jones said the Cowboys are focused on bettering their team for a bounce-back run next season and aren’t solely relying on the return to health of quarterback Tony Romo, receiver Dez Bryant and cornerback Orlando Scandrick, whose injuries were huge part of their problems last season.

But Jones said the Cowboys will use the upcoming NFL Draft as the foundation of their improvement and not free agency.

“I think we have been on record as saying I don’t think that’s where you build a football team in free agency,” Jones said. “At the same time, we are certainly not sticking our head in the sand just because we had significant injuries with Tony and Dez and Orlando and think just because they are healthy and we are going to be fine.

“The big thing as [owner] Jerry (Jones) so eloquently said, ‘we earned the fourth pick in the draft and the third pick in the second round and the fourth pick in the third round.’ You build your team in the draft. So we’ve got to draft well.”

Jones also pointed out that free agency is not over. The Cowboys are hosting two free agent visitors on Monday in running back Alfred Morris and cornerback Patrick Robinson. They are also waiting to see if the Oakland Raiders are going to match the offer sheet they signed with defensive end Benson Mayowa.

Jones said the Cowboys have no regrets about previous free-agent misses on targets such as cornerbacks Nolan Carroll and Leon Hall, defensive ends Adrian Clayborne and Chris Long and safety Eric Weddle.

“Free agency is not over yet,” Jones said. “We just have a strategy. Our strategy is we are going to pay a guy ‘X.’ If it goes above that, then we are out. That’s how you make bad mistakes, paying to the market.”

Consider it a lesson learned in 2012 when the Cowboys gave cornerback Brandon Carr a five-year, $50.1 million contract even though he had never been a Pro Bowl player during his first four years with the Kansas Chiefs.

Carr has been solid player with the Cowboys, but he has not lived up to the contract as a playmaker. He has no interceptions since 2013 and could be a salary-cap casualty if the team signs Robinson.

Jones also bristled at the notion that the Cowboys were worried more about balancing the budget than improving the team.

“It’s not about the budget,” Jones said. “It’s about getting a player to equate to the dollar. It’s not about the budget. The budget is a bad word for this. It’s the value. We stick with the value of the player. It’s not about the budget.”

Jones stopped short of saying the Cowboys will never again be a team that makes a big splash in free agency — just in case a Reggie White or Deion Sanders come available. But he says there are not a lot of Pro Bowl players in free agency and reiterates that is not the Cowboys’ philosophy.

“We are not ever going be a big-splash free agency team,” Jones said. “We don’t think that’s a sound strategy, unless there is a Reggie White or Deion. There are not many of them. It’s not that we don’t want to spend money — not it if it’s a Pro Bowl-caliber player. We just think we aren’t seeing Pro Bowl caliber players out there.

“We are going to do the best job we can and get players in free agency, but we think there is a value and efficiency in what we are trying to get accomplished. We think the biggest thing that is going to improve our football team is the draft.”
 
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I applaud the theory. I'd just applaud harder if we had a real GM, and a better track record in the draft.

There's this notion that our drafting has improved, but it doesn't really reflect in the results post first round.
 
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Carr has been solid player with the Cowboys,

He has been? I'd disagree.

He looked every bit as good as that contract his first year with us, with huge potential game winning interceptions against the Bengals and Steelers, but since then he's been garbage.
 

Iamtdg

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That would be great if we could draft worth a shit consistently.

Too negative?

I'll see myself out.
 
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That would be great if we could draft worth a shit consistently.

Too negative?

I'll see myself out.

JJ Taylor's ESPN article: The Cowboys did draft some good players such as tight ends Anthony Fasano (2006) and Martellus Bennett (2008), but coach Jason Garrett never figured out how to maximize their talent.

Fasano, traded to Miami for a fourth-round pick after two seasons in Dallas, has 279 career receptions and 33 touchdowns in his 10-year NFL career. He had 28 catches and one touchdown with Dallas.

Bennett, the 61st player taken in the 2008 draft, caught 85 passes and scored four touchdowns - none in his last three seasons - with the Cowboys.

In the four years he has been gone, The Cowboys did draft some good players such as tight ends Anthony Fasano (2006) and Martellus Bennett (2008), but coach Jason Garrett never figured out how to maximize their talent.
 
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Iamtdg

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JJ Taylor's ESPN article: The Cowboys did draft some good players such as tight ends Anthony Fasano (2006) and Martellus Bennett (2008), but coach Jason Garrett never figured out how to maximize their talent.

Fasano, traded to Miami for a fourth-round pick after two seasons in Dallas, has 279 career receptions and 33 touchdowns in his 10-year NFL career. He had 28 catches and one touchdown with Dallas.

Bennett, the 61st player taken in the 2008 draft, caught 85 passes and scored four touchdowns - none in his last three seasons - with the Cowboys.

In the four years he has been gone, The Cowboys did draft some good players such as tight ends Anthony Fasano (2006) and Martellus Bennett (2008), but coach Jason Garrett never figured out how to maximize their talent.

That's because Garrett hasn't a clue how to use a second TE.
 

dbair1967

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Bob, change your draft sig to the correct players.

Carson Wentz and Derrick Henry

Thanks
 

MrB

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I applaud the theory. I'd just applaud harder if we had a real GM, and a better track record in the draft.

There's this notion that our drafting has improved, but it doesn't really reflect in the results post first round.

They've drafted good players they just don't know how to use them, or the player has been injury prone.
 
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