NFL Free Agency news

[Hoofbite]

but the days of signing Deion Sanders or any other FA to a record breaking contract are over.

That's why the fact that they expect Kellen Moore back as Romo's primary backup doesn't surprise me either.

I'd settle for signing quality starters. Shit.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Not really a plan at all.

Looks like the plan is to get our shit pushed in again when Tony gets hurt.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

I'm not surprised at all. Stephen has been in charge of free agency for a couple years now. He said a couple weeks ago that he doesn't believe in spending big money on other peoples free agents. I believe once Mario Williams said he wanted $10 mil a year he priced himself out of the Cowboys market. They will look for bargains like they thought they had with Hardy last year. They might sign a couple guys late in FA for special teams or backup roles but the days of signing Deion Sanders or any other FA to a record breaking contract are over.

That's why the fact that they expect Kellen Moore back as Romo's primary backup doesn't surprise me either.

Stephen is not in charge of jack shit beyond what Jerry will let him pretend.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

Looks like the plan is to get our shit pushed in again when Tony gets hurt.

That is exactly what the plan is including a repeat of having a Cleveland reject as "insurance".

 

[boozeman]

I'd settle for signing quality starters. Shit.

Wha...going after elite talent like Adrian Clayborn ain't doing it for you?

 

[dbair1967]

Ian Rapoport ‏@RapSheet 6m6 minutes ago
An under-the-radar player drawing interest: #Falcons DL Adrian Clayborn. #Giants, #Jags, #Cowboys, #Dolphins among those lurking.

 

[MrB]

Stephen is not in charge of jack shit beyond what Jerry will let him pretend.

Tell that to Johnny Manziel.

 

[onlyonenow]

Stephen is not in charge of jack shit beyond what Jerry will let him pretend.

I think jerruh has stepped back some and let Stephen do a lot he used to do. But for those that think somehow Stephen is running things tell me this: who owns the Dallas Cowboys? THAT is where the power is when the rubber hits the road.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

Tell that to Johnny Manziel.

, this is too fuckin funny. I can see you typing that with an "I put him in his place" look on your face.

First off, we don't know the whole story there. Certainly neither McClay, Stephen, or Garrett ordered Jerry out of that decision. At best they talked him out of it. And even if I grant this, hooray, you found one exception in the last 20 years. Still does not change the fact that Jerry rules from jocks to socks, and if he really wants something bad enough he will do it regardless of what anyone else says. You know it, I know it, and the American people know it.

 

[TheZoneSucks]

I think jerruh has stepped back some and let Stephen do a lot he used to do. But for those that think somehow Stephen is running things tell me this: who owns the Dallas Cowboys? THAT is where the power is when the rubber hits the road.

I don't think Jerry has stepped back at all.

Exhibit A: 4-12
Exhibit B: "Weeden throws the best spiral EVAR!!!" and keeps him as backup to Romo.
Exhibit C: "No need to draft a franchise QB cause Romo will play 4-5 more years!!!"

 

[dbair1967]

Weeden got released during the season though didn't he

 

[yimyammer]

At best they talked him out of it

bingo, he cedes power at whim not by force

 

[dbair1967]

Adrian Clayborn. & O'Brien Schofield. That's the plan for DE?

Also saw speculation from a Dolphin writer that the Cowboys were the favorite to sign Lamar Miller, but haven't seen that confirmed by any Cowboy people.

 

[cmd34]

Adrian Clayborn. & O'Brien Schofield. That's the plan for DE?

Also saw speculation from a Dolphin writer that the Cowboys were the favorite to sign Lamar Miller, but haven't seen that confirmed by any Cowboy people.

If we sign Miller the Front Office will trip over themselves congratulating each other. And they should, it would be a quality signing.

This Clayborn and Schofield nonsense is Will McClay's influence, convincing Jerry they are hidden gems. I have no problem signing these guys as fallback options, several weeks into free agency. Targeting and signing them right off the bat is just signing people for the sake of signing them.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

Isn't the the man who made all the money himself usually the cheap one and his son inheriting a fortune the spendthrift? But here it seems like we have the opposite. Steve doesn't like spending money. As the resident capologist, he's a bean counter at heart and for years I guess attempted to keep Jerry in check, and now he can't or won't let go.

Either that or he's so determined to prove how smart he is doing it his way, he won't change until he thinks he's been proven wrong.

 

[cmd34]

Leodis McKelvin rumor out there now too.

 

[yimyammer]

Isn't the the man who made all the money himself usually the cheap one and his son inheriting a fortune the spendthrift? But here it seems like we have the opposite. Steve doesn't like spending money. As the resident capologist, he's a bean counter at heart and for years I guess attempted to keep Jerry in check, and now he can't or won't let go.

Either that or he's so determined to prove how smart he is doing it his way, he won't change until he thinks he's been proven wrong.

It really doesn't make sense to say Stephen is just being cheap because there is a salary cap floor and they have to spend. So, the only logical motivation for being "cheap" is to be prudent with cap dollars in such a way that makes the team better and gives them flexibility and leverage going forward.

Then again, this is the Jones family so sound logic is in short supply and perhaps he has other motivations

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

The floor has to be met, but that doesn't mean teams can't spend a lot less than they can.

After all, what good is all that flexibility if you don't use it? I thought Garrett had been cleaning up our cap for half a decade now?

Some people (not here, elsewhere) almost act like you get bonus points on the field for having a good cap situation vs a bad one.

 

[yimyammer]

The floor has to be met, but that doesn't mean teams can't spend a lot less than they can.

After all, what good is all that flexibility if you don't use it? I thought Garrett had been cleaning up our cap for half a decade now?

Some people (not here, elsewhere) almost act like you get bonus points on the field for having a good cap situation vs a bad one.

it appears to me they are using it, they don't have a lot of cap space and will have to release Carr and/or restructure contracts to free up space

As should be abundantly clear by now, I'm no lover of the jones family but I'm not ready to buy that Stephen just wants to be cheap so he can pocket the savings. I think he believes that spending big money on free agents doesn't help the team and said as much. That's certainly not an absolute but Im inclined to agree with that philosophy, especially when the talent evaluation is suspect.

 

[ThoughtExperiment]

I'm not saying his motivation is to pocket the savings. Obviously he's already tremendously wealthy and makes a huge salary from the operation regardless of a few million free agency dollars spent or not. He could just be more conservative than his dad. Risk-taking has a genetic component like everything else.

Nor am I saying be the Redskins and sign every big name out there so that you have to cut the good players you have.

But these FA players don't have huge cap numbers in the first years -- it's later on when they do. And our QB has about two years left at most. What are we waiting on? We need to do something soon or it won't matter. What good will it do to have a great cap situation when Tony is watching Netflix on his couch all day and we're running Dak Prescott out there every Sunday?