CowboysBlog.Net

NFL Free Agency is in full effect today, and several teams wasted no time in revamping their rosters. If you’re anxiously awaiting the Cowboys to make a big splash, don’t…The Cowboys don’t have much money left under the cap to make a big signing. Most of our money has been gobbled up by signing our own potential free agents. The Cowboys have been very pro active this offseason, and have been very methodical in their offseason moves.

The Cowboys did trade NT Jason Ferguson to the Dolphins, in doing this, the Cowboys will free up about $2.4 million dollars in additional cap space which will now jump up to an astonishing $4million. So, again, don’t expect any big moves, we may pick up a mid level nickel corner.

There’s also some speculation the Cowboys could bring in WR Javon Walker. Walker was just released by the Broncos. Walker was considered an elite WR a few seasons ago; however, injury riddled seasons have taken their toll on his knees and his market value. Walker is injury prone, there’s no doubt about that, so would the Cowboys take the risk on a player like Walker. He has the deep threat speed, but his health over the season would be a big concern. Walker could work out a cap friendly deal, and there’s a chance that our WR Coach, Ray Sherman could be the clincher. Sherman coached up Walker into a solid WR while in Green Bay, and he could seek to reunite with his WR coach. We’ll see.

The Cowboys still have some of their own players out in the market. Nickleback, Jacques Reeves is drawing the most interest so far. CB Nates Jones, FS Keith Davis, and RB Julius Jones are the other notable free agents, I don’t see any of them returning to Dallas.

The Rest of the NFL

The Eagles swoop in and sign CB Asante Samuel for a 6yr deal for $57million.

The Dolphins have been the most active team, and Parcells has this team going in the right direction already. The Dolphins jumped all over some keys players and have signed QB Josh McCown, OG Justin Smiley, WR Ernest Wilford, DT Randy Starks, LB Reggie Torbor, and new acquired NT Jason Ferguson. Parcells is acting quickly and already revamping the roster from top to bottom. Their defense will clearly be solid in 2008 with the players they added, and the players they still have, like Jason Taylor to name a few.

The Raiders sign SS Gibril Wilson from the Giants

The Jaguars signed WR Jerry Porter

The Jets acquired DT Kris Jenkins in a trade

The Buccaneers signed C Jeff Faine

Big Names Remain

RB Michael Turner met with the Falcons, but is expected to visit with the Titans, WR Randy Moss does not have a deal in place with the Patriots, so he could look around the league for a better deal, LB Lance Briggs is still available as well.

FREE AGENCY TRACKER 

The Cowboys have traded NT Jason Ferguson and this year’s 6th round pick for the Dolphins 2008 and 2009 6th round picks.

You either love him or hate him, but right now, Jerry is showing Flozell Adams the money. Flozell Adams will not hit free agency as the Cowboys have re-signed him to a 6yr deal. Adams will retire a Cowboy at the end of his career.

In case you missed it, Marion Barber’s brother Dominique Barber is at the NFL Combine and will be in the NFL draft. Dominique played FS for the Minnesota Gophers. Obviously, Barber has the bloodlines, and he’ll get a look at in this draft. He’s a good player. We’ll see how does in the rest of the combine workout tomorrow. He did have a solid benchpress with 23 reps.

Here’s a brief analysis for Dominique Barber:

The NFL is in his blood: father (Marion II) played in the league and brother (Marion III, Dallas Cowboys) is waiting for him there right now. He hasn’t showed the promise to be an NFL playmaker quite yet, but then again he didn’t have a lot of help on a poor Minnesota defense. It is not a good sign when a strong safety like Barber leads the team in tackles (71 solo, 100 total, 5.5 for loss).

Positives: Has improved every year with the Gophers. … Has the leadership skills to control the secondary. … Adequate speed to handle No. 3 receivers. … Willing to fill against the run and quick enough to blow up bubble screens and stretch plays behind the line. … Shows some instincts in coverage — able to read the quarterback’s eyes and break on the ball. … Good bloodlines. … Can be a contributor on special teams (blocked three kicks for Minnesota).

Negatives: Does a little bit of everything, but is not outstanding at any one aspect. … Is not an explosive tackler or a great playmaker. … Sort of a free-strong safety ?tweener, as opposed to a versatile combination safety. … Inconsistent hands on interceptions. … Has only adequate range and does not always take the proper angle to prevent the big play. … Does not have great strength or consistently wrap up.

Q&A Snippet:

Growing up, who was your favorite NFL player and why?
Emmitt Smith and Walter Payton; The way they play the game - the passion and love they have.

Who has been the biggest influence on your football career and how?
Family. They are at every game - Mom, dad, little brother. Older brother gives me advice. I love my family.

Could be a second day draft pick, could provide some depth and tackling machine on special teams. We’ll see.

I like the NFL Network for the most part, but enough is enough already. These guys spent about 10 mins of time saying the Cowboys had a deal on the table with the Dolphins for the #1 draft pick overall in hopes of drafting Darren McFadden. This is conjured up yellow journalism at its best. They insist that the Cowboys would trade BOTH #1 first rounders and Marion Barber - complete lunacy.

Allen Breer from DMN blog gives us some interesting tidbits from Jerry Jones state of the Cowboys:

The first thing Jones mentioned was that the Cowboys haven’t had serious discussions about moving up into the Top 5. He emphasized that be saying he has no idea where reports to the contrary have come from. The big thing, in Jones’ mind, was the value there would be in trading up A) in the amount they’d have to give up to get there and B) the money they’d have to spend to sign that pick. He made it sound like, from a philosophical standpoint, the cost would prohibitive.

The second point he touched on was the idea that an infatuation with McFadden came from the Arkansas connection.

While McFadden is doing very well in his workouts, his off the field issues could be too much for teams to overlook. The last few drafts, character has been emphasized and some top prospects have slipped into the 2nd and 3rd rounds because of this. I’m not saying McFadden will drop to the 2nd round, but I believe he could slip into the middle of the first round. His talent is still raw, and needs work according to Mike Mayock of NFL Network, and like him I agree with his analysis. He says McFadden has had 23 fumbles in 3 years, that’s a lot of turnovers. In addition he says his lower half is thin and his legs die after his first hit…no good, we won’t see him making any Marion Barber moves.

I don’t see us drafting McFadden either way. There are clearly some better athletes out there for spots we need help in. For example, there’s WR Eddie Royal from Virginia Tech  He’s had a solid workout and has caught the eye of several scouts, and the NFL Network’s analysts as well. Apparently the Cowboys have their eyes on him as well as he spoke with several Cowboys officials for quite awhile.

Draft buzz will be in full force once the defensive players get on the field. This is where the Cowboys are lacking, and the secondary should be a premium this year.

Zach Thomas is expected to sign with the Cowboys after his meeting with Cowboys brass (dc.com). Zach Thomas has had a great career, but has also suffered several concussions because of his hard hitting physical play. Expect Thomas to battle it out for starting position. Zach Thomas is an immediate upgrade over Akin Ayodele, who by some is considered just a body filling that MLB position. Ayodele never gets much recognition, neither good or bad, so adding Thomas will add some needed fire to the postiion. Another advantage is solid depth. With Ellis getting up in age and Kevin Burnett being conistently injured, Thomas will give us some cushion in this regard. Good addition.

As expected, the Cowboys made the correct move here in keeping Hamlin at Free Safety. Now the Cowboys can continue the upgrades in the secondary. Losing Hamlin would have taken us a year back, but Jones & Co have been on top of the ball so far this offseason. Let’s now hope for a solid draft.

DMN’s Calvin Watkins is reporting that the Cowboys will allow Flozell Adams to test the free agency market. The Cowboys will see where his price goes, and if its too high it’ll be Pat McQuistan battling it out for starting LT next season.

Calvin “Lucky” Watkins reports that the Cowboys will let Flozell Adams test the open market before extending a deal to the Pro Bowl left tackle.

If the price for Adams is too high for the Cowboys, Pat McQuistan starts at left tackle.

Doug Free might have something to say about that in training camp. Either way, if Jerry can’t come up with the cash to keep Flo around, an inexperienced second-day draft pick will be protecting Tony Romo’s blindside. (DMN)

This news may suggest that the Cowboys will at least franchise tag Ken Hamlin. I’ve been saying this for awhile…the Cowboys can let one of these two go, but NOT both. The secondary has been shaky before Parcells got here, and he could not fix it, Phillips now has the job in his lap, please continue to fix the secondary by keeping Hamlin, letting him go takes the secondary and the defense in reverse.

The Cowboys are keeping agent Drew Rosenhaus busy. The Cowboys talked to LB Zach Thomas earlier this week, and apparently the Cowboys will visit with Rosenhaus again this Wednesday at the NFL Combine. Rosenhaus is expected to get the talks rolling in regards to Marion Barber, we should be hearing something soon as the deadline to designate franchise player is on Thursday Feb. 21st.

I don’t think Rosenhaus will be vying for the Cowboys to use the franchise tag on Barber. Rosenhaus is a top-tier agent that will be looking at getting his player the best deal available, meaning a long term contract for Barber. Barber has earned it, get him signed.

As I’m sure most of you aware the offseason is here in full force and all these rumors are floating around. The Cowboys want the better Roy Williams from Detroit, or the Cowboys want to sign Michael Turner to compliment Marion Barber, but the one trade rumor is that of Darren McFadden.

The Miami Dolphins are under the new Parcells regime and they will be looking to deal the pick for some dope out there. Immediately the media throws out the idea that Jerry Jones’ relationship with Parcells will enable Parcells to land a monster trade earning BOTH Cowboys 1st rounders AND Marion Barber III. Are you smokin crack dipped in raid or what?

Such a trade would trump “The Herschel Walker Trade” of October 12, 1989. This trade was a brilliant trade that Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson orchestrated which involved the most player and draft pick swapping in NFL history. The Vikings never wish to discuss this infamous trade, but Cowboys Nation relishes in it because it brought us Emmitt Smith (1990) and helped us trade for Russell Maryland (1991) as the overall #1 pick.

The reason I say a McFadden trade to Miami would trump the level of pure stupidity is because we have a championship offense right now, and a lacking defense that NEEDS help. In 1989, the Cowboys cleaned house from the top to the bottom. Jimmy Johnson knew it would be a rebuilding year, and we ended up going 1-15. The Walker trade made sense because we needed ALOT of help on BOTH sides of the ball. Here’s a look at what the Walker Trade involved:

Minnesota Vikings Received:

* RB Herschel Walker
* Dallas’s 3rd round pick - 1990 (54) (Mike Jones)
* San Diego’s 5th round pick - 1990 (116) (Reggie Thornton)
* Dallas’s 10th round pick - 1990 (249) (Pat Newman)
* Dallas’s 3rd round pick - 1991 (68) (Jake Reed)

Dallas Cowboys Received:

* LB Jesse Solomon
* LB David Howard
* CB Issiac Holt
* RB Darrin Nelson (traded to San Diego after he refused to report to Dallas)
* DE Alex Stewart
* Minnesota’s 1st round pick in 1990 (21) (Emmitt Smith)
* Minnesota’s 2nd round pick in 1990 (47) (Alexander Wright)
* Minnesota’s 6th round pick in 1990 (158) (traded to New Orleans, who drafted James Williams)
* Minnesota’s 1st round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (11) (Pat Harlow)
* Minnesota’s 2nd round pick in 1991 (conditional) - (38) (Darryll Lewis)
* Minnesota’s 2nd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (40) (traded to Kansas City, who drafted Matt Blundin)
* Minnesota’s 3rd round pick in 1992 (conditional) - (71) (traded to New England, who drafted Kevin Turner)
* Minnesota’s 1st round pick in 1993 (conditional) - (13) (traded to Philadelphia Eagles, and then to the Houston Oilers, who drafted Brad Hopkins)
Emmitt was the main player we got from the Vikings picks, the other draft picks were used to move up and down the draft in getting players like Russell Maryland a few other supporting players that helped make the Cowboys a powerhouse in the 1990s.

Trading BOTH our 1st rounders and Marion Barber would render us a weaker team on BOTH sides of the ball, we would be taking this team in reverse in essence. You cannot trade away our premier Pro Bowl running back for an unproven rookie, leaving the backfield with a big question mark. McFadden may turn out to be a good running back, but nothing is guaranteed. We know that Barber is the real deal, and runs from no one, he’s a bad dude! In addition, the two 1st rounders would be a huge blow, we need to use them on the secondary and maybe a wide receiver.

So, the Walker Trade moved the Cowboys forward, a McFadden trade would move us backwards and thus trumping the infamous Walker trade, it would be a devastating blow to Jerry’s legacy in the views of Cowboys fans worldwide.