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The offseason rumors continue. I did not think the Cowboys would be in the running for the high priced Larry Fitzgerald, and now that he has re-signed (4yr/$40mill) with the Cardinals, there’s speculation that fellow Cards receiver Anquan Boldin could be asking for a trade, and the Cardinals may oblige. A few teams have come up, and Dallas being one of the teams. Boldin was drafted in 2003, has the speed and great hands, he would be a perfect fit in Dallas. A key element in this rumor, is Boldin’s agent, Drew Rosenhaus. Could Rosenhaus help broker a deal that would send Boldin to Dallas? We know Dallas could do some restructing to get Boldin, so we’ll monitor this rumor and see if anything comes of it.

From PFT.com:

Now that the Cardinals have locked up receiver Larry Fitzgerald at a more affordable (or, as the case may be, less unaffordable) price over the next four seasons, they might have to deal with another thorny issue at the position.

According to Adam Schefter of NFL Network, Anquan Boldin could want more money and/or a trade in the wake of Fitzgerald’s $10 million-per-year contract.

Per Schefter, some in the Cardinals organization actually regard Boldin as the better wideout.  But Boldin will make far, far less than Fitzgerald over the next three seasons — he’s due to earn base salaries of $2.5 million, $2.75 million, $3 million in 2008, 2009, and 2010, respectively.

In our view, Fitzgerald and Boldin together is a luxury that the Cardinals don’t need, especially with coach Ken Whisenhunt presumably trying to bring a Pittsburgh-style power running vibe to the desert.

Assuming that the Cardinals have a plan (which could be a dangerous assumption because we’re talking about, you know, the Cardinals), the huge deal given to Fitzgerald should be regarded as evidence that they’ve opted to keep Fitzgerald over the long haul, and to get what they can for Boldin.

Throw in the fact that Boldin is represented by Drew Rosenhaus, and the stage is set for Boldin to start making noise about moving on.

Possible destinations are Philly, Dallas, and the Redskins.

The media continues to think we’ll trump our historic Hershel Walker trade by giving up the house to obtain Darren McFadden - its not gonna happen, get it through your thick skulls! I conducted some polls, and a cross section of Cowboys Nation does not want McFadden in Dallas. In addition, if given the choice, Cowboys fans would rather draft a different running back.

When asked if we should draft or pass on McFadden:

79% said pass on him
21% said draft him

When asked which running back you would draft:

33% want Felix Jones

27% want Chris Johnson

16% want RaShard Mendenhall

9% want Jamaal Charles

7% want Darren McFadden

and then the other small percentages for everyone else.

Teams are aware of McFadden’s off the field issues, and we all know that those issues usually follow them into the NFL. Alot of fans are not sold on McFadden, and definitely do not want to give everything to get him. For me, I see him slipping in this draft, and even when he slips I don’t want to see anything dumb to move up to get him. If he’s there at #22, I’m still not sold on taking him, I doubt he’ll fall that far, but I still would pass.

Where does McFadden get drafted? 

If Oakland passes on McFadden at#4, the Jets are NOT drafting McFadden either, I see way too many mock drafts pegging him there, get real. I see him slipping to #11, where Detroit and all their draft day wisdom probably jump up a few to nab him, and this is because they are not sold on their backfield, they wanted Julius Jones, but he knew better and went to Seattle. Detroit would be in play and would probably want to trade with Buffalo. Denver at #12 could be in the market for a RB if McFadden fell to them.

Picks #13-16 are all potential suitors.  Carolina needs a RB, Chicago missed on Cedric Benson, Detroit as stated earlier, and Arizona needs to think ahead of a beatup Edgerrin James. Minnesota at #18 has a superstar, they pass, and at #18 Houston probably takes him. In my mind, Houston needs a premier type back if they want to take their team to the next step, and with a who’s who of washed up and unknowns, the Texans better draft RB.

As you know I’m not in the majority when it comes to drafting a running back, although, I am beginning to see a few more people jumping off the running back in the first round bandwagon. Here’s what I’m projecting right now:

#22: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, CB, Tennessee State

I’ve seen a few mock drafts where DR.C is being taken as high as #14 overall. Its quite possible he could be gone by #22, but if he’s still there I’m taking him without hesitation. The Cowboys weakest link is the secondary, and with the exception of Newman and Hamlin, the rest of the secondary is barely an average unit.

#28: James Hardy, WR, Indiana

With a pick this late and if Hardy remains in the board at #28, I take him here, because he won’t last past the first picks of the 2nd round. Hardy brings size, speed, and great hands to the table. Our receivers are thin, especially with the probable release of Glenn in June. We haven’t picked up anyone in free agency. Unless some type of trade is made during the draft for an established, proven WR, then this is the year to pull the trigger on a receiver. I do like Sam Hurd, but that’s all we really have, and Crayton is not as good as I had hoped he would be under Garrett’s system.

Another strong candidate for #28 is Kenny Phillips, S, Miami. He’s being projected as a first rounder. I’ve seen him going early in the top 15, and late in the first round. I would not be surprised if the Cowboys take DRC and Phillips as the future of the secondary. Roy will be released next season, and we don’t know if Hamlin will get a long term deal yet, I would hope so, but we probably won’t know until sometime during the season.

Looks like Seattle is going another direction with their running game, and Shaun Alexander could be the odd man out very soon. The Seahawks added TJ Duckett earlier, and have now added the speedier back in Julius Jones. Jones has signed with the Seahawks and will look to regain his rookie magic in a new location. I always thought Julius was a pretty good back, but the major emergence of MB3 overshadowed Jones’ potential. Good luck to you Julius.

The year was 1990, the Cowboys had some of the building blocks coming into place that would later lead to a dynasty in the ’90s. The 1990 team still had some work to do with the receivers, and the depth there. Michael Irvin was the #1 WR, and Kelvin Martin #2, with Dixon and McKinnon in the support roles.

Fast forward to 2008, and we face a similar scenario if the season were to start today. Terrell Owens #1 and Patrick Crayton #2. I really don’t see Glenn staying around, and if he were its just a risk especially down the stretch if he goes down. So I’m going with Owens and Crayton right now. Comparing them to the 1990 team is just about right on. Owens is the Irvin type playmaker, and Crayton is the receiver in the same vein as Kelvin Martin. We then have Sam Hurd and Miles Austin in the support roles. Good players, but still average. its even debateable whether Crayton is a good receiver too. I doubt Austin even makes the team next year. Seriously, he had a bad training camp, he had a sub par preseason, his production on special teams was just a little better than Tyson Thompson, and that’s not saying much.

Do you really want to go into the season with Owens and Crayton? Again, this will be a mirror image of the 1990 team. How did the Cowboys avoid this for the 1991 season, and how do the Cowboys avoid this scenario in 2008?

In 1991, the Cowboys drafted Alvin Harper from Tennessee. Harper was an immediate impact and was a major force in the Cowboys run into the playoffs his rookie year and the years right after. This year, its time, the Cowboys need to add an impact player at WR. The draft is tricky business, but I’m very confident Jason Garrett will have his say early in this draft. We know the draftroom is Phillips and Jones, but rest assured, this draft will have Garrett’s influence somewhere early on. I’m guessing Phillips gets his pick at #22 in a DB and Garrett gets his pick at #28, or visa versa. Garrett is NOT thinking “draft another RB” with a first rounder. Strategy and brains say receiver, receiver, receiver.

Most people have visions of an allstar backfield with Barber and some other first round running back. I’m not inline with this thought process. DB is a guarenteed draft pick, and WR is the other. Keep your eyes on the receivers I suggest in my previous post: Sweed, Kelly, and Hardy for potential first rounders. The Cowboys could add to this by drafting Eddie Royal in another round. He can do special teams, and would be a solid change up slot guy with some speed.

First, let me congratulate the Raiders on their free agent pickup of Javon Walker. I was scared for a little that the Cowboys would try to sign the oft injured receiver. Al Davis continues his very unusual offseason spending spree by giving Walker a 6yr deal for $55 million dollars, before that he opened up the bank to an average Tommy Kelly. If you’re a free agent and just care about money, goto Oakland, what a disaster over there. Supposedly Davis thinks McFadden reminds him of Bo Jackson, so don’t be surprised if he drafts McFadden.

With Walker off the market, that leaves the rest of the free agent market filled with very average #2 and #3 receivers. This just about seals the deal on us taking a receiver early, as in the 1st round or very soon after. We knew this time would come, and this year we need to add a good receiver with a good pedigree. There are some promising receivers this year, and the good ones will be gone by the 2nd round. I do have a few prospects we should consider:

Limas Sweed - Texas

Malcolm Kelly - Oklahoma

James Hardy - Indiana

Eddie Royal - Virginia Tech

DeSean Jackson - California

Jordy Nelson - Kansas State

These are just a few of the top players we could utilize in our offensive attack. I think Garrett will want to get his #2 guy, he didn’t get to use Glenn this year, but I think Garrett will want to draft an Alvin Harper type player to team up with Terrell Owens. Sweed and Kelly fit this mold the closest, and Hardy is there in that mix too. If Garrett wants to go with a speedier slot type guy, he’ll probably be looking at DeSean Jackson, and Eddie Royal, similar in size to Kevin Williams from back in the 1993. Garrett knows how to utilize these two type of receivers in our system, I expect some of these guys to be high on our list.

Michael Turner has signed on with the Atlanta Falcons, and he’s getting paid some bucks. 6yrs for $34.5 million $15million guaranteed. We’ll probably see Julius Jones get snagged up next in free agency, and may end up with a crazy contract in this wild spending spree we’re seeing this offseason.

Do you think Turner is getting overpaid? I think this is in line with the current market, and its kinda the money range I thought Barber would end up with (earlier discussion here)

Here’s a snip of what I wrote several months ago:

This is speculation on my part on the potential size of a new contract, but let’s look at some recent contracts from some of today’s “elite” running backs and make a guess.

Thomas Jones was traded to the Bears this offseason, and his contract was redone. With Drew Rosenhaus as his agent, Jones signed a 4yr deal for $20 million.

Larry Johnson held out this offseason and landed a deal at 6yrs for $45.05 million.

LaDainian Tomlinson has the fattest contract amongst running back at 8yrs for $60 million.

Clinton Portis also hit the jackpot, but Redskin’s fans are not getting the bang for the buck, more like, he’s banged up for the buck. Portis signed a 8yr deal for $50.5 million

Edgerrin James signed a 4yr deal for $30 million to play for the Cardinals

So, that’s a quick background on what some of these other guys are making. If I had to guess how much Barber would make, I would think it would be a 6yr deal for $35-45 million at the minimum, but could easily be higher than that.

Looking at the Turner deal in Atlanta, that falls pretty close to my guess for Barber’s estimations. Now in my opinion, looking at Turner’s new contract, I think Barber is the better back, and had more production, so Barber’s contract could very well be more than what Turner got at 6yrs for $34.5million. I still think Barber gets something in the 6yr range for $35-45million; furthermore, its another reason why I don’t see us drafting a running back in the 1st round, maybe the 3rd round or later, maybe even a mid level free agent like Tatum Bell would be fine.

Another thing to think about is other teams thinking about signing Barber away from his restricted free agent status. This now says that if a team wants Barber, they will give us a 1st rounder and 3rd rounder, AND would likely need to negotiate a big contract in the likes of Michael Turner at the minimum. That’s a whole lot for a team to give up if they wanted Barber that bad.

This may be one of the fastest moving free agency periods I’ve seen in several years. We’re seeing big paydays, and we’re seeing virtually all the top free agents being taken off the market. The Cowboys did most their spending on our own free agents, we know this; however, we still having some glaring needs, and with the market dried up we can almost pencil in what we’re going to draft.

Let’s start with the secondary. Its safe to say the secondary is the weakest link on the defensive side of the ball, and the Cowboys were not in the market for any of the big names out there. Moreover, free agent Jacques Reeves is gone, and not that we were going to sign him, but he was our nickelback and our emergency #2CB backup. Right now, nickelback is a huge question mark. Henry is injury prone, so assuming he gets his annual injury during the season, who starts? Allen Ball, Courtney Brown - get real.

#22 will goto a defensive back. This player will see immediate action at nickelback and will probably be the heir apparent once Henry is relegated to a nickel back or backup corner.

On the other side of the ball, we have a huge question mark at wide receiver. Besides Terrell Owens, our wide receivers corps are very mediocre. We all know what Crayton is, he’s a #3 WR at best. Terry Glenn has some major decisions to make, and even if he does return, he would be one akward fall or hard hit from ending his career. There’s no way the Cowboys roll into the 2008 season with these questions at wide receiver.

Free agency has also taken off several good receivers off the market, and unless you want to replace Glenn with another oft injured receiver in Javon Walker, we’re looking at drafting a receiver with that other first rounder. Forget Randy Moss too, I would be shocked if he were to sign here, we would need to do some creative arthur-anderson accounting to get him on board, and we won’t be doing that. So, look for us to draft a wide receiver early #28 should be the best receiver on the board.

What about RB? I almost convinced the Cowboys will not draft a RB in the first round, especially with Barber’s longterm deal still in the works. If you’re going to pay first round money, it needs to be to your franchise type players at keys positions. This year its cornerback and wide receiver, two positions that need to get younger and need to be the future at their respective positions. The future at RB starts and ends with Marion Barber, we can draft another RB in another round. We’re not going to do the whole 1st half/2nd half thing again like we did last year with Jones and Barber. Barber will start, and some other running back will come in to supply some rest time, this means drafting a running back in a later round in my opinion.

The only scenario I see us drafting a running back in the first round would be if the Cowboys believe that none of the receivers in this draft can help us significantly on offense. And if the Cowboys feel comfortable enough with our current receivers, the Cowboys could draft an explosive running back in the first round in order to compensate for the potential lack of production with the receivers in 2008, and that’s playing with fire in my opinion. I know that’s not inline with Garrett’s offensive philosophy as it would limit what you could do on offense. Let’s get a receiver to avoid this scenario.