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Lost in all the free agency hype and intensifying draft talk is DeMarcus Ware’s new contract. So, what’s the deal, why is this taking so long? Supposedly talks started up around the combine, almost a month ago.

Ware should be working on a new deal right now, but will this drag on into the season like other high profile extensions ala, Barber and Romo. I would think Jerry wants to get a deal in the bag before the draft, so we can consider the cap implications going onward to 2010 when Ware would become a free agent, but worst case scenario a franchise. I seriously doubt the contract talks would last all the way to next offseason.

I wrote this last month:

How much will Ware make?

At the very least, Ware will make about the same amount as Haynesworth. Again, Ware is clearly a better player, he’s younger, consistent, durable, and this means he could get paid even more than Haynesworth. I’m guessing Ware is looking at a $16-17million per year contract for 7yrs and $40 something in guarentees. So, 7yrs for $119 give or take, it could very well be a bit more than that and this is why Jerry is not going to pay anyone else a big contract this year. Our splash will be with Ware’s new contract, he will be thrusted into the very top of player salaries.

With the signing of Igor Olshansky, this should bode well for both Igor and DeMarcus, but more for Ware. Olshansky should pull some double-teams and will be aggressive at the line. If anything, it would be in Jerry’s best interest to get this deal done before the season starts. Ware could easily pull in another 20+ sack season and just cement himself as the premier defensive player in the entire NFL. Period.

The Cowboys offseason started out slow, but the Cowboys have made some moves at a frenetic pace. The Cowboys are systematically purging out the weak links on the roster either by letting free agents walk or by releasing players. Lets take a look at significant losses and additions thus far.

Losses:

• CB Adam Jones
• NT Tank Johnson
• LB Zach Thomas
• DE Chris Canty
• CB Anthony Henry
• WR Terrell Owens
• SS Roy Williams
• OG Joe Berger

Additions:

• QB Jon Kitna
• LB Keith Brooking
• LB Matt Stewart
• DE Igor Olshansky

Of the players no longer with the team, the common denominator was value, or lack there of, which is a mixbag of aging players, average, overrated, and problematic types. We aren’t losing anything much by letting go any of these players. Owens had true production, so he may be the only exception, but his supposed presence in the locker room made him expendable by ownership. Kevin Burnett will probably sign somewhere soon as well, but he too falls into this catagory.

Keith Davis is still checking out the market, but the fact that the Cowboys have not made a push to re-sign him means, he’s not a must have commodity. If he signs with Dallas, then thats good for special teams, but if not, then we’ll find another body.
Sticking with the theme of systematic moves, the Cowboys have made some key additions by adding a better backup QB with Jon Kitna. Keith Brooking addresses our loss of Zach Thomas, and is an upgrade at the position. Matt Stewart will be a backup LB and special teamer, DE Igor Olshansky is also another upgrade at the position. These moves alone have made the offense and defense better.

With all this being said, the Cowboys will be drafting players who will contribute and players who could conceivably move into a starting role within a year or two. Let’s look at the starters, and who is upgradeable: (italics=upgradeable)

OFFENSE
QB: Tony Romo, Jon Kitna

WR: Roy Willams, Patrick Crayton, Miles Austin

• Sam Hurd, Isaiah Stanback fill in the backup roles

TE: Jason Witten, Martellus Bennett

RB: Marion Barber III, Felix Jones, Tashard Choice

OG: Leonard Davis, Kyle Kosier

• Montrae Holland, Cory Procter

OT: Flozell Adams, Marc Colombo

• Pat McQuistan, Doug Free 

C: Andre Gurode

• Cory Procter, Matt Spanos

FB: Deon Anderson

• Julius Crosslin

Looking at the offense, the positions that could be drafted to upgrade would be; WR, OG, OT, FB

WR has some question marks. Unfortunately, we don’t know how effective the current receivers will meld together. Crayton is inconsistent, and Miles Austin is still an up and coming receiver. We could add another high pick to move into the lineup. Bad OG play sunk the offensive line last season, and I would really expect the Cowboys to make a move here for protection and possibly for a replacement. OT has an aging Flozell Adams, and a replacement will be needed soon and the current backups are not the answer, so a high pick could go here too. FB is hard to pinpoint. If Garrett wants a Moose Johnston type blocker, and punisher in the running game, then Anderson is not the answer. Last year we missed on getting Owen Schmitt, and depending on what role Garrett wants the FB to do, a true FB could be added. I like Anderson, but he’s more a special teamers ace, and just an average FB.

DEFENSE

OLB: DeMarcus Ware, Anthony Spencer

• Greg Ellis, Justin Rogers 

ILB: Bradie James, Keith Brooking

• Bobby Carpenter, Matt Stewart 

DE: Marcus Spears, Igor Olshansky

• Jason Hatcher, Stephen Bowen 

NT: Jay Ratliff

• Junior Siavii 

CB: Terence Newman, Mike Jenkins, Orlando Scandrick

• Alan Ball, Michael Hawkins 

FS: Ken Hamlin

• Pat Watkins

SS: ???

• Courtney Brown, Tra Battle

Looking at the defense, the positions that could be drafted to upgrade would be: SS, DE, CB, ILB, NT, OLB

If the season started today, we wouldn’t have anyone at SS. Even though there has been talk of possibly moving Hamlin to SS, and Scandrick to FS, this then causes problems for the corners. The key component of what we do in the secondary is Newman. Newman has been injury riddled, and hampered by various injuries. With another year in the bag, age looks to be catching up with Newman, so it would be more realistic to have Scandrick be the future at CB. However, if Scandrick is moved to FS, then expect the Cowboys to draft cornerback early for the very reasons I just explained. ILB could still be upgraded even with Brooking there, it doesnt look like Carpenter will be a starter here, and Brooking will play just a year or two at the most. DE could be upgraded for 2010 with the pick this year. Spears is playing in a contract year, so the Cowboys will either sign him, but if he wants more cash than Canty, we could be in the spot next year. It could be best to go ahead and draft some insurance for 2010, plus we need more depth. NT is Ratliff’s job, but after him we are without a solid backup, let alone someone to rotate in to relieve Ratliff. A big NT could be added here too and give us a staunch rotation. OLB will be interesting as well, Ellis could complain his way out of Dallas here pretty soon, and how sold are you on Spencer?

Considering the factors going into the secondary, with Newman, Scandrick, Hamlin, Jenkins, and low depth, I would now say that secondary goes early in this draft. Those are immediate needs right now. Everything else drafted will be for depth, rotation, and future replacements. The secondary needs to get stablized, as we stand righ now, it is not.

The Cowboys moved quickly on signing veteran DE Igor Olshansky to a 4yr deal for $18million, $8million guaranteed. I talked about this being a potential signing early on before Canty hit free agency, and connecting the dots was easy. Igor had his most productive years under Phillips, and he’s known Phillips since his rookie season. This was a good addition, a smart insurance for the defensive line for a few years.

Adding Igor definitely gives us real flexibility now in the draft. The thin spots at ILB and DE were bolstered signficantly and are no longer major priorities; however, we can now trade up to get whomever we really want at a reasonable pick.

I’m sure we could Dallas package some picks this year and next year to move up and nab someone we could be targeting. And with the additions of Brooking and Olshansky, we could be targeting a Safety or WR, or whoever the Cowboys rate as their highest rated player.

Even though, there’s early talks that Scandrick could move to safety, we could now have better flexibility to get a true safety like Louis Delmas or Patrick Chung. Or we could move up and nab a WR like Hakeem Nicks or Brian Robiskie. Or the surprise pick of OG to replace Kyle Kosier during the season or 2010 for sure. Of the lineman, I don’t see Kosier making it past 2009, someone could get drafted high as a sucessor.

Jerry is slowly making moves that will set us up to do something interesting in this year’s draft, I have a gut feeling Jerry is positioning for something good. The “changes” are here, and right now, I’m onboard and liking what we’re doing. Let’s keep it going Jerry.