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Looks like Pacman Jones is coming to Dallas, whether we like it or not…The Cowboys are in talks to acquire Pacman Jones for a late round pick, Its probably going to be our 6th rounder we acquired in the Ferguson trade, we now have the first pick of the 6th round, the Dolphins have our late 6th rounder.. I’m 100% against this. You cannot put Pacmans offield problems in the same category as Keith Davis and Tank Johnson. Jones takes it to a whole new level. The Cowboys had better draft cornerback even with Jones coming to Dallas. He’ll mess up and then we’re out a return man and a cornerback…

DMN Blog:

A source confirmed to Calvin Watkins that the Cowboys are discussing a trade with the Tennessee Titans that would grant Pacman Jones his wish of coming to Dallas.

Nothing is imminent. The Cowboys and Titans have discussed a late-round pick as the compensation.

More to come as this story develops.

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.

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 

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.

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.

Nate Jones was released in order for the Cowboys to sign Tank Johnson. He has been re-signed.

DMN:  Good thing they never cleaned his locker out

CB Nate Jones cleared waivers and has been re-signed. I had a hunch this would happen when I noticed that his locker still had his nameplate above it and equipment in it.

The Cowboys signed up Tank Johnson for pennies on the dollar:

The Cowboys will pay Johnson a prorated base salary of $510,000 this year, depending on how many games he plays, and he will earn a $605,000 base salary in 2008 with the chance to earn more money through incentives. (ed. note - the prorated salary is expected to be $225,000 this year)

Jerry Jones is killing a whole flock of birds with one stone, and here’s why: Johnson will supply ample depth at the NT tackle position, and will make our rotation problematic for tiring offensive lineman, we get him cheap, so there’s not much risk in ever cutting him. Finally, this is the genius part of it all, with Tank off the market, other teams looking to fill the DT/DE due to injuries will not have any legitimate options, and we all know how hard it is to find a solid defensive lineman that can come in and make some quality contributions. Jerry’s got some General Patton, “Tank” strategies that should pay off for us, especially late in the season.

Todd Archer reports that the Cowboys signed suspended DT Tank Johnson.

I’ve got no beef with this move. It’s a low-risk, high-reward deal that provides depth at a position that was the Cowboys’ primary concern. NT Jay Ratliff will need reinforcements after taking a pounding for the first half of the season.

If Johnson screws up again, send him packing (bags, not guns). If he doesn’t, you’ve got at least a quality player to rotate with Ratliff and perhaps the defensive ends.

Tank-for-Jason Ferguson in the locker room is as lopsided a trade as you could possibly make, but Ferguson’s injury meant bringing in a DT with such a troubled history was a risk worth taking for the Cowboys.

Tank has been signed, but cannot join the team until after the bye week, which will be 8 weeks into the season, which is the time Tank’s suspension is fullfilled. Welcome to Dallas!

Matt Moore fans, kiss the young QB goodbye, the Carolina Panthers claimed him off waivers. The Cowboys miscalculated, and have lost out on a solid backup for the future. Instead the Cowboys went ahead and signed Richard Bartel to the practice squad, wow.

The Cowboys claimed two players off waivers, and its just not going to cut it. Here’s the latest (DMN Blog):

The Cowboys claimed linebacker Justin Rogers off waivers from New England and cornerback Evan Oglesby off waivers from Baltimore. To make room, they cut safety Abram Elam and Alan Ball.

Rogers played at SMU and was making a switch from college defensive end to outside linebacker in the Patriots’ 3-4 scheme. He had two sacks in the preseason and the Patriots wanted to put him on their practice squad. With Greg Ellis’ injury, he might be needed in the opener vs. the Giants.

Oglesby spent parts of the previous two seasons with Baltimore, playing in 19 games.

Cutting Elam is a difficult choice because he is an excellent special teams player. Ball could be brought back to the practice squad if he clears waivers.

Again, nothing impressive. If Rogers is better than Glymph ok, but if not, what the heck man. If anything positive at all, Rogers give some relief to Superman (Bobby Carpenter) Oglesby is a special teamers guy, don’t expect him to be any sort of cornerback of significance.

So far the practice squad consists of the following players, this can always change through the season, but here they are

QB Richard Bartel,
CB Quincy Butler,
RB Alonzo Coleman,
TE Rodney Hannah,
WR Mike Jefferson,
LB Khari Long and
DE Marcus Smith.

Alan Ball will probably fill out the last spot if he passes through waivers.

Cowboys Nation has hit its first crossroad before the season even starts. In fact, I would say 50% are unsure if we can win against the Giants with the roster we have right now. The main concern is CB and LB.

Some fans cannot believe Glenn is gone? and I ask why? Neither Glenn nor Reeves or any of the other backups have quality skills to be a #2CB in relief. Now we’re in trouble. Some people say “don’t panic”…get real. Its time to worry. And if you think we can fill some of our inadequacies from the waiver wire you’re dreaming. I’ve looked, and there’s nothing out there. Even if there was someone out there, you’re taking someone that another team had all offseason and in the end did not like for whatever reason.

No, the waiver wire is not the way to go. Unfortunately, the only way to get some help is via trade. There’s rumors swirling that Marcus Spears is on the trading block, but nothing has manifested yet.

Linebacker is also paper thin. You can’t count on Burnett, he’s injured all the time, its becoming detrimental to the team. Ellis is the great unknown, who knows anything about Ellis, anything solid on this guy? No one seems to know anything about his status. Spencer is slated to start, and Carpenter will probably relieve the MLB and OLB on opening day, and special teams…Superman or what? What the heck is going on here??

No one is going to be happy about the roster right now, but either way you slice it, if we would have kept “this guy” over “that guy” is irrelevant. We simply don’t have quality, championship depth. When you make cuts on a quality roster, it should be easy to see who you are keeping. We shouldn’t have to be sacrificing one position for another, and that’s the situation in Dallas right now. You need depth if you want to make it down the stretch. The best teams out there have quality depth at various positions.