I guess we need to get this started.

Cowboys FA priorities:
Resign LVE for a reasonable deal
Same w/ Pollard
Same w/ McGovern
Ditto on Hankins
Ditto on Rush
Get a deal done w/ Wilson
Ditto on Steele




Outside FA:
I don't like the phrase 'go find a #2'. I think they need to go find a stud to pair with CD. I would def kick the tires on the Hopkins situation. Cooks may be available again (I guess he would be a true #2).

Draft:

Here's my first run through

I'm guessing mccarthy and Moore are back. Who replaces Quinn? I would be shocked if jerry lets zeke go

The Quinn thing is interesting. Sturm was talking about it last year. Quinn absolutely deserves another HC gig, but so many teams are so desperate to find offense in todays game that defensive guys are at a handicap. It would not shock me if Quinn is back.

Hey Mac... you forgetting somebody on your priority list???

I'll give you a hint... he shares a first name with #9 and his last name is Pollard!!!

jr15aggie said:

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Hey Mac... you forgetting somebody on your priority list???

I'll give you a hint... he shares a first name with #9 and his last name is Pollard!!!

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Fixed. Yeah, not sure how I missed that one...lol

You know, an interesting thing has happened a couple of times on the simulator.

Twice now Tanner McKee has dropped to 26 and is there for the Cowboys pick

I think this is a very interesting dilemma for the Cowboys. I think McKee has very strong NFL traits. He's got great size and arm strength and everyone raves about his processing speed. Interesting thought...wonder how much homework the Cowboys will do on him.

The main idea headed into this offseason is our QB situation is good enough and our defense will be top half of the league regardless of any moves. If we can keep the O-line together this is a solid group that has a future HOF'er surrounded by 4 solid young players that are getting better every year.

There is work to be done for sure, but the foundation is here to put together another really good team that can compete in the NFC next year!

Free Agents to 100% Re-Sign:
Tony Pollard (Franchise Tag Candidate)
Terrance Steele (Restricted free agent)
Conner McGovern (avg. vet starter / back-up type contract)

Free Agents to Consider (In Order):
Donovan Wilson (might cost too much)
Cooper Rush
LVE
Noah Brown
Hankins
Anthony Brown
Carlos Watkins
CJ Goodwin
Brett Maher
TY Hilton
Luke Gifford

Free Agents - Bye Felicia!
Dalton Schultz (younger/cheaper already on the team)
Jason Peters (too old)
Anthony Barr (Young/promising LB's need to step up)
Dante Fowler (it's Sam Williams time)

Draft:
With the emergence of Bland and Jourdan Lewis set to come back, I don't think CB is the glaring #1 priority that we thought it might be. Between the draft and free agency I think our #1 priority is going to be 'Get Dak Prescott 2 more weapons on the offense". Need another WR badly and we need another explosive RB to pair and split plays with Pollard.

With the focus on offense in the NFL, Cowboys need a McAffery, Ayuk, Mixon kinda guy. With Pollards injury, that has to be addressed as well as a stud WR. LVE will go to the highest bidder - maybe a franchise tag? Could improve depth on the O line too.

Lots of work to be done.

Maybe time to move in a different direction and start grooming a QB? Just can't trust Dak anymore

Macarthur said:

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You know, an interesting thing has happened a couple of times on the simulator.

Twice now Tanner McKee has dropped to 26 and is there for the Cowboys pick

I think this is a very interesting dilemma for the Cowboys. I think McKee has very strong NFL traits. He's got great size and arm strength and everyone raves about his processing speed. Interesting thought...wonder how much homework the Cowboys will do on him.

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I was already long winded enough in my post so I cut the draft talk short... but I think the Cowboys are in a great spot to go in any direction round 1, including QB. Just about every position is in play if we just sit there and let the 'best player available' fall to us.

But, if we are unable to get Dak & CD a legitimate #2 WR in free agency, I can see us trading up 10 spots or so to get one. We absolutely cannot go into next year with the same WRs behind CD.

We forgot to talk about non free agent vets that we might choose to walk away from:

Zeke - Sorry bro, you are done. He'll get picked up for sure, but I question if he will be able to stick with a team all season. He might work for somebody early on, but end up getting cut as the season wears on and he gets slower and slower.

Tyron - Would love to have him as a back-up swing tackle, but we cannot rely on him to start. Would save almost $10 million on the cap if we cut him, but how much of that would we have to spend on another swing tackle?

jr15aggie said:

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We forgot to talk about non free agent vets that we might choose to walk away from:

Zeke - Sorry bro, you are done. He'll get picked up for sure, but I question if he will be able to stick with a team all season. He might work for somebody early on, but end up getting cut as the season wears on and he gets slower and slower.

Tyron - Would love to have him as a back-up swing tackle, but we cannot rely on him to start. Would save almost $10 million on the cap if we cut him, but how much of that would we have to spend on another swing tackle?

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Agree on both.

I think I remembered seeing that they really liked what they saw out of Waletzko before he got injured. His scouting report was that he had all the tools but just needed time in the weight room. Maybe a RS year was just what he needed.

Gonna be fun to see who keeps popping up as everyone's 'pet cat' that they want their team to draft.

I've got one I want to throw out.

FB Hunter Luepke from ND State.

Love this guy. He's going to be in the league for a decade. Will be great on special teams. Will block his ass off. He's actually got good athleticism and is a very good pass catcher.

Go look at his video and tell me you don't see Juszczyk

I like where your head is at with Tanner McKee pick, Mac. He's 6'6", huge arm, athletic, smart, and likely really high character (Stanford guy). Plus, it's not as flashy as moving up in the draft to grab a guy or drafting someone like Anthony Richardson who is legit but a serious, serious NFL project. I agree with Jr's point as to the Cowboys being able to go anywhere with their first-round pick. Being at the back of the round is almost like not having a first at all because every year there are only 15-20 real first-round graded prospects. WR, RB, OL/DL and QB are the positions I would like to see them address with their 1-3 round picks, then free agency for the other position.

The reason that I think the Cowboys should at least do their due diligence with this QB group is this: 1. its a super deep QB class on paper, 2. if they start looking at taking QBs now they can shorten or even completely negate the period they are without a good QB or bad when and if Daks contract is up and he doesn't come back, and 3. they can take a guy, let him sit and really develop for at least a year.

I'd love if we traded Zeke or just outright let him walk and gave Malik Davis more looks. He showed flashed like Pollard in the regular season, and to be honest zeke just isn't it anymore. He has seriously lost a step.

We need to bolster the DL or LB core somehow. Parsons is a great edge rusher but he needs to play true LB sometimes. We also need to seriously evaluate Diggs and whether or not his lack of tackling is worth a big contract.

Also seeing some mocks that have one of the WR's Addison or Njigba falling to 26. Would like either of those guys there.

You have to take a WR and RB in this draft. Maybe not super early on, but you absolutely have to bolster those rooms. Who knows what Pollard will look like coming back from a broken fibula

I am no doctor, just a soon to be lawyer, but I have broken plenty of bones, and bones heal a heck of a lot better than ligaments or muscles. I bet Tony Pollard will be just fine, but i personally would slap a tag on him.

I think we're in a very weird spot in the draft. Just looking at the season, we really should be looking to draft an RB, WR, QB, or even an OL. But it's really hard to justify spending so much draft capital just on one side of the ball. It's why I think we'll have to be aggressive for one or two high impact guys in free agency as well.

How about Njigba & Achane?

I have no idea what JSMs 40-time is, and if he's in the low 4.4s or even in the high 4.3s, then heck yeah. But, I think getting a guy who can really run and go get it is key at the WR position.

If I was McCarthy, I'd be on the phone to Frank Reich offering him whatever he wanted to come in as OC.

I think Kellen Moore has reached his ceiling in this offense.

I'd be doing whatever I could to keep Quinn around. But I think that's wishful thinking as he is heading to Denver.

On McKee the Jones family is just way too loyal to old players to send a perceived insult to Dak by taking a QB at one. Drafting Dak at 4 with Romo was a completely different circumstances in that Romos career was winding down and they didn't expect Dak to be a starter so soon. I see little chance in them making a statement pick like McKee

Interesting

In the regular season, Josh Allen had 1 fewer interception than Dak Prescott and 9 more fumbles; also higher turnover worthy play rate.

In the playoffs, Allen had 4 turnovers to Prescott's 2. Both went 1-1 in the playoffs.

One is an MVP finalist. The other is "not good enough" https://t.co/wzYm8BSHAF

— David Howman (@_DH44_) January 25, 2023

Anyone know what is going on with the cowboys releasing multiple coaches? Weird that jerry has remained silent. Nothing from McCarthy either

chris1515 said:

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If I was McCarthy, I'd be on the phone to Frank Reich offering him whatever he wanted to come in as OC.

I think Kellen Moore has reached his ceiling in this offense.

I'd be doing whatever I could to keep Quinn around. But I think that's wishful thinking as he is heading to Denver.

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I happened to be driving during the daytime, and heard Sturm make an interesting point.
At this point Dak has basically only played QB under Garrett and Moore as OCs. Considering our investment in him durin gthat time, and for another couple years, it would make sense to try a different OC this season. Especially considering the first 2 are basically the same person.

We just have to accept that Dak is the QB, and nothing will change that. You can win with him, but he is not going to be that Elite QB that can win with no talent. At least not consistently.
So go out and sign another top WR, another top TE, we gotta have more than just Lamb out there.

Dak is definitely our QB next year and he desperately needs a different coach. He has regressed the last 2 years. He used to have a historically low INT percentage and set a record for most passes without an INT. Now he just throws the ball to defenders. Even counting bad routes, no separation and tipped balls, he is just making bad decisions every game. And this after being in the same offensive scheme his entire career.

ramblin_ag02 said:

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Dak is definitely our QB next year and he desperately needs a different coach. He has regressed the last 2 years. He used to have a historically low INT percentage and set a record for most passes without an INT. Now he just throws the ball to defenders. Even counting bad routes, no separation and tipped balls, he is just making bad decisions every game. And this after being in the same offensive scheme his entire career.

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I think everyone knows that he is our QB for certain next year and likely in 2024 as well, unless he is still turning the ball at an insane rate. The offense absolutely needs a new OC, as well. As you pointed out, I think Dak has regressed somewhat significantly over the past two years. I personally believe there is no way you can resign him right now, unless he has a year with numbers like 35/8 and we make a conference championship with him playing his best. This is why I and probably a lot of people on this board believe that we need to start taking QBs in the draft. Whether you think we need to take one in the first or in the fourth, we need to start drafting them and developing them so if and when we don't resign Dak, we MIGHT have a good contingency plan.

#Cowboys announce six assistant coaches on expiring contracts will not return to Mike McCarthy’s staff. pic.twitter.com/grmrGAiG0b

— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) January 26, 2023

some pretty major shake ups.

So looks to be McCarty's put up or shut up year next year. That many changes...

I wouldn't be surprised if McCarthy was apart of sending some of these guys packing. He is the head coach after all.

Just saw where D. Hopkins is due $19m in 23 and $15m in 24. That's just in time for you to have to give CD a big contract. I would love to take your chance with these two the next two seasons.