Photo Courtesy: Darryl Briggs
By Zach Walker
The Cowboys temperature this offseason, has been cool. Like an ice sculpture of Samuel Jackson, that cool. While teams are tossing grenades trying to make big splashes, the Cowboys are moving at their own pace, and don’t seem to want to shift into a different gear.
The Cowboys task number one was making sure that Dez Bryant has a star on his helmet for at least next season, and while the Cowboys want to have him around for well beyond the year 2020, no such deal has hit the track. But, the Cowboys threw the Franchise Tag on him, so that he’ll be staying in the metroplex for now.
Task two: trying to get DeMarco to sign for a team-friendly deal. Personally, I thought that trying to get Murray to take less money to be a “team-player” was bull. Running backs get one contract, with their line of work, and the battering that they receive, their game by their very nature is team friendly. I can’t blame Murray for taking the money, wherever it could come from. But, I can now despise him for going to the Philadelphia Eagles. I hate when business is done between division opponents, whether that’s trades, or sifting through each others litter boxes trying to steal some magic from a chief rival. I always thought Murray was worth right around six million dollars per season, and apparently I wasn’t alone on that number, with the Cowboys and Oakland Raiders reportedly floating that number Murray’s way, and he turned them down. 42 million, with 20 million or there about as guaranteed, congrats to Murray, but again the Eagles are being run by an insane person.
I’ll just break off from the Cowboys offseason to talk about “OU Northeast” also known as the Philadelphia Ducks/Sooners/Eagles. Seriously, ten days ago, the Eagles had LeSean McCoy in the backfield, Nick Foles at quarterback, and Jeremy Maclin at wide receiver. Then McCoy gets traded to Buffalo for former Oregon Duck Kiko Alonso, a stud linebacker who missed all of his sophomore season with an ACL injury. Then, they trade away Nick Foles and a second round pick for Sam Bradford. Let’s all let that one sink in. Sam Bradford. THE Sam Bradford. Big, scary, “how-do-we-stop-him” Sam Bradford! Oh, wait, that’s roll my eyes sarcasm, because it’s just Sam Bradford, the oft-injured, panache-less Sam Bradford. They didn’t keep Maclin, he joined Andy Reid in Kansas City. Now they have Ryan Mathews and DeMarco Murray. So now, the Eagles entire offense, whoever lines up behind, are a couple hits away from a trainer’s table. They’re by-far-and-away the frailest backfield in the NFL.
Back to the Cowboys, and the one question to be answered is, should we fear Philly. And the answer is… No. I’m pretty sure we can all remember the “Dream Team” of 2011, when they threw money into a fan and landing Nnamdi Asomugha, Cullen Jenkins, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie, Ronnie Brown, and Vince Young to go along with Michael Vick. That was a deep-fried diarrhea diaper. Bradford doesn’t inspire fear, it should for Philly fans, and this all seems like ramblings of a madman, and there’s no way that I’ll believe this will work.
The Cowboys have holes to fill, with Bruce Carter leaving for Tampa Bay, Jeremy Parnell getting massive money from Jacksonville, and the apparent lack of waiting to bring in anyone other than a fullback, it looks like the Cowboys are honed in on late-April and the Chicago NFL Draft, and I love it. Retaining Doug Free was a sweet move, especially since he took a sweet three year deal that was very team friendly, so that allows time to develop another tackle, like Donald Hawkins, who is on the roster, or snagging a late round tackle, but putting the eggs into the draft is right move. Finding Murray’s replacement is in the draft or by default going with recently signed Darren McFadden (2 years -worth up to $5.85 million and includes a $200,000 bonus). Improving the defense, that’s done through the draft.
All of the Cowboys five senses are pointed at the draft, and that’s a win for them and all of #CowboysNation. There are plenty of running backs that are worth a day two draft choice that can supplement losing DeMarco. When I heard the news that he left for Philly, I changed the radio station and heard a perfectly appropriate line, “every new beginning, comes from some other beginnings end.” The Cowboys offensive line hasn’t changed, the quarterback is still here, the receivers are the same, so plug and play, and let’s get back to work in the East. And hats off to Washington, signing two very good defensive tackles to smart contracts. The same can’t be said of the Giants, who have been spending, seemingly just to spend. Until someone else steps it up in the draft, the Dallas Cowboys should be the favorite in the East.
