Cowboys Gab

Looks like Jerry Jones and the Cowboys are taking a look at a couple free agents:

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he’s open to doing some things in free agency but is willing to be patient. Jones said the Cowboys are looking at one or possibly two players. However, the team doesn’t necessarily have to bring a player in to Valley Ranch for a visit. “I wouldn’t want to predict, but I would say no,” Jones said when asked if the team could bring some players in the near future. “I would say no, but I want to leave it open so that if a couple of things did happen, we might do something.”

As promised here is the top 10 plays from this past season for the Dallas Cowboys.  The response was good from you all, although only one posted in the instructed section.  Here we go:

10.  Jenkins’ Interception vs. Panthers

Way back in week 3 versus the Panthers the Cowboys were unsettled at the right corner-back position.  Mike Jenkins covered Panthers WR Mushin Mohammed on a deep fly route.  He leaped over the Panthers receiver and intercepted the ball.  His first of 5 on the season and it led to him being the starter for the rest of the year.

9. Romo’s TD Pass To Crayton vs. Redskins

After playing poorly for almost 4 full quarters, QB Tony Romo made a great play spinning away from Redskin’s DE Andre Carter and finding a very tight space to complete a completion to Patrick Crayton which lifted the Cowboys to a 7-6 victory and avoided back-to-back losses, not to mention a loss to the Redskins.

8. Anthony Spencer’s 1st Sack vs. Raiders

You might wonder why this is at number eight, I will enlighten you.  Up until this point LB Anthony Spencer had been one split second away from making big plays.  On this play, it wasn’t a big sack or a strip causing a turnover, but it was the floodgate opening sack for Spencer.  This sack ignited a string of 8 sacks in 8 games and helped fortify the other side of the defence opposite DeMarcus Ware.

7. Autin’s 3rd Down Reception vs. Saints

Being the only bump on the Saints march to perfection, the Cowboys took the challenge.  They put in their best performance of the season when the Saints started to mount a comeback.  The Cowboys were facing a 3rd and 7 from their own 23 yard-line trying to respond to the Saints who had just scored to get within 7 at 24-17.  The Cowboys were looking for the final nail in the coffin.  New Orleans had all the momentum heading into this drive and a 3-and-out would have given them lots of time and a short field.  Instead Romo hit Austin for a 32 yard gain that led to New Orleans using all their timeouts and a dramatic swing in field position.  K Nick Folk would miss the game clinching field goal, but the Cowboys would hang on.

6. Felix Goes 73 Yards vs. Eagles

With the Cowboys up by 20 midway through the third quarter, they had a first down at their 27 yard line.  RB Felix Jones took the handoff and followed big G Leonard Davis.  He burst through the hole and sped 73 yards for a touchdown.  Thus, emphatically telling the Eagles, last year’s loss has been avenged.  The Cowboys would go onto rout the Eagles 34-14.  Big win.  Cool play.

5. Romo’s Interception vs. Giants

When this one was handed in, I was like “Why would this be in here?” But upon further reflection this is the play that turned Tony around for the rest of the year.  The Cowboys were trailing late in the third quarter and were moving the ball.  They had a first down at the Giants 46 when Romo went deep to WR Sam Hurd.  He never saw Giants S Kenny Phillips who picked it off and stole momentum back for the Giants who went on to win 33-31.  After the game Romo was very upset at himself for this throw and it led to him being more careful with the football the rest of the season.

4. 4th and 1 Stuff By Defence vs. Eagles (wk. 9)

With the score tied at 13.  The Eagles were moving the ball looking to go ahead.  McNabb and the Eagles faced a 4th and 1 from the Cowboys 45.  McNabb tried a QB sneak but ran into Marcus Spears.  The officials marked McNabb short of the first down.  Philly would challenge but not get it overturned.  That led to our next play.

3. Austin Breaks Silence vs. Eagles (wk. 9)

With the Eagles having shut Austin out all game until just over 8 minutes to go in the fourth quarter, they couldn’t contain him any longer.  The Cowboys had just stuffed a fourth and 1 by the Eagles and Romo dropped back and lobbed a ball deep down the left sideline to Austin.  Austin caught the ball between two Eagles and made a cut diagonally across the field to the end-zone.  He scored and the Cowboys got the bad taste out of their mouths that the Eagles left in season finale the year before.  The Cowboys won 20-16.

2. Interception Over Turned vs. Eagles (Wild-card)

After the Eagles had tied the score at 7, Romo and the Cowboys were hoping to answer back.  From his onw 15 yard-line Romo dropped back to pass.  He looked deep over the middle for Miles Austin but was picked off by Eagles S Sean Jones.  The Eagles would have had the ball in scoring position, but instead the Cowboys challenged the interception and it was overturned.  The Cowboys would go on to score 20 more points that quarter and take a commanding 27-7 lead into halftime.  A lead they would never relinquish en route to their first playoff win since 1996.

1. “Miles and Miles To Go” vs. Chiefs

The Cowboys were reeling heading into their game versus Kansas City.  The Cowboys were in a dogfight with the Chiefs and were not wanting to go into the bye week riding a loss and a 2-3 record.  With the score tied at 13 late in the game Romo hit Austin on a simple “out route”.  Austin broke a tackle and went 59 yards for a touchdown.  The Cowboys defence failed to hold the Chiefs who tied the game up and sent it to overtime.  On the Cowboys second possession of the overtime quarter, Romo and company faced a 2nd and 15 from their 40-yardline.  Romo hit Austin on what looked like the same play as his previous touchdown.  Austin raced 60 yards for the game-clinching touchdown and announced on his first game as a starter that he was for real catching 10 passes for a record 250 yards and 2 TDs!  The Cowboys went to 3-2 and enjoyed their bye-week spurring them on to a rather successful season.

There you have it.  What do you think?

In Indianapolis, Jerry Jones had said Cowboys would be active early in free agency if they had the chance to help themselves, it’s now been almost a week into free agency and the Cowboys have done…nothing.

Through the Cowboys recent history they haven’t been very active at the beginning of free agency, but when they have, the deals have rarely involved top-tier players. The Cowboys have typically had a wait-and-see approach to market frenzy.  If a good deal comes along they pounce.

“That’s how we got La’Roi Glover,” Jones said of the 2002  acquisition. “It wasn’t an attempt from months or weeks back to try to orchestrate that to get him. It had to be there for you.”

While the Cowboys have been very quiet some teams have already set records for free agency acquistions.

“You’re kind of paying a price to push your agenda early. If you let it come to you, you have the best chance of value for the Cowboys.”

As Jones has a wait-and-see approach it is clear the  Cowboys’ company in the NFC East do not. The Giants signed safety Antrel Rolle to a five-year $39 million contract, the most money ever for a safety. Philadelphia re-signed Leonard Weaver to the richest contract for a fullback in league history. Even the quieter-than-usual Redskins have signed Artis Hicks as a replacement to retiring offensive tackle Chris Samuels.

“I watch keenly what they do,” Jones said of the Cowboys’ division opponents. “I don’t get into what they’re going to do or how they do it, but when they add and improve their roster that gets my attention. Because we’ve got to win at least one or two games against those guys, so we keep a close eye on it. But as far as feeling like we’re jumping behind those guys, no, I don’t feel that way, and I got ready for that before we started.

So are the Cowboys missing out or should we expect to see some moves coming here soon?  According to Jerry, “I don’t want to rush into anything.  I’m going to wait and see what comes to us.”

The Dallas Cowboys had some loose ends to tie up heading into free agency.  The had some restricted free agents that they needed to get coraled into a deal.  The most notable is WR Miles Austin.  Austin came out of nowhere this season to seize the number one receiving spot on the Cowboys roster.  Austin finished the season with 81 catches for 1,320 yards with 11 touchdowns.  Easily leading the Cowboys but finishing 3rd in the NFL is yards.  Jones has said all along that he wants to sign Austin long term but as of yet that has not happened.  Instead the Cowboys handed out restricted tenders to the RFA’s.

Miles Austin received the largest tender at $3.168 million for 2010. Other teams may still offer Austin a contract, but the Cowboys would have one week to match it, and would receive 2010 first- and third-round picks from his new team if they failed to do so.  It is unlikely that a team will make an attempt at the Cowboys receiver.  What is even more unlikely is the Cowboys refusing to match any offer.  Right now, it is a wait and see game.

Other players offered tenders:

DE Marcus Spears (original draft choice tender, $1.226 million)
S Gerald Sensabaugh (second-round tender, $1.809 million)
DE Stephen Bowen (second-round tender, $1.759 million)
DE Jason Hatcher (second-round tender, $1.759 million)
WR Sam Hurd (second-round tender, $1.759 million)
OL Cory Procter (second-round tender, $1.759 million)
OL Pat McQuistan (original draft choice tender, $1.176 million)
DT Junior Siavii (original draft choice tender, $1.176 million)
S Pat Watkins (original draft choice tender, $1.176 million)
C Duke Preston (original draft choice tender, $1.226 million)
CB Cletis Gordon (signed one-year contract extension)

With team owners and the NFL Players Association failing to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement by Thursday afternoon’s deadline, the final year of the current agreement was reached, removing the salary cap for 2010.

In the uncapped season, a player must have six years of NFL service to become eligible for unrestricted free agency. Tendered five-year veterans like defensive end Marcus Spears, safety Gerald Sensabaugh and center Duke Preston would have been unrestricted free agents in previous years, with their original Cowboys contracts expiring.

Now with the Cowboys taking care of their own business we get to sit back and see what happens here in the next few weeks as Free Agency begins today.

David Moore of The Dallas Morning News says that Cowboys owner Jerry Jones won’t dump offensive coordinator Jason Garrett and believes Garrett is still the head coach-in-waiting. “Jones likes what Garrett brings to the table,” Moore said. “I still think the odds are in his favor that he will be the Cowboys coach once Wade Phillips’ tenure is over.”

Over the next week Cowboys Gab would like to put together a list of the Top 10 plays from this past year’s season.  Maybe you think the turning point was Miles Austin’s catch in overtime against the Chiefs, or Felix Jones’ run against the Raiders on Thanksgiving.  Whatever you think was the best play of the season, write it in the comments below and Cowboys Gab is going to put together a Top 10 list of the best plays from 09/10 season.  Will yours be number 1?

The Cowboys have filled a spot on their coaching staff vacated by the departure of Dat Nguyen. The team has hired Bobby King, who will take over and handle the defensive quality control, a position Nguyen manned for three years.

King has coached the defensive line for Division II West Texas A&M the past two seasons and coached the same position at Baylor in 2006-07.

Nguyen decided not to sign a contract extension with the Cowboys in an effort to coach a position. He went back to Texas A&M where he is the new linebackers coach.

Nick Eatman, True Blue Fan Club

Matt Mosley of ESPN talks today about the Cowboys offseason needs, and how it relates to the 2010 NFL Draft:

I had a chance to visit with owner Jerry Jones on ESPN 103.3 in Dallas-Fort Worth on Tuesday and he made it pretty clear that he’s not feeling pressure to fill any certain positions. In some ways, the Cowboys will be rolling out two draft classes in 2010. The ‘09 class was taken out by a wide variety of injuries, so Jones is anxious to see how some of those players respond. Jones didn’t confirm this, but I’ve been told that the scouting department is taking a long look at the safety position with the No. 27 pick overall. The organization is disappointed in the play of Ken Hamlin and it’s time to start looking for his eventual replacement. Alan Ball has looked good at times, but I’m not sure he’s ready for full-time duty. The Cowboys also would like to add depth along the offensive line. Doug Free emerged as a solid contributor in ‘09, but the team needs to continue drafting and developing young linemen. I’m not sure where the Cowboys will find a place-kicker, but it’s certainly a major need. In fact, it’s probably their biggest need heading into the 2010 season.

Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk is reporting that the Cowboys will NOT franchise wide out Miles Austin:

On Tuesday, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that receiver Miles Austin won’t be leaving Dallas.

On Wednesday, Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones told Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that the franchise tag won’t be applied to Austin to ensure that he stays put.

“We don’t need to use the franchise tag,” Stephen Jones said. “How many times have [you] seen another team give up a one and a three?” (As a reader points out, didn’t the Cowboys give up a one and a three and a five for Roy Williams?)

But Stephen Jones is overlooking the point we made earlier today, echoing Howard Balzer’s assessment of the NFL calendar leading up to the uncapped year. If the Cowboys don’t apply the franchise tag to Austin by February 25 and if a new CBA is finalized before March 5 and if the new CBA sets the minimum years of service for unrestricted free agency from six years back to four, Austin will hit the open market.

Besides, even though the highest RFA tender will cost the Cowboys more than $6 million less than the franchise tag, it can’t be assumed that a receiver-needy team picking at the bottom of round one (e.g., the Ravens) wouldn’t decide to devote that low first-round pick and a low third-round pick on a guy who has shown that he can be a dominant receiver.

NFP.com reports that the Cowboys do have options in regards to the future of wide out Miles Austin:

Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin caught 81 passes for 1,320 yards with 11 touchdowns in only nine starts last season. What’s refreshing is that Austin isn’t complaining about his contract situation. “No, not worried at all,” Austin told Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com after the Slam Dunk contest in Dallas on Saturday night. “I have all the confidence in the world in the organization and I’m sure everything will be worked out right.” The Cowboys have a few options this offseason for how they can approach Austin’s future with the team, the wideout is set to become a restricted free agent, meaning the Dallas brass can: Apply the franchise tag (which will cost roughly $9.5 million for 2010), work out a long-term deal or place a first and third round tender onAustin (which will land him $3.168 million in 2010).