2018 Cowboys Free Agency Thread

Simpleton

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What about Eric Reid?
Meh, I assume he'll want too much money.

There are plenty of safeties I'd be interested in but I assume guys like him, Vaccaro, Boston, Joyner and so forth will be looking for at least about 7-8 a year, which isn't worth it considering what we already have at safety and what the rest of our roster looks like.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Meh, I assume he'll want too much money.

There are plenty of safeties I'd be interested in but I assume guys like him, Vaccaro, Boston, Joyner and so forth will be looking for at least about 7-8 a year, which isn't worth it considering what we already have at safety and what the rest of our roster looks like.
I don't know, I remember some solid safeties signing last off season on reasonable deals. But honestly I'm ok waiting on the draft. With Xavier Woods looking good we have the ability to be patient at safety. Even though I'd take a stud in the first in a heart beat. And if I can get a safety cheap in free agency I would do it.
 

Genghis Khan

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That's only part of the problem. As I pointed out in one of my earlier posts above, even when Dez was paired with Tony Romo he didn't pull in a particularly high percent of passes thrown his way. By contrast our other two top receivers, Terrance Williams and Jason Witten, are pulling in 70% of the passes thrown their way with Dak as the starting QB. Right on par with the numbers they had with Romo.

So getting better play at QB won't fix our Dez problem.

That's pretty common for WR1s I think.
 

Simpleton

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I don't know, I remember some solid safeties signing last off season on reasonable deals. But honestly I'm ok waiting on the draft. With Xavier Woods looking good we have the ability to be patient at safety. Even though I'd take a stud in the first in a heart beat. And if I can get a safety cheap in free agency I would do it.
I really wanted Swearinger last year and he only got about 3/10 I believe, if we can get Vaccaro, Boston, Reid, etc. for something like that I'd do it in a second.
 

Genghis Khan

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So, you're saying we are an elite QB away from making Garrett a good coach?
Nah, of course not.

But if you took 2014 Romo and put him on the 2018 Cowboys, or heck current Brees, Ryan, Roethlisberger, etc., you'd get a reasonable approximation of prime Dez back.

The offense as a whole would look better, etc.
 

Genghis Khan

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Even with Romo at QB it seemed like the bulk of Dez's catches came from him having to outjump or outmuscle the DB for a tough catch. You don't see him create separation that often.

Overall I'd say it's a 3-part problem, IMO.

1. What I think is happening is Dez has lost some athleticism due to age and injury so he's not winning as many of those jump balls anymore. He lacks the speed and route running ability to beat coverages with underneath routes

2. Dak doesn't have the passing skills to consistently place the ball in the ideal spot for Dez.

3. The coaching staff is incapable of creating mismatches to place their receivers in the best position to succeed.
I don't disagree with most of this (although I think point number 1 remains to be seen - Dez hasn't put up prime numbers since 2014 when he was I think 26. Age doesn't catch up to you at 26.).

I look at Dez a lot like TO. Certainly has flaws and kind of does what he wants, but what he does well he does SO well that he's very tough to stop.
 

Cotton

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You're gonna have to point out where he's saying that. I'm not seeing it.
"Everything will take of itself" to me implies winning something of significance, but maybe I read it wrong.
 

Cotton

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Nah, of course not.

But if you took 2014 Romo and put him on the 2018 Cowboys, or heck current Brees, Ryan, Roethlisberger, etc., you'd get a reasonable approximation of prime Dez back.

The offense as a whole would look better, etc.
Gotcha. My bad, I did read it wrong.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Nah, of course not.

But if you took 2014 Romo and put him on the 2018 Cowboys, or heck current Brees, Ryan, Roethlisberger, etc., you'd get a reasonable approximation of prime Dez back.

The offense as a whole would look better, etc.
So you think Dez is the same WR as he was in his prime? That's insanity

If you don't think 2 straight years of injuries have taken their toll then I think you're being silly.
 

ravidubey

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Dez is better than his production the last three years. Is he Dez Prime, of course no. But he’s damned good.

The only question is will he take less money, maybe go to a more incentive-based deal?
 

Cowboysrock55

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Dez is better than his production the last three years. Is he Dez Prime, of course no. But he’s damned good.

The only question is will he take less money, maybe go to a more incentive-based deal?
I could see Dez going to another team and totally falling off the face of the earth. I'd put money down that if we cut him and he signed somewhere else that he doesn't post 1000 yards next year.

If you want to see another receiver who has taken a similar career trajectory look at Alshon Jeffery. And no, going from playing with a shit QB to playing with one of the best in the NFL hasn't suddenly made him elite again. And shit, Jeffrey is only 27 and hasn't gotten the monster contract that causes some players to get fat and lazy.

Do I think Dez could have put up better numbers playing with Aaron Rodgers or Tom Brady? Probably. But it's also possible that those QBs would have found him too unreliable and simply thrown less balls in Dez's direction. Dez simply does not beat good NFL corners anymore. And when he was 26 and in his prime he did beat upper level corners. So I'm not buying this idea that QBs are just holding him back. Dez is what he is, he is a redzone threat who just isn't that good between the 20's.
 

fortsbest

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I think Dez's numbers were flawed. I know they put a low percentage on his catches vs thrown to, but as many as he dropped last year, there were just as many if not more thrown his way that were uncatchable. Whatever Dak was doing the year before, he wasn't doing this year. And it wasn't just to Dez.
 

ravidubey

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I think Dez's numbers were flawed. I know they put a low percentage on his catches vs thrown to, but as many as he dropped last year, there were just as many if not more thrown his way that were uncatchable. Whatever Dak was doing the year before, he wasn't doing this year. And it wasn't just to Dez.
Dez must lead the league in targets that are technically deemed catchable but you’d have to have been bitten by a radioactive spider to actually catch them.
 

deadrise

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I still believe Dez's strength never was straight-out speed -- 4.52 40 in the combine. So tack on seven years and factor in the effects of age and nagging injuries, and figure by now he could be somewhere north of 4.6. That doesn't scare too many people as a deep threat. Teams used to double him as a common practice. Now they don't so much anymore.

His strengths were always how physical he is (was?): leaping ability, tenacity in going after the ball, muscling through press coverage, etc. He was also dangerous with YAC. But all those yards-after-catch may have taken a toll. He never went down easy.

Jerry lets sentiment and favorite-son thinking cloud his judgment get in the way of hard business decisions when it come to players like Dez -- and Witten, for that matter.

Dump those two guys overboard and use the money to keep Hitchens, Lawrence and Irving, et al.
 

1bigfan13

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I think Dez's numbers were flawed. I know they put a low percentage on his catches vs thrown to, but as many as he dropped last year, there were just as many if not more thrown his way that were uncatchable. Whatever Dak was doing the year before, he wasn't doing this year. And it wasn't just to Dez.
I think it's fair to say that neither one of them performed as well as they did the year before. But even with Dak's inconsistency this past season, Dez only caught 52% of the passes thrown to him in 2016 which is the exact same number as he posted in 2017. So it's not like Dak's poor play is the only reason that we're seeing this watered down version of Dez.

As I mentioned, I believe the bigger issue is they insist on primarily using him on those high risk, high reward pass plays. Those go-routes and jump ball routes are typically 50/50 at best. Certainly not what you'd consider an efficient passing play. So I acknowledge that the coaching staff isn't doing him any favors in that regard.

That being said, Dez has to get a lot better at getting open on the underneath routes. Far too often he's blanketed by some scrub CB on intermediate routes. Even the passes thrown to him on underneath routes seem to be 50/50 because he's having to fight and compete with CBs for simple 10 yard passes. All because he struggles to create separation. Whereas on the other side Terrance Williams somehow manages to catch over 70% of the passes thrown his way.

Please don't take this as me wanting Dez gone. I'm not to that point yet. I've said a few times that I believe if Dez were placed on another team with more creative coaches we'd see a better version of Dez. Which is why bringing in coaches with fresh ideas is so important. Unfortunately it feels like they are committed to this marriage of Garrett and his offense.
 

1bigfan13

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I still believe Dez's strength never was straight-out speed -- 4.52 40 in the combine. So tack on seven years and factor in the effects of age and nagging injuries, and figure by now he could be somewhere north of 4.6. That doesn't scare too many people as a deep threat. Teams used to double him as a common practice. Now they don't so much anymore.

His strengths were always how physical he is (was?): leaping ability, tenacity in going after the ball, muscling through press coverage, etc. He was also dangerous with YAC. But all those yards-after-catch may have taken a toll. He never went down easy.

Jerry lets sentiment and favorite-son thinking cloud his judgment get in the way of hard business decisions when it come to players like Dez -- and Witten, for that matter.

Dump those two guys overboard and use the money to keep Hitchens, Lawrence and Irving, et al.
I wouldn't dump him. He just needs to get better at understanding route concepts and coverages. There are plenty of older, slower WRs in the NFL who are performing well mainly because they work at mastering the skills of their trade. Larry Fitzgerald for instance. He's in his mid-thirties and still putting up Pro Bowl numbers.

How?

Because he does his homework on his opponents and tirelessly works on the minute details of the WR position.

Dez has always struck me as the guy who does "just enough". Obviously I don't know this for a fact, but I've always thought of him as one of those players who skates by on athleticism and who glosses over the intricate details of the WR position.
 
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