Gosselin: 'Rebuild' is not a word in Jerry Jones' vocabulary

boozeman

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Gosselin: 'Rebuild' is not a word in Jerry Jones' vocabulary
SportsDayDFW.com
Published: 06 January 2014 08:01 PM

SportsDay columnist Rick Gosselin hosted a live chat Monday morning. Here are some of the highlights:

Q: Prior to the 2012 season I was under the opinion that we needed to rebuild this roster. If I were the Cowboys GM, I would have dangled Tony Romo, DeMarcus Ware, and Anthony Spencer for trading. I believe Romo would have brought a one and three, Ware a one or a two and Spencer a two or three. This would have given the Cowboys cap flexibility moving fwd in 2014 & ammunition in the draft to rebuild the offensive & defensive lines. Thoughts?
Gosselin: Jerry likes to hold onto players who perform well for him. Romo and Ware are among his favorites. That's why they received lavish contracts at advancing ages. What you project would have constituted a rebuilding season. "Rebuild" is not a word in Jerry's vocabulary. 90,000 show up for home games expecting the Cowboys to compete for division titles and playoff spots. Jones can't afford to go back to the Dave Campo era where the team was bad with no signs of snapping out of it. Jerry is willing to play an older team if he can keep it competitive. Rebuilding on the fly is a foreign concept to him.

Q: It seems to me that we can ask all sorts of questions but nothing will ever change until Jerry hires a GM or steps down...right?
Gosselin: That's correct. It all starts at the top. Jerry is talking for the second consecutive offseason of making it very uncomfortable for everyone at Valley Ranch. How come the GM is never uncomfortable? He's been responsible for putting this team together. All the coaches can do are coach the players they are given. I've said for decades the most important person in an NFL building in the salary-cap era is the guy who finds the players. Cowboys fans, you're guy is Jerry Jones.

Q: Do you see any reason, other than plain dumb luck, to think the Cowboys with JJ as GM will ever be serious contenders for a Super Bowl win?
Gosselin: You can get lucky. Arizona went to a Super Bowl. The Patriots found Tom Brady in the sixth round. Anything can happen in the NFL. But you create your own luck with hard work and preparation. The preparation leaves a lot to be desired at Valley Ranch -- preparation for drafts, games and seasons.

Q: Why does Jerry continue to hold this team back with the lack of GM and coaching leadership? I would think he would want to win with all the money he has over invested in players.
Gosselin: Ego ran Jimmy Johnson out the door in 1993 and it keeps Jerry Jones in that general manager chair 20 years later. He'd rather do things his way than the right way.

Q: Should the Dallas Cowboys trade for Johnny Manziel?
Gosselin: The Cowboys don't have enough to offer. When it's all said and done, I believe you'll have to get into the Top 5 to guarantee yourself a shot at Manziel. The Cowboys sit at 16, possibly 17 if they lose the coin flip with the Ravens. Teams offering to trade down, want draft picks. Lots of them. Lots of high ones. The two teams with multi-first round picks in this draft are St. Louis and Cleveland -- and the Rams are already in the Top 5. So don't bother speculating veteran players -- Miles Austin, Barry Church, Orlando Scandrick, Doug Free and some of the other names I've heard from readers this season. It will cost the Cowboys a pair of ones, a two, a three and maybe more to get up for a chance to get Manziel. That's giving up a lot for a guy who figures to be sitting on the bench for at least two years as (Tony) Romo gets into his new contract. I like the idea -- the Cowboys just lack the ammo to get there.

Q: Let's say Jerry gets that itch and trades up to top 10 to draft Johnny Football...what do you do with Romo? Try and trade him, cut him and take the cap hit, or let Manziel ride the pine while Cowboys finish 7-9 and miss the playoffs again?
Gosselin: Forget about Manziel. Because of the financial commitment to Romo going forward, the Cowboys can't afford to pay a player first or second round money who doesn't even figure to get on the field for at least two seasons. If the Cowboys go quarterback, my guess is they'll start looking in the fourth round at the earliest.

Q: What bright spots do you see for the Cowboys as they look to 2014?
Gosselin: The chance to run the ball with DeMarco Murray. The guy averaged 5.2 yards per carry this season -- that's Jim Brown-Barry Sanders-esque. If I had a guy who averaged 5.0 yards a carry, I'd make sure he got the ball 25-30 times per game. What a weapon! The Cowboys, however, would rather throw the ball and use Murray as the fake portion of a play-action pass. If this team commits to running the ball in 2014, you'll see a more competitive football team. But, again, don't hold your breath.

Q: No doubt Miles Austin is gone, but how would you deal with DeMarcus Ware and Jason Hatcher at this point?
Gosselin: The cardinal sin of the salary cap era is don't pay age. Hatcher will be 32 next season. You can't give him the money he wants and the length of contract he wants at that age. That's how the Cowboys got into this mess -- giving big money to aging players. The Cowboys are still regretting the contract they gave Jay Ratliff. Hopefully, Hopefully the Ratliff deal taught them a lesson. So he's gone and Austin is gone. But Ware will be here. Removing him from the roster would constitute a cap hit in excess of $15 million -- and the Cowboys are already $30 million over the cap for 2014.

Q: The Cowboys are mediocre and have massive cap problems; The Giants are getting old; The Redskins are a mess; and it isn't clear if the Eagles are for real. How do you see the balance of power in the NFC East shifting in the next year or two?
Gosselin: Eagles. Chip Kelly came in having to learn a new game (the jump from NFL to college) and he implemented a new offensive system. This offense will be better in the second year of the system and the Eagles will be getting their most reliable receiver back -- Jeremy Maclin, who missed the 2013 season with a knee injury. The Eagles will spend draft picks to fix the defense. Nick Foles will be more comfortable in his second year in the system. The Eagles won it in a season they shouldn't have won it in 2013 and they'll be the favorites in 2014.

Q: Why does Jason Garrett have such a mental block about a true "balanced" attack? He's got a good RB, an improved OL, and the ability to mix things up on offense. Why can't he see that would benefit the entire team?
Gosselin: The most powerful person in the building at Valley Ranch is QB Tony Romo -- and he wants to throw the ball. He has $108 million security blanket, so everyone has to keep Romo happy. That's why all the passes. When runs are sent in, Romo has been known to switch to a pass. You saw how well the offense worked in the finale with Kyle Orton -- no sacks, no penalties (except one on an officiating mistake) and a more balanced attack. That's because Orton ran the play that was sent in and operated the offense the way it was designed to be run. But too often Romo has other ideas how the offense should be run.

Q: I like the DL suggestions. But are we saying we are set at OL assuming Brian Waters returns?
Gosselin: Brian Waters will be 37 next season. This team needs to continue to get younger, not older. Romo, Witten, Waters would all be over 30. To fix the Cowboys you must fix the offensive and defensive lines. That's what wins in today's NFL, especially in a cold-weather division like the NFC East. I'd use all seven draft picks on linemen if it were up to me. The defensive line is a priority because of the impending departures of Hatcher and Spencer, but the offensive line still needs plenty of work. Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick are a start. I'd like to add two more potential starters from this draft. You can find blockers in the third and fourth rounds that can start as rookies. Green Bay's starting left tackle was a rookie fourth round draft pick.
 

Rev

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I wish "I want to sell" was.
 

jsmith6919

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Lol really Gosselin?The last game was balanced??Cmon guys it's all Tony's fault, I swear ginger wants to run more...

Who believes this shit
 

GShock

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Q: Why does Jason Garrett have such a mental block about a true "balanced" attack? He's got a good RB, an improved OL, and the ability to mix things up on offense. Why can't he see that would benefit the entire team?
Gosselin: The most powerful person in the building at Valley Ranch is QB Tony Romo -- and he wants to throw the ball. He has $108 million security blanket, so everyone has to keep Romo happy. That's why all the passes. When runs are sent in, Romo has been known to switch to a pass. You saw how well the offense worked in the finale with Kyle Orton -- no sacks, no penalties (except one on an officiating mistake) and a more balanced attack. That's because Orton ran the play that was sent in and operated the offense the way it was designed to be run. But too often Romo has other ideas how the offense should be run.
Nah, it's not all on Romo. If Garrett wanted more runs, we would get more runs. Take away Romo's ability to audible to pass plays, call plays that have only run options. I have no doubt that Tony wants to throw every down, but if Garrett was committed to balance, much less the running game in general, there's no question that he could force the issue.

He chooses not to.
 

Texas Ace

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Nah, it's not all on Romo. If Garrett wanted more runs, we would get more runs. Take away Romo's ability to audible to pass plays, call plays that have only run options. I have no doubt that Tony wants to throw every down, but if Garrett was committed to balance, much less the running game in general, there's no question that he could force the issue.

He chooses not to.
Agreed 100%.

Romo audibles out of runs, but the HC could force him to stick with it if he truly wanted to. But since Garrett is a pass happy bitch, he doesn't care that Romo checks out of so many run plays.
 

Smitty

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Q: Why does Jason Garrett have such a mental block about a true "balanced" attack? He's got a good RB, an improved OL, and the ability to mix things up on offense. Why can't he see that would benefit the entire team?
Gosselin: The most powerful person in the building at Valley Ranch is QB Tony Romo -- and he wants to throw the ball. He has $108 million security blanket, so everyone has to keep Romo happy. That's why all the passes. When runs are sent in, Romo has been known to switch to a pass. You saw how well the offense worked in the finale with Kyle Orton -- no sacks, no penalties (except one on an officiating mistake) and a more balanced attack. That's because Orton ran the play that was sent in and operated the offense the way it was designed to be run. But too often Romo has other ideas how the offense should be run.
Well, Romo needs to have this power stripped then.
 

1bigfan13

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I definitely think there is truth to that but we still ran the ball 17 times compared to 40 some passes against the Eagles.
Yep and in a closely contested game no less. There was no need for Orton to drop back and attempt over 45 passes.

Romo audibles out of runs too often but week 17 was further proof that Garrett is the bigger problem.
 

Texas Ace

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It's funny to me when people start blaming Callahan for the run/pass ratio as if he's doing all this on his own.

This has been a problem ever since Garrett joined this team, so it's not like it started with Callahan.

Callahan sucks and needs to be replaced, but the same crap is going to continue if Garrett's offense and his influence on said offense remains.
 

BipolarFuk

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Agreed 100%.

Romo audibles out of runs, but the HC could force him to stick with it if he truly wanted to. But since Garrett is a pass happy bitch, he doesn't care that Romo checks out of so many run plays.
I'm betting the GM makes the HC give Romo the power that he has.
 

L.T. Fan

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I'm betting the GM makes the HC give Romo the power that he has.
My guess is that Romo lobbied for more play calling power when he negotiated his contract and was given the authority to do so at that time. The media blitz began about the Garrett/Callahan play calling started about that time also. It appears that Garrett backed off for a while but when the squeeze Garrett rumors began about being out if the team missed the playoffs started he interjected himself back into the process.
 

Texas Ace

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Q: Should the Dallas Cowboys trade for Johnny Manziel?
Gosselin: The Cowboys don't have enough to offer. When it's all said and done, I believe you'll have to get into the Top 5 to guarantee yourself a shot at Manziel. The Cowboys sit at 16, possibly 17 if they lose the coin flip with the Ravens. Teams offering to trade down, want draft picks. Lots of them. Lots of high ones. The two teams with multi-first round picks in this draft are St. Louis and Cleveland -- and the Rams are already in the Top 5. So don't bother speculating veteran players -- Miles Austin, Barry Church, Orlando Scandrick, Doug Free and some of the other names I've heard from readers this season. It will cost the Cowboys a pair of ones, a two, a three and maybe more to get up for a chance to get Manziel. That's giving up a lot for a guy who figures to be sitting on the bench for at least two years as (Tony) Romo gets into his new contract. I like the idea -- the Cowboys just lack the ammo to get there.

I don't think this is necessarily true.

The Cowboys went from 14 to 6 in 2012 and all they had to do was swap 1sts and give up their 2nd rounder. I'm sure they'd have to do more than that to get to 5, but I don't think it'll cost everything that Gosselin is thinking.
 

Plan9Misfit

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I don't think this is necessarily true.

The Cowboys went from 14 to 6 in 2012 and all they had to do was swap 1sts and give up their 2nd rounder. I'm sure they'd have to do more than that to get to 5, but I don't think it'll cost everything that Gosselin is thinking.
I don't think ManFail will go that high, anyway.
 
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