2017 Cowboys Free Agency Thread...

By Bob Sturm,

Well, we have waited the requisite 7 days since the final Dallas Cowboys game of the 2016 season and allowed the dust to settle from a disappointing end to a fantastic season. Now, on this day, the coaching staff is off to Florida for the Pro Bowl and the scouting staff is off to Alabama for the Senior Bowl.

That leaves the players to scatter to the 4 corners of the globe in search of rest and relaxation where the water is clear and the sun is warm. They earned it and will be asked to be back in the weight room within 4-6 weeks, so give them this.

Now, one thing that does grab you as you look at the regrettable end of another season is the reality that this group of guys will never be together in totality again. Sure, the young Cowboys seem to be the start of something big, but this group - the 60 or so players who contributed to the 13-3 Cowboys of 2016 will have the normal subtraction of 20 pieces and those will be changed out with 20 new players moving forward.

This most normally happens with the loss of free agents going out and the draft coming in. This is the conveyor belt of talent that every organization deals with. Yes, a few retirements and cuts of contracts with time left. And yes, the occasional veteran free agent will be acquired. But, we have 18 names that are now out of contract. Let's see which should be top priorities to try to keep if the price can be found to be agreeable before March:

Here are the 18 names - Brandon Carr, Rolando McClain, Morris Claiborne, Ron Leary, Barry Church, Mark Sanchez, Andrew Gachkar, Darren McFadden, Lance Dunbar, Jack Crawford, Gavin Escobar, Terrell McClain, Justin Durant, Josh Thomas, Terrance Williams, Kellen Moore, JJ Wilcox, and Brice Butler.

TOP 5 NAMES TO CONSIDER - In no particular order:

1. Barry Church, SS - At age 28, Barry Church has been a major part of this thing for his entire career. He plays his tail off, is never noticeably attacked, and appears to be a major part of the defensive leadership. I certainly like the utility he provides in the box and his durability has usually kept him in the mix. This is a player I would like to keep at the right cost.
2. Ron Leary, G - It sure seemed like his time was short when the rumors of a trade last summer popped up. He seemed unlikely to get an offer back then, but after his 2016, I don't know how the Cowboys just walk away without trying. He is a warrior in the trenches and is seldom exposed or beaten. Yes, he still has the possibility of long-term health concerns, but after 5 seasons with the team, I have very little negative to say about Leary. I might keep him and kick La'el Collins out to right tackle to replace Doug Free.
3. Terrell McClain, DT - For much of the year I thought McClain was easily the best 1-technique on the roster. Yes, the Cowboys now have options and should probably resist to put too much on a run-stuffing DT, but when he is right, he is really impressive. I really like what he brings to the table and competes, but I will also grant you that he has not shown he has 16 games in him so you have to be careful.
4. Terrance Williams, WR - this is really interesting. A few months ago, he was being compared to Brice Butler, but I believe his year quieted that down. He is a far more accomplished than Butler but also not a proper Dez Bryant replacement when Dez is out. So, there is that middle ground where he is worth the trouble and that price is likely more than anyone wants to admit. So, do you want Williams at $6m to $7m a season? Tough call, but if you don't go get him, you will have a pretty big void to consider and might need to take a WR pretty high in April.
5. Morris Claiborne, CB - I am likely walking away from Mo. Corners are expensive - especially at age 26. Talk about sticker shock. I am not interested in putting much money on Claiborne because he has not really proven much to me since his rookie year. Yes, he has a high bar because of his spot and he has never been fully healthy, but if you are trying to decide between Brandon Carr and Claiborne, you simply look at who is always out there and who isn't. Carr might be getting close to the end, but he still gives you 1,000 snaps a year and plays about 980 of them really well. And will come cheaper.

So that is the top group of choices. Many come at positions where you might have to choose between 2 players who are both UFA's: At WR it is Butler or Williams. At CB, Church or Claiborne. At DL, McClain or Jack Crawford. At safety, Church or JJ Wilcox.

Then you have other spots like Lance Dunbar or Gavin Escobar that make you wonder if you have any price. Then the backup QB spot with Mark Sanchez and Kellen Moore.

I am pretty sure I would try to keep Church and Leary and otherwise, I would let the market dictate my actions after that. If Williams comes back to you at a fair price, great. What you don't want to do is to feel desperation to affect your draft. That said, keep in mind that you can likely have some options moving forward with cap room (Romo) that will allow you to grab some players in the secondary market to fill some spots.

As I look at this list, the Cowboys are in a decent spot. Nothing on here is irreplaceable. You can put some prices on them and if they take it then you have them at your price, but there is no name that makes you launch into desperation to lock them up.

I would like to keep Leary the most but I think he is going to get a better offer elsewhere. I'm tempted to keep Williams because if he walks you almost have to draft a WR higher than I want to. Rather spend the picks on defense and get some talent there. Claiborne would be nice but too injury prone. Bye Bye. Church should probably be an easy sign of we want to and might get saved due to needing other positions.

So out of his top 5 mine would go.
1. Leary
2. Williams
3. Church
4. McClain
5. Claiborne.

I'm not resigning Williams for much at all.

Can we not go out and find a fucking Chris Hogan?

BipolarFan said:

I'm not resigning Williams for much at all.

Can we not go out and find a fucking Chris Hogan?

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Same. I think he is easily replaceable.

BipolarFan said:

I'm not resigning Williams for much at all.

Can we not go out and find a fucking Chris Hogan?

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Chris Hogan probably sucks dick on any other team.

I'd rather keep Carr or Wilcox than Claiborne.

I think McClain will be re-signed, makes too much sense considering he should be pretty cheap.

Williams and Leary are the biggest question marks, I'm not overly concerned about keeping either, but I'd definitely bring them back if Williams will take about 5 a year and if Leary will take about 6-7.

Terrance Williams was much better when Romo was quarterback. He is going to want to get paid like he always performs to that level, and some desperate team will probably pay it. We can replace his production for a lot less than it would cost to resign him imo.

Cowboys approach to defensive line needs closer look

Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer

NFL Nation reporter Todd Archer breaks down the Dallas Cowboys, position-by-position, analyzing what the players did in 2016, what they can do in the future and what the team can do to improve the position in 2017.

DEFENSIVE LINE

Under contract: Tyrone Crawford, DeMarcus Lawrence, Cedric Thornton, Benson Mayowa, Maliek Collins, Randy Gregory-X, David Irving-Y, Richard Ash, Charles Tapper, Lenny Jones

(X- Gregory is suspended for at least the 2017 regular season; Y – Irving is an exclusive rights free agent)

Free agents: Terrell McClain, Jack Crawford, Ryan Davis

A look back: The Cowboys entered 2016 hoping they could bring waves of pass rushers at opposing quarterbacks and be effective. It was only a little bit better than the 2015 pass rush with 34 sacks, compared to 31 the year prior.

Mayowa, who was the team’s first restricted free agent signing in their history, led the Cowboys with six sacks, and that includes a three-game span in which the coaches benched him.

Lawrence was suspended the first four games of the season for violating the NFL’s substance-abuse policy and missed the final three games with a back injury that could require a second back surgery in as many offseasons. He had just one sack after leading the Cowboys with eight sacks in 2015. The hope that he could take the next step as a pass rusher was derailed by suspension and injury.

Tyrone Crawford opened the year as the team’s most-sure bet, lining up at defensive tackle, but he was moved to left defensive end. He had 4.5 sacks and 17 quarterback hurries, according to the coaches’ count, and missed the final two regular-season games because of a left shoulder injury that might require surgery.

The Cowboys’ best linemen were tackles McClain and Collins. McClain had 2.5 sacks but led the linemen with 41 tackles, including three tackles for loss. He also forced two fumbles. He missed the final regular-season game with an injury but finally showed the potential the Cowboys wanted to see when he signed in 2014. Collins, a third-round pick, finished second on the defense with five sacks and showed promise for the future.

Thornton was the Cowboys’ biggest free-agent signing (four years, $17 million), but it took him time to adjust to a new scheme and earn the coaches’ trust. He had flashes of solid play but needed to be more consistent. The same goes for Irving, who might have the biggest upset of any defensive linemen and had four sacks. He dominated the wins against the Green Bay Packers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Jack Crawford was solid and flexible, showing the ability to play tackle or end. Tapper did not play as a rookie because of a back injury that crept up during the first week of training camp. The hope is rest and added strength will allow him to get on the field in 2017.

Gregory played in only the final two regular-season games because of suspension and will miss at least the 16 regular-season games in 2017 because of another violation of the substance-abuse policy. The Cowboys will not have every-day contact with him during the suspension, but Jerry Jones is sticking with the former second-round pick, who recorded one sack.

A look ahead: The best hope is Tyrone Crawford finds the form that earned him a $45 million extension in the summer of 2015, and Lawrence shows the form that led to his eight-sack season in 2015.

The Cowboys need both to be difference-makers. The development of Collins as the three-technique means Crawford could continue to play defensive end. For Lawrence, he has to return to health. He relies more on power than speed, and the back injury robbed him of some strength.

Mayowa played more snaps in 2016 than he had in his career. Once he found the consistency of effort Rod Marinelli demands, he was productive. Will he be a 10-sack player? Hard to say, but he can be an effective part of a rotation. The same goes for Irving.

Thornton was signed to be a run-stopping defensive tackle, but he could not win the job from McClain all season. With McClain set to hit the market, Thornton will have to show he can be an effective run stopper while bringing at least some pass-rushing abilities to the table.

A look out: We have already seen people mention Jason Pierre-Paul as a possibility, but the Cowboys’ modus operandi is not to get into the high-priced free agency game. The addition of Pierre-Paul would strengthen the pass rush and weaken the New York Giants, but cost a lot of money.

Are the Cowboys better served in retaining McClain and Crawford or going after a big prize? History says they will go with depth over stars.

But the draft is said to be a strong one for pass rushers. Relying on rookies to severely impact a pass rush is never the easiest thing to do, especially when picking so late in the first round. The Cowboys built their offensive line in the draft from 2011-14 but have found the going not as smooth in their attempt to rebuild the defensive line the past few years.

I think this is the time to go for it but unfortunately the available pass rushers probably won't be too enticing.

Rev said:

I think this is the time to go for it but unfortunately the available pass rushers probably won't be too enticing.

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We will do what we have done the last few years. Sit back and bargain shop after the big contracts are handed out.

Cowboysrock55 said:

We will do what we have done the last few years. Sit back and bargain shop after the big contracts are handed out.

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Maybe, although I wouldn't be surprised if they felt pressure to reinvest the savings from cutting Romo (if they cut him obviously) and show that they got some benefit out of the move as opposed to trading him.

I don't think they're going to hand out any $15 million a year contracts like the Giants did to Vernon, but I do think we could see them give out a contract in the neighborhood of $9-$11 a year if the right opportunity is available. Keep in mind that we nearly signed Weddle last year, a guy who was 31 at the time, and considering that he signed with the Ravens for about $7 a year you have to imagine we were in that ball park.

If a younger, better player like Berry comes available I wouldn't be surprised if they opened up the purse strings a bit. Same goes for a guy like Melvin Ingram.

Simpleton said:

If a younger, better player like Berry comes available I wouldn't be surprised if they opened up the purse strings a bit. Same goes for a guy like Melvin Ingram.

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Would love one of those two. I just suspect we will concentrate more on keeping things together and retaining our own guys then we will going out and making a splash right when free agency starts.

Except for Carr, when was the last time we handed out a big contract to a FA? Serious question.

Iamtdg said:

Except for Carr, when was the last time we handed out a big contract to a FA? Serious question.

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We haven't been in the position the last few years to do that, though. Too much restructuring and such going on. I doubt we do sign anybody big but this would be the year to do it if the right guy was available.

Iamtdg said:

Except for Carr, when was the last time we handed out a big contract to a FA? Serious question.

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That was the last one. Our philosophy shifted after that. Now it's like we sit still for 3 days and then see who is left.

Cowboysrock55 said:

That was the last one. Our philosophy shifted after that. Now it's like we sit still for 3 days and then see who is left.

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All in all, it's not a terrible philosophy.

We've gotten some good bargains with guys like T. McClain, Mayowa, McFadden and Morris. I think everybody here can agree that you build your team through the draft and generally should show some restraint in free agency.

The problem is if you're completely unwilling to spend anything or be involved at all until late in the game, which I don't think is the case since we seemed to be pretty aggressive in going after Lamar Miller and Eric Weddle last offseason.

And I do think that 2012 offseason was the turning point for this organization. After the Carr signing and the Claiborne trade up I think Stephen had seen enough and knew he had to start stepping in more.

Honestly I think we've got some pretty good depth on the line. What we're missing are a couple of high end starters. This might be the place you want to add a high FA. The depth would keep us from completely relying on a single player, and getting a guy that demands double teams would allow the others to get more one on one blocking.

dallen said:

Honestly I think we've got some pretty good depth on the line. What we're missing are a couple of high end starters.

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Agreed. Screw it, go big for once. Chandler Jones would be awesome.

You can afford it with low QB cap numbers the next three years.

Of course he'll get franchised and end the pipe dream.

Cowboysrock55 said:

We will do what we have done the last few years. Sit back and bargain shop after the big contracts are handed out.

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And when that happens, everyone will act shocked that we don't advance in the playoffs again-if they even get that far- and it will be another offseason spent talking about upgrading the DL.

The bottom line is none of the DL turds we have are going to be 8-10 sack a year guys. Lawrence isn't going to put up big sack numbers again, unless he has a stud on the other side. And depending on his back injury, he may be better suited as a situational rusher no matter who ends up on the other side.

UncleMilti said:

And when that happens, everyone will act shocked that we don't advance in the playoffs again-if they even get that far- and it will be another offseason spent talking about upgrading the DL.

The bottom line is none of the DL turds we have are going to be 8-10 sack a year guys. Lawrence isn't going to put up big sack numbers again, unless he has a stud on the other side. And depending on his back injury, he may be better suited as a situational rusher no matter who ends up on the other side.

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I don't think Hardy had that big of an impact. Our pass rush overall was better this year.