Stephen Jones From The Owner's Meeting

boozeman

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That's exactly right, you can't get better without change. I guess the only problem someone could have is that they wish we would have signed more free agents instead of waiting for the draft to build the defense.
Yep that is the issue I have. Free agency was a joke and yes I do count the Carroll signing, which is a downgrade.

Counting on one draft to upgrade is expecting a lot. You would be lucky if you get a starter or two at most.
 

Genghis Khan

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Aside from the Heath stuff I think you have to be pleased with what you're hearing out of Stephen. There is actually a coherent philosophy behind what they're doing, they aren't just flailing around wildly, and it sounds like it's going to be a very defensive-heavy draft aside from clear BPA opportunities on offense.

Should they have spent a little more in free agency?

Probably but there were very few true difference makers and most of the impact guys were all franchised or re-signed.

It's not perfect but it's a hell of alot better than what we were doing in 1998, 2006 or 2010.
This is basically how I feel about it.
 

Simpleton

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And this is why I have no problem with letting everyone go in our secondary that we did. People say we should have kept either Carr or Claiborne. Or Church. F that. None of them were worth what it would have took to keep them.

We have a young team, and if we have to take a step back to be able to take 3 forward, so be it. Beats the hell out of just treading in the same spot of the cesspool.
I wanted to keep Carr and then one of Church/Wilcox if the money was right, but there is no way I wanted to give Church almost 7 a year or Carr 6+ a year. Wilcox signed a reasonable 2 year, 8 or so million deal with Tampa that I would've been fine with giving him but I keep going back to how most of us wanted him gone last year and then the coaching staff found a way to integrate him as a useful piece to a decent enough defense, so if they were fine letting him go then I'm willing to see how it turns out.

Church had 5 picks in 7 years in Dallas, Carr had 7 picks in 5 years, Claiborne had 4 in 5 years, and Wilcox had 5 in 4 years. That's 21 interceptions in 21 combined seasons, and since Marinelli took over as DC in 2014 these four combined for just 12 picks over those three seasons.

That's an average of one interception per season per player, which is clearly pathetic.

I would've liked to bring one or two of them back simply so we don't have as many glaring holes but I can't blame the front office's logic that they want more play-making from the secondary and that they weren't willing to go above a certain price point to bring some of these guys back.

To me it's that type of logic and thinking that we've all wanted out of our front office for years.
 

NoDak

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To me it's that type of logic and thinking that we've all wanted out of our front office for years.
To me, that's what it all boils down to. Are we going to suddenly have the secondary that we all want? No. There are sure to be some growing pains. But I can see us adding a piece or two this year. And that coupled with our hold overs should get us at least similar production as we saw last year. Then add another piece or two the following year and we might be in business. But I know one thing. We won't be just accepting the mediocre status quo any more. And that's a good thing.
 

bbgun

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I would've liked to bring one or two of them back simply so we don't have as many glaring holes but I can't blame the front office's logic that they want more play-making from the secondary and that they weren't willing to go above a certain price point to bring some of these guys back.

To me it's that type of logic and thinking that we've all wanted out of our front office for years.
I'm not weeping at their departures, either. We weren't going to win anything of significance with those guys anyway. It's just weird to go from 13-3 and HFA to a planned "setback" year. Usually, a season like that is a prelude to bigger and better things to come. Maybe 2016 was our best chance to win the NFC and we just didn't know it.
 

ravidubey

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Yep that is the issue I have. Free agency was a joke and yes I do count the Carroll signing, which is a downgrade.

Counting on one draft to upgrade is expecting a lot. You would be lucky if you get a starter or two at most.
The Cowboys just told us the players they let go are replaceable, period. We'll use a combination of street free agents and drafted and UDFA rookies.

Moore's tweet made it sound like Stephen would use the draft to replace them all, but you can't possibly count on replacing multiple players from a single draft.

A couple of rookies might get starting PT and the rest will contribute sparingly.

The draft is supposed to be about 1-2 years in the future.
 

Angrymesscan

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Those are also 3 positions filled which might help keep S and CB dropping in the draft...
 

Jiggyfly

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I'm not weeping at their departures, either. We weren't going to win anything of significance with those guys anyway. It's just weird to go from 13-3 and HFA to a planned "setback" year. Usually, a season like that is a prelude to bigger and better things to come. Maybe 2016 was our best chance to win the NFC and we just didn't know it.
This makes no sense considering we started a rookie QB and RB.

Why does it have to be a planned setback?

You were just saying you did not want any of those guys back?
 

Cowboysrock55

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Moore's tweet made it sound like Stephen would use the draft to replace them all, but you can't possibly count on replacing multiple players from a single draft.
We aren't. We are counting on replacing 2 guys. Church and Claiborne. Carr was replaced in free agency by a similar free agent corner. Wilcox was a backup and we have backups to step up into that role already on the roster.
 

bbgun

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This makes no sense considering we started a rookie QB and RB.
You need more than a good offense to win the conference. Zeke played at an all-pro level and it meant jack squat. Is Witten gonna get younger/faster? Is T'Will gonna suddenly gonna play like a true #2? Dez will solve Jenkins and other top corners? Doubtful. and we'll be playing a first place schedule to boot.

Why does it have to be a planned setback?

You were just saying you did not want any of those guys back?
we have to replace a lot of guys in areas where we've shown little aptitude (secondary and defensive line). that's magically going to happen in one off-season? is Jimmy Johnson running the draft again? you're optimistic about a special teamer like Heath playing 16 games at strong safety?
 

ravidubey

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A first place schedule vs the AFC West is the biggest reason we take a step back relative to 2016. Longer term Dez's age and physical style may also wear at us.

This year we need to solve CB, but the biggest holes talent-wise (relative to 2016) are RT and backup QB.

Hitting in the first two rounds will be a huge differentiator for us, so we can't afford our standard injury reach in round 2.

And if Jaylon Smith can actually lift his foot-- wow.
 

Cujo

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And this is why I have no problem with letting everyone go in our secondary that we did. People say we should have kept either Carr or Claiborne. Or Church. F that. None of them were worth what it would have took to keep them.

We have a young team, and if we have to take a step back to be able to take 3 forward, so be it. Beats the hell out of just treading in the same spot of the cesspool.


Exactly. Honestly, I wouldn't have been that happy if we could've kept any of them on cap friendly deals. It was time to move on.
 

Cujo

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You need more than a good offense to win the conference. Zeke played at an all-pro level and it meant jack squat. Is Witten gonna get younger/faster? Is T'Will gonna suddenly gonna play like a true #2? Dez will solve Jenkins and other top corners? Doubtful. and we'll be playing a first place schedule to boot.



we have to replace a lot of guys in areas where we've shown little aptitude (secondary and defensive line). that's magically going to happen in one off-season? is Jimmy Johnson running the draft again? you're optimistic about a special teamer like Heath playing 16 games at strong safety?
We've been drafting better in recent years. Past failures cannot be allowed to dictate the future.
 

Jiggyfly

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You need more than a good offense to win the conference. Zeke played at an all-pro level and it meant jack squat. Is Witten gonna get younger/faster? Is T'Will gonna suddenly gonna play like a true #2? Dez will solve Jenkins and other top corners? Doubtful. and we'll be playing a first place schedule to boot.



we have to replace a lot of guys in areas where we've shown little aptitude (secondary and defensive line). that's magically going to happen in one off-season? is Jimmy Johnson running the draft again? you're optimistic about a special teamer like Heath playing 16 games at strong safety?
You conveniently leave out that Brown Collins and Byron still have upside.

Young guys who have already shown ability.

You are looking at worse case scenario while ignoring we have lots of young talent on the D.

Oh yeah the o-line is just reaching it's prime years.
 

Simpleton

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If last season was our best chance at a Super Bowl then it means the front office is completely incompetent.

Dak/Elliott/Smith/Frederick/Martin give us the core of what should be a dominant offense for at least the next 4-5 years. Yea, Dez might only have 2-3 years left at the top of his game and Witten will be gone soon but it's easy to find pass-catching talent with how the game is played now at the college level.

Defensively we may take a step back this season if we have to rely too much on rookies but if done right the defense could be leaps and bounds better in 2018, 2019 and moving forward than it was last season.

Combine all that and I think we should be a much stronger team 2-3 years from now than we were last season. If our offense was a 9 last year and our defense was a 5, I think we could be a stronger team if both sides were 7/8's, which shouldn't be too difficult to pull off if done right.
 

ravidubey

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Combine all that and I think we should be a much stronger team 2-3 years from now than we were last season. If our offense was a 9 last year and our defense was a 5, I think we could be a stronger team if both sides were 7/8's, which shouldn't be too difficult to pull off if done right.
I generally agree we have a shot to compete over the next 5 years with our QB of the future, the OL, and commitment to the running game.

Raising the defense from a 5 to an 8 would be a very tall order, though.

Also, though a lot of players know how to catch the ball, translating that into great NFL-level play is very, very hard. That's why the Reggie Cobbs of the world get massive contracts.
 

Cowboysrock55

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Defensively we may take a step back this season if we have to rely too much on rookies but if done right the defense could be leaps and bounds better in 2018, 2019 and moving forward than it was last season.
I doubt that we really even take a step back. This is a theme every year but we weren't a talented defense last year and we won't probably be that talented of a defense next year. We will continue to get by mostly on scheme. I think at worst you get about the same as last season. The upside is of course if some of these young guys step up and have great seasons we could be better on defense. But that hinges on guys like Collins, Brown, Byron Jones, Jaylon Smith, Demarcus Lawrence and David Irving sort of taking the next step from good to dominant. And we will obviously be adding at least a few more guys to this defense.
 
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