Sturm: Will Cowboys keep investing where they've spent the most?

Cotton

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Will Cowboys keep investing where they've spent the most?





By Bob Sturm Apr 2, 2018

The Dallas Cowboys love their offensive line. Why shouldn't they? It is clearly the strongest part of their organization in the Jason Garrett era. They have invested first-round pick after first-round pick in this department. They have repeatedly hit home runs with each of these picks. They have patterned their entire blueprint on the premise that they will be bigger, stronger, and more dominant than any offensive front in football and that will lead them to win a lot of football games.

It has. And in a few seasons as of late, they have had multiple first-team All-Pros from their offensive line. In 2014, Tyron Smith and Zack Martin were both first-team AP All-Pros, one of the hardest honors to achieve in pro football given that merely one player at each position gets represented. Frederick was on the second team. In 2015, the trio all landed on the second team. In 2016, Frederick made his first-team All-Pro debut and joined Smith and Martin to give the Cowboys 60% of the NFL's best five up front. That is ridiculous.

2017 was a different story. Martin was given 2nd team honors, but Smith and Frederick were nowhere to be found. Jason Kelce and Alex Mack were the two centers honored, and Tyron Smith's aching back kept his performance and attendance levels well below what we have come to expect. Still, at their ages – Tyron Smith just turned 27 in December, Travis Frederick turned 27 2 weeks ago, and Zack Martin is the oldest because he turned 27 way back in November – there is plenty of reason to believe the foundation of this house is secure for many years to come.

That's great, because their reputations and service times have led the trio to demand the largest contracts at their position in the entire league.

Tyron Smith's contract, which is admittedly team-friendly, is a massive 8-year/$97m deal that had very few guarantees until the Cowboys' annual restructuring dance. It is a good deal for sure, but it is also nearly $30m bigger than any other LT deal in the league right now. He is signed through 2023 and will be 33 at the end of that season. More on Mr. Smith below.

Travis Frederick's contract is also quite sizable. In fact, it is the largest total deal that any center has been given in the NFL – 6 years/$56.4m, and was also created to be annually restructured in that Cowboys tradition. Amongst centers, there are now three centers that make a bit more annually as they have used his deal to work off of in negotiations, and he also will be under contract until 2023 – which means his extension is just beginning.

Which brings us to Zack Martin. The Cowboys were able to enjoy four years of Martin playing at an All-Pro level for under $9m total. His fifth year is here and he has been awarded his team option of $9.3m, and as of now will see his contract expire next January. Last summer, as camp began, you might recall Stephen Jones assuring the media that the Cowboys expected to finalize a deal with Martin before the season began. Clearly, that hasn't happened – and while there is no real reason for alarm, just know when that deal gets done, it is going to be a big one. It is also entirely possible they are waiting until the Dez Bryant stalemate concludes to free up the cash for a Martin contract.

It would seem Martin and his representatives will be working off the new contract signed by Andrew Norwell as he joined Jacksonville from Carolina after being voted the first-team All-Pro left guard this year (David DeCastro of Pittsburgh was the right guard). Norwell locked in a 5-year/$66m deal with $30m guaranteed. At the very least, Martin is eyeing the 5-year/$60m deal that Kevin Zeitler inked last year to join leave Cincinnati for Cleveland. Either way, a little math can tell you that before the creative accounting, the Cowboys have LT Tyron Smith on the books for roughly $12m a year, Zack Martin around that same $12m, and Travis Frederick at just under $10m. So, for three players, their bill is $34m dollars.

Now, factor in the La'el Collins contract – which was quite generous, at 2 years/$15.4m through the end of 2019 (which currently places him at third amongst right tackles at annual compensation, albeit just on a two-year deal) and that $7.7m per year puts the Cowboys just under $42m for the four starters that we can currently identify along their offensive line. Factor in the $5.5m that the other five OL under contract will make (Cameron Fleming – $2.4m, Chaz Green $877k, Marcus Martin $635k, Joe Looney $975k, and Kadeem Edwards $555) and their total bill for nine offensive linemen checks in at roughly $47 million or about 27% of the entire $177 million salary cap.

This pie chart – from the start of free agency – gives you a rough approximation of how the pie is currently distributed by positional group. It does not factor in a Martin extension (or a Dez alteration), but it shows you roughly how the Cowboys are currently invested. Please note the tiny green sliver for QB. That won't last for long.



Above, the Cowboys' positional group spending by percentage for 2018 as of March 14th – Courtesy Spotrac.com

Now that we have established that the Cowboys have and will continue to invest heavily in the offensive line for at least the next six seasons – if anyone has ever been pot-committed to a hand, it is this team down this road – let's answer some standard questions on this topic that have come my way over and over this spring.

HOW GOOD WAS THIS OFFENSIVE LINE IN 2017?

Much of this topic – and the more important one about how it will look in 2018 – revolves around Tyron Smith's back. Smith is, in my opinion, as good a tackle as the NFL has had in the last 5 seasons. I realize that is some high praise, but I believe it is warranted. That said, Tyron did not have a very good 2017 by his lofty standards. He was beatable on the edge. He committed a team-high five holding penalties (on a unit that had more holding penalties charged to its OL/TE's – 23 – than any other team in the NFL) and surrendered multiple sacks – both things that you haven't been able to say about him since the very first games of his career. From 2013-2016 he was unreal how reliable he was; Smith was close to perfect while playing one of the league's toughest spots. He also demonstrated a seamless balance between run dominance and superior pass-protection.

Back injuries have slowed Smith down and affected his attendance in each of the last two years. He missed six starts and a large part of several games down the stretch in 2017 (a knee injury contributed to this as well), and there is real concern that the days of Tyron Smith being the league's best tackle may be over. I choose to ignore that viewpoint, but I realize only Tyron and the medical staff know if this is building up or just a series of unconnected issues that may clear up in 2018.
Regardless, it is impossible to have a great offensive line without a great left tackle and the Cowboys have not worried about this for years and years. Cross your fingers that Tyron is fine, because last year, he did not look himself. But, even worse, when he was not there, the Cowboys clearly demonstrated they had no hope.

Travis Frederick and Zack Martin were both quite good. Neither pitched perfect games as teams were determined to challenge the interior of the line and try to force the passing game to beat them rather than concede the line of scrimmage to the Cowboys. Many teams did very well head-to-head against Dallas up front by loading the interior on early downs.

The entire unit as a group had issues, though, and certainly did not look “dominant” which is what you wish for when you make it your largest investment. There were at least six examples where the Cowboys arguably lost the battle at the line of scrimmage. The Broncos (2.8 yards per carry), Rams (Aaron Donald and Michael Brockers were unreal), Falcons (8 sacks), Eagles (4 sacks), Raiders (Khalil Mack and pressure all night), and Seahawks (4 more sacks) certainly gave the Cowboys O-line all they could handle and more.

That leaves the controversial spots of left guard and right tackle.

Let's tackle left guard first. In 2016, Ron Leary was very good and received a massive deal to go to Denver. The Cowboys realized they already spent more than anyone in the NFL on their offensive line and decided which three they could keep at elite money and which two would be filled by rotational players, young players, or retreads. In a hard-capped league, you can argue this is the only way. Teams simply cannot pay all five linemen over $10m per year and expect to have a decent team around them. So, the Cowboys decided to try Chaz Green at left guard to start the year, partly because he has never demonstrated much ability at tackle. In my opinion, Jonathan Cooper was the better guard in camp last year, but they wanted to invest in the home-grown Green, and he started the first three weeks at guard. He was OK in Week 1 against the Giants, bad in Week 2 at Denver, and worse in Week 3 against the Cardinals. Coaches then pulled the plug and started Cooper, who admittedly had a very rough go against Donald and Brockers in Week 4, but then stabilized and played 10 basically solid games out of 12 (Atlanta and Oakland were both pretty rough) and saved the offensive line's bacon. Cooper was never going to be much better than decent, but decent should be good enough for the fifth-most-important piece of the offensive line. He hurt his knee in Week 17 at Philadelphia and is still getting healthy. There was some doubt on whether the Cowboys wanted him back at any price. Once San Francisco offered him a 1-year deal for almost $5m, he was gone.

On to right tackle. This issue, of course, was forced with the unexpected retirement of Doug Free, but the Cowboys were lucky to have someone like La'el Collins in reserve. I was a very big admirer of Collins out of LSU and had him ranked #12 overall in that draft. I have always appreciated his work. The Cowboys placed him at right tackle to start 2017, and as someone who had never done it much before – primarily a left tackle at LSU and a left guard with Dallas, it showed. I plan on a video breakdown of his season soon, but in short, he really had some issues in pass protection and technique. The five sacks and three holds hurt, but very few players were credited with allowing more hurries and hits. He certainly had an issue with speed around the edge. Collins had an incredibly difficult day in Denver and while there were some solid games along the way, he certainly did not pass with flying colors – and the Cowboys are paying him as a top-five right tackle.

That doesn't even mention the problems in replacing Tyron Smith when he's unable to play. Chaz Green had no success at guard and then demonstrated an even worse experience at tackle against the Falcons. We can talk for days abouthow much was his fault and how much was the scheme or the coaching staff's stubborn approach, but you could argue that the entire offense was destroyed on that day in Atlanta. Dak Prescott was never the same, neither was the offense – and the Cowboys' season effectively ended that day despite a number of chances to turn it around. After that day, Green was never trusted to do anything else. Byron Bell replaced him and was a step up compared to Green. Of course, he was a massive step down compared to Tyron Smith. About what you would expect from a fourth tackle.

But the truth was there for all to see: The supposed strength of the team had let them down. The offensive line “had a can full of gas and a hand full of matches” at the scene of the fire.

So, as a group, was it the best line in football? Not even close. Was it horrendous? No, but a team that built its entire identity around this unit had to be very disappointed.

And more importantly, what are the Cowboys plans to fix it?


WHAT DO THE SIGNINGS BRING TO THE MIX?

The Cowboys let Cooper walk, so they need to find a starting left guard. They still have Chaz Green, but after the Atlanta disaster, but it seems a stretch to think he will salvage a career in Dallas at this point. Byron Bell has also seemed to fall out of their plans. Joe Looney was just kept on a very minimal deal to provide some cover at center.

Here is how the 2017 OL depth chart looked:

2017LTLGCRGRT
StartersSmithCooperFrederickMartinCollins
BackupsGreenLooneyBell


Enter Cam Fleming from New England and Marcus Martin from Cleveland, though he last played during the 2016 season for San Francisco.

Fleming, 25, was a part-time player for the Patriots and their third option this season. That alone should tell you something about the concerns New England had for his play. Also, consider that the Patriots allowed him to leave for very little money despite being short of linemen. Now, to his credit, he had to play RT from the start of December through the end of the Super Bowl and was not too bad. His pass-blocking, in particular, was decent enough. His ability to fit into the Cowboys' run attack might be a different story, but he is the type of swing tackle that Chaz Green and Byron Bell were not able to be.

Martin, 24, was a 2014 third-round pick at the age of 20 from USC, like a certain left tackle we know. However, he did not find any success and after two years where he was just awful, the 49ers quickly replaced him and then released him after the 2016 season. He spent a year in Cleveland where he played just as many snaps as you did. Martin was a fixture on the Browns' inactive list throughout the year. That said, he appears fit, young, and talented. To pretend I know more about him than that and 100 largely unremarkable 2016 snaps would be a stretch. He was signed for next-to-nothing (with no money guaranteed) and sounds very much like a camp body brought in to compete for Chaz Green's job.

I think both players are young pieces worth taking a chance on at this price, but we should not assume either is a starter. I think the market and the sticker prices probably verify that. So, is this the current depth chart for 2018?

2018LTLGCRGRT
StartersSmith????FrederickMartinCollins
BackupsGreenMartinLooneyFleming



WOULD YOU DRAFT A GUARD AT #19?

In theory, I would not. I think the Cowboys have over-invested in the offensive line to a point where they simply have to address the issues elsewhere at pick #19. I think they lack special blue-chip talent on defense and part of that reason is that all of it is in the running game with Smith, Frederick, Martin, and Ezekiel Elliott. They need to diversify!

At the same time, you don't want question marks. The Cowboys really need to figure out left guard in a division against the Philadelphia Eagles and New York Giants. You could argue that Dallas caused their opponents to stock up at DT because of them, but now, the reaction is causing the Cowboys to fret the slightest weakness up front – made worse by Tyron Smith's potential uncertainty.

Not drafting a guard leaves the following options:


  • Move Collins back inside to guard and hope Fleming is a starter at RT
  • Leave Collins at RT and hope Marcus Martin or Chaz Green are good enough at RG
  • Try to find another option on the street, with very little money to pay him.

I just don't think Fleming is a better tackle than Collins will be with one year of experience under his belt. Fleming is ok, but at 200-300 snaps, not 1,000. Martin and Green might not even make the team. How can you then suggest they could start on a contender?

Their best option is finding a quality guard in the draft, preferably at a spot other than #19. Every year, really solid starters are found outside the first round. Andrew Norwell was undrafted. Kelechi Osemele was pick #60. Gabe Jackson went 81st. Joel Bitonio:#35. Andy Levitre 51st. Trai Turner was found at #92. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif at #200. And all of them have Top-10 guard contracts right now. Guard is not QB. If you want an elite QB, history says you find them in Round 1. If you want a really good guard, history says they are in every round; you just have to find them.

CONCLUSIONS

This unit has to be the strength of this team – they have invested too much for it not to be. That said, how much else do they need for a return to dominance? Shouldn't the Cowboys be able to survive with a stop-gap around three elite players and a fourth that has been paid like one?

They probably shouldn't spend another first-round pick shoring up the line, but you can definitely understand why they want to. I would recommend they wait until Day 2, but I also refuse to buy that Martin or Fleming are anything more than depth. Teams do need depth; the Patriots did last year and Fleming delivered. The Cowboys needed it and Chaz Green did not.

But, the more I look at this, the more I see the Cowboys still trying to sort this out on draft weekend. If they thought Green could play, this all would get easier. But I think we saw the best of Chaz Green in 2016 and he is a lost cause moving forward. For the group and that depth chart, a lot of things can change by September, but for now, the Cowboys' offensive line continues to build on the premise that many of these guys can play many positions, and maybe new OL coach Paul Alexander and his long resume will help them hit on something in the months to come.
 

ravidubey

DCC 4Life
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Apr 7, 2013
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The windows with Leary in 2014 and 2016 were this current team’s best chances.

What a waste.
 
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