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You could also use that gif if he gets caught in a whore house.
Cowboys Sign Keanu Neal
- Thread starter boozeman
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Now I am hoping he gets cut in camp.
Genghis Khan
The worst version of myself
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I don't know what kind of smut-driven browser you're using, mister, but I don't see that on my gif.Get it? Because the gif says Keanu meet pussy.... never mind.
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There are lots of options.But if he screws up?
A 2 sack or 2 INT game will earn him a highly coveted John Wick gif.
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It flashes "Keanu" and then it flashes "Meet" and then it flashes to the cat. Keanu meet pussy. Am I imagining this?
Genghis Khan
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Perfect.
NoDak
Hotlinking' sonofabitch
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Big facts.
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Cowboys sign safety Keanu Neal and finally move the defensive needle in free agency
By Bob Sturm Mar 20, 2021
Dallas looks to have finally added a starter to the mix when it agreed to a one-year deal with former Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal. The terms of the deal appear to be for $5 million, a source tells the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Cowboys have signed several other pieces in this first week of free agency, but this signals the first that will go right into the lineup as a full-time piece and the first with new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s fingerprints all over it. Quinn was the head coach and had final say in personnel matters when Neal was drafted in the first round out of Florida in 2016 and part of the core of that team ever since.
How he fits: Interestingly enough, this is a bit of a discussion point. He definitely fits well with what Quinn is trying to do to this defense that requires significant upgrades at several spots — many right down the middle of the defense (defensive tackle, linebacker, safety) — and Neal should anchor that for a very reasonable price in a predictably tough market for a safety with some medical history. Where it gets interesting is that there are thoughts he might be a linebacker in many packages this upcoming season, but the lines between “box safety,” which he has been for his career, and “undersized and mobile linebacker” are blurred. Is he really being thought of as a full-time weakside linebacker who might push Jaylon Smith right off the roster? We should slow our roll on that. But, depending on the rest of their offseason, chances are decent that a three-safety look where Donovan Wilson, Keanu Neal and the single-high centerfielder-to-be-named-later option could all be out there together seems worth thinking about. Of course, like the signings of earlier in the week, if they are also building a roster that might have a bit more resilience to injury, that should help, too.
2021 impact: The impact should be substantial and immediate. First, they haven’t had a safety who had his top-end talent in years and I am not even sure there is much debate for most of this decade. Second, he should instantly make this entire unit smarter about how it goes about its business. Every year, incoming coaches see value in attempting to bring in a few of “their guys” who know their system and can help raise the on-field IQ of the defense by a significant stride. That was severely missing in 2020 as Mike Nolan had no such help and then no offseason to teach his concepts that would have allowed the unit not to appear clueless once the real games hit the calendar. I assume that lesson was learned clearly and the idea of not only bringing in a former Quinn guy but also actually one of his most impactful players for much of his five years in Atlanta. Many will be cynical about those results for the Falcons defense, but if you focus on 2016 and 2017 when Neal was healthy and Atlanta was contending, I think you would concede that this type of player would be exactly what they needed in both word and deed. That said, he spent most of 2018 and 2019 hurt, and by the time he got healthy in 2020, the Falcons were dead on the vine.
Draft impact: I doubt the Cowboys ever thought that improving safety was a job for the draft, given how slow a process it is to get most prospects up to where you want them to be. With the cap falling, the free-agent bin full at this position and the cap space moderate, you could always sense they were going to hold their water and hope their guy was around in Phase 2 of free agency and that has worked out well in this case.
Cap update: Dallas was around $19.4 million in the last NFLPA update and this will take them below $15 million in space. That, of course, will require a large amount for the incoming draft class as well. So, there will not be much more spent on veterans at this point.
Outlook: As I wrote when we were looking at a robust offering at safety, we thought this was where they would look and they may actually not be done here as I suspect they still see a lukewarm market at free safety, too. He is what I wrote as Neal’s summary 10 days ago:
Keanu Neal — 26 years old (by Week 1) — 3,430 snaps in five seasons: Neal has those Quinn ties for sure and is best known as a box safety — more of the Kam Chancellor type — in those single-high defenses Quinn is known for. He also has the double of a 2018 ACL and a 2019 Achilles tendon that have taken him out of nearly two full years, but he played a full season in 2020 and was not the reason the Falcons struggled. He is a fine player, but he’s not the center field you’re looking for. That said, he would most likely be an upgrade and has plenty of knowledge of what is needed in the scheme.
Neal was my preferred piece at strong safety and you can expect plenty of speculation on whether Smith should be released. I suspect they saw how decimated they were with injuries on defense and simply want to have some redundancy this year, but if they can keep the pieces together, this has a real chance to plug a major hole. I know the always (and probably deservedly so) cynical fan base will compare this with the signings in 2019 of George Iloka and in 2020 of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who were both recognizable names who never played any role whatsoever in Dallas as comparable situations and contracts, but Neal will be the hardest-hitting safety who brings an explosive and athletic body to the heart of the Cowboys defense, and the road is clear for him to play 1,000 snaps in 2021 if the 26-year-old can handle it. If it can, he will reap the rewards in 12 months when he returns to the market with cap space aplenty around the NFL. I think this is the first time this offseason when Cowboys fans can squint and see capital improvements — beyond the hiring of the extremely capable Quinn.
Given the Cowboys have visits for Monday with free safeties Malik Hooker and Damontae Kazee, it is clear they are targeting someone deep in the secondary as well before they move to the draft table.
Stay tuned.
By Bob Sturm Mar 20, 2021
Dallas looks to have finally added a starter to the mix when it agreed to a one-year deal with former Atlanta Falcons safety Keanu Neal. The terms of the deal appear to be for $5 million, a source tells the NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero. The Cowboys have signed several other pieces in this first week of free agency, but this signals the first that will go right into the lineup as a full-time piece and the first with new defensive coordinator Dan Quinn’s fingerprints all over it. Quinn was the head coach and had final say in personnel matters when Neal was drafted in the first round out of Florida in 2016 and part of the core of that team ever since.
How he fits: Interestingly enough, this is a bit of a discussion point. He definitely fits well with what Quinn is trying to do to this defense that requires significant upgrades at several spots — many right down the middle of the defense (defensive tackle, linebacker, safety) — and Neal should anchor that for a very reasonable price in a predictably tough market for a safety with some medical history. Where it gets interesting is that there are thoughts he might be a linebacker in many packages this upcoming season, but the lines between “box safety,” which he has been for his career, and “undersized and mobile linebacker” are blurred. Is he really being thought of as a full-time weakside linebacker who might push Jaylon Smith right off the roster? We should slow our roll on that. But, depending on the rest of their offseason, chances are decent that a three-safety look where Donovan Wilson, Keanu Neal and the single-high centerfielder-to-be-named-later option could all be out there together seems worth thinking about. Of course, like the signings of earlier in the week, if they are also building a roster that might have a bit more resilience to injury, that should help, too.
2021 impact: The impact should be substantial and immediate. First, they haven’t had a safety who had his top-end talent in years and I am not even sure there is much debate for most of this decade. Second, he should instantly make this entire unit smarter about how it goes about its business. Every year, incoming coaches see value in attempting to bring in a few of “their guys” who know their system and can help raise the on-field IQ of the defense by a significant stride. That was severely missing in 2020 as Mike Nolan had no such help and then no offseason to teach his concepts that would have allowed the unit not to appear clueless once the real games hit the calendar. I assume that lesson was learned clearly and the idea of not only bringing in a former Quinn guy but also actually one of his most impactful players for much of his five years in Atlanta. Many will be cynical about those results for the Falcons defense, but if you focus on 2016 and 2017 when Neal was healthy and Atlanta was contending, I think you would concede that this type of player would be exactly what they needed in both word and deed. That said, he spent most of 2018 and 2019 hurt, and by the time he got healthy in 2020, the Falcons were dead on the vine.
Draft impact: I doubt the Cowboys ever thought that improving safety was a job for the draft, given how slow a process it is to get most prospects up to where you want them to be. With the cap falling, the free-agent bin full at this position and the cap space moderate, you could always sense they were going to hold their water and hope their guy was around in Phase 2 of free agency and that has worked out well in this case.
Cap update: Dallas was around $19.4 million in the last NFLPA update and this will take them below $15 million in space. That, of course, will require a large amount for the incoming draft class as well. So, there will not be much more spent on veterans at this point.
Outlook: As I wrote when we were looking at a robust offering at safety, we thought this was where they would look and they may actually not be done here as I suspect they still see a lukewarm market at free safety, too. He is what I wrote as Neal’s summary 10 days ago:
Keanu Neal — 26 years old (by Week 1) — 3,430 snaps in five seasons: Neal has those Quinn ties for sure and is best known as a box safety — more of the Kam Chancellor type — in those single-high defenses Quinn is known for. He also has the double of a 2018 ACL and a 2019 Achilles tendon that have taken him out of nearly two full years, but he played a full season in 2020 and was not the reason the Falcons struggled. He is a fine player, but he’s not the center field you’re looking for. That said, he would most likely be an upgrade and has plenty of knowledge of what is needed in the scheme.
Neal was my preferred piece at strong safety and you can expect plenty of speculation on whether Smith should be released. I suspect they saw how decimated they were with injuries on defense and simply want to have some redundancy this year, but if they can keep the pieces together, this has a real chance to plug a major hole. I know the always (and probably deservedly so) cynical fan base will compare this with the signings in 2019 of George Iloka and in 2020 of Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, who were both recognizable names who never played any role whatsoever in Dallas as comparable situations and contracts, but Neal will be the hardest-hitting safety who brings an explosive and athletic body to the heart of the Cowboys defense, and the road is clear for him to play 1,000 snaps in 2021 if the 26-year-old can handle it. If it can, he will reap the rewards in 12 months when he returns to the market with cap space aplenty around the NFL. I think this is the first time this offseason when Cowboys fans can squint and see capital improvements — beyond the hiring of the extremely capable Quinn.
Given the Cowboys have visits for Monday with free safeties Malik Hooker and Damontae Kazee, it is clear they are targeting someone deep in the secondary as well before they move to the draft table.
Stay tuned.
Genghis Khan
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This is some impressive mental gymnastics.
When Atlanta was good on defense, it was largely due to Neal.
When he was hurt, they were bad.
But when he was healthy again, they were still bad but it wasn't his fault.
All the credit but none of the blame.
Ok.
I'm so tired of this narrative that they don't have money to spend.
First of all, 15 million under the cap is plenty to get a bunch of things done.
Also, it's disingenuous to mention their cap space without also mentioning that they create way, way more pretty easily with a few restructures and cuts.
They have plenty of cap space.
So their answer to injury problems is to add a player with a pretty substantial injury history?
Brilliant.
SS was a major hole?
DT, FS, LB, and CB are way bigger holes.
I can see the value of adding Neal, but this was not a major hole with Wilson on the roster.
Genghis Khan
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Simpleton
DCC 4Life
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Neal has been good to very good in every season he's been healthy, one guy can't make a defense unless they're a future HOF'er (and maybe not even then). The 2016 and 2017 Falcons defenses weren't elite by any means but they were good enough to take them pretty far in the playoffs.
Genghis Khan
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I never said he's not a good player but I think you're missing the point.
His impact is being overstated by Sturm.
He didn't have a big enough impact last season to help Atlanta's defense be any better, but he's going to somehow be enough of an impact to make our defense, which is worse than Atlanta's, better?
Especially given that SS was one of the least of our concerns once Wilson got on the field?
You'll have to excuse me if I'm skeptical.
I don't mind the signing but if this is our main FA acquisition we're clueless.
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The sad thing is Anthony Harris got the same deal and would have been a perfect fit.
I'm still at least hoping for Hooker.
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Bill Shatner
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Like the snaps where he has to cover anyone, or the snaps where he has to analyze misdirection?