NFL fans celebrated Christmas early this week, opening their feeds to find out their favorite team has given them a quarterback, running back, or defensive end looking for some heat. Whatever it was, some teams went all out and not according to Jerry Jones's wacky definition. The Texans chased down half of the defense. The managers appear to have tried to make up for the mistakes of the Dan Snyder era with major purchases, mostly at the Cowboys' expense.
Apparently no one bothered to check Dan Quinn's box for contraband before he left The Star.
Meanwhile, Jerry pretty much turned his pockets inside out and reminded them that they needed the cap room to pay Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, and Micah Parsons. I stopped just before starting the GoFundMe page.
On a positive note, as of Wednesday, Jerry had filed only two lawsuits as a defendant. So he's doing it for himself.
While it's true that there are no winners in NFL games in March, you could lose your fan base. We know this through a wildfire on social media and an organization called Change.org, which says 20 new petitions have been filed in the last two days calling for Jerry to resign as general manager. It is said that it was circulated through.
It's clear that what the Cowboys fan base needs is a sharper focus rather than a run-stuffing defensive tackle.
To be clear, we did not expect this austerity measures to be introduced. Jerry only has a little more than $2 million in the cap he can spend, and with that cap he doesn't seem to be buying anything other than red snapper these days.
Now, you might argue that Jerry could have restructured some deals in advance to give you some pocket money, and I wouldn't argue with you. Once again, there are issues with Prescott's contract. This all started with the Cowboys prioritizing Zeke Elliott over quarterback. This looked like a bad move even before the league put running backs on clearance racks. The Cowboys will continue to pay for it.
To make matters worse, while the Cowboys and Ducks were in limbo, Patrick Mahomes agreed to let the Chiefs restructure his contract to fill the hole in the World Championship spot.
Speaking of holes, the Cowboys were hurting even before the Titans wiped out Tony Pollard with Quinn running away with the Cowboys' pair of centers and defensive ends. The 49ers got Eric Kendricks some much-needed help at linebacker. But they still need a running back to give defenders pause before confronting them head-on. They need more beef on the defensive line. Probably another wide receiver and corner, sure.
and it is in front The Commander and the Titans raid the Cowboys' food pantry. There is much work to be done.
The problem is, most of the heavy lifting will have to be done in the draft unless the Cowboys make a trade or two, like they did last year when they added Brandin Cooks and Stephon Gilmore. Will McCray's body of work suggests that it's usually not that difficult to ask.
However, the Cowboys have lost most of the benefit of the doubt because of everything that has gone wrong over the past year or so, starting with the last draft.
Madge Smith didn't let anyone forget the last Michigan defensive lineman the Cowboys took in the first round. Smith's fellow Wolverine Luke Schoonmaker was useless in the second run. It's no one's fault that Demarvion Overshawn got hurt. He could have been useful as a linebacker. Otherwise, three offensive skill players – Schoonmaker, Deuce Vaughn and Jalen Brooks – combined for 169 yards of offense and two touchdowns.
ESPN ranked this as the league's worst rookie class, which seems about right. Could it once again improve its status as Mike McCarthy's favorite potential development point?
It can't get any worse.
As for the help that big-money free agents could give, the Cowboys have been paid a lot of money since they gave Brandon Carr a five-year, $50 million deal all the way back in 2012. Give or take, it was $700,000 per intercept.
The problem with making big purchases in free agency is that you always end up overpaying. For the most part, the Cowboys have taken the right approach since the Carr disaster. They can shop the bargain bin, find players to fill holes, and thus acquire the best players available in the draft.
But if they don't re-sign Tyron Smith, can they really get their best player at 24 years old? Or do they need to draft a left tackle? It seems automatic. Even if they sign one of the free agent running backs still available – AJ Dillon won't offend me – they have to get a running back. Maybe it's as high as the second round. Necessity can force you to take a position over value, and that's where drafts always fail.
What this means is that McCarthy could very well enter the final year of his contract without as much talent as he did last season, when the Cowboys squandered their biggest chance to go deep since the early '90s. That means there is.
All of this probably explains why the organization ends up filing 50 petitions asking for the removal of a general manager or quarterback. Despite the large number of petitions to be addressed, only just over 400 signatures had been collected as of Wednesday evening. You have to start somewhere.
Twitter/X: @KsherringtonDMN
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