Cowboys Listening to Offers
History indicates Dallas may move down from No. 18
www.cnnsi.com
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Jerry Jones is getting tired of writing big checks to free agent offensive linemen.
The cheap solution: Draft some good ones.
The Dallas Cowboys have the 18th pick in the draft Saturday, which gives them a chance to add all but a handful of the best blockers available -- unless they trade up a few spots, perhaps to take Southern California tackle Winston Justice.
However, Jones usually prefers trading down, both to get more picks that way and because the lower they're taken, the cheaper they cost. That doesn't always mean getting lesser players, either, as evidenced by Larry Allen and Flozell Adams going from second-rounders to Pro Bowlers.
"We would really like to have numbers of picks," Jones said. "But if we thought there was a real chance to get a player who shouldn't have been sliding, we might move up. More than likely, I don't anticipate anything dramatic in either scenario, nothing more than three or four slots."
Since going 9-7 last season and falling short of the playoffs, the Cowboys have addressed most of their needs through free agency. That includes signing Kyle Kosier to replace Allen at left tackle and Jason Fabini to take over at right guard. Of course, they also made the headline-grabbing addition of receiver Terrell Owens.
"It seems like we've got a lot more options," Jones said. "With the free agents, we were really able to cover our needs spots. That allows us not to compromise our pick in any way. We don't have to take a lesser player because he plays a position of need.
"But I would not hesitate at all to draft a position where we didn't have the biggest need. We're not going to pass up too good of a player."
Except maybe if he's a receiver.
Although Owens is 32 and fellow starter Terry Glenn will be, too, when training camp opens, and there are legitimate questions about whether they will play every game (Glenn because of health, Owens because he's Owens). Jones may already be trying to make Owens content by not adding competition at the position.
"I don't feel an urgency to get a young wide receiver," Jones said.
If Dallas does try drafting by position, defensive tackle and linebacker are good places to start.
The Cowboys improved their defense a lot by taking outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware and defensive lineman Marcus Spears in the first round last year, then adding lineman Chris Canty in the fourth round.
Yet coach Bill Parcells can still find a spot for anyone else who can get to the quarterback or draw enough blockers to free someone else's path. Tackle might be a priority since La'Roi Glover left in free agency.
When in doubt, though, the Cowboys might go with an offensive lineman.
"If we get out of the draft without an offensive lineman, I'll be very disappointed," Jones said. "Frankly, I like putting an offensive lineman in the mix every year because of how expensive it is to get them in free agency."
The Cowboys have drafted six offensive linemen in four drafts under Parcells. They've had as many misses as hits.
Second-rounders Andre Gurode and Al Johnson split the center job last season and likely will do so again this year. Last year, seventh-rounder Rob Petitti cracked the starting lineup out of training camp, but as the season went on it became apparent that was mostly by default; most telling is that Fabini was signed to take his place.
The regrettable move was taking Jacob Rogers 52nd in 2004.
Rogers was an All-American from Southern California's national championship team, so the Cowboys thought they got a steal getting him so low. Turns out, other teams knew what they were doing by avoiding him. He frustrated team officials for two years, never taking an offensive snap before being released recently.
In the third round of that same draft, Dallas took Stephen Peterman. He remains a fringe player. The other OL pick of the Parcells era was seventh-rounder Justin Bates in 2003, who never made the team.
www.cnnsi.com
IRVING, Texas (AP) -- Jerry Jones is getting tired of writing big checks to free agent offensive linemen.
The cheap solution: Draft some good ones.
The Dallas Cowboys have the 18th pick in the draft Saturday, which gives them a chance to add all but a handful of the best blockers available -- unless they trade up a few spots, perhaps to take Southern California tackle Winston Justice.
However, Jones usually prefers trading down, both to get more picks that way and because the lower they're taken, the cheaper they cost. That doesn't always mean getting lesser players, either, as evidenced by Larry Allen and Flozell Adams going from second-rounders to Pro Bowlers.
"We would really like to have numbers of picks," Jones said. "But if we thought there was a real chance to get a player who shouldn't have been sliding, we might move up. More than likely, I don't anticipate anything dramatic in either scenario, nothing more than three or four slots."
Since going 9-7 last season and falling short of the playoffs, the Cowboys have addressed most of their needs through free agency. That includes signing Kyle Kosier to replace Allen at left tackle and Jason Fabini to take over at right guard. Of course, they also made the headline-grabbing addition of receiver Terrell Owens.
"It seems like we've got a lot more options," Jones said. "With the free agents, we were really able to cover our needs spots. That allows us not to compromise our pick in any way. We don't have to take a lesser player because he plays a position of need.
"But I would not hesitate at all to draft a position where we didn't have the biggest need. We're not going to pass up too good of a player."
Except maybe if he's a receiver.
Although Owens is 32 and fellow starter Terry Glenn will be, too, when training camp opens, and there are legitimate questions about whether they will play every game (Glenn because of health, Owens because he's Owens). Jones may already be trying to make Owens content by not adding competition at the position.
"I don't feel an urgency to get a young wide receiver," Jones said.
If Dallas does try drafting by position, defensive tackle and linebacker are good places to start.
The Cowboys improved their defense a lot by taking outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware and defensive lineman Marcus Spears in the first round last year, then adding lineman Chris Canty in the fourth round.
Yet coach Bill Parcells can still find a spot for anyone else who can get to the quarterback or draw enough blockers to free someone else's path. Tackle might be a priority since La'Roi Glover left in free agency.
When in doubt, though, the Cowboys might go with an offensive lineman.
"If we get out of the draft without an offensive lineman, I'll be very disappointed," Jones said. "Frankly, I like putting an offensive lineman in the mix every year because of how expensive it is to get them in free agency."
The Cowboys have drafted six offensive linemen in four drafts under Parcells. They've had as many misses as hits.
Second-rounders Andre Gurode and Al Johnson split the center job last season and likely will do so again this year. Last year, seventh-rounder Rob Petitti cracked the starting lineup out of training camp, but as the season went on it became apparent that was mostly by default; most telling is that Fabini was signed to take his place.
The regrettable move was taking Jacob Rogers 52nd in 2004.
Rogers was an All-American from Southern California's national championship team, so the Cowboys thought they got a steal getting him so low. Turns out, other teams knew what they were doing by avoiding him. He frustrated team officials for two years, never taking an offensive snap before being released recently.
In the third round of that same draft, Dallas took Stephen Peterman. He remains a fringe player. The other OL pick of the Parcells era was seventh-rounder Justin Bates in 2003, who never made the team.
posted by The Gryphon at 8:14 PM
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