Peter King's Gonso's "Things I Think I Think" (Dallas Cowboys edition)
- Jerry looks like an idiot for not bringing in real safety help, keeping Garrett, rolling the dice on Beuhler, and really the entire '09 draft class.
- Jerry looks like a genius for getting Austin's contract done, not extending Sensabaugh, and letting Flozell go.
- This whole Alan Ball thing isn't going to work. Yay he made a play.
- When people say "penalties aren't necessarily a big deal," they're talking about the occasional false start or offsides, or a TD-saving interference. They're not talking about end-zone celebrations on constant holding calls.
- Special teams needs a lot of work, but people are too hasty in blaming Joe DeCamillis. He's a very proven quantity at what he does, but a lot of players on the ST squad are not. The kicker is having issues on FGs and kickoffs, there are new guys out there, and vets like Sensebaugh are blowing tackles.
- Mike Jenkins will be fine.
- I don't think Romo is playing terribly, but the timing of his turnovers is pretty bad. With better running (see 2009) I think that can work itself out. He's averaging 41 throws per game and getting rid of the ball pretty quickly. Notice he's been sacked only 7 times (6 of them vs TEN), which give the line problems I think is pretty good. His stat line also suffers a bit due to some of the stupid penalties and defensive issues.
So you guys know I'm always looking at player contracts and structures, and here's where I think it's at.
Players there's a good chance we don't see on the '11 roster for contract, age, or production reasons:
Sensabaugh
Buehler
Barber
Kosier
Barron
Brooking.
Any and all of the coaching staff.
Young players with manageable contracts, who are either expendable temps, injury issues, or guys who can expect to fight off other competition to remain with the team (if not the NFL):
Holley
Ogletree
Scott Chandler
Sam Young
Barry Church
Stephen McGee
Jeremy Parnell
Steven Hodge
Phil Costa
Sean Lissemore
Danny McCray
Josh Brent
Every linebacker named Williams
Players who have to start playing better (or be reasonably priced) before we think about extensions or re-signs:
Scandrick
Sensabaugh
Bennett
Spears
Players that need extensions/new contracts and are likely get them unless they have really excessive demands:
Choice
Holland
Bowen
Players that need extensions/new contracts immediately or relatively soon, and are almost certainly getting them:
Free
McBriar
Ratliff
Spencer
Not going anywhere:
Romo
Ware
Jenkins
Newman
Gurode
Olshansky
Gronkowski
Bradie James
Witten
Felix Jones
Colombo
Dez Bryant
Sean Lee
LaDouceur, L.P.
Butler
Sean Lee
AoA
Leonard Davis - is actually cheaper to keep next year than to cut, so if he has any value (even as a backup) he'll probably be around.
X-Factors:
Roy Williams. He's due $5.1m in 2011, and as bizarre as it seems he's actually been pretty clutch and productive so far, especially in the red zone. If he can stay that way he might stick around another year for that price. We could return the same WR lineup next year, minus Hurd, and that should be fine. Despite the Ogletree hype he's been having some issues and Holley is still a project, but at #4 and #5 that's to be expected.
Kitna. Probably a keeper, but depends on whether he wants to keep playing (he is 38), and whether or not McGee develops.
John Phillips. Seems solid, maybe a future starting option even, but reconstructive ACL surgery isn't something every player can recover from.
Last edited by Gonzirra; 10-18-2010 at 06:26 PM.