Implications of Roy Williams Release

The Cowboys have had a busy offseason, the changes Jerry said would happen, have indeed happened, but more on the player side. With Owens released yesterday, the Cowboys wasted no time in releasing another high profile name in Roy Williams. Roy Williams had two good seasons in Dallas, and garbage the rest of the way. I’m legitimately happier about the Roy Williams release than Owens’ release. Now, that Roy Williams is outta here, let look at the implications.

First off, with Williams gone, this opens up a starting position at safety, and not a minute sooner than Roy’s release do we have our first glimpse of the new duo at safety: Hamlin and Scandrick.

Scandrick you say? at 5-10, 192lbs. According the FWST, there’s speculation Scandrick will probably make the move to free safety, and Hamlin will move over to strong safety. I’ll take that, Scandrick is scrappy and already showed up he could play effectively.

Just talked to Terence Newman to get his general reaction to the events of the last 24 hours or so and he said he was “shocked” to learn that both Terrell Owens and Roy Williams were cut.
He had a lot more to say, but one thing he did add was that he expects to see second-year cornerback Orlando Scandrick playing free safety and moving Ken Hamlin to strong safety which means Mike Jenkins will start at the other corner.
It’s not set in stone, but it sounds like those wheels are in motion.(FWST)

I like this possible move of Scandrick from cornerback to free safety, and here’s what all this means:

– Jenkins will be the starting corner opposite Newman

– Hamlin will move to strong safety

– Scandrick will move to free safety

– Pat Watkins is in the same boat as Carpenter, career backup

– Need to draft more corners

With Scandrick possibly moving to free safety, you would have to think that corners could be a premium with the first picks. We’ll need someone to backup Jenkins and Newman, possibly even draft cornerback with the first pick since its likely Newman will get injured and we’ll have a gapping hole there.

As it stands right now, the draft is shaping up to be a bag of surprises. This is going to come down to the level of comfort at certain starter positions. Here’s a list of starters that could soon be gone after 2009 due to free agency or release:

CB Terence Newman – pretty good player, but over last two seasons, he’s played injured, been injured, missed a few games, and not as effective as in previous years. In this draft, the Cowboys could take a corner early to protect ourselves from injury, and as a possibly replacement player down the line.

Defensive End – Marcus Spears is in a contract season, and its likely he’ll want a big contract, bigger than Canty. Like Canty, Spears has been good in run defense, but nothing spectacular in other areas. So again, we could lose another DE after 2009, This leaves us with Hatcher and Bowen. Even if Dallas adds another DE via free agency, you would have to believe DE could be another early target; moreover, if another DE is not added.

Linebacker – could Ellis be the next player to be released? Its pretty clear Spencer will move into the starter position for 2009, so how much complaining will Jerry take from Ellis? Adding depth at OLB and ILB will be looked into as well. How effective will Brooking really be? Carpenter is a career backup.