The Cowboys have clearly shifted their approach to the roster and have adjusted how much they are willing to pay players. DeMarco Murray was never going to remain a Cowboy, and the Cowboys had a plan in place to address his departure. The Cowboys have invested heavily in the offensive line with Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick, and Zack Martin.
Smith has already been paid cornerstone money, and eventually Frederick and Martin will be next in line for big pay days.
Ok, but what about Ron Leary? Leary was an exclusive rights free agent and he signed his tender, so he’ll be with the Cowboys for this season, but what about 2016? Do the Cowboys still have reservations about his knee, or do they think they can upgrade his spot? It’ll be interesting to see what the market will be for Leary in 2016. I think with another solid season and an injury free season, Leary could land a pretty sizable contract. Will it be from Dallas though?
The Cowboys may have tipped their hat after the 2015 draft when Stephen Jones addressed season ticket holders and acknowledged the Cowboys would have drafted DE Kony Ealy and OG Trai Turner if they had not traded up for DeMarcus Lawrence. So, in essence, the Cowboys would have double-dipped offensive guards last year. They would have had Zack Martin and Trai Turner. Turner started at OG for the Panthers and had a nice season for them.
From DC.com on Turner:
“We gave up, probably, what would have been a starting-type player … we probably would have ended up, believe it or not, picking another guard there. There was a guard where we were going to pick there, Trai Turner from LSU, that we liked a lot,” Jones said.
Turner might have given the Cowboys two new starters on their offensive line between Turner and first-round pick Zack Martin. Assuming Turner could win a starting position, it would have given the Cowboys four starting linemen aged 23 or younger.
“We would have fixed that up for a long time to come, but we really felt like where we needed it the most – and it was a sacrifice – was to step up and go ahead and take Demarcus,” Jones said.
Adding Turner would have eventually pushed Leary into a backup role.
So, with all the being said, there could be a chance the Cowboys look at adding another offensive lineman, perhaps a Leary successor or a swing tackle. Will that come at #27? Personally, I feel that they won’t address Oline in the 1st round, but Jerry Jones left the door slightly open to a possibility.
From DC.com:
After all of that, don’t be surprised if they do it again on April 30. With uncertainty surrounding the futures of Doug Free and Jermey Parnell, it was reasonable to ask Cowboys owner/general manager Jerry Jones if it was reasonable to draft an offensive lineman 27th in this year’s draft.
“It certainly is,” he said.
The context of the article focused on offensive tackle, but with a possible need at offensive line, I would not be surprised if the Cowboys drafted a player like Brandon Scherff, Iowa and continue mauling the hell out of teams with the running game. The Cowboys have been actively talking to offensive lineman and have a few workouts scheduled with Laurence Gibson, OT, Virginia Tech and Chaz Green, OT, Florida. Both are considered later round guys, but the fact the Cowboys are looking at them closer lends me to believe the Cowboys are not done yet with offensive line additions. Keep an eye on players like Ty Sambrailo, Colorado State that have position flex as well, tackles that could bounce inside and play guard.
— As for linebacker, the Cowboys have secured depth at the position, but are currently lacking a sure-shot starter besides Sean Lee and Anthony Hitchens. Jasper Brinkley could definitely play the mike LB, but the Cowboys could upgrade the position group in general.
There’s still a chance the Cowboys land Rolando McClain on the cheap, but even so, how comfortable do you feel with him playing 16 games? His status seemed to be “gametime decision” more often than not, and that’s not going to cut it. I love the violent play and all that, but if you aren’t on the field you aren’t helping.
Would the Cowboys take a LB at #27? Just today, Coach Eberflus was onsite to watch Eric Kendricks, LB, UCLA run some drills in a workout:
Cowboys linebackers coach Matt Eberflus was on the UCLA campus Monday to get a closer look at one of the top linebacker prospects in the 2015 NFL Draft and put a marker in Kendricks’ hand to test him at the white board, as well.
“It went super well,” Kendricks said of his encounter with Eberflus. “He’s good. He played himself, he played at Toledo, so he has a lot of experience. He’s a really sparky guy.”
Perhaps. Bernandrick McKinney, LB, Mississippi State is a player the Cowboys have met with, but there are varying opinions on McKinney, most that I have seen are not so complimentary, but rather so-so.
Shaq Thompson, LB, Washington is another player that has skill sets similar to Ryan Shazier, a player the Cowboys were going to draft in the 1st round over Zack Martin.
From DMN:
Shazier looked to be on his way to the Cowboys as the weakside linebacker’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, was on the phone with Dallas, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
But Pittsburgh snatched up the speedy 6-1, 237-pound linebacker one pick ahead of the Cowboys, which explains the tense moments that were captured by the team’s draft room camera.
“I’m in the middle of writing a text that Dallas is going to take him and the phone rings and it’s the Steelers,” Ryan’s father, Vernon Shazier, told the Post-Gazette. “Good thing I didn’t send out that text.”
The Cowboys wanted to address the linebacker position early, and I wonder if the Cowboys will re-visit this strategy this year. A player I would watch for would be Denzel Perryman, Miami, but at #60, but I doubt he makes it that far. There’s a lot to like about Perryman’s game when you watch it, he looks ready to be a star day one in the NFL.
Of course, the Cowboys could go the route they went with Hitchens and add a guy in a later round and hope he can contribute like Hitchens did. I’m still sifting through players to watch in later rounds, because every year, the Cowboys draft a guy no one really had on their radar and people hate the pick. If we can get another Hitchens quality guy, then we’re in business.
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