Dallas Cowboys Nation

Monthly Archives: February 2009

Free Agents, Canty Getting Interest, Dallas Quiet

Free agency has gotten under way in 2009 without much of a bang so far. It’s 3 hours and 50 minutes in as I write this, and we’ve yet to hear anything significant regarding Haynesworth, Canty, or Ray Lewis.

Haynesworth is worth keeping an eye on not only because one of the more prominent prospects for him is none other than our NFC East rivals, the Washington Redskins, but also because him leaving the Titans leaves an opening. But if he does end up in Washington, it’ll means the Cowboys will face him twice in 2009, and that could be problematic if the Dallas offensive line play doesn’t step up.

While the Titans have the personnel to continue on without adding any players to replace Haynesworth, they have already made contact with Canty’s agent and are scheduling an interview with him likely either Friday or Saturday. Chris Canty also has an interview lined up already in Washington on Friday.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh went on ESPN’s NFL Live just minutes after the free agency period opened tonight stating that he had been in contact with his agent via text messaging, but that he had not called him to avoid tying up his agent’s phone line. He did mention that he is interested in the Vikings, Eagles, Seahawks, and New York. He didn’t specify Jets or Giants, but it’s likely he meant the Giants.

Meanwhile, the Redskins retained corner back DeAngelo Hall with a six year, $54 million deal, with $30 million of that due in the first three years.

So overall, the Cowboys division opponents appear to be gearing up for the year to come, and that will certainly play a factor in how well the Cowboys do in 2009. The NFC East was again one of the toughest divisions in the league in 2008, and that doesn’t appear to be changing.

No other news so far on any of the Cowboys’ other free agents, so we’ll check back tomorrow and hope that something breaks in favor of Dallas. Would not be good for the Eagles, Giants, and Redskins to beef up if the Cowboys don’t do the same.

Dallas Fans Want a New GM

Those pushing for a regime change at Valley Ranch might want to keep their television sets handy Friday at 6:30, as the Owner of www.FireTheCowboysGM.com is scheduled to do an interview on Sports Talk with David Marcus this evening.

Sports talk airs on KFWD-TV 52. Click here to find your local cable channel.

In addition, the guys at www.CowboysFanRebellion.com tell me that a request to Dale Hansen of WFAA 8, the local DFW ABC station, to publicly support the movement has been denied. Here’s what Dale had to say:

“Oh I’m with you ….. but since I know it’s such a futile effort I’m staying away from it … he won’t ever change …..

But I’ll ask him about it when I can and see what he says

Good luck with it

dale”

It’s a rather confusing response considering that Dale has been outwardly critical of Jerry Jones in a special series he’s doing all this week. Seems like he’d be the perfect candidate to get behind this since he says he’s “with” us.

Don’t be like Dale Hansen, if you agree that Jerry Jones should hire a real GM, then head on over and sign the petition, and donate to the billboard.

“All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing” – Edmund BURKE

Jerry Jones may not be evil, but just think about it …

Cowboys Make Late Moves – Still in The Game

As news gets out that the Cowboys are seeking a trade
partner for SS Roy Williams, there are a few issues to consider regarding the
late moves by the team.

After saying repeatedly during this off-season that the
Cowboys would not be making a big splash in free agency, it appears the ‘Boys
may have been trying to lay a sleeper on everyone.

Early this afternoon, the Cowboys released veteran
quarterback Brad Johnson. The moves frees up about $2 million of the salary
cap, which saw an additional hike in addition to the long planned annual
increase today, and also leaves an opening for even one signed backup
quarterback.

Continue reading →

Cowboys Release Brad Johnson

And Brad Johnson is out of here!

The Dallas Cowboys released Johnson today after he spent the better part of 2008 under heavy scrutiny for his miserable performance during Romo’s injury absence.

The move frees up another couple of million for the Cowboys to use toward either extending Ware’s contract, signing new free agents, keeping some of their own free agents, and signing draft picks come May.

There is no question that Brad Johnson can no longer cut it as an NFL quarterback, and it’s expected that he’ll announce his retirement unless some team is becomes truly desperate for a quarterback.

Look next for a decision on SS Roy Williams. He is on the chopping block this weekend and could be cut as well to free up additional cap space. Williams has made it known that he’d be willing to move to linebacker and even restructure his contract to lessen his hit on the cap this year in order to stay in Dallas.

We’ll bring you more as it’s announced.

Canty Speaks About His Chances In Dallas

Today, Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com spoke with Chris
Canty regarding his status as a free agent defensive end come late tonight,
here’s what Canty had to say.

“I’ll start by saying this … I would love to stay in
Dallas,” Canty said. “But I don’t think that the Cowboys are going to afford me
that opportunity. You have to be somewhat realistic when you’re talking about
the opportunity that free agency presents for a player financially. It’s just
one of those things – you have to capitalize on that when you have the
leverage. Players really don’t have leverage very often in the NFL, so when you
do have that leverage, you have to capitalize on that.“

Continue reading →

Bye-Bye Wilson

For those of you hoping to see Gibril Wilson join another NFC East team, news out of Miami today is that Wilson has signed a 5 year deal with the Dolphins.

A lot of you had expressed wanting Wilson to come to Dallas to help shore up a troubled secondary. With 13 career interceptions, 23 passes deflected, and 489 total tackles, the 5th year veteran could have brought in a little more explosiveness at the safety position than the Cowboys have had since Darren Woodson retired.

Other notable free agent safeties still available as of 11:00 this morning are Jim Leonhard, who played last year with the Baltimore Ravens, and the Browns Sean Jones.

Not to mention long time Eagles safety Brian Dawkins and Patriots saftey Lawyer Milloy.

The Ray Lewis Saga Continues

It’s Wednesday, just about 28 hours until free agency begins tomorrow night, and the rumors are soaring across the news vine as though they were powered by a jetpack. Ray Lewis seems to be at the top of the list as far as Dallas is concerned, and no I don’t mean that Dallas is considering it, though they certainly may be.

The latest is from FanNation.com and it seems to add fuel to the fire. Apparently Ravens’ owner Steve Bisciotti is irritated with Lewis for not showing loyalty to the team in Hawaii. That is where Lewis made it known that he’d like to play for either the Jets or Cowboys.

I’m still of the mind that Lewis won’t be a huge factor in Dallas and the reasons are clear, this teams’ biggest problem is on offense, and he’ll be brought in as another player, not the commander of the vessel. A point worth debating is whether or not he could control Terrell Owens and inspire Tony Romo to take charge, but the point remains that it wouldn’t be his job to do either.

After the stories came out about DeMarcus Ware and Ray Lewis sharing some not-so-subtle remarks about Lewis wanting to be a Cowboy, it seems this idea is now going wholesale to the public.

The Dallas Cowboys have roughly $12 million in available cap space, and have options to add more by cutting players like Brad Johnson and Roy Williams, but the bulk of it is expected to go to Ware in the form of a new contract, a contract that is expected to be near the top in the history books for a defensive player.

Still, makes you wonder what could be. Bart Scott looks to be real close to signing a new deal in Baltimore, and he had already taken over some duties from Lewis last year. Are the Ravens getting ready to move on without Lewis?

It seems logical to assume they’d only do that if Ray was asking too much to stay, and if so that same asking price wouldn’t translate well to the Cowboys. But would he take a lower figure to fulfill his dream of being a Dallas Cowboy?

Then again, maybe the speculation that Bisciotti is irritated with Lewis is just more fanfare instigated by Lewis and/or his agent to drive his price up, Seems kind of an odd way to do it though.

Given that the rumors and talks of him wanting to come to Dallas have helped Lewis’ worth so far, how much can you take away from that if he does start negotiations with the Cowboys?

We might very well know the answers come Friday afternoon.

The Dallas Cowboys Off Season Roadmap

        We here at A Cowboy Nation have been asked to participate in a MVN project called “Off Season Road map. The Cowboys Road Map is and has been pretty clear since failing to make the playoffs last year. However this project is focusing on the top three positions of need. As stated here in an earlier post, the needs have not changed!

Follow me after the break for a further breakdown of those key areas……..

Continue reading →

Options With Canty Leaving

Free agency begins Friday in the NFL, as does the 2009 NFL league year, and while the Cowboys are fairly certain which players will stay and which will go, who is coming in remains a mystery.

The most notable of the Cowboys free agents is Chris Canty. It has been reported many times that he is seeking the kind of contracts that every player in the NFL dreams of, the only problem is that he didn’t well enough to earn that kind of money from the Cowboys.


In the past three years, in which he has started every game, he has proven himself to be a solid and reliable defensive end, often given credit for maintaining his blocks and allowing outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware to gain the most sacks of any player in the last two years. Ware fell just short of tying the NFL record set by Michael Strahan several years back.

So the Cowboys are going to let Canty test the free agent market beginning this Friday, and while they probably have hopes that he will come to his senses over the dollars and cents, it’s widely speculated that another club will pay him more than the Cowboys will.

This leaves a void on the end of the Cowboys’ three man defensive front, and many aren’t confident enough in reserves Stephen Bowen or Jason Hatcher to just hand either of them the reigns.

The draft class with respect to defensive ends isn’t the greatest in recent memory, though some solid players could still be available when the Cowboys make their first selection with the 51st over all pick. Considering that pressure and run stopping were the best features of the Cowboys 2008 defense, it’s probable that the Cowboys will try to shore up other needs with their first pick. Safety and linebacker appearing to top the lists depending on where you look.

* In favor of starting off fresh, the Oakland Raiders have cut ties with DE Kalimba Edwards after the first of his two year deal with the team. Though he is a little underweight for a 3-4 end, his large stature makes him a viable option for the club. He spent the first six years of his career in Detroit before going to Oakland, and has 31 sacks and 208 tackles in his seven year career.

* Another, slightly smaller option, is recently available end Anthony Weaver of the Houston Texans. Also a seven year vet, the former Raven has demonstrated better skill against the run rather than pass rushing with 257 tackles and only 15.5 sacks. The run defense is an area that the Cowboys look to improve for 2009 despite have mostly solid numbers against the run in 2008.

* Out of Buffalo we also have Anthony Hargrove, who is expected to be a free agent come Friday after serving a one year suspension from the league for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy. He never really had the chance to live up to his potential due to his issues, but many believed him to be a solid starting caliber end. It’s a project similar to that of Pacman Jones, and most Dallas fans would be against it. However, given that his problem was one of drugs and not attitude, he may be a suitable project given his talent if the numbers are right.

Regardless of how the Cowboys handle their upcoming need at defensive end, don’t look for any proven players to show up. The Cowboys salary cap space, or lack thereof, should prevent them from signing any big name players; even there were a great crop to choose from in this year’s free agent pool. The draft might just be the way to go, but we won’t know for another month exactly how the free agency period will end up.