For some of us long-time Dallas Cowboys fans, the real offseason cannot get here soon enough.
The agonizing 31-14 loss against the New York Football Giants was the perfect ending to an imperfect season. The Boys were plagued with self-destruction, first by Tony Romo targeting opposing defensive backs such as the Detroit Lions for two pick-six scores, and then by the defense’s inability to maintain a double-digit lead in the second half.
Let’s go ahead and throw on some questionable game management calls by Jason Garrett. You know the call – icing your own kicker just as he nailed the game-winning field goal, only to miss the second attempt and eventually lose to the Arizona Cardinals.
Needless to say, many in Cowboys Nation are pleased that we don’t have to endure anymore ineptness this season and follow up an embarrassing season with an embarrassing post season performance. Now it’s time to focus on cleaning up the mess that is the Dallas Cowboys.
The first move the club should make is replacing Jerry Jones “the general manager” with a real GM. There just happens to be one on the market that was voted NFL executive of the year not once, but six times. Bill Polian would be an instant upgrade over Razorback Jerry.
But, let’s get real. That isn’t going to happen. Jerry will be owner, president, GM and the coach’s shadow on the sideline until he’s pushing up daisies.
The Cowboys addressed a couple much-needed coaching changes when they hired Bill Callahan to replace Hudson Houck and Jerome Henderson to take over defensive backs as the team chose not to renew Dave Campo’s contract.
March 13 is the next opportunity to bring some change to the team when the free agency period begins. Dallas is in need of upgrades on both sides of the ball. The most urgent areas include Campo’s underachieving secondary and Houck’s sieve of an offensive line.
With Elam’s one-year contract set to expire, LaRon Landry, currently with the Washington Redskins, would be a nice upgrade at the strong safety position. He’s better in pass coverage than the current options and likes to punish runners at the line. If Landry re-signs with the Skins or chooses another location, you can bank on the Cowboys going after a safety in the first or second round of this year’s draft.
Dallas has to address their interior offensive line issues. The experiment with undrafted rookies Phil Costa and Kevin Kowalski was a disaster with missed blocks and horrendous snaps at the worst possible time – not that there’s ever a good time to have a bad exchange between the center and quarterback. Derrick Dockery was another mistake by Jerry the GM and Montrae Holland can’t stay healthy.
Two quality guards will be available on the free agent market in Carl Nicks of New Orleans and Ben Grubbs of Baltimore. The one most likely to hit the streets is Nicks simply because the Saints already spent a lot of money on the other guard Jahri Evans.
The Cowboys can also upgrade the team via the 2012 NFL Draft in April. With the 14th overall pick, the Boys should select David DeCastro from Stanford. DeCastro is, perhaps, the best interior lineman to come out of college in a long time. Let’s hope Jerry doesn’t whiff on this one.
If DeCastro is gone by the time the Cowboys are on the clock, look for them to trade down in the first round and select a cornerback (Janoris Jenkins of North Alabama or Alfonzo Dennard of Nebraska) or Alabama safety Mark Barron. Georgia offensive lineman Cordy Glenn is also a possibility.
The Cowboys have a real opportunity to turn this impending train wreck around in relatively short time. Let’s just hope GM Jerry doesn’t get in the way.