Redskins clean house

[MoonBBad]

I can at least say my team is on the right track. More than can be said here.

On the right track? How? Well, I guess you could be right, you won one playoff game this season instead of losing in the first round like usual.

[Houston]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...-to-full-boil/

looks like they could be getting Peppers

Peppers is visiting The Bears first but it's still a possibility.

[MoonBBad]

Peppers is visiting The Bears first but it's still a possibility.

Ya he is taking his physical right now. He'll be a bear in a few hours. Chester taylor also taking a physical in Chicago.

[Archer]

Kind of unrelated to a thread topic, but my buddy and I had this same argument. The basic premise is that if you aren't going to win the championship, it is better to get a pick closer to #1 because in the end, you don't get shit for getting to the Divisional Round other than a late draft pick.

I've heard the theory but I don't agree with it. I would rather my team gets the shot at a championship then not making it all. I'm sure Jets fans [longest underdog ever] could have used that theory when entering the playoffs but if you aren't in it then you can't win it [I know kinda cliche]. With the right scouting/staff you can pick up good peices in the draft either way

[Rayman]

And...this season because it's an uncapped year, the Cowboys are going to be victims of the Final Eight Plan.

Know what's my favorite kind of Cowboy-hater?

The one who doesn't have a clue what he's talking about.

Cowboys won't sit back in free agency
Despite restrictions, Dallas will be a player.


By David Moore

THE DALLAS MORNING NEWS

Published: 9:53 p.m. Thursday, March 4, 2010


The NFL's great experiment began in the early hours this morning, just after midnight.

Since the mid-1990s, the league has been governed by an economic system that included a salary cap designed to promote competitive balance among the teams. But the men who presided over that labor peace no longer run the sport.

The owners and players are engaged in a bargaining stare-down that has prompted predictions of a lockout next year. But first, both sides are prepared for a year without a salary cap, which officially began today.

The question is whether any NFL team will attempt to become the league's equivalent of baseball's New York Yankees.

Restrictions have been placed on the top eight teams, including the Dallas Cowboys. But that's like saying no one in the Cowboys front office can take a spin on the Texas Giant unless they are 48-inches tall.

The Cowboys aren't above the rules. But Jerry Jones and everyone else in the Cowboys front office stand taller than 48 inches, so those restrictions don't have an impact. Jones insists the Cowboys will be very active and pursue the players he wants.

"If it made sense to us (before the uncapped year), then it makes sense now," Jones said.

"The system allows us to make a lot of change and do some things that make us different and make us better. The thing I'm emphasizing is, make no mistake about it, I expect to see some new faces."

The Cowboys lost in the second round of the playoffs to Minnesota last season. That puts them in the second tier of the Final Eight Plan of clubs under restrictions.

Teams in this tier are given a $5.807 million slot in 2010 to sign a free agent. In addition, they can sign all the free agents they want at $3.672 million or less. If they lose one of their own free agents, they are allowed to replace him at a comparable contract.

Let's put that in perspective. The Cowboys signed three defensive starters in free agency last season. End Igor Olshansky, linebacker Keith Brooking and safety Gerald Sensabaugh each counted less than $3.6 million against the cap in their first season.

Right guard Leonard Davis was the last high-dollar freeagent signed by the Cowboys. His six-year, $42 million deal, which included a $16 million signing bonus, counted less than $5.8 million against the cap in his first season.

Restrictions placed on the four teams that advanced to the conference championship games are much more severe. But then, that's not the Cowboys' problem, is it?

The bottom line is, Jones believes the Final Eight Plan won't freeze him out of any free agent the club has targeted.

"We can do whatever we want to do,'' Jones said.

Another consequence of this uncapped offseason is more than 200 players who were scheduled to become unrestricted free agents and are now restricted.

Sorry about that, Miles Austin. Now the only way the Cowboys lose the breakout star wide receiver is if somebody offers an exorbitant contract AND top draft picks.

Talent evaluators don't regard this as a particularly strong unrestricted free-agent class.

Defensive end Julius Peppers will land an eye-catching contract as he leaves the Carolina Panthers. But the list of top players is relatively short: wide receiver Terrell Owens, safety Darren Sharper, defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, and linebackers Karlos Dansby and Aaron Kampman.

The Cowboys probably won't be in the market for those players, with the possible exception of Sharper, coming off his Super Bowl-winning season in New Orleans.

But Dallas will be dangerous because it is such a desirable location for free agents and because, as executive vice president Stephen Jones will tell you, this team doesn't have any glaring needs. That allows the Cowboys to be opportunistic and pounce rather than desperately chase one player or position.

"If an opportunity presents itself to improve in an area, we'll be ready to move," Stephen Jones said.

Those opportunities won't be diminished by the Final Eight Plan.

"I know we're going to have some opportunities in this offseason," Jerry Jones said."And I'm going to take advantage of it."

Cliff notes: Dallas can basically go after whoever they want, so long as the first year salary stays under $3.6M

And even if they couldn't, they still would be in excellent shape seeing as how their best players are either in or just entering their physical primes. Washington's best players are over the hill and/or overpaid, with the exception of Orakpo.

Dallas doesn't have to spend a ton of money. Either way, they're set up to be a contender for years to come. Little Danny Snyder will spend that time frame throwing more money at his mistakes and this uncapped year just means there will be more mistakes to come.

Ask any neutral fan who they'd rather root for in the next 5 years. It's not even remotely close.

If I were the cowboys yes. Any other team, no. Cowboys don't win when the pressure is on, they have proved that the past few seasons. They have the talent, but no testicular fortitude.

Yeah, those last few weeks of the season and the first game against Philly really showed a lack of fortitude. You couldn't be more wrong in this case.

On the right track? How? Well, I guess you could be right, you won one playoff game this season instead of losing in the first round like usual.

I feel like the team pulled the same thing it did in 1991. The immediate goal was to win late in the year and win a playoff game. Once they did that, they relaxed and felt like they had accomplished something, then went out and got spanked by Detroit.

Next year, they realized their goal was to go out and dominate and they began their championship run.

Sounds familiar. Hate if you want, I'd much rather root for the team that is indeed on the right track, no matter what morons like you believe (or what ESPN says).