Speaker 1: The following Here's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Are you ready for
Speaker 1: a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah? And so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for The Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: wa with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and
Speaker 1: Derek Eagleton. It is Wednesday, January third, twenty eighteen, Season thirteen,
Speaker 1: episode number ninety eight. Welcome to another edition of The Break,
Speaker 1: live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star.
Speaker 1: We appreciate you guys taking some time with us today
Speaker 1: to talk some Cowboys football. We're into our offseason schedule.
Speaker 1: In case you haven't noticed, there's one show per day.
Speaker 1: Each of the different podcasts that we have will be
Speaker 1: going once a week throughout the offseason, all the way
Speaker 1: until we get to about June after the final mini camp,
Speaker 1: and then we'll take about a month hiatus as we
Speaker 1: do every year, and then we'll be back at training.
Speaker 1: Are you doing It's gonna go quickly. Huh, what are
Speaker 1: you doing? I'm telling people what to expect. What do
Speaker 1: you mean? What am I doing? January third, Yes, Like,
Speaker 1: let me just let me just breathe for a second.
Speaker 1: Fans want to know. These things got me doing the
Speaker 1: draft show tomorrow. You got me going to training camp today?
Speaker 1: Will all right? Cool? Yep? All right, So let's let's
Speaker 1: get into it. We got a lot to talk about.
Speaker 1: We have not been on the air since the Cowboys
Speaker 1: had their scintillating final game of the season. They win
Speaker 1: six to zero, but it was a game where I
Speaker 1: don't think it inspired a whole lot of confidence in
Speaker 1: most fans that watched the game. But a win is
Speaker 1: a win. Cowboys in with a nine and seven record,
Speaker 1: so they have a winning record, don't make the playoffs.
Speaker 1: And real quick, before we do what we're gonna do
Speaker 1: plan to do today, I have some questions for you
Speaker 1: guys for a season review. I just real quickly want
Speaker 1: to get a quick some quick thoughts from you guys
Speaker 1: with regards to that game and just kind of a
Speaker 1: general thought of that game relative to the season in
Speaker 1: them ending nine and seven. Let's start with you, Nick,
Speaker 1: what's your your final thought on this twenty seventeen season. Well,
Speaker 1: you know, I did so much yelling during the during
Speaker 1: that game because he's so exciting. I lost very loud.
Speaker 1: You almost got kicked out. Yeah, yeah, Um, I don't know.
Speaker 1: I mean I thought it was. It was an ugly
Speaker 1: game for sure, Um, you know, the Eagles not even
Speaker 1: playing their guys, the Cowboys kind of struggling through, but
Speaker 1: you know, they they won the game, and I thought
Speaker 1: it was important. I thought it was important for Jason
Speaker 1: Garrett because it kept his job, because if you lose
Speaker 1: to the Eagles, I don't think he keeps his job. Really, no,
Speaker 1: not like that, not with that bad team they threw
Speaker 1: out there. Eagles were playing their second slash third quarterback.
Speaker 1: They you know, they weren't that interested and they, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of were puddling along there. If you lose to
Speaker 1: the Eagles, I think, and go finish eight and eight. Again,
Speaker 1: I don't know. I don't know if he keeps it,
Speaker 1: but so I think it's important for Jason Garrett and
Speaker 1: call it meaningless if you want, I think it was
Speaker 1: meaningful for him. Amber. No, it was definitely surprising to
Speaker 1: see the Cowboys going up against that team, as Nick mentioned,
Speaker 1: but with the Cowboys having a lot of their starters
Speaker 1: and still that we're struggling. They didn't score anything up
Speaker 1: until the last quarter. With Bryce Butler catching the touchdown. Um,
Speaker 1: then Dan Bailey we talked about him, and you know,
Speaker 1: I'm sure we'll discuss that later. But just in general,
Speaker 1: the fact that they ended up with this record, it's
Speaker 1: kind of upsetting because on one hand, you say, okay,
Speaker 1: well we had this record, but in reality, when you
Speaker 1: analyze the whole season, it sucked in a lot of acts.
Speaker 1: My vocabulary is very limited. Straight for the vocabulary is
Speaker 1: perfect for what the fans think. Well, you know, it's
Speaker 1: just it's bad to see. Okay, yeah, now you have
Speaker 1: this record to use it and justify everything else, like, Okay,
Speaker 1: well we did this and that, but we're finishing up
Speaker 1: with a winning record. Well, no, every there were so
Speaker 1: many bad things to talk about throughout the season, and yeah,
Speaker 1: changes need to happen, but I don't know how we
Speaker 1: all really know. Not many changes will happen, Okay, Dave, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I disagree. Like the one thing that I've realized during
Speaker 1: this past week since they won that game, the only
Speaker 1: thing it matters about is for people like us, like
Speaker 1: media types and I guess fans maybe to say, like, well,
Speaker 1: the last time they head back to back winning records
Speaker 1: was twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen. But then that's so
Speaker 1: hollow because ten years from now, when you say that stat,
Speaker 1: you're gonna stop and think like, well, yeah, okay, they
Speaker 1: went nine and seven and twenty seventeen, Big whoop. It
Speaker 1: was a crappy season, Like that's what people are gonna say.
Speaker 1: And I hope, I hope that whether or not Jason
Speaker 1: Garrett has a job wasn't determined by that, like a meaningless,
Speaker 1: crappy game in Philadelphia where you knew all week that
Speaker 1: I wasn't going to decide anything. I get that it's
Speaker 1: big for him to avoid another eight and eight season,
Speaker 1: him personally, not the Cowboys, because I don't think that
Speaker 1: really matters in the long run of things. And you know,
Speaker 1: if you're deciding whether or not he should be the
Speaker 1: coach of the Cowboys, I hope you're looking at the
Speaker 1: bigger picture and how you played during Zeke's suspension, and
Speaker 1: how you handled the injuries and the ups and the downs,
Speaker 1: and how you handled the adversity. I hope everything that
Speaker 1: happened when you were still in the playoff hunt mattered
Speaker 1: more than whether or not you got a meaningless win
Speaker 1: to get to nine and seven, and you know that's
Speaker 1: why I firmly thought that they should be sitting guys themselves.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a moral victory to get to nine
Speaker 1: and seven, that's all it is. And it's more of
Speaker 1: a moral victory for Jason Garrett than the team as
Speaker 1: a whole. The players don't care. You know, I disagree
Speaker 1: a little bit with that because I think, well, I'll
Speaker 1: throw one other thing in there. It's not I agree
Speaker 1: with you. Maybe the players don't care. I think Jason cares,
Speaker 1: and I certainly think that the organization cares. And here's why.
Speaker 1: That's okay, here's why, because you start looking at it
Speaker 1: and you get five years from now, and there are
Speaker 1: these stats that people throw out that talk about the
Speaker 1: overall health of the organization. Let's assume they go back
Speaker 1: to their winning ways like they last year next year.
Speaker 1: Then you're on a city a situation where the stat
Speaker 1: is four of the last five years the Cowboys have
Speaker 1: had a winning record. Right, Those are the kinds of
Speaker 1: things that I think the organization thinks about. Sure that
Speaker 1: that makes that game and that one extra win important
Speaker 1: to them. Now, again, it's not a super Bowl, it's
Speaker 1: not like it's that level of importance, but it still
Speaker 1: is somewhat important to the organization, and it gets to
Speaker 1: have a winning season. And I guess my argument to that,
Speaker 1: you're right, and I guess that was my point when
Speaker 1: I started talking, was a decade from now, it'll be
Speaker 1: part of this statistic, like well, four of the last
Speaker 1: five years. But when you stop and think about it,
Speaker 1: like it's like, I'm borrow a line from my buddy
Speaker 1: Clarence Hill. Stats lie like if you think back and
Speaker 1: you're like, yeah, great, they went nine and seven, they
Speaker 1: stopped like but but but the flip to that is,
Speaker 1: let's assume again, and this is a huge assumption, so
Speaker 1: don't take this as fact. Let's assume that the Cowboys
Speaker 1: actually make a deep run next year and or a
Speaker 1: deep run in the year after that. Now that stat
Speaker 1: becomes even more important. Right. So those are the kind
Speaker 1: of things I think the organizations like, we want to
Speaker 1: give as many wins as we can because it all
Speaker 1: bills to the narrative of what our organization is. There's
Speaker 1: something to be said for you know, like Nick said
Speaker 1: last week, you only get sixteen of these, you might
Speaker 1: as well try to win all of the ones that
Speaker 1: you can. But I think it's more hollow than not
Speaker 1: hollow at the end of the day, until you win
Speaker 1: a Super Bowl or at least get a downed champaign. Right,
Speaker 1: if this is year two of an eight year run
Speaker 1: of making the playoffs matter, the Seahawks just concluded, yeah, sure,
Speaker 1: then it it still doesn't matter that much because if
Speaker 1: they start doing that, nobody's gonna care about this season.
Speaker 1: They're gonna be like, well, great whatever, nine and seven.
Speaker 1: But then they went twelve and four and thirteen and three,
Speaker 1: eight and blah blah blah. So it is what it is.
Speaker 1: We will see. I mean, I think all in all,
Speaker 1: I think we all agree. It was extremely disappointing. This
Speaker 1: was this was maybe maybe the weirdest season I've ever
Speaker 1: experienced here with the Cowboys. I've been Nick, you and
Speaker 1: I both have had. This was our eighteen this or
Speaker 1: your nineteenth eighteen nineteen. This is my eighteenth season, and yes,
Speaker 1: pretty funny and by far, this was the weirdest season
Speaker 1: I've ever experienced. It was so many things, Dave, you
Speaker 1: said it when we were on the plane coming back.
Speaker 1: I think it was after the game you were saying,
Speaker 1: you know, there's there's when you think back to all
Speaker 1: the things that would happen if you try to go
Speaker 1: back to training camp. There have been so many things
Speaker 1: that this organization, that this league has experienced this year
Speaker 1: that were out of the norm, and it just made
Speaker 1: for just this really crazy season, and on top of that,
Speaker 1: disappointing because the results were not what you expected them
Speaker 1: to be. I tried to write it all out, and then,
Speaker 1: you know, I liked to screenshot in my notes and
Speaker 1: put them on Twitter. I tried to write it all
Speaker 1: out in a note the other day and I failed.
Speaker 1: Like I looked at it and I was like, this
Speaker 1: isn't remotely close to being every I mean, I had
Speaker 1: a game cancel, had a game canceled by a hurricane
Speaker 1: telephone had your player I'd forgotten about that, and that
Speaker 1: was on the bottom end of the list. Oh yeah,
Speaker 1: that's happened that we're crazy, right, Well, it was a
Speaker 1: big deal for what happened. I'm not gonna say it
Speaker 1: wouldn't have no I'm saying. I'm saying from the standpoint
Speaker 1: of when you think about all the things that affected
Speaker 1: on the field, that was a preseason game. So missing
Speaker 1: a preseason game was relatively the last one preseason game
Speaker 1: was canceled. Your incumbent punt returner was cut after a
Speaker 1: dog kidnapping scandal. Um, Your your star running back was
Speaker 1: suspended and had a lengthy battle with the NFL. Playing
Speaker 1: this week, Playing this week, one of your linebackers allegedly
Speaker 1: pulled a gun on some people. All of your outside
Speaker 1: free agents that you hired, two of them got cut,
Speaker 1: one of them retired. Um, but there was the national anthem.
Speaker 1: I mean we spent a whole thirty minute segment talking
Speaker 1: about that. What else happened? That's and that's my point,
Speaker 1: Like I've only listed four or five things, and I'm
Speaker 1: just starting to draw a blank. And I know that
Speaker 1: that's just like the tip of the iceberg. And by
Speaker 1: the way, only one of those, I think, and that's
Speaker 1: probably Zeke, actually was something that affected on the field
Speaker 1: significant And while I didn't get into the tire and
Speaker 1: injury to Sean. Yeah, if you want to talk about football,
Speaker 1: you got all that swiffing on three free agents. Oh yeah, no,
Speaker 1: that's fair, no doubt not mean that that did affect. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but part of that's on the on themselves. I mean
Speaker 1: the fact that they knew Demontre Moore was was going
Speaker 1: to be suspended, Like, I don't know. That didn't sit
Speaker 1: well with me. I mean, it's not like he was
Speaker 1: that great in other other places. You've already got guys
Speaker 1: that are that are suspended. I mean, you already knew
Speaker 1: he was going to be have a two game suspension
Speaker 1: and they didn't even say anything. I don't know, I
Speaker 1: thought that was bad. Yeah about about a tight end
Speaker 1: that that that caught the Yeah this world by by
Speaker 1: nineteen week concussion. We forgot about the two touchdowns in
Speaker 1: the preseason. This guy's about the star in the making
Speaker 1: and getcussion and he's gone, Uh, your second best pass
Speaker 1: rusher started the season suspended. He missed the first month
Speaker 1: of the season, lost the nipple ring in the middle
Speaker 1: of nipple ring. Uh. First missed the last month of
Speaker 1: the season with another very lengthy concussion that was and
Speaker 1: still ended the season. Second. I believe so off the
Speaker 1: top of my head, I believe so pretty amazing. Jeff
Speaker 1: Heath led the team and picks for a third consecutive year.
Speaker 1: That's pretty wild is that three consecutive years now he's
Speaker 1: been tied for the lead at least at least tied,
Speaker 1: if not outright leading Jeff Jeff Heath being called the
Speaker 1: goat is like the biggest story. Never he's the goat?
Speaker 1: Um yes, oh just dezz in big nineteen inch letters,
Speaker 1: say it with me, Darren McFadden, Oh, I forgot all
Speaker 1: your number two running backslash number one running back all
Speaker 1: through camp who took one carry this entire season and retired.
Speaker 1: Never understood that, and nobody will ever understand that as
Speaker 1: long as we're doing this. Rod Smith was better than
Speaker 1: Jalen Smith. No. Hey, well, if you were at about
Speaker 1: week six or seven, you probably had a pretty good
Speaker 1: How about the Jayalen Smith roller coaster from like they
Speaker 1: can't count on this guy to this guy's going to
Speaker 1: be an All Pro in the preseason too, this guy's
Speaker 1: not ready about week five to this guy's playing pretty
Speaker 1: well too. We feel really good about where he's that
Speaker 1: heading into year three. I mean, you went up and
Speaker 1: down about six times, kind of like your voice just
Speaker 1: went like I can talk about that, but if I
Speaker 1: tried to do what you just did, that would be
Speaker 1: really you could break that glass. Yeah, it's it's it's
Speaker 1: just been such a crazy season and I think that
Speaker 1: you know, on top of that, it being a disappointing season,
Speaker 1: I think is what's so hard for fans because there's
Speaker 1: been so much emotion that's been tied up in it,
Speaker 1: and then not winning games on top of that, and
Speaker 1: it being not what you expected because coming into this
Speaker 1: year you really expect it there to be a much
Speaker 1: better production on the on the field. What do you
Speaker 1: other other than the Zeke saga? What do you think
Speaker 1: fans were the most upset about heading into Week one?
Speaker 1: And I'll I have the answer. I'll most upset, Yeah,
Speaker 1: heading into week other than the Zeke saga week one,
Speaker 1: I'll tell I have the answer. I'll tell you what
Speaker 1: it is. Kellen Moore was still on this team. They
Speaker 1: were most upset about it. Yes, absolutely, are the backup quarterback? Yes,
Speaker 1: and not like you forget he was even on the
Speaker 1: active roster at one point this year, but that happened. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I wasn't playing, but was on the active roster. Cedric
Speaker 1: Thornton's in the playoffs right now with what team Buffalo?
Speaker 1: How are you? It's been a long year, That's what
Speaker 1: I'm trying to say. It's been a long year. It's
Speaker 1: gonna be interesting when you get into free agency, which
Speaker 1: starts early March mid March. I don't have the exact date,
Speaker 1: March fourteenth. Maybe that's great, let's go with that. No,
Speaker 1: but when you get into it this year, they're gonna
Speaker 1: they're gonna start taking some lumps from the media, and
Speaker 1: they should because then they're gonna start looking at the
Speaker 1: last two years of free agents and they've been pretty bad.
Speaker 1: And that's the thing. No, No, they've been really awful,
Speaker 1: actually any bad. I think they've gotten the benefit of
Speaker 1: the doubt a lot the last couple of years because,
Speaker 1: and let's be honest, like the scouting staff and the
Speaker 1: administrative staff, like they've made some before that they were
Speaker 1: making some pretty good decisions I thought with regards to personnel. Yeah,
Speaker 1: whether it's free agency or not, they were just making
Speaker 1: good personnel decisions. And so I think people gave them
Speaker 1: the benefit of the doubt that hey, this new formula
Speaker 1: of not going and paying top dollar for free agents
Speaker 1: and let's see where it goes. Let's give them the
Speaker 1: benefit of doubt because they made other good, wise prudent decisions. Now,
Speaker 1: I don't think they get that benefit of the doubt
Speaker 1: because going and you get what you pay for, right,
Speaker 1: and what they've paid for the last couple of years
Speaker 1: has basically been what they got and which is not
Speaker 1: a lot of production from the free agents. So this year,
Speaker 1: I think you're right, there's gonna be a ton of
Speaker 1: scrutiny on whatever decisions they make, and they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to deal with that if that matters to them. And
Speaker 1: and the guys that they lost, I mean, I mean,
Speaker 1: the guys they lost in free agency were pretty you know,
Speaker 1: did a pretty good job. Brandon Card had a nice year.
Speaker 1: I think Barry Church had a nice year. Church had
Speaker 1: a pretty damn oh though, for the money, and I
Speaker 1: want to rewrite history for the money. I don't think
Speaker 1: the Cowboys keep him like that. That I don't put
Speaker 1: on the Cowboys. I looked at all, not keeping Barry Church.
Speaker 1: I looked at Mote Claiborne another day. I just just
Speaker 1: hadn't heard anything about him, and he played fifteen games.
Speaker 1: He had one interception, But I mean I was kind
Speaker 1: of surprised. I don't know, probably the top three, Yeah,
Speaker 1: fifteen games. That was impressed by that for him because
Speaker 1: he hadn't that's what he hasn't been able to do. Yeah,
Speaker 1: just one interception. But he's never been a big interception guy. Anyways,
Speaker 1: disappointment where he was drafted. I think that's such a
Speaker 1: huge disappointment. I think he could go down as one
Speaker 1: of the biggest bus in the draft bus in Cowboys history.
Speaker 1: And I know, really people want to say Bobby Carpenter
Speaker 1: or whatever, but when you look at what you trade
Speaker 1: it up to get him, and he hasn't been a
Speaker 1: productive player. I mean, I hate saying it. You know,
Speaker 1: I know he's an LSU guy and you can't argue
Speaker 1: with facts, man, I know. And not only that, but
Speaker 1: that's lie though you are. Stats can lie, but not
Speaker 1: just disappointing here, Like if he goes on and the
Speaker 1: rest of his career is the same, then it's it's
Speaker 1: it says that he wasn't even a great player. It
Speaker 1: wasn't it. He didn't play way great for the Cowboys.
Speaker 1: He wasn't a great player. And to take him that high.
Speaker 1: I think that's the part that so I told you
Speaker 1: what I thought they should have done year three. Moved
Speaker 1: from defense receiver. Yeah, maybe you wouldn't be in a
Speaker 1: position you are right now a receiver. I've seen him
Speaker 1: return a few kicks. I mean, he is quick, he's fast,
Speaker 1: he's got, you know, some alusiveness. I mean, you got
Speaker 1: to do something with them. I did not expect to
Speaker 1: be breaking down Mo Clayborne today. All that. I never
Speaker 1: welcome to jets break. I never know where this show
Speaker 1: is going to go. All right, let's take our first break.
Speaker 1: When we come back. I have a whole series of
Speaker 1: questions I want to ask you guys that will wrap
Speaker 1: up this season. Well when we come right back. This
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Speaker 1: Back to the Break Welcome back. It is a second
Speaker 1: segment of Break Live from the s WBC Mortgage studios
Speaker 1: at the Star. We're doing a season in review today.
Speaker 1: We're talking about the twenty seventeen season and what happened
Speaker 1: this season and how that could impact the twenty eighteen offseason.
Speaker 1: Let's start with the first question I have for you guys,
Speaker 1: Which was a bigger impact on this disappointing season. Zeke's suspension,
Speaker 1: Tyren Smith's injuries or Lee Shaun Lee's injuries? Leeks suspension. Wow,
Speaker 1: because it started in the summer and it lasted all
Speaker 1: the way till weeks sixteen of the season when he
Speaker 1: came back and one way or another it was hanging
Speaker 1: over his head. It affected him, It affected his demeanor. Um,
Speaker 1: I don't I mean, I think I think he looked
Speaker 1: very tired in Week one against the Giants, he looked tired.
Speaker 1: He did played well, but he looked tired. I just
Speaker 1: thought that that situation stayed in the news, stayed as
Speaker 1: a distraction for him, maybe not his teammates all the time, coaches,
Speaker 1: do we have him? Do we not? He played against
Speaker 1: the Chiefs on Sunday and needn't know until Friday morning
Speaker 1: he was gonna play. I thought that was a distraction
Speaker 1: all year, and then the six games without him was
Speaker 1: a disaster. I mean it was well when it was
Speaker 1: either three and three, but yeah, and just for reference,
Speaker 1: just for four and two gets you in the playoffs
Speaker 1: if it's Atlanta. Yeah, just for reference sake, Cowboys went
Speaker 1: three and three without Zeke. They went oh and two
Speaker 1: without Tyran Smith, and they went one and four without
Speaker 1: Sean Lee. They went they went one and two. You're
Speaker 1: talking about during the suspension Tyrant. I mean they won
Speaker 1: the Eagles game that he didn't plan. Yes, I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: but during the suspension, Yes, suspension. I think it's I mean,
Speaker 1: sorry if it's a cop out, but I think it's
Speaker 1: a combination of everything. I think the Zeke, the Zeke
Speaker 1: suspension undoubtedly weighed on this team's psyche. I don't care
Speaker 1: what anybody said, and maybe maybe not everybody, but the coaches,
Speaker 1: the ownership, the front office, Zeke himself, Dak Prescott. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe maybe I don't think Joe Looney was
Speaker 1: really too worried about what was going on with Zeke
Speaker 1: and how it affected his day to day. But in
Speaker 1: the grand scheme of the football team, absolutely, And then honestly,
Speaker 1: I you know, you think about Atlanta, you think about
Speaker 1: maybe not Philly just because they were rolling at that time,
Speaker 1: but like the way that the way those guys played
Speaker 1: against the Giants and the Redskins when Tyrone came back,
Speaker 1: I gotta believe that they had a shot to beat
Speaker 1: the Falcons, or at least have it be competitive if
Speaker 1: he's in there. And the same thing goes for Sean Lee,
Speaker 1: like in terms of I think, I really think they
Speaker 1: could have gone four and two if those two guys
Speaker 1: had been healthy during that entire stretch. One way or
Speaker 1: the other, whether Lee helps him play a better defense
Speaker 1: against the Chargers down the stretch, whether Tyron helps Dak
Speaker 1: play a better game against the Falcons, I think they
Speaker 1: could get one of those wins. If those guys have
Speaker 1: been healthy. So, like I said, I mean, I think
Speaker 1: all that stuff really goes hand in hand together. The
Speaker 1: biggest surprise for me would be shan Lee just because
Speaker 1: and you can make an argument for each one of these,
Speaker 1: but the whole six situation, yeah, that affected the team.
Speaker 1: The team one hundred percent. But you knew that coming
Speaker 1: into training camp. You knew everything that was happening. You
Speaker 1: should have been well prepared for in case that did happen.
Speaker 1: How are you going to handle this situation? You knew
Speaker 1: Tyren Smith has been dealing with injuries since last year.
Speaker 1: You should have a backup that should be capable to
Speaker 1: handle the job. Meanwhile, he's out. The one thing that
Speaker 1: I did not expect was shan Lee being out and
Speaker 1: affecting the way he did, Like his absence affected the
Speaker 1: whole defense, And that was one unexpected for me and surprising.
Speaker 1: You know, I think when listening to all this, man,
Speaker 1: I think Dave is exactly right that it is all
Speaker 1: three and it's not a cop out because when you
Speaker 1: think about it, and in Garrett's press conference yesterday, really
Speaker 1: one game was mentioned over and over and in Atlanta
Speaker 1: that was the game that was the game that that
Speaker 1: that just because not only did you what are they
Speaker 1: finish with ten and six? Who the Falcons? Yeah, so
Speaker 1: they're ten and six, you flip those roles, they're in
Speaker 1: the playoffs, and all three of what of those things
Speaker 1: you just said were a factor in that game. I
Speaker 1: mean the first game without Zeke tyring, they had no
Speaker 1: clue how to how to figure that out with time,
Speaker 1: and then Sean Lee gets hurt in the first quarter,
Speaker 1: I believe in the game. So that's the one game
Speaker 1: where all three was I mean, I guess I guess Philly.
Speaker 1: They were all out for Philly as well. Yeah, but
Speaker 1: but but you know, there was the first time to
Speaker 1: kind of deal with it, and I Amber's right, I mean,
Speaker 1: was Zeke they knew that the Zeke's thing was coming,
Speaker 1: and then they should have known that Sean Lee was
Speaker 1: gonna get banged up at some point too. But Atlanta,
Speaker 1: I thought was was the game that cost him everything,
Speaker 1: and all three of those things we're a huge factor
Speaker 1: in that. So I don't think it's bad to say
Speaker 1: it's a three way tie. And well and I got
Speaker 1: you know, that creates the narrative kind of going around
Speaker 1: right now, and maybe it's hindsight or maybe it really
Speaker 1: was a mistake, but just the way you handled the
Speaker 1: offensive line, I mean, you're you know, you're right. Maybe
Speaker 1: be better prepared, Maybe maybe don't try to turn Chaz
Speaker 1: Green into a guard and then expect them to play
Speaker 1: tackle right off the bat like that, or when I
Speaker 1: you know, you can go ten dozen different ways with
Speaker 1: how they might have handled that better. But it's kind
Speaker 1: of pointless right now. All right, let's go to the
Speaker 1: next question. If the Cowboys had to keep one coordinator
Speaker 1: and get rid of one, which would you keep the
Speaker 1: offensive coordinator Scotland Hand or the defensive coordinator Rod Mironelli. Again,
Speaker 1: meat today, gotta keep one, gotta let one go. When
Speaker 1: you keep oh damn, I don't pass, no passing. I
Speaker 1: probably Marinelli. Keep Marinelli? Why? Because this defense is trending
Speaker 1: upward they I mean, and I guess you could argue
Speaker 1: that they didn't play a lot of great teams down
Speaker 1: the stretch, but that secondary looked like it really came
Speaker 1: along the pass rush. Honestly, something I thought about yesterday.
Speaker 1: It kind of tapered toward the end. And you can
Speaker 1: blame the David Irving injury if you want or DeMarcus
Speaker 1: Lawrence not getting the holding calls he thought he deserved whatever.
Speaker 1: But they finished with thirty two sacks. League lead was
Speaker 1: fifty six, So I mean they fell off the pace
Speaker 1: pretty good. But this for the most part, with the
Speaker 1: exception of that baffling three games stretch when Sean Lee
Speaker 1: was hurt, was pretty solid. I mean, they they held
Speaker 1: what you call it, They held the Chiefs to seventeen points.
Speaker 1: They were allowing nineteen points a game when Lee was
Speaker 1: in the lineup. They were getting sacks. These young dbs
Speaker 1: are getting making plays on balls, and I would imagine,
Speaker 1: you know, with another draft and maybe another free agency period,
Speaker 1: I would imagine you can upgrade the talent on defense
Speaker 1: even further. And then you look at the offense and
Speaker 1: you look at the talent you've accumulated over there and
Speaker 1: how good they were last year. And it obviously didn't
Speaker 1: work out, but there were things in place to account
Speaker 1: for Zeke. I mean, they felt good about their backup
Speaker 1: running backs going into training camp, at least they said
Speaker 1: they did. They brought back the same receiver corps that
Speaker 1: was very solid last year. I mean, everything was the
Speaker 1: same and the results were not great. But one thing
Speaker 1: to note though, and I went back, I was looking
Speaker 1: at just kind of the season overall. From Week three
Speaker 1: to the final game, that Kansas City game before Zeke
Speaker 1: goes out, Cowboys were scoring. They didn't score any less
Speaker 1: than twenty eight points in a game. They were scoring
Speaker 1: a ton of points. Now, I do believe that Zeke
Speaker 1: going out changed everything, and I think the offense and
Speaker 1: you guys talked about it. Then you started getting not
Speaker 1: only Zeke was out, but you had some games where
Speaker 1: Retiring was out and Shawn's out, and you got that
Speaker 1: one game where they all three out. So I think
Speaker 1: there were more things at play, but I think they were.
Speaker 1: They had hit a stride and after a kind of
Speaker 1: a first two games with their offense really wasn't clicking.
Speaker 1: So I don't know if I don't think that the
Speaker 1: offense necessarily had. They didn't have as good of a
Speaker 1: season as a year before, but they certainly were hitting
Speaker 1: their stride at the point when Zeke goes out. I
Speaker 1: borrow I'm gonna borrow some logic from Nick, and I'm
Speaker 1: gonna borrow a line from my guy Drake, like from
Speaker 1: that wait in the same sentence, it's so the first
Speaker 1: time that's ever happened. Nothing was the same, not true
Speaker 1: after that game in Atlanta. Yeah, nothing was, That's true,
Speaker 1: Like I mean, at whatever you want to blame. I mean,
Speaker 1: the running game kind of found itself after a while,
Speaker 1: even without Zeke and Tyring came back. Like Da Dak
Speaker 1: wasn't the same player from that game on? Really, I mean,
Speaker 1: would you other than I know, I mean he played,
Speaker 1: he played fairly well in the Giants game. I think
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett said it was his arguably his guest best
Speaker 1: game of the season. I don't agree with that, just because, again,
Speaker 1: I mean, all plays count at the end of the day,
Speaker 1: but you're talking about a nine yard slant turning into
Speaker 1: a fifty yard touchdown and a ten yard slant turning
Speaker 1: into an eighty one yard touchdown. Like stats kind of
Speaker 1: lie in the case that game, in my opinion, like
Speaker 1: I would say Kansas City or probably San Francisco or
Speaker 1: even Green Bay was his best game of the year.
Speaker 1: You got a look who you're playing against too, Yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: absolutely so. Just I there are a variety of things
Speaker 1: you can pended on, but the offense just kind of
Speaker 1: went in the tank after that game. Either of you
Speaker 1: guys disagree with that. Would either one of you guys
Speaker 1: say I'd let Marinelli go and keep in hand, try
Speaker 1: to keep I try to get rid of both. Actually,
Speaker 1: but yeah, I think so, I guess it would have
Speaker 1: to be. If you have to keep one, I guess
Speaker 1: it would be Marinelli because I really don't like the
Speaker 1: offensive structure here. You know, I keep harping what they
Speaker 1: I think that they need. And there's a reason why
Speaker 1: they don't go get that guy because they don't use them.
Speaker 1: They don't feel like they need them, because that's not
Speaker 1: their offense. So it's me. I don't like that offense.
Speaker 1: I feel like, when you're on the twenty yard line,
Speaker 1: you've got fifty three yards this way, you know, and
Speaker 1: got eighty this way, and they don't use it. They
Speaker 1: play every possession like they're in the red zone. They
Speaker 1: they you know, they don't really think that to go
Speaker 1: thirty forty yards down the field, And I think that's
Speaker 1: a waste. That's a waste of because that that hurts
Speaker 1: your running game overall and hurt your mid receivers if
Speaker 1: you don't ever try to extend it deep. And that's
Speaker 1: not their offense. So because it's not their offense. I
Speaker 1: don't really, I'm not agreeing with the scheme with the
Speaker 1: guys that are available as a defensive coordinator. Change your
Speaker 1: thoughts on this. And what I mean by that is
Speaker 1: you got Matt Eberflew sitting there and a lot of
Speaker 1: people respect him as a linebackers coach, but at some
Speaker 1: point he's gonna want an opportunity to be a defensive coordinator.
Speaker 1: And there's going to become a point when that decision
Speaker 1: will be up to him because his contract will be up.
Speaker 1: And are you at all afraid of or wondering about
Speaker 1: losing him? And let's also think about some of the
Speaker 1: guys that are out there. Steve Spagnola you would assume
Speaker 1: might be available. He's a guy that has a totally
Speaker 1: different kind of defense. He's a much more aggressive kind
Speaker 1: of defense. Would you prefer? Does that make you maybe say, Hey,
Speaker 1: if I'm gonna have to get rid of one and
Speaker 1: keep one, maybe I'll let the defensive coordinator walk because
Speaker 1: I have other options that I like right now as
Speaker 1: far as defensive coordinators are out there, no, no, no,
Speaker 1: And here's why, girl quick. Yeah, they both need some
Speaker 1: changes there. But if you had to keep one and
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go with Mary Nelly just because even if
Speaker 1: you're not succeeding, as long as I'm seeing progress and
Speaker 1: a little bit of improvement, I'm feeling good and I'm
Speaker 1: happy and content. And when you talk about the offense,
Speaker 1: I never saw any of that. And it's like you
Speaker 1: talk about seeing the same kind of mistakes over and
Speaker 1: over but no changes. No let's try this, or let's
Speaker 1: switch it up here, or let's you know, figure something
Speaker 1: else out after you see week by week the same
Speaker 1: thing happening, at least with Mary Nelly in the defense.
Speaker 1: This year, I'm feeling a lot better. I remember before,
Speaker 1: like going into the draft, my biggest con was the
Speaker 1: pass rush, and now look at this pass rush and
Speaker 1: look at the rookies how well they've been doing in
Speaker 1: the secondary. So there's progress and hope for me in
Speaker 1: that area. Okay, Now, offense, that's a different story. What's funny?
Speaker 1: I mean, and I agree with everything she just said,
Speaker 1: but I think you could make and I just have
Speaker 1: this feeling like continuity is more important to an offense,
Speaker 1: you know, like, what what does it mean for Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott if you change up his whole structure, like it
Speaker 1: could be good obviously. I mean Jared Goff turned his whole.
Speaker 1: I mean, his second season was light years better than
Speaker 1: his first after a change of staff, So it's certainly possible.
Speaker 1: But the comfort of my quarterback is probably my number
Speaker 1: one concern when it comes to making changes like that,
Speaker 1: So like, if they were to make a change, I
Speaker 1: would hope he's heavily involved in it and it's a
Speaker 1: guy that's going to help him grow and get better.
Speaker 1: Whereas you know, I just said Marinelli's the guy that
Speaker 1: I would keep on of the two of them, based
Speaker 1: I mean, based on the returns on this defense sacks takeaway,
Speaker 1: think they have twenty seven in the last three years
Speaker 1: or some very low number like that. There's there's nothing
Speaker 1: this defense does where I'm just like, we can't let
Speaker 1: that guy go, like he's too important to what we do.
Speaker 1: Like what where? Where have you seen that to where
Speaker 1: you think that's true? So, I mean, it's it's on it.
Speaker 1: It's splitting hairs for me. I mean, whichever one where
Speaker 1: to go, I think they could rebound nicely from it.
Speaker 1: But it doesn't really look like either one's gonna go.
Speaker 1: So okay, let's move on the next question. Let's assume
Speaker 1: is only one of these things can be addressed in
Speaker 1: the offseason, which would you address finding a swing tackle,
Speaker 1: finding a safety, or finding a wide receiver, finding a
Speaker 1: m what kind of wide receiver somebody to replace the
Speaker 1: money that you're spending on days? Oh oh, we tackle
Speaker 1: or number one receiver? Yeah, I mean, I mean, that's
Speaker 1: that's about That's about relative imp trying to kill your game.
Speaker 1: But I'm just I mean, I think it's a different
Speaker 1: question when you're I don't let me explain it. The
Speaker 1: reason why. I don't think that's a I see what
Speaker 1: you're saying. But when you think about it from the
Speaker 1: standpoint of right now, you have a starting left tackle
Speaker 1: who has had back issues the last two years, and
Speaker 1: what we saw this year is when he's out, the
Speaker 1: entire offense changes as much as anybody else. I mean,
Speaker 1: you say it's Zeke, but there's an argument that it
Speaker 1: changed just as drastically when Tyron Smith wasn't in there.
Speaker 1: So that being said, do you still that swing tackle
Speaker 1: position still becomes very important. You're not getting rid of
Speaker 1: Tyren Smith, but you got to prepare for the possibility
Speaker 1: that he's going to miss some games because he has
Speaker 1: missed games the last two years. So that being said,
Speaker 1: which one is more important? Having that suing tackle so
Speaker 1: that when he goes down, you've got somebody or having
Speaker 1: a wide receiver so you don't have to pay the
Speaker 1: amount of money that you're gonna pay to Dez Bryant
Speaker 1: and hopefully get either similar or better production. Clip this
Speaker 1: out and put it on the internet. Hamber, Like I
Speaker 1: refuse to shovel dirt on Tyron Smith. I'm just not
Speaker 1: going to do it. I'm not. I'm not saying shovel Nope,
Speaker 1: but I'm speaking my piece on the question you're asking me.
Speaker 1: I'm not. I'm not doing it. I think he's a
Speaker 1: hell of a player. He's ridiculously tough. The fact that
Speaker 1: he did as much as he did in spite of
Speaker 1: everything that was bothering him is amazing. So it's a
Speaker 1: twing swing tackle not that important for you. It's it's
Speaker 1: obviously important, But I'm not I'm not convinced that I
Speaker 1: need to find his replacement right now. Let's be clear,
Speaker 1: I'm not saying the replacement. Can you just let me talk? Yes,
Speaker 1: I want to make sure you've been the conversation focused.
Speaker 1: Just let me talk all right, go. All you've been
Speaker 1: doing is talking for the one that said you didn't
Speaker 1: know how you'd get through the show with your voice
Speaker 1: the way it is. Good teammate you are. He's a
Speaker 1: good teammate. I'm not looking for Smith's replacement, which I
Speaker 1: think you can find a guy who can do the
Speaker 1: job of swing tackle in free agency or with a
Speaker 1: later round draft pick. Do you think do you think
Speaker 1: that Byron Bell is a suitable replace, a suitable swing tackle?
Speaker 1: I thought, I think if Tyron Smith is healthier than
Speaker 1: he was this year, yeah, probably, Yeah, No he is.
Speaker 1: Are you expecting him to be healthier than he I
Speaker 1: trust that he can do it. He's got to be
Speaker 1: healthier than he was this year. Well, but he he
Speaker 1: only missed two games, right, it's three games, three games,
Speaker 1: and I keep forgetting that and not on even count
Speaker 1: that he missed three games, he would not have missed
Speaker 1: the third game, and what he missed about fifty practice.
Speaker 1: He missed five games. Really, I mean, yeah, he missed
Speaker 1: three games, but he was out after three plays against Seattle,
Speaker 1: so that is okay. So that's that's that's Atlanta. That's
Speaker 1: even farther on my point, though, he should have met
Speaker 1: or you could say there were five games that were
Speaker 1: that he was out for an extended period of time.
Speaker 1: Do you expect that he's going to somehow be miraculously
Speaker 1: able to play sixteen games next year? Yes, I just
Speaker 1: I trust him. He's a freaking All pro. If he's
Speaker 1: he's got a shot to be a Hall of Fame
Speaker 1: caliber player from this generation. That's true. I do you
Speaker 1: are you sort of doubting it? And do you think
Speaker 1: others are doubting it. I'm sort of doubting it because
Speaker 1: because of the nature of his injury, injury for the
Speaker 1: last two years, that back injury has been persistent for
Speaker 1: two years. Backstone just miraculously get better. I don't think
Speaker 1: it plays all sixteen games next Year's because I go
Speaker 1: that way, you're gonna go the other way. I'm with him,
Speaker 1: not because of you doing it. It's because you're not
Speaker 1: going to be alone this offseason and doing it. And
Speaker 1: I think Tyrn's gonna say watch this, and I think
Speaker 1: he's gonna play sixteen games now. I do think he
Speaker 1: needs to level great question, Yeah, but I think so.
Speaker 1: I don't think his level drops off that much. It
Speaker 1: drops off a but here's the thing. When he gets hurt,
Speaker 1: he gives up a sack, like, stop the presses, Like
Speaker 1: he gives up a sack, what's wrong with him? Right?
Speaker 1: But when he's not hurt, you're like, are they even
Speaker 1: have anyone over there? Yeah? You know, like is anybody playing?
Speaker 1: I'm not. I just I'm not. I'm not betting against
Speaker 1: the player of his caliber. I remember, like people thought
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Ware was never gonna play again, they cut him.
Speaker 1: He went to Denver and put up like thirty sacks
Speaker 1: in three years and won a Super Bowl. But it
Speaker 1: seems like we're going like extremes. I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: it's time to cut him, but not saying but not
Speaker 1: still a great place. The Hall of Fame point is,
Speaker 1: if you trust him to be what he is, then
Speaker 1: swing tackle is not as absurd of a need as
Speaker 1: as it might be if you don't. That's but I
Speaker 1: think there's a middle ground here, and I think there is. Yes,
Speaker 1: he is still a great player. Yes, he's probably arguably
Speaker 1: one of the top one to three players on this team.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is after an injury,
Speaker 1: like a back injury, shows up and it's persistent over
Speaker 1: a couple of years. I think you'd be foolish not
Speaker 1: to be thinking about having a plan in the event
Speaker 1: that that back which problem can do have a plan,
Speaker 1: and it's don't leave the backup hanging out to dry
Speaker 1: when he's gone. Don't do next man up, scrap it,
Speaker 1: throw it away. Next man up sucks because it's not
Speaker 1: next man up. Don't just say Chaz, you got it,
Speaker 1: just like Tyron, we're counting on you doesn't work? And
Speaker 1: how many sacks did Clayborne need to figure out that's
Speaker 1: not working? True? Let me put it in a more
Speaker 1: simple terms. I guess like if Tyrn is a real
Speaker 1: problem that you can't count on, tackle becomes like a
Speaker 1: first round type of need, it's I think if it
Speaker 1: as a third to fifth round type of need, like
Speaker 1: you need to address it. You need to have a
Speaker 1: plan in place. It's not a five alarm fire. That's
Speaker 1: how I feel about it. All right, let's go ahead
Speaker 1: and check our final break when we come back. The
Speaker 1: next question we're gonna have for you, guys, is, assuming
Speaker 1: one of these two will not be here, who are
Speaker 1: you more certain it will be either Orlando Scandrick or
Speaker 1: Dez Bryant. Well, do that when we come right back.
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Speaker 1: Back to the Break, Welcome Back, final segment of The
Speaker 1: Break Live from the SWBC Mortgage Studios at the Star,
Speaker 1: Nick take it away. You know, Tommy John, when you're
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Speaker 1: if I don't have any Tommy John available, it's like,
Speaker 1: I'm just like, I guess, I guess I'll put these on.
Speaker 1: I wish I had some Tommy John. Yeah. So anyway, okay,
Speaker 1: all right, thank you Nick. All Right, let's get back
Speaker 1: to our questions. This is this has been fun. You
Speaker 1: guys didn't answer the last question, but that's okay. Well,
Speaker 1: safety safety all right, Amber Safety? Yeah, um, sorry, I'm
Speaker 1: assuming you're replacing Jones, right, yes, okay, Amber, Wow, it's
Speaker 1: sad of it replacing Byron. Well, I'm saying it's on.
Speaker 1: I'm just saying, like, which, if you're gonna get safety,
Speaker 1: then who's got which guy is gonna get replaced? If
Speaker 1: I was gonna if I was gonna add a badass
Speaker 1: safety to this team, I'd feel more comfortable pairing him
Speaker 1: with Jeff. Assuming this is a safety who's a badass
Speaker 1: and pass coverage, which is what I want. I kind
Speaker 1: of agree with you. So anyway, I know people don't
Speaker 1: like it, but I still I don't know if Cheeto's
Speaker 1: not a better safety. But god, you're still on that, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I am. It's not like he was that great. He
Speaker 1: was good, but he just a lot of time and
Speaker 1: he and I think that the for what he was
Speaker 1: as a rookie with the time he missed during training camp,
Speaker 1: he was. He was right up there with where my
Speaker 1: expectations were for What do you I think he could
Speaker 1: be a really good safe. What tells you that other
Speaker 1: than his body type, like he's a big, sturdy guy.
Speaker 1: Other than that, I mean, well being seen him do it? Well,
Speaker 1: this is what I've seen. I see that Byron Jones
Speaker 1: gets trucked all the time. He is lighting the ass
Speaker 1: when it comes to safety, he gets run over a lot.
Speaker 1: He's not body type is not built for that. I
Speaker 1: don't care what Marshawn Lint said and did he's the
Speaker 1: one that went backwards. Yeah, yeah, Cheeto went down. Cheeto
Speaker 1: had a nice hit on him and Marshawn went backwards.
Speaker 1: That physical presence is something that I think this team
Speaker 1: needs at safety. And I think he's got playmaking skills
Speaker 1: and I know that people want this. You find a corner.
Speaker 1: You need to keep him. I get it, but I
Speaker 1: think that you're also looking for safety, and of course
Speaker 1: I hate the guy that moves back and forth. I
Speaker 1: don't mean to talk out of both sides of my mouth,
Speaker 1: but I think this early on in the game, I
Speaker 1: would not be surprised if he would be a better safety.
Speaker 1: My thing is, if he moves to safety, you've just
Speaker 1: created a new hole at cornerback. Because I believe that
Speaker 1: those two rookies will be your starting cornerback going in
Speaker 1: the cart and starting cornerbacks going into next year. Well
Speaker 1: that's gonna be our next question. But if you if
Speaker 1: you move him to safety, now you have a spot
Speaker 1: at corner you got to try to fill at Iron's
Speaker 1: right right now, Byron's not a corner Though Byron he
Speaker 1: had an opportunity to play corner, he was not impressive.
Speaker 1: So are you get that on five days notice in
Speaker 1: the middle of a lost season. Either way, here he
Speaker 1: is not in my opinion, he's not a cornerback. Okay, now,
Speaker 1: maybe he's not a safety either, but I don't think
Speaker 1: he's a cornerback. So not a corner and he's not
Speaker 1: a safety, then he's not a Cowboy in a couple
Speaker 1: of years. Cool, he's a hell of a punt gunner
Speaker 1: special teams. All right, let's get the next question. Who
Speaker 1: if you had to choose between the two of these,
Speaker 1: are you more certain will not be with the Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys in twenty eighteen, Orlando Scandrick or Dez Bryant if
Speaker 1: this next year, Yeah, you gotta choose one, which would
Speaker 1: you be more certain is not going to be here?
Speaker 1: I'm not I'm not one hundred percent confidence that they
Speaker 1: both won't be here, Okay, but if I had to
Speaker 1: choose one, and I think it's more likely Standard he
Speaker 1: has gone because because Dez has not set in front
Speaker 1: of his locker and said goodbye, see y'all and done
Speaker 1: his ode to the Cowboys. Yeah, I get thanks for
Speaker 1: the good times. Contract Wise, from a contract standpoint, it
Speaker 1: makes more sense to keep sand yeah, right, and to
Speaker 1: keep I think it's I think maybe it's wishful thinking
Speaker 1: on scandricks part, like he just wants to be out there, yeah,
Speaker 1: and like not like he's not like he's not happy
Speaker 1: here or he doesn't like the organization, but like you
Speaker 1: see the writing on the wall, You're like, there's three
Speaker 1: young guys that they feel pretty good about four Really,
Speaker 1: if you include Xavier Woods, they played really well. Oh
Speaker 1: tell my contract, Yeah, my contract is bigger than these guys.
Speaker 1: It makes sense to get rid of me. I can
Speaker 1: go get another contract with a fresh guarantee in a
Speaker 1: new situation where the team kind of wants me around
Speaker 1: a little bit more like I see his point. Yeah,
Speaker 1: gets from his perspective that maybe a fresh start would
Speaker 1: be in his best interest. So, you know, I have
Speaker 1: a hard time believe in that. You know, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: are really intimating to him that he's gone. I think
Speaker 1: he's just kind of like, maybe maybe a fresh start
Speaker 1: would be a good thing for any any sort of
Speaker 1: truth be told. He tried this after the draft too.
Speaker 1: I mean, in my opinion, he drove that story about
Speaker 1: the trade. You know, he said that the Cowboys were
Speaker 1: you know, that he felt like he was being shopped,
Speaker 1: when really that wasn't the case. And I think he
Speaker 1: didn't like what he saw on draft day or draft weekend,
Speaker 1: and he tried to sort of force the Cowboys hand
Speaker 1: and they weren't biting, and they're like, now we want
Speaker 1: you back. So I think if it's like two point
Speaker 1: five or three million or something. I mean, he's not
Speaker 1: He's not making a lot this year, and it doesn't
Speaker 1: make sense to cut him before the draft. I mean,
Speaker 1: if you go get another defensive back, great, but otherwise,
Speaker 1: you know, Cheetos had injury problems. Yeah, he can play
Speaker 1: inside and outside. You need four or five cornerbacks to
Speaker 1: you know, feel the good NFL defense these days. So
Speaker 1: I'm not in this huge hurry to get rid of
Speaker 1: Orlando scandrid so. But all of that said, for some reason,
Speaker 1: I still think it's more likely than he's gone than death.
Speaker 1: It's just hard to see a scenario where I mean,
Speaker 1: I know it, there's there's reasons why, and you can
Speaker 1: make an argument as to why, but it's still hard
Speaker 1: to think DEAs won't be on this team in twenty
Speaker 1: eighteen because he's been so important to what the Cowboys
Speaker 1: do for all these years. I just, you know, I
Speaker 1: just said, you know, past experiences color my opinions. I
Speaker 1: saw DeMarcus Ware a bounce back from injury and play well,
Speaker 1: like I you know, for the Wow, I'm contradicting myself
Speaker 1: because they did cut to Marcus Ware. But like, yes,
Speaker 1: they did. Seventy five percent of the time. When we
Speaker 1: get into these you know, raging speculations about a guy's contract,
Speaker 1: usually nothing happens. Like that's usually what happens. Yeah, So
Speaker 1: you think des would be I know he said he's
Speaker 1: not taking a pay cut. Do you think he'd be
Speaker 1: willing to restructure his deal such that he could still
Speaker 1: make the same amount of money if he hit certain incentives.
Speaker 1: So then it's more of an incentive based contract, and
Speaker 1: it allows the Cowboys to have a little bit more
Speaker 1: protection that if they're going to pay that amount, they're
Speaker 1: paying it for great production. If I'm Dez Bryant, I
Speaker 1: wouldn't do anything that's gonna allow my money to be affected.
Speaker 1: Like I want what, I would just say, either cut
Speaker 1: me or keep me where I am. Yeah, because if
Speaker 1: you cut me, I'll go sign another deal with another team. Yeah,
Speaker 1: if you don't get cut to June first, a guy
Speaker 1: of Dez Bryan's caliber, and I know he had a
Speaker 1: really bad year, a guy of his caliber would get
Speaker 1: snatched up real quick. Think, Ye is he getting the
Speaker 1: kind of one year deal that that al Shan Jeffrey
Speaker 1: got last year? Like it? Maybe will he have to?
Speaker 1: It will be one of those prove it prove it
Speaker 1: kind of contract, he will get less money, but he
Speaker 1: would still get money. Now I get that. But if
Speaker 1: he's gonna get less money, then is it is it
Speaker 1: better for him than to say, Hey, I'm gonna take
Speaker 1: a contract where I'm gonna still make the amount I
Speaker 1: probably would make in the free agent market as a guarantee,
Speaker 1: but the amount that I could make an incentives can
Speaker 1: get me right back up to where I would have
Speaker 1: been in the first place. You know, I think if
Speaker 1: his agent thinks about it, Terrell Tarrell prior or Terrell Prior. Yeah,
Speaker 1: one year, eight million, so he could probably get me.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get ten then, right, So if the Cowboys
Speaker 1: would give him eight million, let's say, the contract that
Speaker 1: they could restructure would give him eight million, let's say,
Speaker 1: and then with incentives he could get up to sixteen million.
Speaker 1: Does that seem like a fair thing for the Cowboys?
Speaker 1: In for Dez and that it just seems like that
Speaker 1: hurts your salary cap though, Desert. Yeah, because well you'd
Speaker 1: give it if you'd extend the contrac track. So now
Speaker 1: a lot of that can be extrapolated to this. Whatever
Speaker 1: the signing bonus would be for that can be extrapolated
Speaker 1: over the years of the contract. I do think and
Speaker 1: I'm not saying that you're saying this, but people kind
Speaker 1: of forget this about incentives to throw that in. When
Speaker 1: you put that into a contract, it has to hit
Speaker 1: the salary cap. Like it's called likely to be earned incentives.
Speaker 1: And if it is likely to be earned, then you
Speaker 1: have to you have to have the room for it.
Speaker 1: That was like Greg Hardy steal. Yeah, it was very
Speaker 1: incentive based, but it still had to account for how
Speaker 1: much it could be worth. Right. Yeah, but even at
Speaker 1: its still at the end of the day, the Cowboys
Speaker 1: still will have on the books whatever he earns, right,
Speaker 1: that protects him at saying it. Let's say he's supposed
Speaker 1: to count thirteen million, you're saying, knock it down to eight.
Speaker 1: But if he plays at this level, it can be
Speaker 1: back at thirteen and you pay for it because you
Speaker 1: got it Pro Bowl exactly. That's the point. And I
Speaker 1: think the Cowboys would be very if they got Dez
Speaker 1: Bryan from twenty thirteen and they got it at sixteen
Speaker 1: millions for this year. I think they'd be happy with that.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like asking an hourly. You know, somebody
Speaker 1: own salary to go down to hourly and say, well,
Speaker 1: even if they're gonna get the same amount, same amount,
Speaker 1: you just gotta make sure you work. Knowing Dez Bryan's opportunity,
Speaker 1: we are I mean me and Dez are not close homies,
Speaker 1: but I don't know. But I mean I know him,
Speaker 1: I've I've got I've built a pretty decent relationship with
Speaker 1: him over the last five years. That doesn't sound like
Speaker 1: him to me. He hasn't blocked you. No, he has
Speaker 1: not blocked me. He's nice, it's nice like that. We
Speaker 1: still like other people. Mate. Uh, that doesn't sound like
Speaker 1: him to me. Like if you're like, hey, you, we don't.
Speaker 1: We don't have faith in you to be what you
Speaker 1: are and we want to protect ourselves against you being
Speaker 1: bad again. I like that he's a fiercely proud and
Speaker 1: passionate guy, and I think he would be like, no,
Speaker 1: I'll just go somewhere where they want me and are
Speaker 1: willing to guarantee me things. And honestly, I mean it
Speaker 1: would arguably be a more pass happy or maybe a
Speaker 1: more veteran quarterback where he can do his thing a
Speaker 1: little bit better. So I don't think that will happen.
Speaker 1: Out of principle. I actually think out of his own principle,
Speaker 1: I think he would probably take less money to go
Speaker 1: somewhere else than I think so too. Pay cut here,
Speaker 1: I think so too. And that's that seems more like
Speaker 1: what would how Dez would look at it, And just
Speaker 1: by his answers to that question, it seems like he
Speaker 1: was very met by the time he got to the
Speaker 1: end of the answer. He's very much against the idea
Speaker 1: that he was gonna take it. Can you remember you
Speaker 1: remember how um what's the word I'm looking for? Dramatic
Speaker 1: and and prideful of those contract negotiate negotiations were when
Speaker 1: he signed this big thing. I mean, it came down
Speaker 1: to the eleventh hour and he you know, on my
Speaker 1: on my family, I won't play a down if I don't,
Speaker 1: you know, if I'm not signed or whatever, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Like it doesn't sound like him to to, you know,
Speaker 1: to agree to that. And it's what I'm trying to say, Well,
Speaker 1: he needs to go if he if he goes anywhere,
Speaker 1: if he gets that that choice, he needs to go
Speaker 1: to a team with a really good quarterback. I mean
Speaker 1: one that's established that's the top a top five or
Speaker 1: six seven quarterback and that's what that's what he needs,
Speaker 1: which I've maybe even already said this on one of
Speaker 1: our shows. I feel like I repeated all the time,
Speaker 1: and you can disagree with me. I in the in
Speaker 1: the grand scheme of things, I still think this team
Speaker 1: is better with him on it than without it. And
Speaker 1: they are in a situation like they can they can
Speaker 1: take that hit if they need to draft a wide
Speaker 1: receiver again, same thing is tiring, Like take steps to
Speaker 1: improve your situation, but you don't have to do something
Speaker 1: as dramatic as blow it all up this offseason. You
Speaker 1: can deal with that next year. Or if if the
Speaker 1: nineteenth overall pick in the draft, it's this amazing wide
Speaker 1: receiver then and you want to play hardball with him
Speaker 1: and you're confident that Christian Kirk can be your number
Speaker 1: one going in the next season. You can cut him
Speaker 1: in the summer if you're just hell bent on doing it.
Speaker 1: But it's not a thing that I think needs to happen,
Speaker 1: you know, between now and in the draft. Not a
Speaker 1: fan of the Aggies, never have been. They always beat
Speaker 1: my team the last few years is because of that guy,
Speaker 1: Christian Kirk. Tired of him doing really so you know
Speaker 1: what will be there around it? Yeah, I don't know
Speaker 1: that that's that's a it's hard to know. Yeah, he's
Speaker 1: probably a late first round guy, I would imagine, but
Speaker 1: it sounds realistic to me to think that he would
Speaker 1: be there the nineteen. That's a guy worth looking at
Speaker 1: for sure. Maybe. All right, final question, this is a
Speaker 1: true or false question. Cowboys need to find a new
Speaker 1: option to compete with Dan Bailey for the kicker job
Speaker 1: next season? True or false? Trying to get us to
Speaker 1: fire like all of the teams, I'm just asking the
Speaker 1: questions fans are asking. I want to get your opinion,
Speaker 1: to get you on record, and but let's start with you.
Speaker 1: True or false false false. I one hundred percent believe
Speaker 1: in Dan's ability to kick the ball and all that.
Speaker 1: I just think he'll have to take this whole off
Speaker 1: season and just kind of get back into his own
Speaker 1: groove and that whole thing was mentally. He just needs
Speaker 1: to get over that. Keep kicking the ball easy to say, Well,
Speaker 1: all it takes is you just being on the field
Speaker 1: and keep kicking it until you gain your confidence back.
Speaker 1: And there's a whole season to do so, I mean
Speaker 1: injury wise, he said he's good, so nothing to deal
Speaker 1: with the injury. So apparently on that aspect he's good.
Speaker 1: It's all mentally and he just needs to go back
Speaker 1: to that point and he has several months to do so,
Speaker 1: Dave in my lifetime and I I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: short lifetime exactly, thank you. Wow. How many a short life?
Speaker 1: How many NFL kickers have just like gracefully aged, you know,
Speaker 1: Adam Vinati, Morton Anderson, Morton Anderson maybe maybe, said Baston Janikowski. Maybe.
Speaker 1: I don't know what his stats have looked, like he
Speaker 1: was on IR this year, But like kickers just kind
Speaker 1: of lose it. Man, I'm like, you know, I'm I'm
Speaker 1: I grew up a Saints fan. Garrett Hartley when they
Speaker 1: won the Super Bowl a decade ago. Young guy, young guy,
Speaker 1: four of the biggest kicks in the history of the franchise,
Speaker 1: got him to the Super Bowl, kicked three forty five
Speaker 1: plus yarders to keep him in the Super Bowl and
Speaker 1: help him win it. Thought he would be their kicker
Speaker 1: for a decade, Like within two years he's out. Like
Speaker 1: when you lose it, you lose it. I don't know
Speaker 1: for sure that that's going to happen with Dan Bailey.
Speaker 1: It seems crazy to me to think that it would
Speaker 1: because he's been so amazing for so many years, and
Speaker 1: I'm sure they're gonna give him every opportunity to get
Speaker 1: back on track. But I've seen this happen with enough
Speaker 1: other kickers that I'm just I can't give him the
Speaker 1: same blind vote of confidence that I'll give Tyrant Smith,
Speaker 1: you know, like I just it's the nature of the position.
Speaker 1: Hold on, you said, Adam Vinetary, Gary Anderson, Morton Anderson,
Speaker 1: those those kickers. Now, Sebastian Janikowski's been with the same team.
Speaker 1: But you say they lose it, they lose it, right,
Speaker 1: they lose it with one team, they lose it. You
Speaker 1: can rEFInd it, right, But sometimes having to have that
Speaker 1: different environment, like Robbie Golds, he's kind of resurrected his career,
Speaker 1: but he was he was on a bad role there
Speaker 1: with Who's Your Boy? Your boy? That was with the
Speaker 1: Eagles forever Acres, Yeah, yeah, Acres. He found new life
Speaker 1: with the forty nine ers for a while. I mean,
Speaker 1: but sometimes you have to kind of get that new
Speaker 1: seam or you can do that. To answer your question,
Speaker 1: I'll say yes, I do think there needs to be
Speaker 1: some competition, like there always is. There's a competition because
Speaker 1: they don't want him to waste all, you know, right,
Speaker 1: So so there's not really competition as much as there
Speaker 1: is just somebody that can kick in his place so
Speaker 1: that you don't have to use him up this year.
Speaker 1: Do you think that person needs to be a legitimate competitor,
Speaker 1: somebody that that's played in the league and all that. Um, yeah, yeah,
Speaker 1: I think so. I think in these and I wrote
Speaker 1: that right after the game, I said that the same thing.
Speaker 1: I think this year there needs to be a little
Speaker 1: bit more of a competition for him. But um, I
Speaker 1: think you have to do that. That roster spot has
Speaker 1: been a foregone conclusion for about four years running, I
Speaker 1: mean since I got here, really, like you really haven't
Speaker 1: thought about it. And he as bad as Dan as
Speaker 1: it looks. For Dan, it's worse in his own mind.
Speaker 1: That's what he said after the game. It's worse than
Speaker 1: you think it is. Well, yeah, but that's his makes
Speaker 1: he's he he doesn't he's not excited about the one
Speaker 1: that hits the upright and goes in. That's a miss
Speaker 1: to him. Yes, that's why if you look out here,
Speaker 1: and if if you go out to the Star and
Speaker 1: you see the on one end zone, he's got very
Speaker 1: probably half of the distance between the two uprights on
Speaker 1: one of them. Like, that's what he that's why he
Speaker 1: aims for that, That's what he's playing off of. That's
Speaker 1: what freaks me out though, is like it's gonna bother
Speaker 1: him more than it's gonna bother Jason Garrett probably feels
Speaker 1: fine about Dan Bailey right now, but that's a problem too.
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett's always felt fine. You know, a fifty six
Speaker 1: yard field goal, run him out there, all he missed,
Speaker 1: he missed, Yeah, and it's first and ten San Francisco
Speaker 1: in the forty six. Now, because of that, why don't
Speaker 1: you use your all pro punter, who should be an
Speaker 1: all pro get him down to the ten. How many
Speaker 1: years has Dan Bailey been here? Eleven since twenty eleven,
Speaker 1: since seven years, seven years, and he's been pretty perfect, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: this first year you had any questions about Dan Bailey? Right? Right?
Speaker 1: So your leg is already trained to do all that,
Speaker 1: right and if you're going back, so that's in your system.
Speaker 1: It's like you walking or however you train your muscle
Speaker 1: muscle memory. If his injury is good as it's supposed
Speaker 1: to be, he just needs to get over that mental
Speaker 1: and he will. I'm one hundred percent confident that he
Speaker 1: is gonna be fine. It's all mental. He just needs
Speaker 1: to spend this whole season just you know, kicking, getting
Speaker 1: past that. And like Garrett said, looking back as his career,
Speaker 1: all the great thing he's done, and he has so
Speaker 1: much support in this organization that mentally that's gonna be
Speaker 1: comfort comforting into him. That's a really interesting point because
Speaker 1: I was about to come back at you and say, well,
Speaker 1: it's always mental issues that derail kickers. That's it's a
Speaker 1: cliche that they're head cases. But if there's an organization
Speaker 1: where a kicker is valued as like a member of
Speaker 1: the team and a member of the family, you know,
Speaker 1: like you hear all these stories about how kickers are
Speaker 1: kind of apart, Like, that's not the case here. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And everybody's seeing how much good he's done over the
Speaker 1: course of seven He's got a lot of sport. If
Speaker 1: there is a place where he is going to be supported,
Speaker 1: it's here, So that definitely works in his favor. I
Speaker 1: completely agree with that. Yeah, the only thing that I
Speaker 1: would say about that Amber on the flip side is that, yeah,
Speaker 1: it all makes sense from standpoint a muscle memory. And
Speaker 1: you're saying that it's just a mental thing. But that's
Speaker 1: the issue when you're talking about kickers, the mental part
Speaker 1: of it. Probably more than almost any other position on
Speaker 1: the field, the mental part of it. I've seen derail
Speaker 1: really good kickers. I'm talking about guys who were money
Speaker 1: kickers that all of a sudden just lost it. The
Speaker 1: guy that was in Minnesota, Blair Walsh, Yeah, yeah, they
Speaker 1: ended up. I mean, he was a really good kicker,
Speaker 1: one of the best in the league, and all of
Speaker 1: a sudden he could make field goals anymore. And he
Speaker 1: ends up in Seattle because he just couldn't make field
Speaker 1: goals anymore. And that's the part that worries me a
Speaker 1: little bit. I'm not saying get rid of him, but
Speaker 1: I do think you have to at least have some
Speaker 1: kind of contingency in the event you get back to
Speaker 1: training camp next year and you're still having Glad it
Speaker 1: happened in the last month of the season, because had
Speaker 1: it been at the beginning of the season and he
Speaker 1: had gone game after game just screwing up. Then I
Speaker 1: would feel a lot worse because now he had a
Speaker 1: longer period of failer. Yeah, where he's like, Okay, I'm
Speaker 1: screwing up, and now it's a longer time period. This
Speaker 1: happened towards the end of the season. Four games he
Speaker 1: was out, then he comes back and he has the
Speaker 1: whole offseason to work on that. So I'm just thinking
Speaker 1: of Okay, time wise, it wasn't enough to where I'm
Speaker 1: worried too, like, Okay, now he's absolutely mentally screwed up. Ye.
Speaker 1: All right, we appreciate you guys joining us. We're back
Speaker 1: next Wednesday. We're gonna talk a little about free agencies
Speaker 1: next week, talk about some of the players at the
Speaker 1: Cowboys have. They have a ton of free agents this year,
Speaker 1: so we're gonna talk about some of those and who
Speaker 1: we think the Cowboys should make a priority to resign.
Speaker 1: We'll do that all the next next week till then
Speaker 1: for Nick Even, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I'm Derek Eagels
Speaker 1: and this has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys
Speaker 1: dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas
Speaker 1: Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.