Dallas Cowboys News

[DC_fan]

Cowboys considering Brian Urlacher to fill Sean Lee void

Posted by Darin Gantt on June 2, 2014, 7:48 AM EDT

Getty Images
When discussing the immediate aftermath of the Sean Lee injury, one of the names mentioned was former Saints middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma.

Ed Werder of ESPN adds another more interesting — and more experienced — name to the pile, mentioning that Brian Urlacher is on the list of players the Cowboys will consider.

Now, consider is a broad word. Lots of teams consider lots of stuff. But if the Cowboys are looking for a two-down inside linebacker, there are probably worse options.

Urlacher played for FOX last year, after the Bears let him walk and no one else offered him enough money to keep playing.

If he’s in shape and prepared to go through the football grind again (and that’s a real if), Urlacher would be interesting.

His skills were nearly perfectly suited for the middle linebacker’s job in the Tampa 2 defense Rod Marinelli’s running for the Cowboys.

And while there’s no indication if Urlacher even wants to come back, it’s the kind of name hire that would please the owner, who ginned up considerable attention for himself with his infatuation with a certain Jonathan Football earlier this spring.

[URL="http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/02/cowboys-considering-brian-urlacher-to-fill-sean-lee-void/"]http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2014/06/02/cowboys-considering-brian-urlacher-to-fill-sean-lee-void/[/URL]

I don't see this happening. Urlacher is 36, hasn't played since 2012 and at that that time was past his best.

 

[DC_fan]

Rod Marinelli defines outside LB roles

June, 2, 2014 By Todd Archer | ESPNDallas.com

IRVING, Texas -- When is a strong-side linebacker really a weak-side linebacker?

It's all about the definition used by the Dallas Cowboys' new defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli. Bruce Carter is a weak-side linebacker in Marinelli's scheme even if he is lining up on the strong side.

Wherever the three-technique plays, Carter will line up behind him.

"I think you see the blocking patterns the same all the time," Marinelli said. "That guy's covered up. Hopefully he's a heck of an athlete. Hopefully it's harder to get a hat on him, so the speed and all those things you're using in terms of the run game. Then you're seeing the same thing from the same position every time. I think that helps a man grow faster."

Marinelli did it with Lance Briggs with the Chicago Bears, lining him up behind Henry Melton. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers did it with Derrick Brooks behind Warren Sapp. In the 4-3 scheme, the two most important players are the weak-side linebacker and three technique.

The Cowboys will be more of an "over" defense this year than last year under Monte Kiffin but there were times where Carter lined up behind Jason Hatcher.

"We have travel rules and that's how we travel," Marinelli said. "It can look like one thing to you. It'd be like the under tackle. Well, he's playing an over front but he's the under tackle. It's just the system, how we move them, and we try to make it ... . I use the word simple, where guys know exactly and they see the blocks the same. Everything's the same and you get comfortable. Once you're comfortable you really play fast."

The Cowboys also call their safeties different than most teams. Barry Church is listed as the free safety with J.J. Wilcox playing strong safety. Traditionally, the strong safety is the one who plays closer to the line of scrimmage, but that is Church's role and Wilcox is more the center field safety.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4728831/rod-marinelli-defines-outside-lb-roles

 

[DC_fan]

Cowboys Roster Rated 18th Best For 2014
By Dave Halprin  @BloggingTheBoys on Jun 7 2014, 4:30p 141


Greg Fiume
Is a ranking of 18th fair for the Cowboys?

Pro Football Focus, via ESPN, recently took the time to grade every presumed starter on every NFL roster for the 2014 season, then based on that gave the entire starting roster a collective rating. The Cowboys ended up ranked at #18. At first, as a Cowboys fan, this felt low. But that is likely because I'm an eternal optimist about the team, always giving Dallas players the benefit of the doubt when I can. But, consider the Cowboys recent run of 8-8 records, the fact that we picked 16th (and it could have been 17th if we lost a coin flip) in the last draft; a ranking of 18th doesn't really seem out of order.

Although that lower ranking does fly in the face of one constant charge made against the team, that we have a talented roster that is wasted by inept coaching and bad front-office management. How many times have we heard that complaint? Maybe it is that we just have a mediocre roster.

Below is the color key chart for the rankings and then the Cowboys individual roster rankings with description.

18. Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys' defense had its problems before star inside linebacker Sean Lee suffered a torn ACL last week in OTAs. Lee was a high-quality starter, and only his history with injuries prevented him from being a legitimate blue-chipper. Without him, the team looks even more threadbare on that side of the ball.

Henry Melton was a nice addition in free agency, but when you look at what else has departed in the same offseason, it does little to stem the bleeding. There is a lot of money invested in the secondary, but neither Morris Claiborne nor Brandon Carr has come close to justifying it yet. The offense is what keeps this roster afloat, with Tony Romo and Dez Bryant headlining talent that runs deep across the skill positions. The Cowboys look likely to be involved in plenty of shootouts this year.

By the numbers: Tony Romo is among seven projected starters on offense (58.3 percent) who are graded good or better, with only Ronald Leary at left guard ranking below average. On defense, things are a different story entirely, with only Melton grading out as above average. The loss of Lee robs the team of its fifth high-quality starter and the only one on defense.
Looking at their rankings, I have a few changes, or at least debates, to be made. One, I believe Dez Bryant is absolutely elite. His numbers from last year and his overall skill put him in the "elite" category. Two, a case can be made for Tony Romo to be a "high quality" starter instead of a "good starter." I can't put Gavin Escobar as an "average starter" yet, I need to see more. On defense, Orlando Scandrick could certainly be considered a "good starter," and you could probably make a case for Barry Church.

http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2014/6/7/5785800/dallas-cowboys-roster-rated-18th-best-for-2014

 

[DC_fan]

Cowboys' front seven ranked last in NFL by national writer

Mike Tanier from Sports on Earth has an ongoing spring and summer series rating the best and worst units in the NFL. This week, he examined defensive front sevens.

Tanier ranked the Cowboys unit as the worst in the NFL. He doesn't think defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli will be able to overcome the team's slew of injuries and multiple losses in free agency. Here is what he wrote:

32. Dallas Cowboys

"The Cowboys lost DeMarcus Ware, Jason Hatcher and (in the saddest, most ridiculous minicamp story of the year) Sean Lee from a defense that allowed 2,056 rushing yards and recorded just 36 sacks last year. Henry Melton arrives as a younger, more system-suited replacement for Hatcher, but everything else is a shambles. Bruce Carter, Justin Durant and DeVonte Holloman form the most anonymous linebacker corps in the league, and only Carter has any significant starting experience. Anthony Spencer may start the season on the PUP list as he battles back from microfracture surgery on his knee. And of course, the Cowboys are so cap-stressed that they wouldn't be able to sign a veteran reinforcement, even if one becomes available this late in the offseason.​

The wisest thing the Cowboys could do is insert rookies Demarcus Lawrence and Anthony Hitchens into the rotation quickly and let them learn on the job. The Cowboys did not get into this predicament by doing the wise thing. But they are so thin and talent-poor that they may not have a choice."​

The Cowboys rank just behind the San Diego Charges and Cleveland Browns for last place. Tanier has the St. Louis Rams, Carolina Panthers, and Buffalo Bills at the top of his list.

So, what do you think? Is the Cowboys front seven really the worst in the NFL?

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140609-cowboys-front-seven-ranked-last-in-nfl-by-national-writer.ece

Never heard of Mike Tanier or Sports on Earth.

Its now up to our defensive line and linebackers tto p[rove this guy should never be heard of again.

 

[DC_fan]

A bunch of Dallas Cowboys players had to be restrained at a TNA Wrestling event Sunday night when one of the wrestlers spit beer at 'em ... and all hell broke loose ... in a scripted, wrestling sorta way.

It all went down at TNA Wrestling Slammiversary XII -- where bad guy "The Cowboy" James Storm went over to a bunch of Cowboys players in the stands (including starting defensive end George Selvie) and fired a mouthful of beer at the guys.

Selvie -- along with teammates Ben Bass, Nick Hayden, Tyrone Crawford, Caesar Rayford and Martez Wilson -- went crazy ... but were held back by security.

Don't worry ... Selvie eventually broke loose and got his revenge!!!!!

Read more: http://www.tmz.com/2014/06/16/dallas-cowboys-players-george-selvie-tnz-wrestling/#ixzz34t7LUrYz

 

[DC_fan]

Could NBA Star LeBron James about to become a Cowboys?

 

[DC_fan]

Sports Illustrated: AT&T Stadium's monstrous video board an 'NFL artifact,' tells story of league

It's hard not to take note of AT&T Stadium's enormous video board, so it makes sense that Sports Illustrated included in its series of 95 artifacts that tell the story of the NFL
.
The 160-foot long high-definition video board set a world record at the time it was formally unveiled in 2009, making it the envy of owners everywhere.
By size, it's easily the biggest (size-wise) artifact (so far) on SI's list, which includes things like the Wonderlic test and Mean Joe Green's Coke commercial.

Here's part of what Jenny Vrentas had to say about the subject: "The billion-dollar AT&T Stadium, which opened in 2009 as Cowboys Stadium, resembles a palatial spaceship dropped into Arlington, a city between Dallas and Fort Worth. No feature represents the structure’s grandiosity more than the 160-foot long HD video board suspended over the center of the playing field."

The list also includes another piece of Cowboys folklore: Deion Sanders' bandana

.http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/da...ard-an-nfl-artifact-tells-story-of-league.ece

 

[DC_fan]

Rolando McClain traded to Cowboys
Updated: July 1, 2014, 5:09 PM ET
ESPN.com news services

The Dallas Cowboys completed a trade with the Baltimore Ravens on Tuesday to acquire linebacker Rolando McClain, who will come out of retirement, a league source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter.

Dallas traded a 2015 sixth-round pick for McClain and Baltimore's 2015 seventh-round pick, the source said.

McClain retired in April, telling ESPN.com in a text that he had lost his desire to play football. It was the second time he had retired as he also called it quits in 2013, soon after signing with the Ravens following his release by the Oakland Raiders, who had made him the No. 8 overall pick in the 2010 draft.

"I gotta follow my heart. It ain't football. If football made me complete I would play. But whenever I think of it my heart pulls me away from whatever reason. ... This means I'm done.

"Now I know God has something else planned for me and that my life is bigger than football," he said in the texts to ESPN The Magazine's Seth Wickersham.

McClain was suspended for two games by the Raiders in 2012 after arguing with head coach Dennis Allen. He was also arrested three times in an 11-month span.

In 41 games over three seasons with the Raiders, McClain had 246 tackles and 6.5 sacks.

ESPN.com Ravens reporter Jamison Hensley contributed to this report.

Strange signing. You give up a 6th round draft pick in exchange for a 7th round pick and a player who had retired.

 

[DC_fan]

Opinion

The more I think about the McClain trade, the more I like it.

We have a linebacker of good size at 6-4 and 260 pound, who was taken 8th overall in the 2010 draft. He is still young, will turn 25 later this month.

McClain had a fantastic college career, winning multiple individual player awards. He helped Alabama win the 2010 BCS.

In the three seasons he played at the Raiders he put up reasonable numbers. In 2009 he finished with 99 combined tackles and 5 sacks.

The problem for McClain is he has off the field problems. He has been arrested by police a number of times.

So we have given a 6th round pick to the Ravens in-exchange for McClain and a 7th round pick. Not much difference between a 6th round and 7th round pick. Could end up being just a few selection differences.

Now if McClain has turned his life around and can produce on the field then the Cowboys will have a real steal.

 

[DC_fan]

McClain trade could cost Cowboys nothing

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys could end up giving the Baltimore Ravens nothing in the trade for linebacker Rolando McClain.

According to multiple sources, if McClain, who was acquired Tuesday, does not make the team or is not on the Cowboys' 53-man roster for five games or 46-man game-day roster for three games in 2014, then the Ravens will not receive any compensation.

As it stands right now, the trade calls for the Cowboys to give up their seventh-rounder in 2016 if McClain is on the 53-man roster for five games or 46-man roster for three games only if their pick is better than the Ravens' pick in the round. If it is, then the teams will swap selections. If the Ravens finish with a worse record in 2014, then there is no swap.

If McClain plays in 50 percent of the defensive snaps in 2014, then the Ravens would receive the Cowboys' sixth-round pick in 2015 and the Cowboys would receive Baltimore’s seventh-round pick in 2015. McClain has not played since November 2012, but the Cowboys could look at him as a replacement for Sean Lee, who is out for the year with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. He could also be in the mix as a strongside linebacker.

The Cowboys would gladly give up a low-round pick if McClain, a former first-round pick in 2010 of the Oakland Raiders, is a starter even for just one year.

McClain did not receive any guaranteed money in the one-year deal he signed with the Cowboys.

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys

 

[DC_fan]

TE – HOW GOOD CAN JASON WITTEN BE?

I don’t think I have to spell out much about Jason Witten. Everyone knows he’s Romo’s buddy. Everyone knows he’s a Cowboys treasure. Most people realize he’s a hall of fame player and everyone would probably list him as the most likely to get in the hall from the current roster. It’s audacious to say such a beloved player is under rated, but, as with their quarterback, Cowboys fans are actually a bit unaware of the greatness in front of them. Just how good can Jason Witten be? I present here a few facts to help put this career in perspective.

Everyone knows Witten is tough, and that his productivity is in part due to that toughness. It’s probably no surprise that he’s the current NFL active leader for consecutive starts by a TE. With 7 more starts he’ll become the all-time NFL leader in consecutive games started by a TE. The last time he did not start a game was in 2006. The last time he was inactive for a game, he was a rookie. He’ll have to have a long career to top the consecutive active games list, but 3 more years will get him into the top 25 all time, regardless of position.

But that’s our picture of the boy: tough and reliable, but unspectacular. And we are wrong.

My favorite Witten stat is the list of players younger than him with more receiving yards:Larry Fitzgerald
That’s it. Now, we all knew Witten was great, but that’s a bit shocking, isn’t it? I mean this is a guy who gets called “a complete TE in the Mark Bavaro mold.” This is a guy who, when he gets mentioned with the likes of Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez, is always tagged with “not a receiving threat like…” those aforementioned players. But Witten is one of the top receivers, ever. His production level is insane. Notice the absence of the words “for a tight end” in the preceding statement. I’ll get to that, but first we’ll compare apples to apples.

Last year was widely regarded as a down year for Witten. Despite near-career highs in yards per catch and TD’s (his second highest season totals in each), we see his 841 receiving yards as a bit of a disappointment. We should not.

Only 92 times since 1920 has a TE gone for 841 yd’s receiving. Jason Witten single-handedly accounts for nearly 10% of these with eight seasons hitting that mark. Mark Bavaro — the man to whom Witten is most often compared, had two, as have noted receiving threats Dallas Clark, Chris Cooley, and Jeremy Shockey. At three such seasons, we have older hall of farmers like Kellen Winslow Sr., Ozzie Newsome, and Mike Ditka, as well as current studs like Vernon Davis, Jimmy Graham, and unlikely-to-add-to-the-string Winslow jr., who has been hobbled by injury of late. At four, there are only two names: Shannnon Sharpe and Raider great Todd Christensen (also a former Cowboy). Antonio Gates comes in at six — 3/4 as many as Witten. Only Tony Gonzalez has more (that will be a recurring theme).

I think we can all agree that 750 receiving yards is a productive season, even for a wide receiver. Not spectacular for a wide out and certainly an off year for a #1 dog, but a strong contribution to a QB’s passing attack, to be sure. For comparison, one other Dallas TE has ever achieved that mark – Doug Cosbie.

http://cowboysnation.com/2014/07/te-how-good-can-jason-witten-be.html

 

[DC_fan]

Former Cowboys assistant and A&M head coach Jim Myers dies at 92


Jim Myers, the former longtime Cowboys assistant and the Texas A&M coach who replaced Paul “Bear” Bryant, died Thursday at 92.

Visitation is 4-8 p.m. Tuesday at Restland Memorial Chapel in Dallas with the service at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the same location.

Myers took over A&M in 1958, following Bryant’s departure for Alabama and a season after John David Crow won the Heisman Trophy. Myers went 12-24-4 in four seasons with the Aggies.
But Myers is best remembered for his tenure with the Cowboys from 1962 to 1986 and his work with superior offensive lines.

He coached for the Cowboys longer than anyone but Tom Landry, who hired Myers.

Myers was a part of the staff during Dallas’ wins in Super Bowl VI after the 1971 season and Super Bowl XII after the 1977 season.

As recounted in a 2011 SportsDay column, Myers almost didn’t take the A&M job.

The then-Iowa State coach withdrew from consideration once he learned another Aggie group had made a run at Navy’s Eddie Erdelatz, who turned down the job. Finally a pair of cadets put together a petition signed by 2,292 students and sent it to Ames, Iowa, by Western Union. Cadets finally flew to Iowa to make a personal plea.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140718-former-cowboys-assistant-and-am-head-coach-jim-myers-dies-at-92.ece

 

[DC_fan]

Robert Newhouse - whom Drew Pearson calls 1 of 'toughest Cowboys' - dies at 64


Robert Newhouse, the former standout fullback who played in three Super Bowls for the Cowboys, died Tuesday after an extended battle with heart disease.

He was 64. Newhouse died at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., with his immediate family by his side. Newhouse, who suffered a stroke in the summer of 2010, had been at the Mayo Clinic the last few months. Arrangements for a funeral in Dallas are pending.

“The mental picture everyone had of Robert Newhouse of going for that last yard was absolutely everything he did. He fought until the very end,” said his son Roddrick. “He would not quit.”

Newhouse is also survived by his wife Nancy; twin daughters Dawnyel and Shawntel; and son Reggie, who played receiver for the Arizona Cardinals in 2004-05.

The Cowboys had no official comment late Tuesday night.

Newhouse was born in Longview and played high school football at nearby Galilee in Hallsville. His only scholarship offer was from Houston, where he became a standout running back for the Cougars from 1969 to 1971. Newhouse finished his college career as Houston’s all-time leading rusher, breaking many of the school’s records. In 1977, he was inducted into the University of Houston Athletics Hall of Honor.

The Cowboys drafted Newhouse in the second round in 1972 and he played 12 seasons for coach Tom Landry.

Newhouse was primarily used as a blocking fullback in the I formation, leading the way for Hall of Famer Tony Dorsett, but he was also known for his power rushing ability. He had perhaps the NFL’s largest thighs at 44 inches.

“He was like a bowling ball out there,” Cowboys Hall of Fame quarterback Roger Staubach said Tuesday. “Robert was just a team player. Everybody liked him. I don’t know anybody who didn’t think the world of Robert Newhouse.

“Robert was a tough guy, a great guy. It’s a real shame. He’s been fighting the fight, and it’s been a tough deal for him.”

Newhouse led the Cowboys in rushing with 930 yards in 1975 and retired after the 1983 season. He’s the team’s fifth all-time leading rusher with 4,784 yards.

“We kept putting out there 4,784 plus one more yard,” Roddrick said. “We had shirts made up. He touched a lot of people. A lot of people used to tell me, ‘Your dad should be in the [Cowboys] Ring of Honor. Maybe he should have, maybe he shouldn’t, but it was never a concern of his. He was the blue-collar guy.”

Newhouse played in three Super Bowls for the Cowboys in the 1970s. He helped them beat Denver in Super Bowl XII, with his most famous play coming in the fourth quarter. Newhouse became the first running back to throw a touchdown pass in a Super Bowl when he fired a 29-yard scoring strike to Golden Richards on a halfback pass to put the game away.

“He threw the pass going to his left,” Staubach said. “That is what amazed all of us.”

Roddrick Newhouse said his father worked for the Cowboys for 29 years up until 2008. He said his father helped the Cowboys with ticket sales, alumi relations, minority procurement and as a player programs director.

“He told me one day that he was scared every day that he played. He was scared to get cut,” Roddrick said. “He never told a lot of people that. But that’s what made him so good. I smiled when he told me that. For me, it was kind of brilliant.”

Drew Pearson played alongside Newhouse. His daughter Britni grew up with Dawnyel and Shawntel Newhouse. Britni had been in contact with the twins and passed along to her father that Newhouse was in bad shape.

“I knew over the weekend that he was in pretty grave condition,” Pearson said. “Still, this is Robert Newhouse. The House I remember is one of the toughest Dallas Cowboys ever. He lived life like he played on the field. He took hits and kept going and never let it stop him or slow him down.

“You just thought this was another tackle House is going to break or another thing he’s going to run through and be OK eventually. You never gave up hope because you knew this is Robert Newhouse.”

Pearson believes Newhouse never got the credit he deserved for having great hands. He never heard him complain when he was asked to cover kicks near the end of his career. He remembers how Newhouse would rush to shower and change after practices so he could attend class at UT-Dallas to prepare for his life after football.

“He’s a special guy,’’ Pearson said. “We’re going to miss him.’’

Staff writer David Moore contributed to this report.

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140722-robert-newhouse---whom-drew-pearson-calls-1-of-toughest-cowboys---dies-at-64.ece

May he RIP

 

[DC_fan]

Cowboys explain Kyle Orton decision

OXNARD, Calif. -- All offseason the Dallas Cowboys operated under the notion that Kyle Orton would be their backup quarterback in 2014 even if he failed to show up for the entire offseason program, including the mandatory minicamp.

When Orton told the Cowboys he would report to training camp, the Cowboys decided to cut the veteran the week before they flew to California.

Orton
It’s all very curious and does not mean Orton wants to continue his career. It means he wanted to make sure he wouldn’t be fined $30,000 a day for skipping any part of training camp or have to repay any of the signing bonus money he received from the Cowboys had he retired.

“Both parties agreed that it wasn’t the best situation for him to be back with our football team,” Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said. “We had good visits, good deep conversations with him throughout the process. We both agreed it was best for us to move on without him. Wish him nothing but the best. Did a fantastic job for us in the role that he was in the last couple of years. Really played very hard and very well in that Week 17 game against Philadelphia when Tony [Romo] was hurt and I have a great deal of respect for him. We make a lot of decisions about players on our football team. The guiding principle always is do what’s best for the Dallas Cowboys. And we made that decision.”

The Cowboys gained roughly $2.7 million in cap space by cutting Orton, but will lose out on Orton re-paying any of the signing bonus money because they chose to cut him, and he could choose to play elsewhere. A source said Orton has operated with the idea of retirement all offseason.

The Cowboys weighed the possibility of having a quarterback not invested in the program and not in shape after skipping the offseason. They did not want to run the risk of Orton getting hurt, which would have cost them not only cash but cap space. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the strong showing of Brandon Weeden in the spring played a part in the club’s decision.

“That was pretty good stuff,” Jones said. “Does he have a lot to do to be where let’s say Kyle Orton might have been starting against San Francisco? Yes, he’s got a lot of work to do and we know that. On the other hand, he does a lot of good things as well. So combination of someone else having an opportunity, taking advantage of it. It’s kind of a mantra for what’s going to go on out here during training camp. You need to be out there, you need to be on the field, you need to be doing your best every play or somebody else can step up there. That was all alive and well in this decision.”

http://espn.go.com/blog/dallas/cowboys/post/_/id/4730357/cowboys-explain-kyle-orton-decision

 

[DC_fan]

Shedding light on Kyle Orton divorce: Cowboys backup QB met with club officials in Dallas a few weeks ago, looked in ‘great’ shape

OXNARD, Calif. — Just two weeks before training camp was to start, Dallas Cowboys quarterbacks coach Wade Wilson said he was preparing as if backup quarterback Kyle Orton would be in California with the team for practices.

A week ago, however, the Cowboys chose to move on from Orton by releasing the veteran after he chose to sit out the entire offseason and not practice with his teammates while contemplating retirement.



Orton’s release came after he spent a few days in Dallas about two weeks ago visiting with club officials, Wilson said.

“Within the last couple of weeks, I was told that Kyle was wanting to come back now and was going to show up to training camp,” Wilson said. “They decided not to bring him back. But he did intend on coming to camp.”

No one seems to really know what Orton’s mindset was this offseason as he tried to decide whether to retire from the NFL or come back and play again. That’s because he wasn’t communicating with club officials, for the most part.

That included Wilson, who was close to Orton. Wilson played a big role in the Chicago Bears drafting Orton in 2005 and a big role in the Cowboys signing Orton in 2012. Wilson was the Bears’ quarterbacks coach Orton’s first two seasons in Chicago and has been Orton’s quarterbacks coach the last two years in Dallas.

Despite their long relationship, Orton cut off communication with Wilson this offseason as the Cowboys’ quarterbacks coach tried to figure out exactly what the team’s backup quarterback was thinking.

“He would not return my phone call or text throughout the whole spring,” Wilson said. “I talked to his agent [David Dunn] and he said, ‘Let’s just let it go and it would play out then.’ I’m assuming that he was going to retire up until a week ago, that he would possibly come back and play.”

Wilson was finally able to get a feel, somewhat, for Orton’s mindset about two weeks ago when he came to Dallas to meet with club officials. Orton sat down with Wilson to talk.

Wilson said Orton was in good physical shape and that wasn’t an issue with him reporting to camp.

“No, not at all, because he was around for a couple of days in Dallas. I saw him and talked to him a little bit and he looked great,” Wilson said.

“I asked him point blank – I’ve known Kyle; we drafted him in Chicago when I was there – I asked him if he was just going to show up and go through the motions to get the check or if he was going to come out here and compete,” Wilson said. “He said, ‘If I’m here, I’ll compete and come out and do my job, no doubt about that.’”

Wilson said he talked to Orton briefly after the Cowboys chose to release him.

“Whether he wants to play without playing for the Cowboys, I don’t know,” Wilson said.

It’ll be interesting to see if Orton lands with another team. That will tell you more so about Orton’s intentions than anything this offseason.


For now, however, the Cowboys have moved on and are preparing Brandon Weeden for their backup quarterback role behind starter Tony Romo
http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2014/07/shedding-some-light-on-kyle-orton-divorce-cowboys-backup-qb-met-with-club-officials-in-dallas-a-few-weeks-ago-looked-in-great-shape.html/

Orton, physically may have been ready to play, but mentally he was not. The Cowboys did the right thing in releasing him.

 

[DC_fan]

Day 2 Cowboys training-camp practice observations: Brandon Weeden gets 1st-team reps; progress for Henry Melton

Here’s what stood out from Day 2 of Cowboys’ training camp practices Friday in Oxnard, Calif.

The Cowboys had a second consecutive light practice Friday to begin training camp with the offensive and defensive units still not going against each other in drills.

QB Tony Romo didn’t practice during the evening practice on the second day of camp, choosing to play it safe before the players put on the pads Saturday for the first time. Romo watched about the first 45 minutes of the evening practice from the sideline in a blue Cowboys “FIGHT” T-shirt and in shorts before leaving the field toward the locker room area.

QB Brandon Weeden led the Cowboys’ first team in the evening practice, though most of the workout was individual drills.

Defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli was just as fired up on Day 2 of training camp practices as he was the first day Thursday. He was constantly yelling at the defensive linemen: “Speed, more speed.”
Marinelli saw progress from DT Henry Melton in one drill as he urged the free agent addition to use more speed: “Not quite there yet, but I’m starting to see it.”

Injured DE Anthony Spencer spent some time working on the resistance cords during the evening practice as he continues his recovery from Oct. 1 microfracture surgery on his left knee.

Several Cowboys cheerleaders watched the early part of the evening practice from a tent-covered area near the practice fields as they get ready to perform at the opening ceremony to kick off training camp Saturday afternoon.

The competition for the starting MLB spot will really start to heat up Saturday when the pads come on. For now, Justin Durant is the first-team MLB, DeVonte Holloman is second team and Orie Lemon is third team. But that could change whenever Rolando McClain practices for the first time.

The safeties depth chart the first two practices: First-teamers are Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox; second-team: Jakar Hamilton and Jeff Heath; third-team Matt Johnson and Ahmad Dixon.

Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia watched as RB Lance Dunbar, WR Terrance Williams, WR Devin Street and WR Dwayne Harris field punts.

S Barry Church dropped an interception in a drill while he was back-peddling. The balls were thrown high, but Church couldn’t bring it down.
LB Bruce Carter let a high ball go off his hands in a linebacker drill where the players changed directions quickly and had to catch a pass coming right at them while on the run.

The cornerbacks struggled to cleanly catch the ball during a drill in which the balls were being fired from a machine at about five yards away.

WR Dez Bryant and RB DeMarco Murray worked on the side at one point during the evening practice catching passes after flashing from behind a tackling dummy that blocked their view of the passer.

In a linebacker drill, coach Jason Garrett completed a high pass to defensive line assistant coach Leon Lett over LB Justin Durant. Assistant coaches ran routes against the linebackers to help them work on their pass coverage.

In the morning walk-through, RB DeMarco Murray bear-hugged WRs coach Derek Dooley from behind during a play in which Murray was rolling out to the right to block. He carried Dooley a few yards before letting him go, drawing some laughs from other offensive players.

Before the start of the morning walk-through, coach Jason Garrett yelled to the players, “Let’s get the tempo right.”

Nine Cowboys’ first-team offensive players wore their caps during the morning walk-through, and only QB Tony Romo had his facing forward.

The five first-team defensive players who wore a cap in the morning walk-through also had their caps facing forward.

During the morning walk-through, coach Jason Garrett had the offense re-huddle. Some of the defensive players celebrated by yelling, “yeah.” LB Justin Durant broke into some sort of shimmy dance.

Garrett yelled at the second-team offense during the morning walk-through to get back in the huddle again, “Communicate the personnel.”
On Twitter: @DMN_George

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140725-day-2-cowboys-training-camp-practice-observations-brandon-weeden-gets-1st-team-reps-progress-for-henry-melton.ece

The Cowboys are taking it steady with Romo. Though the longer he missing training has to be a concern.

 

[DC_fan]

Giving 3 struggling former 1st-rounders a chance is low risk for Cowboys; will it pay off?

OXNARD, Calif. — At this time of year, so many unrecognizable names are squeezed within the margins of the Cowboys’ roster.

They are attached to players who never made their mark in football, and most will be expunged from the NFL in the coming months. But quarterback Brandon Weeden, defensive tackle Amobi Okoye and linebacker Rolando McClain catch the eye. They invite curiosity and jog memories.

Not too long ago, each was a coveted talent, a celebrated member of his draft class and a star in the making. These days, they are three former first-round picks hoping to resuscitate their careers with the Cowboys, an organization that this offseason opened a halfway house for once-ballyhooed players emerging from their own versions of football purgatory.
“These are low-risk decisions that we’ve made,” coach Jason Garrett said. “They have talent. We evaluated them coming out of school. We liked them. We evaluated them in the NFL. We liked them. We wanted to give them a chance. As long as the price is right, these are good decisions to make as an organization to give guys a chance. Are they talented guys? Yes. Are they the right kind of people? We think they are from the reports that we have. So you give them a chance.”

The arrivals of Weeden, Okoye and McClain aren’t coincidental even though the paths that led them here were different. Weeden landed with the Cowboys following a string of failures, Okoye because of health problems and McClain after being saddled with off-field issues.

Their additions are part of a greater plan the Cowboys have implemented since their third consecutive 8-8 campaign ended last December. Dallas spent much of the offseason retooling its roster, trimming a bloated payroll and loosening the chokehold grip the salary cap had on this franchise in recent years. Finding quality players at bargain prices was a priority, and the Cowboys began to search for top picks whose careers had dead-ended.

This year, Okoye and Weeden, who entered the NFL with million-dollar contracts, are playing for the veteran minimum. McClain, whose guaranteed money he received from Oakland could have financed a sprawling estate in the Hamptons, is also being paid a six-figure sum by the Cowboys.

“This is a great opportunity,” McClain said. “You only get [so] many chances in the NFL. So the best thing I can do is take advantage of it, work my butt off and try to make this team and be the best I can be.”

The eighth overall pick of the 2010 draft, McClain was acquired in a trade with Baltimore after his career went into a tailspin. The Alabama All-American was arrested three times in a 16-month span and dealt with family problems that prompted two retirements in less than a year.

On Friday, his attorneys filed an immediate appeal once McClain was sentenced to 18 days in jail following his conviction in an Alabama court on charges of disorderly conduct and resisting arrest.

“We were aware of all of this,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “We can either take chances on older guys for the veteran minimum, or we can take a chance on a first-round pick. The [eighth] player picked in the draft who has been through some tough times. He’s showing that he wants to mature and grow up. I think it’s a good bet for us.”

Jones added that he’d rather pursue high-pick flameouts as opposed to “guys who hadn’t made it that you didn’t think would make it from the get-go.”

It’s why the Cowboys snagged Okoye, the former prodigy who is still sidelined with an undisclosed medical condition that kept him out of the NFL in 2013. It’s also the same reasoning that spurred the Cowboys’ recent visit with Larry English, an outside linebacker who was taken by San Diego with the 16th overall choice in 2009 and cut last week after a spate of injuries.

At one point, Marc Colombo faced the same adversity English has experienced. After he was selected with 29th overall choice in 2002, the mountainous offensive tackle dislocated the patella in his left knee and suffered femoral nerve damage, causing him to miss an entire season and parts of two others. He was cut by the Bears in 2005 before the Cowboys threw Colombo a lifeline.

“They were able to pick me out of the gutter,” Colombo recalled. “I was a first-round pick who had all the potential in the world and hurt myself. They were able to see that and get me in here and build me back up and saw a future plan for me. And I think that is what the Cowboys do a good job of. They never discard anybody that maybe some other teams may discard.”

Colombo, now a scouting assistant with the club, became a fixture on the offensive line, starting 72 games with the Cowboys until he was released in 2011.

Now he’s searching for players who fit the profile he once did, helping assistant director of player personnel Will McClay mine a landscape of NFL rejects.

As Colombo attested and former first-round refugee Ernie Sims showed in two seasons in Dallas, the Cowboys can reap rewards investing in players who once flashed enormous potential.

“Sometimes a change of scenery or just getting a fresh start is good,” said Weeden, the 22nd overall pick of the 2012 draft. “Every organization is different.”

In Cleveland, Weeden was affected by an unstable environment rife with dysfunction. He served under two coaching staffs and became an inconsistent passer, posting a lousy 71.8 quarterback rating. With Dallas, he’s hoping he can revitalize his career as Tony Romo’s understudy.

The Cowboys have faith that he can just as they believe that Okoye and McClain are capable of resurrecting careers that have fallen on hard times.
“It doesn’t mean it’s going to work,” Jones said. “But you never know.”
And the allure of a big payoff is why the Cowboys aren’t afraid to take chances and give them, too.
Another chance

The Cowboys acquired three former first-round picks this offseason. Here is a look at where they were and how they got here.​

Rolando McClain: McClain, the eighth overall pick of the 2010 draft, started his career with Oakland after being a key member of Alabama’s 2009 national championship team. He signed a five-year, $40 million contract with the Raiders but struggled on the field and faced trouble off the field. He was cut in November 2012. He signed a one-year, $700,000 contract with Baltimore in April 2013 but never played there. Nine days after he signed, he was arrested for the third time in 16 months. That prompted two retirements in less than a year. On July 1, the Cowboys acquired McClain’s rights from the Ravens. The teams also swapped 2016 seventh-round draft picks. He practiced Saturday after he was found guilty in Friday in Alabama of resisting arrest and disorderly ​

conduct.​

Amobi Okoye: A former star at Louisville, Okoye, then 19, became the youngest player to be drafted when Houston took him 10th overall in 2007. Okoye signed a six-year, $17.6 million deal but had only 11 career sacks before the Texans cut him in July 2011. In two seasons with the Bears, under current Cowboys defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli, he started one game and made five sacks. He was out of football in 2013, dealing with an undisclosed medical condition. The Cowboys signed him in May, but he hasn’t practiced since and was placed on the active/non-football illness list Thursday.​

Brandon Weeden: Weeden, a former minor league baseball player, had an outstanding final season at Oklahoma State in 2011, throwing 37 touchdown passes. He was picked by Cleveland with the 22nd overall choice in 2012 and signed a four-year, $8.1 million contract. Things went south quickly, as Weeden posted a 71.8 quarterback rating in two seasons and threw three more interceptions than touchdowns. After being thrust into a chaotic environment with two different coaching staffs in consecutive years, Weeden was cut in March. Five days later, he signed a two-year, $1.23 million deal with Dallas and is now the backup QB.​

On Twitter: @RainerSabinDMN
http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140726-giving-3-struggling-former-1st-rounders-a-chance-is-low-risk-for-cowboys-will-it-pay-off.ece

So far Weeden is showing enough to be our #2 quarterback. Could even surprise a few if he had to fill in as starter.

McClain if he can keep his mind on the job of playing football offers some great things at middle linebacker.

Okoye has problems with injuries and I will be surprised if he lasts very long with the Cowboys. Which would be a shame, because he has talent.

 

[DC_fan]

Good will helps Cowboys secure LT Tyron Smith for decade, and deal doesn't cripple their cap

OXNARD, Calif. — The Cowboys found a way Wednesday to secure the centerpiece of their offensive line for the next decade and not cripple their salary cap this year.

The Cowboys signed Pro Bowl left tackle Tyron Smith to an eight-year contract extension that will potentially keep the 23-year-old with the club through 2023. Smith was already under contract the next two seasons. His new 10-year deal will pay him $109.7 million.

Smith will receive $97.6 million in new money over the eight-year extension. The $12.2 million average will make him the NFL’s highest-paid left tackle.

When the Cowboys put the offer in front of Smith late last week, he said he almost immediately was ready to sign it despite being told repeatedly he could get more money.

“This organization is my family,” Smith said, “and I want to be here for the rest of my career. I never thought I’d be at this place right now. I’m just blessed it happened the way it did.”

Smith’s new contract includes $40 million guaranteed and a $10 million signing bonus. Smith will receive a little more than $32 million guaranteed over the first three years of his new contract, a source said.

“He’s the cornerstone of our offensive line,” Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “He’s the leader.”

The Cowboys didn’t break the bank to sign Smith despite the nearly $110 million total value. Smith’s salary cap hit this year ($5 million) increased by only $1 million. Smith’s base salary this year is slightly more than $1 million. The Cowboys still have a little less than $10 million in salary cap space to sign receiver Dez Bryant to a long-term deal.

Because of Smith’s age and skill set, many thought he could have pulled in even more money. Smith’s signing for 10 years prevents him from double-dipping on the free-agent market. He could have signed a short-term extension and pursued more money as a free agent in four or five years when contracts for other left tackles will have likely increased.

How will Smith feel in six years after NFL inflation?

“I’m still going to be comfortable,” he said.

Smith will be 33 to start the final year of his contract. Former Cowboys left tackle Flozell Adams was 33 in the first year of a six-year, $42 million extension he signed in 2008.

“This might be the first 10-year deal I’ve ever done in football where I really think the guy will be playing in the last year of his contract,” Stephen Jones said.

Smith was satisfied with signing a long-term deal now because he wanted to be a Cowboys player for life and also valued how much the club helped him through his ugly family situation two years ago.

Smith’s lawyer in 2012 accused his parents of taking money from him after he had already agreed to pay them in installments with money from his rookie deal. He was also threatened and harassed.

Cowboys owner Jerry Jones came to Smith’s aid immediately, lining up security detail for Smith at his home and at work.

“For them to look out for me, I’m just looking out for them getting this deal done,” Smith said.

To this day, Smith still hasn’t spoken to his parents. Even though his mother, Frankie Pinkney, and step-father, Roy, live a few hours away in Riverside, Calif., from where the team is training, Smith doesn’t see his family while in his home state.

The family protective order Smith filed in the summer of 2012 to keep his family from having any contact with him is still in place.

“It’s going to be in place until I feel comfortable that it doesn’t need to be there,” Smith said last year.

Smith said he is relieved to get the contract negotiations behind him but was never worried about a deal getting done. In fact, Smith has been more concerned over the last few weeks about one of his dogs that had surgery.
Smith is soft-spoken and not a flashy NFL player. He drives a Jeep that is provided for him by Meador Dodge Chrysler Jeep.

When the Cowboys drafted Smith ninth overall in 2011, they began the rebuilding process with their offensive line. Three years later, it’s now among the league’s best units.

That’s important with quarterback Tony Romo coming off of two back surgeries.

“I’m so happy for him,” Romo said. “He deserves everything he got. I don’t know that he is overpaid either. He is that good.”

Added Jerry Jones: “He’s more than we could have expected, and we expected a lot. He’s been outstanding, an example of how to do it.”

Smith’s agents, Joe Panos and Eric Metz, and his financial adviser are scheduled to be in Oxnard on Thursday. Not surprisingly, no big celebration is planned. That’s not Smith’s style. The all-business Smith says he has work to do.

And he knows expectations just climbed for him with the new deal in place.
“Tyron deserved to be the highest-paid left tackle,” Stephen Jones said. “He wants to be one of the best left tackles to ever play and wants to win rings. That’s more important to him than money.”

Big-money position

The Cowboys made Tyron Smith the highest-paid left tackle in the NFL. Smith’s eight-year extension will average $12.2 million per season. The six left tackles who have contracts that will average at least $10 million per season:

Player Team Age Avg. salary
Tyron Smith Cowboys 23 $12.2 million*

Joe Thomas Cleveland 29 $11.5 million

Ryan Clady Denver 27 $10.5 million

Jason Peters Philadelphia 32 $10.325 million

D’Brickashaw Ferguson NY Jets 30 $10 million

Trent Williams Washington 26 $10 million

*Based on Smith’s eight-year extension that includes $97.6 million in new money

http://www.dallasnews.com/sports/dallas-cowboys/headlines/20140730-good-will-helps-cowboys-secure-lt-tyron-smith-for-decade-and-deal-doesn-t-cripple-their-cap.ece

 

[DC_fan]

Cowboys send out playoff tickets
Updated: August 1, 2014, 3:54 PM ET
By Darren Rovell | ESPN.com

When Dallas Cowboys season-ticket holders open the envelope with their tickets this week, they might be shocked to find what's in there.

Along with all the preseason and regular-season tickets, there's a sheet of playoff tickets, including a ticket for the NFC Championship Game, a game the team hasn't played in since the 1995 season.

More from ESPN.com
The Cowboys might not be able to give fans any hope this season, but at least Jerry Jones found a way to provide cool souvenirs in the form of playoff tickets, Tim MacMahon writes. Story

With all the scrutiny on the lack of postseason success for the Cowboys, who have gone 8-8 each of the past three seasons and have missed the playoffs the past four years, the actual printing of the tickets and sending them ahead of time to fans is sure to cause a stir. Especially because no other NFL team is doing this.

"It's a convenience for our season-ticket holders to have everything in one package," said Brett Daniels, the Cowboys director of corporate communications. "It's an evolution to be fan-friendly. They have their tickets online and if we clinch a playoff berth they go to the computer and click they want the tickets."

Daniels said in previous years the Cowboys would send out playoff invoices in November and mail them out in December. Fans would send in a check or write in credit card numbers on the invoices. Now, everything is done online and gives the fans more control over what they want to do.

Cowboys spokesman Rich Dalrymple added that the team had to send playoff tickets to fans anyway at the end of the season for each of the last three years because the team was trying to qualify for the playoffs on the last game of the year. Because this happens around holiday time, Dalrymple said the Cowboys would be sending out the tickets during the biggest shipping rush of the year, which made the team and fans uneasy.

"Included in this package are your 2014 playoff tickets and parking (if applicable) for two potential home games at AT&T Stadium," read a letter that came with the season tickets. "The barcodes on the tickets will be activated when a home playoff game is clinched and the tickets have been paid in full."

After NFL teams had problems selling out playoff games this past season, especially the Green Bay Packers, who required their season-ticket holders to pay for the full slate of playoff games before the team even made the playoffs, the league changed its policy requiring teams to charge fans for tickets only as a certain game was clinched.

[+] Enlarge
ESPN
The Cowboys included playoff tickets -- including for the NFC title game -- in their packages to season-ticket holders.
"I don't take the challenges that we had on wild-card weekend as any reflection of our fans' passion," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at his state-of-the-league address during this year's Super Bowl week. "Those were mistakes that were made by us, the NFL and our clubs. What we have to do is recognize that technology has changed and that we have to use technology more efficiently and more intelligently to make sure we don't put our fans in that kind of position. Green Bay, as an example, sold close to 50,000 tickets over a five-day period, including New Year's Day. We shouldn't be in that position, and that's on us, and we have to fix it, and we will. But that is not an indication in any way of the fans' passion."

Brian Lafemina, the league's senior vice president of club business development, confirmed to ESPN.com that the Cowboys are the only team in the league that preprinted and sent out its playoff tickets to fans in advance this year, but he said he expects more teams to adopt this practice in the future.

"It's operationally efficient for the teams, and it's convenient for the fan," Lafemina said. "There are times when teams don't know if they are hosting a playoff game until a week before, and doing this helps eliminate some of the friction that exists among the teams and fans. This dovetails nicely with our new policy. If a fan says they will pay if a game is played, the team can now charge that fan and the ticket is already in hand."

Ticket industry insiders agree the reason the Cowboys included all the tickets was to encourage season-ticket holders to actually buy those tickets now that they are in hand.

"Doing this is smart because the team has less people to call after the team clinches because so many will be automatically charged," said Patrick Ryan, co-owner of Houston-based The Ticket Experience, which owns seats for the Cowboys as well as 17 other NFL teams. "They then have less tickets to move during the public on sale because season seat holders will have already taken up so much of the allotted inventory."

That's, of course, if the team qualifies to play those games.

"It's a bold move and gives season-ticket holders a tangible asset that they can look at all season long and gives them hope and something to look forward to," said Jimmy Siegendorf, a Cowboys fan who is the owner of Florida-based ticket brokerage Premium Seats USA, which specializes in NFL ticket and tailgate packages. "On the flip side, it could result in salt in the wound if the team falls short of its goals once again."

[URL]http://espn.go.com/dallas/nfl/story/_/id/11295007/dallas-cowboys-include-playoff-tickets-package-season-ticket-holders?ex_cid=sportscenterTW[/URL]

I like their confidence

 

[DC_fan]

Should Tiger Woods withdrawal from Bridgestone make Cowboys fans nervous?

Should Cowboy fans be concerned that Tiger Woods had to withdraw from the final round of the Bridgestone Invitational?

How does that have any impact on the upcoming season?



It doesn’t. But the golfer’s struggles to return to form are why Cowboys officials and fans will be holding their breath when it comes to Tony Romo.
The quarterback underwent a microdiscectomy seven months ago to relieve the pain in his lower back. Woods had the same surgery.

“Tony Romo had the exact same procedure I did,’’ Woods posted on his website earlier this year. “I talked to him a lot because he was in a lot of pain after a game against the Washington Redskins. He just couldn’t function anymore.’’

Woods is four years older than Romo. His surgery came on March 31and he returned to competition three months later.

It was five months after his surgery before Romo began to throw passes.
The latest setback by Woods should serve as an endorsement of the cautious approach the training staff has taken with Romo in this camp. It’s the prudent course. They are helping Romo manage his back and recovery in a way Woods hasn’t.

But the random nature of Sunday’s episode is what should scare Cowboys fans. Woods said he had no problem with his back in his return until he swung from an awkward stance and went back into a bunker on No. 2 in the final round. His back immediately began to spasm and he was forced to withdraw a few holes later. It was a struggle to remove his golf shoes before he stepped into a car to leave.

Avoiding the San Francisco pass rush in Week One, trying to escape Houston’s J.J. Watt in Week 5 or the numerous times Romo must twist this way or torque that way to throw a pass will also put him in awkward positions.

http://cowboysblog.dallasnews.com/2014/08/should-tiger-woods-withdrawal-from-bridgestone-make-cowboys-fans-nervous.html/