FanPost

A Poke at the Cowboys

Today as skins fans seem ready to extinguish all hope for the future I instead choose to show promise for the future. As we year there are two ways to get to the playoffs; be a really good team or be in a garbage division. I choose to pick the scab of the division champion (hate saying that) Cowgirls.

First, I look at their defense. This unit was serviceable this year, but much of that came from the running game keeping their offense on the field and their defense on the bench. Limited playing time reduced the chance of mistakes. In the previous offseason they lost Jason Hatcher to us. He had played well on a horrible defense playing the 4-3 DT position. They also lost perennial star Demarcus Ware due to cap issues. They retooled the defense with a crop of low cost players and prayed for the best. The one exception being Henry Melton, who was coming off injury. This year the rumors have already begun. Claiborne who has underwhelmed since being a high round pick may be gone. Carr, who was by far their best corner for the last few years looks to possibly be a cap casualty. Their best defender, Sean Lee is often injured. A bad defense seams to be going in the wrong direction.

Next I turn to the offense. Tony Romo is coming off a solid year, but is expected to have a hefty salary. He and LT Smith take a huge chunk of the salary cap for several years into the future. To make matters worse, they have restricted Romo's contract several times to save cap space in the past. Eventually you have to pay the bill. Dez Bryant has played very well for them and it's time to pay the piper. They need to lock him up for the future but resources will be limited. They may choose to franchise tag him, but that will almost single handedly eat their current cap space. Additionally, Demarco Murray is due for a new contract. Last year he lead the league in rushing and gave them the running game that they needed to keep their defense off the field. The league's leading rusher probably won't come cheap, but where will the money come from. The biggest bright spot on this team was the stellar play of the offensive line. The recent influx of top tier talent over the past 3 years and the coaching of Bill Callahan paid off. The problem? Callahan is now gone. The RT position is up for grabs with Doug Free hitting the open market. The available funds most likely will not bring him back. The mismanagement of the cap also threatens over the next 3 years to tear apart the rest of the offensive line. The influx of first rounders will one by one come up for new contracts. Their performance will warrant higher figures for their respective positions. All this while Romo continues to age.

Last is special teams. Here the team is solid in the kicking and punting game. The only problem comes from a kicker getting 3.5 million a year and locked in long term.

While the Redskin future is in question, they have begun to rebuild in the right way. They secured a skilled talent evaluator in their new GM and a good offensive line coach. The defensive coordinator is at this point questionable and the head coach's seat may be warming up. Also, much of the talent on the team is one the right side of 30. Kerrigan, Breeland, Robinson, T Williams, Morris. Also many of the aging and underperforming player on this team can be cut and save money on the salary cap with minimal loss to productivity. They look like a team on the rise with no long term, high priced contracts and options being limitless.

The Cowgirls on the other hand could suffer a quick fall from grace, and their cap situation may make it hard to get back out of the hole