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Blogging the Boys
How the Cowboys can fix their team
The Cowboys need some help, here’s how they can get there.
If we expect things to really turn around at the Star in just one year, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment. There are so many issues that they would have to get absolutely right in their attempts it is just too much of a reach.
Still, they have to start somewhere. Even though they almost certainly won’t get everything right in the short term, they must try to improve across the board.
The coaching
This is where it has to start, because the staff has to provide crucial input to the other part of the equation, fixing the roster. In Dallas, the head coach is probably right behind a couple of people named Jones in what is done. An honest evaluation of the evidence of past years shows that Jerry and Stephen Jones do listen and heed what their head coach says.
Given the bizarre circumstances of 2020, plus what Jerry has stated recently, it looks like Mike McCarthy gets a mulligan, but he needs to be put on notice that it is strictly a one-year thing. If this team does not show marked improvement in 2021, his job should not be safe. That means there has to be a different approach than with Jason Garrett, who got more than one chance despite disappointing performances that would have ended tenures in other places.
Bleeding Green Nation
14 things I think about Jalen Hurts, Carson Wentz, and the Eagles’ quarterback situation
9 - I think it’s legitimately possible that Wentz gets traded
I can’t say it’s the most likely option given that trading Wentz creates $33.8 million in dead money with only $852,928 in cap savings. But I wouldn’t say it’s impossible. Over The Cap did a good job of outlining this possibility:
Trading Wentz saves the Eagles $25.4 million in salaries that would be paid in 2021 and $15 million in salary that would become guaranteed in 2022. While the overall situation is still bad (they would have paid Wentz an extra $29.6M more than if they just let his rookie deal play out) the optics would be much improved if they made this move.
The question is would anyone trade for Wentz? While the Wentz contract averages $32 million a year its important to remember that the Eagles paid a good chunk of that money already. For a team trading for Wentz the contract would work out to be four years, $98.4 million or $24.6 million a season. The first two years of that contract would basically be guaranteed and the remainder would be in the control of the team that trades for him. The cap figures on the contract would be $25.4 million, $22 million, $25 million, and $26 million.
To put the numbers in perspective those cap figures in 2021 and 2022 would rank 11th and 13th in the NFL. The contract value would be in line with Teddy Bridgewater ($21M a year, $42M over first two years) and Nick Foles’ Jaguars contract ($22M a year, $46.625M a year) so it is perfectly fine for someone likely considered a low level starter if he was a free agent.
12 - I think too many might be in flat out denial about Wentz
I promise you I’m not trying to come off like a Wentz hater, which you most certainly will accuse me of being, in this piece. Long-time BGN readers will know that I’ve always been pretty pro-Wentz. I’m legitimately bummed he’s reached this point.
But I just think some of the excuse-making and blame-shifting has gone too far. I think some people are in total denial about Wentz’s outlook.
One thing that really bothers me not only about sports fandom but society in general is that people often choose to believe only what they want to believe. Sadly, objective truth might be valued less than ever. And, to be fair, I’m guilty of this as well. I think everybody is to some extent.
My point is: because you want Wentz to be fine in the long-term doesn’t mean he will be! For the Eagles’ sake, I hope he is. It’s just far from a foregone conclusion.
13 - I think Howie Roseman needs to be gone no matter what
Hurts playing well should be able to save Pederson but not Roseman.
If Hurts has success, it’ll be at the expense of the general manager’s very large investment in Wentz. And that’s a problem considering Wentz’s cap impact prevents the Eagles from benefiting from one of the NFL’s greatest advantages: a quality young quarterback on an inexpensive rookie deal.
Around the time of the Hurts selection, we wrote about how it was a dumb pick. Not so much because of the player evaluation but the reasoning behind it. If Hurts plays well, the Eagles will be benefiting from a bad process leading to a good outcome.
Even if we allow that Roseman does deserve credit for Hurts, there’s so much rot elsewhere on the Eagles’ roster that it’s obviously time to move on from him. There should be no faith that he can build this team back into a serious championship contender.
Big Blue View
Giants’ Andrew Thomas blocking out the noise, getting better
Rookie left tackle discusses the things that have helped him show improvement in recent weeks
Thomas has played much better over the past five games, allowing only 1 sack and 5 total pressures. He has not allowed a pressure in the Giants last two games.
The 21-year-old left tackle said there has been no “drastic change” in his technique from his time at Georgia. He did admit, though, that at Georgia his pass set was always a 45-degree angle, while with the Giants he is tasked with using more vertical sets.
The other difference, Thomas said, was that Georgia used more slide protections. That meant that when he did overset to the outside the guard to his right was able to pick up the inside move.
He said his oversetting habit may have developed from Georgia using more slide protections that allowed him not to worry as much about dealing with the inside move.
“That’s been something I’ve been working on the last few weeks trying to get better at and I think that’s made the biggest difference,” Thomas said.
Thomas downplayed the change in offensive line coaches, saying he “took coaching points from both Colombo and DeGuglielmo.
“It definitely was a difference having a different coach, but my approach is to take everything I can from whoever’s leading us, whoever’s getting us right for the game,” he said.