cmd34

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Mock off-season
The Cowboys send Tony Romo QB to the Broncos for Bradley Roby CB, a 2017 4th rounder, and a conditional 2018 draft pick.
Cap room created + $3,991,928 (Romo +$5,100,000, Roby-$1,108,072)

Free agents re-signed
Morris Claiborne, CB – 2-year deal
Terrell McClain, DT – 3-year deal
Mark Sanchez, QB – 2-year deal
Brice Butler, WR – 1-year deal
David Irving, DL – 1-year tender

Departing free agents
Ronald Leary, G
Terrance Williams, WR
Barry Church, S
Darren McFadden, RB
Gavin Escobar, TE
JJ Wilcox, S
Rolando McClain, LB
Jack Crawford, DE
Justin Durant, LB
Lance Dunbar, RB
Kellen Moore, QB
Ryan Davis, DE
Andrew Gachkar, LB

Cap casualties
Kyle Wilber, LB – frees up $1,250,000 in cap room
Brandon Carr, CB - technically, the last year of deal was already voided, so no gain or loss in cap room
Tyrone Crawford, DL - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $7,250,000 in cap room
Benson Mayowa, DE - Designated as June 1st cut; frees up $1,500,000 in cap room

New free-agents signed

DeMarcus Ware, DE, Broncos – 2-year deal
DeMarcus-Ware.jpg

And yes, he gets #94 back. The Cowboys bring back their all-time sack leader to help improve their abysmal pass rush. At 35, Ware will be a situational player but will still be the best pass-rushing threat on this team. The 2nd year of the deal was just a way of getting him a larger signing bonus so in essence, this is a 1-year deal.

William Gholston, DE, Buccaneers – 6-year deal
636021268431149725-USATSI-8980514.jpg

Gholston is an up and coming force in the league. He’s good enough to cash in big in free agency, but not quite at the level where the Bucs would Franchise him. Gholston fits the Marinelli-mold; he’s tough and can play up and down the defensive line. He reminds me of a more physical version of David Irving.

Micah Hyde, DB, Packers – 5-year deal
micah-hyde-nfl-pittsburgh-steelers-green-bay-packers.jpg

Hyde is Honey Badger Lite to me. He can play corner, nickel, safety, and return punts. Marinelli will utilize him at free safety but with his versatility, as well as Byron Jones and Orlando Scandrick, it gives the defense multiple options to scheme opposing offenses.

2017 Draft

1(32) Takkarist McKinley, DE, 6-2/258, UCLA
r112592_576x324_16-9.jpg

As I stated earlier, the Cowboys biggest need is pass rush help. Ware is temporary help and Randy Gregory is unreliable, so the Cowboys grab the edge rusher out of UCLA in the last 1st.

2(64) Travis Rudolph, WR, 6-1/189, Florida State
Travis+Rudolph+Rose+Bowl+Oregon+v+Florida+nqXOLEzTI1Nl.jpg

Terrance Williams will get overpaid by someone, so the Cowboys are in the market for a #2 WR. Rudolph will come in and compete with Brice Butler for the starting gig.

3(96) Kevin King, CB, 6-3/192, Washington
Arizona+State+v+Washington+fsjR0a5_VJ8l.jpg

King was often overlooked playing with Sidney Jones and Budda Baker in the Huskies secondary. King has great size and will give the Cowboys great depth at CB with the potential to start in a year or two.

4a(123) from Denver (mock Romo trade) Damien Mama, G, 6-3/325, USC
october-2014-usc-trojans-guard-damien-mama-during-the-first-half-of-picture-id579050832

The Cowboys lost Ronald Leary to free agency, so the rather larger Mama gives them depth along with Joe Looney and Chaz Green. He can play both guard spots and right tackle.

4(128) Jalen Reeves-Maybin, LB, 6-0/230 Tennessee
USATSI_8858675_1470333778888_4476072_ver1.0.jpg

What is a Cowboys draft without an injury gamble? Reeves-Maybin fits the new safety-linebacker hybrid position, similar to Arizona’s Deone Bucannon and LA Rams Mark Barron.

5(160) traded to Buffalo

6(192) Jeremy Cutrer, CB, 6-1/170, Middle Tennessee
jeremy-cutrer-e1475538481252.jpg

Another long CB, Cutrer was once a 4-star recruit on his way to LSU. He ended up at a junior college and then Middle Tennessee, where he was a standout corner and special teams player.

7a(205) from Buffalo Donald Payne, S, 6-0/215, Stetson
football-Donald-Payne-hands-up.jpg

A small-school tackling machine, Stetson has averaged over 134 tackles a year the last 4 years. He had 185 tackles in 2014 which included a 30-tackle game. His career also includes 14 sacks, 9 interceptions, and 5 TD as a kick returner.
Here is an article on Payne from last year: Stetson Stud Donald Payne: The Troy Polamalu of FCS Football - HERO Sports

7b(224) Sam Rogers, FB, 5-10/228, Virginia Tech
sam-rogers-ncaa-football-maryland-virginia-tech.jpg

The Cowboys got by with a converted linebacker at fullback last year. Rogers is a jack-of-all-trades fullback who was a sparkplug for the Hokies.

2017 Starting 22
LT – Tyron Smith
LG – La’el Collins
C – Travis Frederick
RG – Zack Martin
RT – Doug Free
TE – Jason Witten
TE – Geoff Swaim
WR – Dez Bryant
WR – Travis Rudolph
QB – Dak Prescott
RB – Ezekiel Elliott

LDE – William Gholston
LDT – Maliek Collins
RDT – Terrell McClain
RDE – Demarcus Lawrence
SAM – Anthony Hitchens
MIKE – Jaylon Smith
WILL – Sean Lee
LCB – Morris Claiborne
SS – Byron Jones
FS – Micah Hyde
RCB – Bradley Roby
 
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LAZARUS_LOGAN

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I could get behind this.

I wanted Gholston when he came out. That would be one hell of a defense.
 

theoneandonly

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I think McKinley goes athletic freak at the combine and slips out of range. Love the fact his stats and production are ascending and that he plays in a big 5 conference. Cowboys have already scouted him twice in person.
 

icup

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comments:

- thank you for giving ware #94!!!!!!!
- you think hitchens separates himself from our other scrubs? or is he there because we don't have anything better to trot out? why not wilson or nzeocha?
- if jaylon's knee is still fucked up, how does that effect your offseason predictions?
- i like the roby trade a lot.
 

cmd34

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comments:

- thank you for giving ware #94!!!!!!!
- you think hitchens separates himself from our other scrubs? or is he there because we don't have anything better to trot out? why not wilson or nzeocha?
- if jaylon's knee is still fucked up, how does that effect your offseason predictions?
- i like the roby trade a lot.

I think Hitchens and Wilson battle it out for the SLB spot.

If Jaylon is questionable or ruled out, I think they have to go get a MLB in free agency. I suppose they could go with Wilson and Hitchens, like this year. As long as they improve at DE and FS, I think we could get by with those two.
 

jeremysmith214

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I think Wilson will be pretty good.

I think Hitchens simply need a little more time. No different than Bruce Carter tenure with us. Took a couple of years for him to have a significant impact.
 

theoneandonly

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BTW, Matt Miller has McKinley as his number 14 player right now, so he is moving up boards pretty fast.
 

theoneandonly

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3.

@nfldraftscout who's someone that's a consensus first-rounder/top 15 guy that you think could fall into the 2nd round?

— TurfShowTimes (@TurfShowTimes) December 1, 2016
I'm perhaps really weird when it comes to how I work, but I try hard to avoid all other rankings when I'm going through my process. It helps me to have a clear mind and to not let others' opinions influence my own—either directly or indirectly. Because of that, I'm not sure who is and isn't a consensus player, but I can tell you about players I've ranked in that mid-first range who could slip—a la Michael Thomas or Derek Carr as previous examples:

Derek Barnett: A short-armed defensive end who probably isn't fluid enough to stand up at the next level, scouts may overthink this one from a physical standpoint a lot like what happened to Noah Spence last year. He doesn't have Von Miller's hips, and for some reason scouts expect prospects to come equipped like a Hall of Famer these days.

Christian McCaffrey: There are a lot of layers here. McCaffrey is a white running back, and that will undoubtedly lead to questions about his speed. It's unfortunate but true. I've had scouts question the IQ of black quarterbacks too often to think race doesn't bleed into scouting for some. But on the field, McCaffrey may be too much of a utility player for teams to spend a first-round pick on.
 

cmd34

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BTW, Matt Miller has McKinley as his number 14 player right now, so he is moving up boards pretty fast.


Yep, it happens.
4 months ago, very few people knew who Zach Cunningham was and now he is top 15 in most mocks.
 

jeremysmith214

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I agree, although having Hitchens around as a jack of all trades kind of backup and special teamer would be good depth.

Any news on Mark Nzeocha progress at Linebacker. I know he was injuried but is he one the cowboys are expecting to make an impact next year.

Mark Nzeocha, Damien Wilson, Hitchens, Lee, Possibly Jaylon Smith. I say pick up one more line backer in the draft.


Curious do we trade out of the first round or not. Teams could get desperate for a pick.
 

bvhawkeye

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Love the Romo trade (big fan of Bradley Roby), want to resign Leary (possible?), keep Carr, Crawford and Mayowa.

Not a big fan of your first round selection, but like all the rest of your draft, so I could live with that draft. Sort of hoping for a trade down into second round this year if we truly are picking at the end of the round
 

jeremysmith214

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Love the Romo trade (big fan of Bradley Roby), want to resign Leary (possible?), keep Carr, Crawford and Mayowa.

Not a big fan of your first round selection, but like all the rest of your draft, so I could live with that draft. Sort of hoping for a trade down into second round this year if we truly are picking at the end of the round

Mayowa has gotten better and is at a bargain. I say we cut Crawford due to his 10 million cap hold next year.
 

theoneandonly

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32. Dallas Cowboys — Darius English, DE, South Carolina
Up until this season, English had a quiet college career. He broke out as a senior, though, finishing with 57 tackles and a team-high nine sacks. At 6’6, English has some natural length, but at just 245 pounds he’ll need to add bulk. For the Cowboys, he’d be a nice addition to help boost the team’s pass rush.

2017 NFL mock draft: An SEC player at every pick - SBNation.com
 
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