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Updated: July 29, 2011, 7:49 PM
Mickey Spagnola
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
SAN ANTONIO - Let's hear it for the Cowboys. By golly, they got it done, just did the right thing - what they've needed to do all along. They spent their dollars and made sense.
Can I get a hallelujah?
They agreed to terms with Marcus Spears.
What? You're not doing handstands? You're not firing off tweets to your Redskins friends? You're not sending texts to your Giants buddies? Signing Marcus Spears to a reported five-year, $19.2 million deal does not get you all excited?
You thought I meant Nnandmi Asomugha? Just what caused the internet to go a-twitter all Friday afternoon, with tweets and texts flying through cyberspace about how Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was on his cell phone during the team's practice here at the Alamodome, and even passing the phone off to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, the one-time Oakland defensive coordinator. How Stephen Jones was chewing up his cell phone minutes, pacing around the Dome while talking. How Jerry, Stephen and Jerry Jr. were holding confabs, in pursuit of the Raiders free-agent corner.
Leading all to come to the conclusion, and especially when the Jets said they were out of the Nnandmi sweepstakes, that the Cowboys, because that's what's been reported nationally - not locally mind you, nationally - were the only team left pursuing the Oakland corner who was going to cost an arm and a leg, and probably a creditable defensive end and safety. They all - ALL - put two and two together and came up with snake eyes.
Oops. There is always the delete key these days. Why, had technology advanced about 60 years sooner, there never would have been this historical headline: Dewey Defeats Truman in the first edition of the Chicago Tribune the morning of Nov. 3, 1948, when in fact Truman did become the 33rd president of the United States.
'The headline is a cautionary tale for journalists about the dangers of being first to break a story without being certain of its accuracy,' is how one account goes on to explain the flub.
No apologies necessary these days. We just accept such blunders, and probably did early Friday evening when after all was said and done, Asomugha agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, five years, $60 million, with $25 million guaranteed. I'm guessing, not reporting mind you, that was probably a tad too rich for the Cowboys salary-cap poor blood, especially knowing they had more important things to accomplish in this Free-Agency Express than sign a 30-year-old cornerback
Or maybe we'll find out that the Cowboys discovered the Eagles were involved and purposely drove up the price to extract money out of the Eagles salary cap. Yeah, why don't you tweet that? See if it sticks.
But what we do know, at the end of the day, the Cowboys spent their money wisely, and did exactly what they needed to do at a position of great, great need: Get Spears' wide body and team attitude right back in the front of the defense. Good for the Cowboys and good for Marcus, and his family, too.
A few days back heard an interview with Spears, who was resigned to probably leaving the Cowboys since he knew the team just don't put a high-dollar value on defensive ends in this 3-4 system. He was not bitter. He was not mad. And he said, who knows, funnier things have happened. Maybe I'll be back here, something he never ruled out even after removing his nameplate from his locker at the end of the season.
Hope he saved it. Might save Jerry some dough on the reprint.
The Cowboys need at defensive end was near desperate. They did not get one in the draft, and as I suggested, would have been a great way to spend their first-round pick, although the pick ended up being too high to justify taking one of the top 3-4 defensive ends available. Then Stephen Bowen, a backup to Spears who ended up starting the final eight games when Spears was lost for the season, signed a free-agent deal with the Redskins. Their other backup, Jason Hatcher, also an unrestricted free agent, was taking a visit to Denver.
So here the Cowboys were, sending their defense onto the field the first two days in the Alamodome with defensive ends Igor Olshansky and Sean Lissemore working with the first defense. After that, to tell you the truth, I'm not even sure, although I do know for a fact nose tackle Jay Ratliff was taking a significant amount of snaps at left defensive end with the first team, too.
Oh, there were other guys out there in free agency, and certainly Cullen Jenkins comes to mind. But he's 32, and if you aren't going to financially value the position, then you had better get all the bang you can get for the buck. That's Spears.
'You just got to have those big, fast guys who can two-gap,' Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware said after learning of Spears' signing. 'Got to have those non-selfish guys.'
What he means is this: Spears has sacrificed his body, along with stats - which is another way of saying money - for the good of the Cowboys defense for the majority of the six years since he was the team's second first-round pick in 2005. He's the guy who jumps into gaps between guards and tackles or guards and centers or wherever else they ask him to jump, trying to hold down the fort while the linebackers swoop in to make tackles.
That's not conducive for making tackles or bagging sacks. Nor is being replaced on third downs when the Cowboys go to a four-man line.
There has been much media jabber out there since last offseason when Spears, Bowen and Hatcher were restricted free agents in the uncapped year. Well, the Cowboys worked the system, trying their best to secure their three defensive ends while spending the least amount of money. Since Spears was a former first-round pick, they tendered him at the lowest amount - original draft choice compensation ($1.226 million). That meant if the Cowboys didn't match another team's offer sheet Spears signed, they would get a first for him.
In the cases of Bowen and Hatcher, they were tendered at second-round compensation ($1.79 million). If tendered at the same level as Spears and someone signed them, then the Cowboys would have received nothing for the undrafted Bowen and a third for Hatcher. This was more of a statement on their pocket book than the players' talents, since Spears still ended up starting seven of the first eight games (opened in nickel in the other).
To me, Spears is a valuable asset.
To Bradie James, too.
'I'm great with that,' was Bradie's reaction to the signing. 'He knows the scheme, knows they system. I was rootin' for my boy,' a reference to being teammates at LSU in their college days.
You, too, should have been rootin' for re-signing Spears and for the Cowboys not to overspend in a pursuit of Asomugha. They have capable corners, last year notwithstanding. By getting Spears back in the fold and not breaking the bank, they can now still pursue a veteran safety. Hey, who knows, maybe Gerald Sensabaugh will be back, too. Haven't heard of anyone in hot pursuit of him just yet.
Wouldn't that be something.
'Nothin' surprises me anymore,' James said.
At the end of the day, me neither.
Mickey Spagnola
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
SAN ANTONIO - Let's hear it for the Cowboys. By golly, they got it done, just did the right thing - what they've needed to do all along. They spent their dollars and made sense.
Can I get a hallelujah?
They agreed to terms with Marcus Spears.
What? You're not doing handstands? You're not firing off tweets to your Redskins friends? You're not sending texts to your Giants buddies? Signing Marcus Spears to a reported five-year, $19.2 million deal does not get you all excited?
You thought I meant Nnandmi Asomugha? Just what caused the internet to go a-twitter all Friday afternoon, with tweets and texts flying through cyberspace about how Cowboys owner Jerry Jones was on his cell phone during the team's practice here at the Alamodome, and even passing the phone off to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, the one-time Oakland defensive coordinator. How Stephen Jones was chewing up his cell phone minutes, pacing around the Dome while talking. How Jerry, Stephen and Jerry Jr. were holding confabs, in pursuit of the Raiders free-agent corner.
Leading all to come to the conclusion, and especially when the Jets said they were out of the Nnandmi sweepstakes, that the Cowboys, because that's what's been reported nationally - not locally mind you, nationally - were the only team left pursuing the Oakland corner who was going to cost an arm and a leg, and probably a creditable defensive end and safety. They all - ALL - put two and two together and came up with snake eyes.
Oops. There is always the delete key these days. Why, had technology advanced about 60 years sooner, there never would have been this historical headline: Dewey Defeats Truman in the first edition of the Chicago Tribune the morning of Nov. 3, 1948, when in fact Truman did become the 33rd president of the United States.
'The headline is a cautionary tale for journalists about the dangers of being first to break a story without being certain of its accuracy,' is how one account goes on to explain the flub.
No apologies necessary these days. We just accept such blunders, and probably did early Friday evening when after all was said and done, Asomugha agreed to terms with the Philadelphia Eagles, five years, $60 million, with $25 million guaranteed. I'm guessing, not reporting mind you, that was probably a tad too rich for the Cowboys salary-cap poor blood, especially knowing they had more important things to accomplish in this Free-Agency Express than sign a 30-year-old cornerback
Or maybe we'll find out that the Cowboys discovered the Eagles were involved and purposely drove up the price to extract money out of the Eagles salary cap. Yeah, why don't you tweet that? See if it sticks.
But what we do know, at the end of the day, the Cowboys spent their money wisely, and did exactly what they needed to do at a position of great, great need: Get Spears' wide body and team attitude right back in the front of the defense. Good for the Cowboys and good for Marcus, and his family, too.
A few days back heard an interview with Spears, who was resigned to probably leaving the Cowboys since he knew the team just don't put a high-dollar value on defensive ends in this 3-4 system. He was not bitter. He was not mad. And he said, who knows, funnier things have happened. Maybe I'll be back here, something he never ruled out even after removing his nameplate from his locker at the end of the season.
Hope he saved it. Might save Jerry some dough on the reprint.
The Cowboys need at defensive end was near desperate. They did not get one in the draft, and as I suggested, would have been a great way to spend their first-round pick, although the pick ended up being too high to justify taking one of the top 3-4 defensive ends available. Then Stephen Bowen, a backup to Spears who ended up starting the final eight games when Spears was lost for the season, signed a free-agent deal with the Redskins. Their other backup, Jason Hatcher, also an unrestricted free agent, was taking a visit to Denver.
So here the Cowboys were, sending their defense onto the field the first two days in the Alamodome with defensive ends Igor Olshansky and Sean Lissemore working with the first defense. After that, to tell you the truth, I'm not even sure, although I do know for a fact nose tackle Jay Ratliff was taking a significant amount of snaps at left defensive end with the first team, too.
Oh, there were other guys out there in free agency, and certainly Cullen Jenkins comes to mind. But he's 32, and if you aren't going to financially value the position, then you had better get all the bang you can get for the buck. That's Spears.
'You just got to have those big, fast guys who can two-gap,' Cowboys Pro Bowl linebacker DeMarcus Ware said after learning of Spears' signing. 'Got to have those non-selfish guys.'
What he means is this: Spears has sacrificed his body, along with stats - which is another way of saying money - for the good of the Cowboys defense for the majority of the six years since he was the team's second first-round pick in 2005. He's the guy who jumps into gaps between guards and tackles or guards and centers or wherever else they ask him to jump, trying to hold down the fort while the linebackers swoop in to make tackles.
That's not conducive for making tackles or bagging sacks. Nor is being replaced on third downs when the Cowboys go to a four-man line.
There has been much media jabber out there since last offseason when Spears, Bowen and Hatcher were restricted free agents in the uncapped year. Well, the Cowboys worked the system, trying their best to secure their three defensive ends while spending the least amount of money. Since Spears was a former first-round pick, they tendered him at the lowest amount - original draft choice compensation ($1.226 million). That meant if the Cowboys didn't match another team's offer sheet Spears signed, they would get a first for him.
In the cases of Bowen and Hatcher, they were tendered at second-round compensation ($1.79 million). If tendered at the same level as Spears and someone signed them, then the Cowboys would have received nothing for the undrafted Bowen and a third for Hatcher. This was more of a statement on their pocket book than the players' talents, since Spears still ended up starting seven of the first eight games (opened in nickel in the other).
To me, Spears is a valuable asset.
To Bradie James, too.
'I'm great with that,' was Bradie's reaction to the signing. 'He knows the scheme, knows they system. I was rootin' for my boy,' a reference to being teammates at LSU in their college days.
You, too, should have been rootin' for re-signing Spears and for the Cowboys not to overspend in a pursuit of Asomugha. They have capable corners, last year notwithstanding. By getting Spears back in the fold and not breaking the bank, they can now still pursue a veteran safety. Hey, who knows, maybe Gerald Sensabaugh will be back, too. Haven't heard of anyone in hot pursuit of him just yet.
Wouldn't that be something.
'Nothin' surprises me anymore,' James said.
At the end of the day, me neither.
