Welcome back everyone! Now that we have looked at possible draft scenarios for the Dallas Cowboys, let’s look at possible Free Agents they
may pursue. Depending on if they land any of these players greatly changes whomever they may use their top pick (#27) on. I’m going to look at five positions over
the next few days with my top 3 fits for the ‘Boys.
With little money to spend I don’t think the Cowboys will be
making a big splash this off-season. Their biggest needs are to re-sign Dez
Bryant and/or DeMarco Murray, then restructure the contracts of Tony Romo,
Brandon Carr, and Tyron Smith to make room to pursue any Free Agents. I’ll be
looking at positions in no particular order or price tag, just players and
positions of need.
Here we go. Part 1: Defensive Ends
Anthony Spencer’s career with the Dallas Cowboys appears to
be over and he definitely wasn’t worth $12.6 million for last two years of
0.5 sacks and 1 fumble recovery. George Selvie is serviceable and rookie
DeMarcus Lawrence was hurt most of the year and really never at full speed.
Jerry Jones is known for going after high risk/reward players and these three
fit the mold.
Brian Orakpo 6-4 257
24 tackles, 0.5 sacks in 7 games
Yet another torn pectoral muscle (missed most of ’12)
limited orakpo to just 7 games in 2014. When healthy he is a very productive
pass rusher with 39.5 sacks in 64 games. Played 3-4 OLB with Redskins but
should have no problem adding 5-10 pounds of muscle to be 4-3 DE. Played at 263
pounds in college at Texas.
Jerry Hughes 6-2 254
53 tackles, 9.5 sacks, 3 FF
It took a couple of years and a change of scenery for Jerry
Hughes to blossom into the push rushing threat the Indianapolis Colts drafted
out of TCU. In two years with Buffalo, Jerry averaged 50 tackles and 9.5 sacks
per season. A great speed rusher, he would be the perfect compliment to
DeMarcus Lawrence. The problem will be money with Hughes. As previously noted,
he is coming off of back-to-back
Career years and the
Buffalo Bills love him. His price tag may not be what Dallas can afford.
Da’Quan Bowers 6-4 288
21 tackles, 1.5 sacks
Off the field issues and injuries have hampered Bowers
throughout his career. Some thought he could be the #1 overall pick in 2011
draft but fell after having off-season knee surgery and questions about a
degenerative knee. He suffered a torn ACL in 2012 and was suspended 2 games for
PED’s in 2014. At 6-4 288 pounds, he is still a freak of an athlete. He can be used as a DE on 1st and 2nd downs moved inside to DT on 3rd. After
seeing what Rod Marinelli can do with defensive lineman, I would like to see
him brought in on a favorable contract. It may help that his favorite team
growing up was the Dallas Cowboys.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog about the ‘Boys: Offensive
Tackle
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