Cowboys Free Agency blog Part 2 of 5: Offensive Tackle

With the possible departure of both Doug Free and Jeremy Parnell, the Dallas Cowboys are in the market for a new Offensive Tackle. They may fill this need via the draft or free agency. I have three players in mind that may fill this need for the Cowboys. Each one of these players will be cheaper than Free and should be as expensive or slightly more than Jeremy Parnell. Again, the Cowboys don’t have much money to spare so these players could be starters at Right Tackle or a more than capable Swing Tackle.

Marshall Newhouse 6-4 328

15 games, 5 starts 

Marshall has played both Right and Left Tackle and even Guard in his NFL career with the Packers and Bengals. Started five games last season for the Bengals. Started 19/22 games for Packers in 2012 and 2013 at Right Tackle. Still only 26 years old with Super Bowl experience.

Michael Oher 6-4 315

11 games, 11 starts 

Everyone is familiar with the story of Michael Oher thanks to the book and movie of the same name, The Blind Side. Started 11 games with Tennessee this past season after starting 80 consecutive games for Baltimore from 2009-2013. Just two years removed from winning a Super Bowl, a chance at another Super Bowl should entice Oher to look to Dallas.

Chris Hairston 6-6 330

16 games, 0 starts 

The youngest and most inexperienced of the bunch, Chris Hairston played the past three seasons in Buffalo. Hairston started seven games in his rookie year of 2011 and another eight games in 2012. Has the ability to serve as a quality backup Swing Tackle in the event Dallas elects to bring Doug Free or Jeremy Parnell back to be the starter.

Stay tuned for tomorrow’s blog about the ‘Boys: Cornerback

@geoffrey_craig

Cowboys Free Agency blog Part 1 of 5: Defensive Ends

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

@geoffrey_craig