Cowboys Break: Better Off Than Last Year?

We are live from the s WBC Mortgage studios at the Star. Got a lot to talk about this morning. We'll start with a little bit of news and then I have a new game I'm gonna play with you guys that I'm gonna roll out. It's called We're Good Here. We'll talk about that in just a few minutes. Now to Jason Witten, I know, we'll talk about that in just a minute. Get into that a little bit more. But before we get there, let's talk a little bit about practice. Yesterday. Cowboys had a lot of players not

out there practicing yesterday. Dave, I saw you wrote a little something about it. Tell Usue was out and if there was anybody that was that that fans should be concerned about that didn't practice, wasn't out, Derek. I did some quick math. Nineteen guys miss practice yesterday for one reason or another. That's twenty percent of the roster, the ninety man roster, which I didn't do the math on what that would be for fifty three. But it's a lot of guys um. But it's really not nothing overly

that should really jump off the page. I think the big one is probably Charles Tapper. He missed he suffered a neck injury on I lost track of my days on two on Monday because yesterday was Tuesday. No, it's yes, it was Wednesday, so to have been Tuesday. Heard his neck on Tuesday. He misspractice Wednesday. Jason Garrett said that X rays and stuff were negative, which is positive always

a funny wording. M Garrett said, I mean it's a day by day situation, so it's not something that they're willing to you know, they're not ruling him out for days or weeks. It's just a matter of how quickly they can get that stiffness out of his neck um. Other than that, a lot of veteran days orlander Scandrick des Bryant, Jason went and Shaan Lee, Um, Darren McFadden, all those guys that usually rest rested. You still got all your hammy problems in the secondary, but nothing new.

Um speaking of those handy problems, Nick the uh. It was interesting yesterday I thought that coach Marinelli called it a bit of a dilemma that those guys were missing as much time as they were, and he was talking about how, you know, it's they have to get used

to this speed. He said. I think the quote was the angles changed quickly here in the NFL, and it's it's kind of thinking about it from the standpoint of getting used to the ability to make those tackles and open field tackles because of the speed of the game. We're a little bit surprised he used that word dilemma because you know, Jason tends to stay away from words like that. Yeah, but I mean, but he's a real coach, you know two, I mean he I mean, but he's

he's an old time saying. Oh no, I mean Garrett. They have different agendas. I mean Garrett, and they have different ways of going about right right, And I mean Garrett knows it's a dilemma. And it's a problem. He knows it is. I mean, he may not say it because he doesn't want he doesn't want it to be like you know a headline that says that he thinks

it's an issue. But it has to be because you've got guys that you are going to count on to make the team that aren't playing and they've never played before. So just like coach McNally says, it's hard to, you know, get them to figure out how to play football when they've never done it in the NFL. So, but they're

gonna make the team. And then meanwhile, you got guys like Duke Thomas and Mark Quez White that are playing and you know they're starting, and Leon McFadden's out there getting reps so and it's like, you know, you want these guys to play because they're gonna be on the roster and they're not gonna be ready when Odell Beckham and Brandon Marshall and whoever else comes down. I don't

care if they're future all pros. If Jordan Lewis, Cheeto Woozier and Xavier Woods don't get some reps between now and Week one, I don't know how useful they're going to be and they need them to be useful, right I mean, well yeah, I mean I just listed off three of probably ten defensive backs that they'll carry. I think all the three of those guys, I know two of them are making the team. I really feel confident

that Xavier Woods will as well. So that's a third of your available secondary once one of those could be I'm looking at and thinking about, like a guy like Xavier Woods could be an inactive though. He's a guy that I think if Jordan Lewis gets to the regular season without having gone through a practice, I think he would be when an inactive too. Right. So, and that's your dilemma is that you're you're not able to lean on guys that you need to be able to lean on.

One good bit of news for the Cowboys yesterday justin Durant back at practice. He is they just activated him what was it last week off of pup and and then yesterday he's back at practice. Where's he playing right now? And how much did he did he take part yesterday? I didn't really see a whole lot from him. I'm sure he's probably a plan on that a little week side, but I mean he's a backup guy that I feel like they they signed because of Damien Wilson's uncertain future.

So you know, it took him a lot longer than I thought it would take a veteran to get ready. But I think it's training. I think that's part of the plan for him. I mean, he could have he could have signed with anybody earlier, you know, or he could have signed with the Cowboys earlier. But I think his plan was to kind of do it as he as he did. And if you happen to miss training camp,

you have to miss training camp. I don't know this off the top of my head, but I wouldn't be surprised if he winds up as one of those better in day guys going into the season as well, because his whole thing is as sorry Amber, his whole thing

has always been durability. So I don't mind that if you say better in day guys, But I mean, you know, Darren McFadden, Orlando Scanner, these got I mean, these guys are sitting and resting and not going through the rigors of practice every day, and I bet I wouldn't be surprised if that continues during the season. A little bit too just I mean, you know what these guys can do. And I put Justin Durant on that list as well. I'm not saying he's a pro bowler, but he's an

eleven year veteran. He's been here for two or three. I think he's played three seasons here. You know what he can do. His big problem has always been that he doesn't ever finish the season. So do what you can to help him finish the season. For a guy like Tyring, I mean, they're gonna have to just manage his writing. That recurring back is something they're gonna have to manage. Right, Actually, I got an answer for you,

Stephen Paia is the same thing with his name. It's not like a manage, not a specific injury that he's suffered. It's just a thing that he deals with. So that'll probably be something that you see during the season as well. All Right, okay, let's get into our game. And I know Amber, this is usually your area. We usually leave the games to you, but I thought we'd play this little game. I call it. We're good here, And here's

what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna throw out a player that the Cowboys had on their roster last year, and for whatever reason, whether he left in free agency or retired, I'll tell you that guy that left, and then the guy that was brought in presumably to replace him. We in some instances we'll talk a little bit about the money. That's the difference. But at the end of the day, I want you guys to be able to tell me we're good here. Is this a good move for the Cowboys?

Is it seemed like after five weeks of training camp seem like the Cowboys good in this spot? Or are they really really gonna miss the player that is no longer here? All right, we got it? Everybody good? Okay, all right, let's start first with our favorite Ron Leary. He moved on to the Denver Broncos. He received a four year, thirty six million dollar contract, and twenty four million of that is guaranteed, So he got paid some

significant money. And I'm not quite sure that Cowboys could have matched that kind of offer with all the money they already have on their offensive line to replace him. We've seen Jonathan Cooper out there, We've seen Jazz Green out there, We've seen Byron Bell. I don't think Byron Bell and you can disagree, but I don't think he's probably gonna end up in that spot. It is probably gonna be one of those other two, and I would assume it's gonna be Jonathan Cooper. All that being said,

we're good here at the left guard position. Oh no way, you're horrible here. Compared to that, you have a great player who was I think one of the more underrated players on the team. Um, and he's you know, I really didn't realize how big, like how much he helped this offensive line until he left. Like I had no idea how good he was until he was gone. And now we're here struggling. I'm still like, we know Chas Green his whole deal with injuries and whether he's gonna

stay healthy or not, blah blah blah. But then Jonathan Cooper, he's been doing okay, but it's not definitely not the same as too when he was here. Can I talk out the both sides of my mouth a little bit? Yeah? Absolutely, we're not all the time. We're not there. You we're not good here. But what were they supposed to do? Like, I'm like, oh, they didn't do what you gotta do to keep her on Leary that's not smart or feasible. I mean, I wouldn't have paid him that to stay here.

That's not when you can. They are the resources that are already on your offensive line and the other needs that you have. So yeah, left guard is a little bit troublesome. But the alternative, what's the alternative? And so you know, I'm not sitting here thinking the Cowboys screwed up. It's just that's the nature of the NFL. That's how the salary cap works. It basically prevents you from being

strong at every position. I mean, you can argue that they made they made a mistake on this two years ago when they just had to play Lyo Collins out of position, thinking that he was better, and they they benched run Leary early in the season after he got hurt and then just kept Collins there. I think maybe, you know, if you would have played Leary there, you might have been able to do something differently contract wise, if they wanted to go that route. But I mean,

that's that's probably all you could you could say. I mean, I think you can't pay everybody. Some contracts have to run out. His did let's test the market. He tested it. He got a lot of money. I mean, what can he do really at that point other than playing him early and maybe having a little bit more foresight that he was much better. But at all hindsight is twenty twenty.

Because when Lyle Collins signed here and everybody knew he was a top fifteen talent, I don't think you know, maybe I'm misremembering, but I don't think there were a lot of people who thought like Lyle didn't deserve to get a look over ron Learry. Just my virtue of talent alone. But I don't agree with what Amber said about I don't really see it until until he left, because we saw it last year he was when dominant, when the offensive lion were started getting those third downs.

Now maybe Zeke had a big, big part of that as well. I think the combination of that Leary in there Zeke, so I think we kind of saw it. But I think the difference, and this is the area why I think Amber's right, is it became apparent like it was very easy to see when you see them in one on one drills and last year you see Ronald Leary and it was there's a big difference between what Ronald Learry could do in those kinds of drills versus what you see from Cooper. Now, I agree with you.

In the season, yes, Ronald Leary was one. I thought he played extremely well some games. He was the best offensive lineman. I mean, and that's saying something with that group, but I see what he's saying. But I will say this, I think you get five six weeks into this season, I have a suspicion this is not going to be a problem. And I've said this from the beginning. What he has at left tackle, what he has at center,

whoever is in there at left guard. Because of what he has around him, I think he's good enough for this not to be a big problem for the Cowboys. Not only that, but you've set yourself up relatively nicely. I mean, maybe it's not ideal. They're not as good as they were there last year, but you've got two pretty solid options to choose from. I think one way or another, they'll be man, it'll be okay, right, and then I wouldn't be surprised if they turned back to

the draft to try to address this next year. Right. So it's not like you're in the wilderness where you don't have a guard like so many years before this, right, what I was telling Nick the other day, you know, before we got to the draft, this was of an area that I was not concerned about at all, and I only began getting concerned about it was when I heard someone over from that side talk about how concerning they were, Yeah, on the football side, talk about how

they were concerned about this position. And then until then, it's like, Okay, well crap, if they're concerned, then I'm concerned too, now, you know. So I think and people like on Twitter sending a lot of questions, you know, like what's the deal with this offensive line? Like let's stop talking about it. It's not a big deal, blah blah blah. But I thought the same thing, the same thing until I hear that, and then it turns it

into something concerning. And you talking about Runner Leady, you know, like you said he was like an underrated player, That's what I'm referring to. You know, he was great, but not many people talked about him. Yeah, and I think that, you know, you've got some some people that think Jonathan Cooper is going to be really really good over there. So I think it's just all about an opinion, and you're right. We'll see what happens when you get to

the season. But I think the big issue with Cooper or is it Chaz Green or Byron Bell, whoever it is, stay away from the penalties. I mean, because that you know, you get beat, you get a ten yard penalty and holds you back and pushes everybody back. If you can just kind of hang in there and you'll get help, because you know Frederick will have his guy and tire and I'll have his guy. You should be in good,

good position. Just don't hold. Don't hold when it's down there at the fourteen yard line, first and ten, and now it's back at the twenty four and now you're Dan Bailey. Just get ready, all right, let's move on to the next position. It stays on the offensive line. Dub Free, who had been the perennial whipping boy around here when you talk to about the offensive line for the last several years, retired and then Lyle Collins makes

them move out. Nick. I heard you say a little earlier in you when we were talking about the guard position, you thought he may be played out of position at guard, which makes me assume that you mean that he's a better tackle. Uh you're looking at what you've seen over these first five weeks of preseason and training camp. We're good here left at right tackle, I think so. Yeah, I think I think you're you're gonna be really good. Um, you're gonna have to you have to go through it.

I mean he's relatively he's not a rookie at all, but he's he's young right tackle that hasn't played it, uh and since college. I think that he's I like the way he plays. He's gonna get beat sometimes, but he plays with a mean, nasty streak that I think Doug Free played with at times, I think Colombo played with. And so he'll get better and better. So yeah, I think I think they'll be good Amber. Oh yeah, definitely good. We're good here. Yeah. Um no, my thoughts. You know, doctor,

he was a good player. He was good. But I don't think the Cowboys are struggling without not having him here. You know, he was a very just one of those guys that you can just count on and he's gonna be there and do his job. And but I mean, aside from that, I think they're good. They're good here in time, Like I'd be surprised if he's dominant just right away, you know. And I think that's played out at training camp. Is you see flashes we were watching together.

He kicked to Marcus Lawrence's butt a lot yesterday. But then he'll turn around and get just absolutely Docy Dode a couple times in a road too. So in time, like he's he has the potential to be dominant, and you see it, but he doesn't have the consistency yet. And he's never played right tackle before, so I don't think he's gonna go out there and bulldoze everybody right away.

But in time, I think they'll be good. I think one of his biggest strengths is his weakness right now is that I think he is trying to dominate everyone. He is trying to throw people to the ground sometimes I think when when that's his mindset, to kind of get his hands on people, you know, and and get him down, h that's where he can he can miss. He sometimes he does try to block with his hands and not his feet, and so I think that when he gets you know, when he gets the pause on him,

he can knock him down. And we've seen it. We've seen good defensive tackles just get thrown around. But we've also seen or being good defensive ends. But we've also seen some good average defensive end beat him with spend moves and things like that. So he's just got to work on technique. But I think I agree with Dave. With time, he'll be good. All right, Let's talk about the safety position. Barry Church he moves on to the Jacksonville Jaguars. Huh, it's a good one. It is a

good one. He actually got a four year, twenty six million dollar contract, twelve million guaranteed, so significant money for safety. Jeff heat is going to be the guy that's gonna be tapped to replace him as the second safety in this defense. They kind of move those safeties around, you know a little bit. But all that being said, do you think we're good here? Safety position? All right? Yeah, eventually will will go go ahead, go ahead, I'll say not yet. No, I haven't seen I haven't seen Jeff

Heath to be better than by Barry Church. I thought he would be. I thought he I mean, I thought he would be a little bit further along. But you know, they've only played spot duty here in the preseason when they're trying to be really vanilla. So uh, it's it might be a tad early to evaluate him, but he hasn't made really plays that stand out. Can I qualify that just a little bit. Put that in the context

of the money that was paid to Bury Church. When you factor that in, do you think you'll get comparable play? Maybe not as good as Barry Church, but comparable play for a lot less money. Oh yeah, I mean if we're throwing money in there, yeah, that's a part of it, right, I mean we have so much money you can spend under the cap, right yeah. But I look at it like, when when it's time to make the play, make the tackle, are you are you going to be as good as

what you were? So yeah, if you're throwing in money, which is a factor there. But I mean, I'll answer it this way. I don't think that that Jeff Heath is on Burry Church's level right now, and I think the Cowboys might miss that tackling. I'm I'm conflicted. I think before training camp I argued with you and I buried Church is an above average player. I didn't say great, but you were tinkering with I was no, I was tinkering with I said, he's not a Pro Bowl caliber player.

But he's pretty damn good and I still believe that. But by I don't think of Barry Church as like this playmaker. He's the steady, reliable guy. He's gonna make the tackle when the running back gets to the second or third level. He's going to keep the eight yard gain from being a twenty five yard game. He's not great in past coverage, but he's usually not the reason why there's a forty yard touchdown. That's what I defined

as a solid guy, right, He's solid. And so I don't think Jeff Heath is as good as Bury Church yet, But I also don't think that there's just this incredible presence lacking in the Cowboys secondary. I think Jeff Heath can probably do those things. Maybe he won't do him as well, and you know, I don't. The safety position is not better than it was last year, but through what we've seen so far, I don't think it's significantly

worse either. But the thing about Heath, though, and I think Nick you're the one that said this, I think I've heard you say this before. He is a guy that can make some plays for He's made a few plays in his career and so from that stampoint, if he can be as consistent a tackler as Barry Church, then maybe there's an opportunity for him to be better. I'm not saying he will be, because again I'm I wish they would have done a little bit more at

the safety position personally. But if you want to just play devil's advocate here, you look at the fact that he can make some plays from time to time. If he can be a solid tackler, he could be as good as Barry Church. Right, I'll put it this way. I think the safety position is going to look a lot like it did last year. And if it does look better, it's gonna be because Byron Jones makes the leap. It'll be him that raises the level of that position

more so than Jeff. I mean, Jeff's fine, he's solid, but you know, if there's a a whole ton of crazy plays coming out of that area of the field, I think it'll be Byron more likely because he has looked really good at camp, were good here Amber, I think so. I just don't see them being worse than last year. You know, I think either they're gonna be

similar or a little better. I don't know what you guys think about Jeff Heath though beginning of camp there was a lot of hype about him, and now it's kinda started to die down, and I'm seeing a lot of questions from Twitter people asking like, what are your expectations on him moving forward this year? Well, I mean, I think he's gonna he'll be around the ball. You know, he'll he'll make He'll probably have more turnovers. Uh, you know,

fubble recoveries interceptions than than Bury Church. But the way you could play Church and move them down into the box, I think it's a little bit more of a valuable player. We'll see if Heath can can become that guy or they find it in a different way with maybe a different type of safety or linebacker. So, you know, Cavon Frasier kind of has that that body type a little bit like Church. We'll see if he has the instincts

and all that. If you put Cavon in forty two, he would look just like, yeah, I think about that when I watch him play. Ye. So all right, let's check our first break when we come back. We do need to talk about guys like Brandon Carr to real McClain, Morris Clayborne and maybe even a little bit Lance, But Lance Dunbar, we'll do that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. We the entertainment loving people demand the best unlimited wireless plan ever from ATNT.

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to find a retailer nearest you. Back to the Welcome Back second segment of the Break Life from the SWBC Mortgage studios at the Star. We're playing a game today. We're talking were good. The name of the game is we Good. Here we're talking about different players the Cowboys let walk this offseason and the guys that have been brought in to replace them. Let's keep going down on

the list. Brandon Cars the next guy up. He went to the Baltimore Ravens, got a four year, twenty three point five million dollars deal, four million of that being guaranteed. Cowboys in turn signed Nolan Carroll from the Philadelphia Eagles. They signed him to a three year, ten million dollar deal,

where three million of that is guaranteed. I thought, initially, I thought when we had talked about this before, I thought there was a big discrepancy in their contracts because you look at the big number of the twenty three point five million in Brandon's contract, but when you look at the guarantees, it's really only a million dollar difference. I mean, if Baltimore decided they went to part ways after this year, I don't know that they lose a

whole lot of money on that deal. All that being said, though we've seen Nolan Carroll practice out here with this team for five weeks. We're good here. I don't think so. I don't. I don't, not relative to what they they've had. I mean, you kind of knew what you're gonna get with Brandon Carr m and I still don't know if you see that so much with Carol. I think they'll be comparable players. But give me, Brandon Carr thinks a

little bit more physical. He maybe you lose some athletically, but he's a little bit more physical, seems more reliable. And when it comes to the community, you get a guy that you know, you know what you're gonna have, and you have a guy that you may be suspended. Say, as it stands right now, we don't know for sure that Carol will be available for all sixteen games. Brand Carr has never missed a game ever ever ever start in his career. That I love Brandon Carr. I might

be biased, I know. I mean, he's he's he's not a shutdown corner, but he was much more reliable over the last two years he was here than the first two or the first three. Um, I think he's a little bit better than Carol. He's a commune, upstanding locker room guy, like team leader. So now it's yeah, down We're in downgrade right now, that's the word I'm looking for. Yeah, I agree, I thought Carol would be a little bit better, But after seeing him camp, I'm honestly not feeling great

about him. My expectations were somewhat higher, and he's not. At this point. He's not better than Brandon Card to be honest, He's not terrible either for that matter, but I don't think he's as good as car, but I'm gonna he's not very constant either. You know, I'm gonna throw on my broadest impression real quick. And you wanted one of these young corners to come out here and compete and try to take that job, and it just just hasn't happened. That's it, I mean, that's it. I

mean he was. The draft is after free agency, so you're gonna kind of somewhat cover yourself, but then you're gonna go and sign, you know, draft other corners and hope that one of them can step up, just like just like David brought us said right there, thanks, which I but you could have gone Kevin King in the first round if you really wanted that guy, because he

was there. I think I said yesterday or earlier this week that just just because it didn't happen at training camp doesn't mean it can't happen though, right, you know. I mean if Jordan Lewis is really this stud cornerback that will play itself out as the season goes along. You know what's funny, It's like all these people that would always talk crap about Brandon Carr and now it's like, Oh, we want him back and now we miss him. That's the way it normally goes, right, I don't I would

guess Cowboy fans regardless of what we're saying. I don't know if Cowboy fans are ready to say that yet. It'll take actual touchdowns being scored in real games with Carol running behind them and then doing the infamous handclap. Yeah, yeah, you get me some messages here. That's what I'm seeing bring. But you know, I will say this though I don't know. I mean, Brandon Carr took took his lumps from time

to time with fans. But I think by the end of last year, at at least the listeners of this show and the way that they were calling in and that kind of thing, I don't think they thought Brandon was a problem. I think they felt like Brandon was a solid guy. Again, he goes back to what we said about Barry Church. He's a solid guy. I don't think.

I don't think anybody said Brandon was a pro bowler, but he was a solid cornerback and there was something too, the ability to be healthy, to play every week and to be a solid corner There was gonna be in his career. Here, I think which you could probably bet on, was that there were gonna be one or two games a year where you were like, oh wow, that was bad for Brandon Carr, and most of the rest of those other games you were gonna be like, he did his job, and that's that's kind of the player that

he was. That's the nature of cornerback. Though he spent how he spent seventeen weeks kind of building his credibility back up, and then one play against Green Bay that the sides of the season is how people are going to remember him. And I mean that's football, that's life. I'm not I mean, especially cornerback. You know, not gonna lose sleep for Brandon Carr about it. But that's really that. I mean, I'd say the eighty percent of his performances

were pretty good. But the top two things on the list, the top three things on the list will be Beckham, Green Bay in the playoffs, and then the freaking Calvin Johnson game. Like those are probably the three that jump out, even though they were three of his worst performances out of five years that were pretty solid over and by the way, those are some pretty good receivers suit pretty pretty good receiver. It's I think, right up there with quarterback.

It's the hardest job in the NFL mentally and physically. All right, let's move on to the next position. Let's talk about Terrell McClain. He went to Washington four year, twenty one million dollars deal, ten point five million guarantee. That's a pretty nice deal for a guy that, while he was with the Cowboys, really had issues. More so

stank healthy than anything else. Because when he was playing, which usually a pretty good player for the Cowboys, the Cowboys replace him with what I think is probably the steal of this entire conversation. They get Steven Pye on a one year deal, two million dollars and five hundred

thousand guaranteed. We got here, we have one. We have to figure this out, like which one of us has the man crush on Stephen Pie because like we've been fighting about, well, I've been I've always since at first the first few practices, after I saw him doing some of the things he was doing, I was like, they got themselves a player right there. I really liked Stephen Pie. He'd liked him after the soccer I did. I did.

I did like him after the soccer video. I mean, he he probably ranked second or third among among the players, among the players, first among all linemen. Yeah, and the big fat boys. He was pretty good, which means he's got a pretty good feet, good fee. I never ever was a big fan of Terrell McClean because of the injuries or just period just just h yeah, injuries number one. I mean, and he was pretty good and he kind of heard everyone talk about how asually was and all that.

But you know, I know Brian really liked him, but I just I never really he never really did it for me. It was just like, Okay, he's a solid player, but I never thought, you know, he didn't make a lot of plays, a lot of stats, which you're not going to from that position too often. But I just you know, he was one of those guys. If yeah, he left the free agency, okay, we figured out, and for right now it seems like they sort of have.

I don't think he'll be hurt down in Washington, and I just don't think he'll be a guy that you're like, man, we missed him. So if Piez as good as he's looked at training camp, I think this will be a steal for them. I mean, he looks disruptive and that's the big I think he looks like a guy who can get sacks, which is what this team needs, and he's playing at a bargain rate. So I think that

is a big coup for them, a good job. I also think when all the suspensions are over and if the injuries, if they can stay healthy at that position, I think Demontre Moore goes back to you know, obviously he plays in you you've got Mayaver there, You've got DeMarcus Lawrence, and you've got Taco. I could see a scenario a word, Tyrone Crawford does go back. If everyone's pretty healthy and Taco's doing his job and Demontre Moore is getting some some reps. I could see Crawford playing

more in the inside. Could see Irving playing something right. I was gonna so where does Irving face? Well? Everything just you know, you just plug a guy that's six seven somewhere in there. He'll play. I mean, I'm just saying it's a good rotation. But I could see more guys going back to tackle. If Demontre Moore can can give you some some things and Taco also comes on, and you know, I mean there's kind of an odd man out when it's all said and done, like in

the middle of the year. So does someone get hurt? Do you just cut a veteran who And that's what we're talking about yesterday. Does Taper end up being a guy that's oh yeah, that's right there at that point where he could be cut because I have you have a lot of guys once everybody's not just factoring in Tapper by week seven. I'm just he's out of the equation for me, whether he was cutting now or an ir or whatever. I just I'm not even factoring him.

I'm taking him out of the equation. I still think you've got more more players than you need. If everyone comes back, I mean, maywe may not be completely safe, you know, throughout the whole year. Wow, I mean just when you when you think about it, I mean, if when everyone comes back, who you've got in the middle, You've got You've got MALIEK. Collins, Paiac Cedric Thornton, He's another one that you know. I mean, guys like that you kind of just wonder, well, what are we gonna do?

But if that's that's if Demontre Moore shows that he can be reliable and taco as well. All right, let's move on Morris Clayborne. He went to the New York Jets on a one year deal five million dollars, two million of that is guaranteed. And the Cowboys obviously are are elevating Anthony Brown, a guy that was is in his second year as a Cowboy and then obviously drafted

Cheetahbo Woozier, drafted Jordan Lewis, drafted Marquez White. They're looking for other options to be able to bring in supplement

that cornerback position. Were good here based upon again Morris Clayborne being leaving and these guys kind of as a collective group coming in to be to kind of add that depth to the cornerback position or were Yes, you will not find a bigger cheerleader than I was for the way that mo raised his game last year and how well he played and how reliably was until right up until he got hurt, which was the fifth year in a row that that's happened for him, and you

know it just tough. We went to LSU. Love the guy, nice dude, better player than he got credit for. Clearly did not live up to the number six. I mean, nobody could argue that ever clearly didn't live up to that couldn't stay healthy at some point, just just cut your losses, any I mean, we haven't seen Cheeto or Jordan Lewis in a real game situation. And you know, Anthony Brown's only in year or two. But I'm perfectly willing to just ride with what they might be over

just going down that road again. And all of a sudden, you know, Mo's not playing in Week nine for the fourth year in a row. Yep, I agree. I mean I wish he was a better wish you know, you always rooted for him for everything that that he that he went through on and off the field, but at the end of the day he had to just kind of and you know, and changes the scenery can work great both ways. I mean, I've got my eye on him with the Jets. I don't I mean, I couldn't

tell you right now how he's doing up there. But I hope, you know, I hope he's got I hope he goes to the Pro Bowls. I'd be awesome, But it's just at some point, numbers wiring over there. I don't even know. I heard maybe he was gonna wear twenty one, but that they didn't let him or something. I can't be twenty four right then, I canna give him. I'm gonna look that up when I get off the air. I mean, I don't know if he's like, is Revas like number retired? Was he that great with the Jets?

I mean, I mean he's pretty damn great. No he was. No, I'm not I'm not getting it. I'm saying was he that great where they would say, hey, nobody's wearing that number? Are you looking at the roster? Can't looking at a photo of him? And I would consider that, I say, I bet that big for the Jets. People will tell you that Darrell Rivas authored like, statistically like one to three of the best cornerback seasons ever in the history

of the game, especially like in modern day. Yeah, I remember that one season where he faced all the best receivers and they them all down. And then remember that it's the New York Jets, and other than Joe Namath, they don't have a lot to hang there at Broadway Joe, And then yeah, who who's He's the best player in recent Jets history. I mean, Wayne Cribet, what else you got, art guest? I know how long ago is that? I

don't know? Yeah, I mean you are alive. I don't think Darrell Reeves has got to be the best Jets player in the last ten fifteen years. Yeah, probably sway. All right, welcome to Jets Break. All right, let's let's let's move on. Let's go with the final name. I want to throw out, Lance Dunbar. He moved on to wait, wait, let me painting. How's that a question? Well, it's the reason it's a question is because last year you had Lance Dunbar, who was your third down back. He was

a guy that was kind of your gadget guy. He could return some kicks, like, he had some different roles that he played for this team. And so now he's gone, the Cowboys are gonna fill those roles. And again I'm not saying that he was an all world player, but it was a role that the Cowboys will will fill with I guess other players. It was a role that the Cowboys like forced into their game plan because they felt weird about how many running backs they had. Like

in twenty fifteen, when he tore his knee, up. He was actually kind of he was killing it. I mean he was on pace for like a boatload of touches. He was he was a receiver, he was running it. And then they drafted Ezekiel Elliott and bye bye. I mean it just didn't make sense and I never understood why. I mean it felt so forced. And again for the fifth time, I really like Lance. He was a great guy, Like all these guys are. I love it. All of

these players were super nice dudes. But you spend a top five pick on a running back, I mean, it never made sense to me. And he's another guy who had a hard time stay unhealthy. I read on my phone during the break that he's going to start the season on pup for the Rams. So snake snake bitten career for him. I wish, you know, I hope for the best for him, but there was no spot for

him in this offense. You know, when when you look at people, you know, players throughout their whole career, even like going back to high school in college, you know, you see certain guys and you go, yeah, I play football. You look at you know, really your first thought is you play football. I mean you're you look small and people the thing that guys that aren't that big are gonna get hurt. Well, here's a case of a guy that that that does. I mean they're not all Wes

Welker and Cole Beasley and Danny A. Mendola. I mean some short some little guys kind of get hurt a lot, just like like the Kellen Moore you know situation when you know he's he's a short guy. Well he got hurt last year because a guy fell on his foot. I mean that happens a lot. But when you're not that big and your hands aren't that big to get knocked out of your hands, I mean sometimes this game

has meant for big players. Now there are exceptions to the rule, and some of them are really really good. We'll see if Ryan Switzer can be that guy. Right now, he's been banged up, so it doesn't work for everyone. And Landstombar, to me is one of those guys that if if you, I mean, I'll never forget that play in a preseason game against Arizona, probably thirteen three years ago, four years ago, but one play just described his entire career.

He caught the ball into the flat, good receiver gets himselves open in space, he can fly forty yards down the field. Then he gets hit and he fumbled and then he got hurt all in the same play. Wow, If you don't touch him, he's pretty good. If he gets hit, he might fumble and he might get hurt or both. Not good for a football player, right, just saying he was good when no one hit him. He would be sitting at his locker room and I would

be walking by. He's like, man, I'm so tired. I'm like from what like being in the hot top like no, and he was a great guy. But I think I mean, you know what, I love that about the NFL though, Like Lance Dunbar's like one of the greatest players in the history of North Texas football, Like he was the man in college. And that's the NFL. Though. Everybody's great in the NFL. Yep. Everybody's fast, everybody's big, everybody's strong. Well, not everybody's big, but most guys are big. It gets

to your point, right, so you're not You're not. You're not gonna beat anybody just because you got more, just you got more athletic ability, you got more god given talent. Like it's it's just everybody's that good, right, But at least same story with Morris Claver And we were just talking about him, the differences. When Morris was on the field, he was making big plays or plays. I definitely helped

the team here and there. I mean he would to me he was a great player when he was on the field certain occasions, certain occasions, but get what he did at your point. I mean, I'm the I'm the captain of the Mo cheerleading club. But he I can't go great. I can say his thing. I mean, I like his thing was, you know, look at look at the best cornerback to ever play ever? Yeah, Deon? What did Deon have other than great athletic ability? What did

Deon have more than anybody in life? Swag? Confidence? That's what Mo missed, I think, And and it was hard for him, you know, because he was getting hurt and then I think he was He would get beat during a game and it was hard for him to recover. You say, those corners supposed to have bad memories. He didn't have a bad memory. He would kind of let

those things kind of get with them. And so I think confidence always was an issue with him, even though he says it was, and I think I would art he it seemed, and last year it seemed like he had it. He had confidence. He did John with Dez He I mean the airplane thing. I love that incomplete, but I called it the airplane whatever. But then he got hurt again, and that probably, yeah, probably had an effect. Honestly,

I don't, I don't. I don't think I ever had a problem necessary with the player that Morris Clayboe was. I don't think I ever was like, man, he's not good like I don't. That was never even in even in games where he might have had some difficulties. To me, I racked it up to that's what cornerbacks do. There're gonna be some games where you're not gonna have the best game, and they're gonna they're gonna catch some passes on you. I never thought of him as as a

play anything but a good cornerback. I thought that he never could get just a sustained which last year he did. He a sustained period of time where he's playing and he's playing consistently and he's not hurt, where he can really show you what he can do. And then last year it even at that he could still only get through a little over half the season, and we're I

call that revisionist history a little bit. If you go back to like twenty thirteen, twenty four I mean, maybe arguably his best moment as a cowboy when he picked off Austin Davis to seal that win against the Rams. I mean they picked on him all day, right, And what I just say, I said, they're gonna be days at cornerback. They're gonna be games go back, not gonna have a good game. Thirteen twenty fourteen, whatever you want to call it, call it confidence, called injuries. He was

more of a liability. I mean he consistently where where you were not confident that he could cover his guy. And it really wasn't until honestly twenty sixteen where I was like, he's covering and he can cover people. He's not getting okay. So when in that time period was he consistently healthy. I mean, that's that's kind of my point is he was always seemingly dealing with something from a standpoint of an injury concern, or was completely out

because he couldn't because he was hurt. I suppose that's fair, and so I don't think he ever got to a point where he really had a time period where he was healthy and he was able to really show what he could do for a consistent period of time until twenty sixteen, and that still wasn't enough to get him past the finish line. He could just get a little over half the season. All right, let's take our final break. We'll come back. We'll get some questions. Give us a call.

The number is two one four eight seven two twenty one O two. Again it's two one four eight seven two twenty one oh two. Or you can hit us on Twitter at Cowboys Break. This is the break. To work this big land, you need equipment with values rooted as deep in texts as soil as you are, like John Deer Compact tractors or the six year Power Training Warrant to end big features that help you work less so you have more time to do what you love.

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the best underwear that feels like Commando. Okay, the hell of a tagline. Should just send that to him. All right, let's move on. Let's get some questions. You guys can call us the numbers two one please everyone, eight seven two twenty one O two again it is two one four eight seven two twenty one H two. We can also take questions via Twitter. You can hit us at Cowboys Break. Let's start with the phone call from TCT and Beefy TET. What up, gents, lady? How are you

all doing doing well? I don't know if you to cover this at the beginning of so so I apologize, but I was just watching on Twitter as it pertained to the comments made about Dez Bryant and Blaze Pizza and him leaving some great tip and the you know, the server saying that she was not a Cowboys fan. He said, well, he wasn't going to go there anymore. And how this turned into some big political statement of well,

he'll boycott a pizza place over the national anthem. This is getting old, guys, Like, this is getting really old where we're losing the essence of what football is. It's fun, right, I mean there's a time and place for all these things.

But when something as small as leaving a tip and then Jess saying it's not going to go to a restaurant anymore, because clearly with men and Jess turned into a political statement or a comparison between which one on the Coltin Kaepernick and establishment before you're having fun as

it pertaining to someone not being fan. We're getting way out of bounds now, and so as one as you guys to comment on it, because now morning ever, I'm starting to understand why some of these athletes remain quiet as it pertains of certain issues, because they're getting ridiculed for something as stupid as where they're gonna have pizza. So why would I take as a political stance on certain things knowing that the ridicule was in some cases going to outweigh the good it comes out of it.

I just want you guys for comment on that. All right, Thanks for the call. Yeah, did y'all see this this morning. I did not see it. So Daz had a little back and forth at a Blaze Blaze. I'd heard about that. Yes, so he's right, I'm not gonna eat at that Blaze pizza anymore. Didn't even say he wouldn't eat Blaze pizza anymore, just not at that last And I thought it was kind of tongue in cheek, very tongue in cheek. It

was a joke. And then some I don't even had those laughing emojis, right, one of the one of a blog I don't like a you know what, I don't even remember what it's called. It wasn't PFT, but you know, one of those types of things was like Dez Bryant his boy boycotting a eats a chain because of the and then it turned into this whole thing. And then

I saw Jamel Hill for sure. I don't know if anybody else picked up on it, but she was like, oh, so you'll boycott where you eat pizza, but you're not going to take a stand for you know, civil rights or whatever because of what Deaz said about the national anthem a week ago. And my response, you know, he was asking us to comment on it is. You know, nobody loves Twitter more than I do. I live on my phone. I absolutely love it. I love engaging with

fans and getting the news and feeling connected. Twitter is ridiculous and stupid, and it is an echo chamber where people get lost in. You know, it's amazing when you take a step back and realize, like how different the real world is when you're not just consistently plugged into refreshing your tweets every thirty five seconds and adding that ridiculously addictive information overload. With the Dallas Cowboys, which we all know is one of the most visible brands in

the world. Cowboys players get clicks, Cowboys stories do good traffic, and these types of things happen, And yeah, I think the caller is absolutely right. I totally understand why athletes, especially athletes like Dez Bryan. I mean, if I was dead, I'd be like, screw, this is having fun on Twitter worth the headache that. You know, I don't even know what I can and can't say without it turning into

a national story. So yeah, I absolutely get it, although but I would argue for people like us and probably people like a lot of our callers. I think our perception is skewed because we spend so much time dealing with this that you know, I don't even think that permeates out fully into the culture the way that people think it does, you know, and that Dez probably thinks

it does, like Deaz is probably frustrated. I doubt eighty five percent of people even realize that that's a story because eighty five percent of people have better stuff to do than constantly be reading Twitter. So it's stupid and overblown ninety five percent of the time. And my advice to Death and any fan that's annoyed by it is just pay less attention to it. That just makes me really upset. Like, like you said, I agree with you,

it's so dumb. And then when you sit back and look at everything else that's going on around the world and outside of football, what are you doing, Like why would you make something like this such a big deal and throw back at Death and it's it's just dumb. It's dumb. Find something else better to do than kind of make something small as that, which was completely a joke, and turn it into a big deal, especially when he tipped someone seventy five dollars I mean, that's a pretty

good tips. That's kind of part of the issue here is that it's just there is when you're a professional athlete, and certainly when you're a professional athlete, and I don't want this to sound too egotistical for the Cowboys, but when you're a professional athlete that plays for the Dallas Cowboys different, it is different. Everything you say, everything you do has ticks on a whole different level of scrutiny

because people pay attention to the Cowboys. But these players get like this because even when they do something good, when they do something nice, it's still somehow someone finds a way to flip it around and turn it into something negative. And that's why they become like this with the media and all of us and social media, and so I would argue, I would argue, and I think there's something to be said for that. But in this day and age, it's our industry is in trouble, you know,

I mean the media industry. Yeah, sorry, generate traffic. I don't think there's like this agenda like, oh, how can we how can we put Dez in hot water over this? It's Dez Bryant is on that short list of names. That's going to generate traffic no matter what he does. And to be fair, when Dez does something like go to Walmart at two am and buy PlayStations for a bunch of people, that goes viral too. I mean, whatever

he people are, his name's involved. People gravitate toward that name and then the p and when you put it out on Twitter, the problem is you're exposing it to ten million different viewpoints and ideas. Whether they're fair or based in rational logic or not, they're out there. And then all it takes is Dez to see that, and then he reacts to it, and then it becomes a whole another thing, and it folds in on itself, and

it happens time and time again. I would certainly get frustrated by if I were a player, I completely understand it. But that's just the nature of the game, really, and that's in, you know, on a much smaller scale. Obviously I'm not Dez Bryant, but I mean we do we see some of that. You know, stuff we say on this show can get aggregated by a blog or you know, people can call us nasty names on Twitter or some

message board or whatever. And in my it can be difficult, but just tune that stuff out, man, I mean, it's it's not even worth your time. And you're gonna plan that world, you have to accept that that's a part of that world. And and fans for that matter too. Like my biggest pet peeve with fans no offense to anybody listening, is like, do you see what Stephen A. Smith said about the Cowboys today? I hate that guy. Blah blah blah, turn it off. This guy just did it.

This guy, the guy that can just called the guy. I mean, hey, one of our best fans and one of our most loyal listeners. But honestly, don't call up here and say that you're upset up was something and think it's stupid and all that, but then but then ask about it, comment about it, and now we've been talking about it. I just read what the what you just caught up on? What the girl said, I mean, Jamal Hill or whatever, that's a problem. I mean she said she what she wrote was you won't take a stand.

You know, she said, you'll take a stand on that, but you won't take a stand dot dot dot never mind. And then to come back later and say I was just joking. There are ways to share on Twitter and text message that you're joking. You didn't do that until there was a backlash a little bit, until he's fired back and you're like, I'm joking. Then she says, there's a there's a truth in every joke, though, what are you saying? I don't know. I just I feel like

and that's instigated it a little bit more. And the national anthem, I mean, the national anthem thing is a conversation worth having and a serious issue in my opinion, And if you know, Dez can decide what he wants to say about it or what he wants to do about it, and that's fine, but like, don't don't force that conversation on him through some Twitter bs in my opinion, And it's it's too it's too real and serious of

an issue to be flippant about it. And I'll say this, and I'm not gonna speak for a lot of people, but I know this. You can stand for the national anthem, put your right hand or across your heart, and because you feel strongly about the country you live in and the rights that you have, that doesn't mean that you don't disagree with what the president and and things that are going going on. It's two different things. You don't

it's not just black and white. Literally to just sit there and say, well, you're not standing so then you must you must approve of what's going on. That's not true at all. And you, I mean des Brian has a boatload of money. You don't know what causes he's giving money to or what he's doing with his own life. I mean, neither do I for that matter. I'm just saying it's it's flipping and stupid and going back to

the earlier point, it's take it from me. It's it's pretty easy to tune out the stupid stuff that you don't want to see. It's not worth getting worked up about from a fan's perspective. In my opinion, somebody has a stupid opinion, turn it off, ignore it, come find a smart opinion, like on Cowboy's Break. I will say this too, And we talked. I had this conversation the other day. Not everybody should be a spokesperson. I know sometimes people try to paint they want to say all

athletes should be willing to use their platform. Guess what, I don't want every athlete using their platform to speak for me and the issues that I care about, because if they're educated on them, if they aren't, um, if they aren't articular enough in order to be able to really express what's going on and the problems that are going on and to be able to bring some some light to it in a in a way that's actually going to create change, then I prefer they just be quiet. Right.

It's just like the same as in general society. I don't want everybody being the person that's stepping up and giving in an opinion about whatever that topic is. If you're educated, great, and if you want to do that, great. I don't think we should put make situations where we try to force athletes, particularly to use the platform that they have in order to espouse whatever. We'll talk about. What number one athlete probably of all time, UM, didn't really do that. No, I mean you can say Muhammad

Ali was, but I don't. I don't. You must be talking about Michael Joe Well, I think, yeah, I mean, are you wearing all these I'm actually I'm wearing Jordan's right now for whatever that I think Michael, I mean, he's yeah, but you can say that about Jordan, But I know very much. I understand. I understand that. I think where we are right now, I think I think Michael Jordan probably probably affected more people. Um maybe now when you say affect it, that's where I made different.

Yeah we don't need to have Yeah we don't have that. That's a whole different discussion. But whether it's one, whether it's too Michael. But Michael Jordan did it a different way, right, he didn't, and he had a right to do that. That's kind of my point is if you don't, if you don't feel comfortable that you understand all the issues and that you have the right way to be able to talk about them, don't talk about it. And if you do, in the case of Muhammad Ali, and you

feel passionate about it, go talk about it. Right. I don't have a problem with players one way or the other. If you choose it, that's the way you want to go. Great. If you choose that's the way you don't want to go, that's also okay. If you don't feel like you're educated enough or already enough to be able to have that discussion. Now, the face of the franchise here for about ten years didn't do that. Romo didn't do that. You know, Elma didn't didn't go out and do things in the community

as much as as other as other players did. He had obviously had a platform to do it. It's just not what he chose to do, and he got ridiculed for it. He still probably does, but that's kind of what he did. It's not that he didn't do things in the community. He didn't have the same kind of platforms and he didn't have the same kind of foundations and stuff like that as you see like Jason witten Brand and Carr things like that as Andrew. Yeah, but at the end of the day, it's I think it's

every player's decision to write. Every player has the right to be able to decide what they choose to do or not choose to do. All right, we appreciate you guys joined us. We are back to actually we're back on Monday tomorrow. We'll have a joint show. Check the website for more information on that. We'll have a joint show between the shows tomorrow afternoon. Until then for Nick even Amber Garcia, Dave helm and I'm Derek Eagleton. This has been the Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com. Radio.

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