Cowboys Break: Headlines Into Week 1

first edition of the two thousand and seventeen season. It is The Break. I'm Derek Eaglesons joined by Nick Eatman. Dial Let's let him go? How let him go? Dave? How many firsts do you have in a given year? This will be the first of the actual like it's week one, so this is the first yea of all, Like the regular season? Yeah, right, the regular season starting today? Right? Right? We changed as of today, right? Changed the roster enough then we make any claims to change the team or

anything like that, or yeah we didn't. I'm talking to make a trade. I'm talking about us four. Well, we get we've made a few changes. We started off and Amber joined the show. You joined the show. You were not a regular, Yeah, but we've been still. I don't know if you're gonna be a regular been doing this for six weeks regular. All right, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, thank you whatever? All right? What like? Yeah? Seriously? All right,

So let's talk some Cowboys football. There's been a lot that's happened since the last time we were on the air. It's good holiday weekend, good Labor Day weekend, but there are lots of changes that happened on this team over that weekend. Cowboys cut down to fifty three man roster, then made a couple of other moves. We're gonna get into that and talk about some of the guys that Cowboys acquired um as well as a guy that they released and supposedly is back, and I'm sure Nick has

a lot to say about that. We'll talk to Kellen Moore here at some point um in the or segment, but before we get to that, we do need to talk a little bit about Ezekiel Elliott right now. There have been a few developments in that whole situation. We're still waiting on the results of the appeal which happened last week. There's suspicion that maybe comes out today from what I understand, and you guys can correct me if

I'm wrong. From what I understand, if there isn't a result on the appeal that's issued by this afternoon, then Zeke is allowed to play this week. That accurate. That is not detailed in writing anywhere in the CBA. Okay, I have talked to several people, and the best that I can come up with is that it's an unwritten rule or a gender just wouldn't do that to a

team agreement. Take that from I was just arguing about that with Brian, where he said, well, it's kind of an unwritten rule that the league's not going to do that to a team, And I said, can you think of a circumstance where they might make an exception when it comes to high profile running back who's in this case and they're trying to keep egg from getting all over their face and who they're fighting in court right now? So yeah, I mean, take it for what it's worth.

I've seen it out there a million times. As far as I understand it, it is a rule that the league typically adheres to. But also, as far as I understand it, nowhere in the CBA is that written in stone that that has to happen. So there's no guarantees. I mean, they could come back with this thing on Friday or Saturday if they want to and say, ezekiel, it is now suspended. But I really believe that if they're going to do that, they're gonna do it with

a reduced suspension. I don't believe that they'll just say, oh, you know what, now, it's yeah, it's six, it's six now. I think that in order to kind of soften the blow a little bit and maybe put the ball in the cowboys court and Zeke's court, I think they're gonna come back and with like a reduced charge. I believe it'll be four, I mean two. I believe that they'll cut it down to two. Well, all that being said, at this point, the NFL has advanced the story a

little bit. They have filed two motions, one to dismiss the nfl PA's filed what they filed last week, basically saying it's all premature right now they have not had

a chance to rule on the appeal. They also filed a motion to oppose the restraining order that they expect that the NFLPA will will issue this week, basically saying that the court doesn't have a right to be able to defer whatever the arbitrator or whatever the commissioner says, because it was collectively bargaining between the players and in the league, and they're using case law here, which in the case of Brady, they feel like at the end of the day, it was upheld by the courts that

because it was collectively bargained, courts don't have a right to get in between that, and the commissioner is within his jurisdiction addiction to be able to make whatever decisions he wants. So that all being said, do you think any of this changes the prospect, which is what fans care about, of whether he's Akuelie is going to play this weekend or not this weekend or I mean sixteen games, because I think that right now we're taking this thing

week by week. Do you think he's playing this weekend. I think all signs are pointing in the direction that he's going to find a way to be on the field this weekend. That's kind of the way I feel, because one way or the other with all this, and yeah, the NFL filed to block the tro and the restraining order that Zeke is filing in Sherman, Texas or has filed in Sherman, Texas that will be heard later today.

Even if they do that, he'll just wait for the ruling and file again, like that's all that that means, there's nothing keeping him from doing it again. Basically, the NFL was like, hey, you went too soon, like whatever, so sorry. I just they they're trying to make sure it's in the proper a favorable jurisdiction for them. The NFL would probably want to hear this in Manhattan, and

Zeke wants to hear it here whatever. I don't know, but regardless, that thing's gonna get filed, and I gotta believe even if he ultimately loses it, it's enough of an uncertainty that he can't be barred from the field by Sunday. I don't think. That's just kind of the way I feel about it, because obviously, like I said last week, the fact that they went as far as to file that motion before they even heard the result of the appeal tells me that they're going to fight

it no matter what they hear. And so when you consider that, I just I it all seems so up in the air that I have a hard time thinking it'll be resolved in time to block him from the field on Sunday. I want he plays. I mean, yeah, well it's pretty strong with yeah, one hundred percent is I do think he will be on the field this week. I think he plays the next week, and I do I personally think he's going to get a two game suspension that will start probably in week three. What I

believe that sounds. That sounds way too tidy for the way that this works. I honestly I think that would be And you can go back for the Cowboys. Zeke still has to deal with you know, his reputation is on the line and all of that, But as far as for the Cowboys and the people who root for the Cowboys, that sounds like the best you could possibly hope this to go. But nothing the NFL does gets resolved that quickly to the point where by the end of September this whole thing will be a distant memory.

I don't know that. That's why I like every time we talk about Damian Wilson, You're like, well, unless the league comes in, the league's not gonna do anything on Damian Wilson. I mean he's playing until further I mean I was thinking about that. We were talking about that yesterday. I think I wouldn't be surprised any day between now and the end of the season to wake up and hear that, you know, Wilson or Carol for that matter, has been suspended, Like there's no they just got around

a Demontre Moore. There's but there's no rhyme or reason to it. Though they resolved Willie Sneed's thing in New Orleans in the span of about three months, Like here, he's off of the first there is three weeks. The minute you try to assume that there's a pattern to this whole thing is the minute you make a mistake. It's different for every single player in the league and

every different offense. And when you're bringing in the real deal legal system, like not just the NFL's nonsense, but the actual courts, I can't imagine that it's tidied up that quickly. The one thing that does concern me a bid and I think for everybody who is wanting Zeke to play this weekend or whatever point this season, I think the one thing that concerns me a little bit is that the NFL kind of laid out this thing of well, here, we've already litigated this. This is no

different than the Brady situation. From the standpoint that it all comes back to, this was collectively bargained and the players bought in. Whatever was collectively bargained was a part of that negotiation, and the players signed off on it.

And so we've already gone through court for this. And that's what I think fans need to at least be thinking about, is there's a possibility that this court, even if let's say the appeal comes back and they reduce it a little bit, or they don't reduce it, I still think the court could say, hey, we're not going to give you a stay. We're not going to allow you to play while we litigate this. Yes, we'll litigate it.

If they decide to litigate it, we'll do that, but we're not going to give you a stay in the meantime because the NFL has a point that it has already been litigated, and so case law says that they have the right to do what they want to do. So that is a possibility here that it's not just a gone conclusion that like Brady was able to play while this went through the courts. It's not a foregone conclusion that Zeke will be able to play while this

goes through the courts. I do, and it's really interesting. I worry I'm gonna get out of my depth because I'm not a lawyer. But as far as I understand it, the criteria to meet this, you know, restraining order to this injunction to kind of stave this thing off while it plays out. You have to be able to prove that it's going to hinder your career, reputation, well being, whatever, And you have to be able to prove that you

have a legitimate chance of winning. And on the out, from an outsider's perspective, it seems like Zeke has both of those things, just based on what we've heard about the mismanagement of the case and obvious I mean, you're going to miss six paychecks at the very least, not to mention, and you can't get the games, but right right, and the harm that it does to your reputation, all that type of stuff. So from an outsider's perspective, it

seems like he meets that criteria. You could come back and say, though that since the NFL just did this with Brady and one because of the collective bargaining aspect of it, maybe he doesn't have as much ground to stand on as we think he does, because you see and read. I spent two hours reading about this over the weekend, and it certainly sounds like the term in the legal system is reasonable doubt. There's a lot of

room for reasonable doubt. And even I'm not declaring anybody Inno Center guilty, but there's so much reasonable doubt about the whole thing. But when you bring it back to you're not trying to win a case. It all goes back to the NFL and the collective bargaining agreement. And at the end of the day, I don't know if it's going to be enough to matter. Where's the league office again? New York, New York man who played first game, New York. You do know who the lead the lead

person in this from the NFL side of this. Have you heard about that story that's out there that supposedly she is a season ticket holder for the Niants. It is a seed. I don't I don't buy it. I know it's a convenient and interesting, and I'm not saying it necessarily at the decision. I'm just saying that's that's an interesting tidbit in this interesting little tidbit. But you know, I just when you're tasked with that type of responsibility,

hopefully professionals or professionals. I yeah, I mean, I've never met that woman, but I just have a hard time believing that, you know, one game in one season is going to sway this gigantic, multimillion dollar investigation that she's been in charge of for the last year. I don't. I never bought that, but it is. It is interesting. At the end of the day, there's a ton more that's going to happen in this case between now and

whenever this thing is resolved. It's just a matter how quickly they can move on this, how much the courts are willing to get involved. I hope to my heart that Eatman is right and by September twenty eighth we will and be like, oh no, he served as games and it's all over and it's great. But I just don't.

I don't buy that. I think is that the way I talk, No, that was just like we're just like, ah, I don't think I've ever seen Nick do though that was my That was my everything is hunky dory voice like that movie pleasant Ville, you know, like, hey, aber Jay, here seeks back after two games suspension, and we don't have to talk about that anymore. Like that's not gonna happen. Sounds like you're the media guy from the nineteen fifties, is something like that. Yeah, the voice scoops callahan. Yeah,

it's gonna be messy and drawn out. That's the only thing I feel certain about, because that's what it's already is. It's the NFL's fault for dragging their feet on this the whole time, and then to come to find out that they don't even have all the right evidence, and now they want to kind of hurry this thing up because the seasons starting. No, no, they could. I mean this has been thirteen months, probably getting close to fourteen now.

We've been saying thirteen months for a while. You feel like they could have handed down this thing in April or whatever. It's you know, no, he was crying over spilled milk. But what a mess. A lot to go m Let's go ahead and move on. Let's talk about the roster. Cowboys cut down to fifty three, as did all the teams throughout the NFL. Lots of things were happening and moving this weekend with regards to this roster, and we're gonna start first with Kellen Moore in the

quarterback situation. Cowboys make a decision on Friday that they're going to cut Kellen Moore. He was a part of the original cuts. But then yesterday Rico Gathers is placed on IR designated to return, and as a part of that, they were able to bring back Kellen Moore, which I don't know, that's not official yet, not official, but that's what the expectation is, is that they're going to bring any for that roster spot. Multiple club officials have said

or less, yeah, we're doing that. So explain to the fans out there listening why the Cowboys decided to go this path with regards to Kellen Moore, because obviously, I think I think there were something. I can't explain the mechanations or explain the thought process. No, no, not the thought process, because I think that that part We'll let Nick ran on in just a second. But but I do think there is something too. Okay, So why didn't

the Cowboys just they wanted to go this route. Why didn't they just put Rico on IR on Friday and then? But I know that there are there are reasons for that. Just explain that to the fans. In order to bring a player back from IR, he has to be on the three when you make your first roster cuts. So Rico had to be on the team on Saturday at three zero one or else he would be lost for the year. So they waited until Sunday and they moved

him to IR. The reason why they cut Kellen Moore is because he's a vested veteran, which I think even the most biased Kellen Moore supporter would agree. He doesn't have much of a market outside this building. Cooper Rush is a rookie. If you have not accumulated four years of service in the NFL, you're subject to the waiver wire, which means any team that is interested in you can put in a claim and there's nothing you can do. You can offer to outbid the other team, blah blah blah.

If the Steelers claim him, he's a Steeler, that's it. So the Cowboys were far more confident that if they cut Kellen Moore, they could get him back in a couple of days than if they cut Cooper Rush, which proved out to be true. I mean, there's no doubt in my mind that multiple teams would have put acclaim on Cooper Rush had he been cut. So in terms of again, in terms of the mechanics of the whole thing,

it worked out flawlessly. Why is it I thought that we're making progress and then just kidding it might be back just kidding. Um, I did get it pretty excited. But the way I see it, and I know Nick, you're about to get into it, But the way I see it, it's like, why you just explain if they cut Cooper Rush, he definitely wouldn't be back here. Yeah, I think that's for sure. They said, now Kellen Moore, is it, Oh yeah, obviously going to be back here,

right the Cowboys. The Cowboys are the only ones that want him, and that's for sure. He was gonna still be there and they'll be able to bring him back. And you're about to get into this argument before we do that, though, before we do that real quick, I want to tie you up the other side of that. Is there any concern, yeah, with the fact that Rico is now going to eye off for what was a

concussion that happened what two weeks ago. I think I don't agree with the move at all and on on that end, and the Kellen Moore end of course, but the Rico part, like you know and less, there's something we don't know because I think Jason Garrett has said he's making progress. So unless he's he's going to go to a neurologist or something that we're not we haven't heard about that this is a one of those type

of concussions that's ongoing. But he's tweeting around about how great you know it is to be on the team and stuff like that, So I don't know what to make about that. But the guy needs to practice. He needs to be on the practice field, and I think that they're they've mishandled this in my opinion, because I think that he needs the eight weeks of practices more than anybody. And just to be clear, when he's on IR designated return, he cannot practice during that time. He

can practice after six weeks. After six you have six weeks he's gonna be sitting around and can't practice. After six weeks, you're you are eligible to begin a three week practice window. If six weeks elapse and they still don't feel comfortable, then he'll continue to sit, but he is eligible to start practicing after weeks. Yeah, but then you look at it, what other move could they have made for them to be able to bring that veteran

guy back, which would be Kellen Moore Asia point. Yeah, and it is a good point you start thinking about, let's start looking at this roster. Find me a guy you think you can can make this kind of move with that you can cut, that you that you have flexibility to cut, understanding the other guys you have, they're going to be suspended the first couple of weeks. There's a lot going on with this team. Maybe maybe Charles Tapper. Maybe I'm not certain that a Charles Tapper would would

clear waivers. Right, well, I'm not certain that I care. I'm just saying Byron Bell. Possibly. My point to all of this is that Jason Garrett spent ten years in this league as a backup quarterback. Wade Wilson played twenty seven years or whatever. He was mostly a backup quarterback. We saw this team a season get derailed in twenty fifteen because they didn't have a backup quarterback and Kellen Moore was one of the guys that they tried to

bring in. It's like you're telling us that they really like Kellen Moore, but at the same time, he's the one player of all of this fifty three. He's the one player that you're gonna leave out there. It's why I said earlier on this guy is patio furniture. He is a lawn chair. Because your lawn chair that you put outside of your house, you know, you can serve as a purpose. You can sit on it. I mean, it's fine, it's a chair, but you don't care if

it gets rained one. You don't definitely care if someone comes and steals it, because if you did, you'd put it in your house. So you just stuck it outside because you're like, well, it doesn't matter. I mean, take it if you want, but we don't really think you're gonna take it because it's really not that great of a lawn chair. So just go ahead and just you know whatever, when it's time that we want to bring

it out, we'll bring it back in. Because they're trying to tell us that this guy is an important position. Now he's gonna come back and he's gonna be the number two quarterback. I don't understand at all why if Kellen Moore is a guy you like, you should have kept him. If you don't like him, then just leave him out there. It makes no sense to me at all. That doesn't make sense. They see his inner beauty, he out there and there's no they I mean, like one guy.

They're just trying to like rub the tell me of the offensive coordinator. I mean, like make a call, like if you don't think he's that good, then just we'll move on and find a guy that is good. Yeah, I understand how they did it like that. That makes sense. I mean they were smart. I think about how they did it in order to move between he and Rico. But I agree with you, if if you have a backup quarterback that thirty one other teams have absolutely no interest in, that does raise a bit of a red

flag in my opinion. Right right, you know that he's not claimable, and now Jason said not claimable, but he's also not sign the bole either. But but that's also the part we don't know. We don't know if there was some team that that called his agent and said hey, or is he available and he said no, I'm going back to the Cowboys because he has that right. That's the thing about when they cut him, they have the ability. I mean, he could go somewhere else if he wants to.

But if but I'm not the candidate, but I'm saying, you know, if if I'm just doing the name out there, if if the Miami Dolphins called and said, hey, we want you to we're interested, maybe you come in and being our third quarterback, he has the right to be able to do that. But if the Cowboys said, hey, we're gonna cut you, and that was kind of this understanding, we're gonna bring you back, and we're gonna bring you back, You're gonna be our backup. He may choose to want

to stay with the Cowboys. He knows the system, he knows the people. We don't know if there were other teams that were involved in this, right we don't. But in your heart of hearts, do you think that his phone was I'm only I'm only making the argument just just because we need to be fair and how we look at this right, right, But I just everybody has the opportunity to watch the preseason games like we did.

There was absolutely nothing that he did in the preseason that would want another team to say, you know what, Yeah, he's not very he's not very big. They doesn't have a good arm. He's never won a game in this league, but he had a pretty good one though. Huh yeah, but that this preseason was I mean, I don't I just don't get it. They had opportunity. Don't come back now and tell us that you really like Kellen Moore when he was the guy that you put it out

in the rain. I just don't agree. I I mean, I'm gonna be a redundant and I'm gonna write about this later this week too, but I'll keep saying Kellen Moore, it's kind of like Alfred Morris. I use the word redundant. Alfred Morris is redundant. He doesn't really serve a different purpose in your running back group. The main reason he's here is because you don't know what's going to happen with Zeke, and that's why he fits. I don't have a problem with him being here because he's a great

insurance polity policy. Kellen Moore is redundant because he's a young, unproven quarterback who has never won a game in the NFL. As as Nick said, you don't really know if he can do it. You don't know how good you feel about him doing it for an extended stretch of time.

I just described Cooper Rush too, but there's a there is a difference from the standpoint that they feel like he understands the offense better than Cooper rushed correct and they feel like although he doesn't have the experience on like in game experience, he does have more experience in the NFL than a Cooper Rush, right, Okay, but he doesn't have anywhere near as much experience in the NFL as Dak Prescott, which the backup is supposed to help

the starter, Which is the second half of my argument is that if you're dead set on keeping three quarterbacks, I would rather have Luke McCown because he's been in the league for fifteen freaking years. He's shared a room with Drew Brees and whatever other good NFL quarterbacks. He's just by virtue of being around seeing things that Dak

Prescott hasn't seen. He's way more and has just been just a few games just as a little game experience, and five times as many wins because he's at least one five or six games as an NFL starter, and the last time he started, he threw for three hundred yards against the team that wound up losing the Super Bowl. So I trust that he can handle it way more than I trust that Kellen Moore can. And he offers a perspective that Dak Prescott doesn't have whereat like Kellen Moore.

If I was Dak and Kellen was trying to like teach me, so I'd be like, dude, I've won thirteen games out here, Okay, We're fine. So I wanted to dis best year Luke McCown last time he started three hundred yards because then they have to acknowledge that the last time Kellen Moore started, he went for four hundred and twenty or something that I would have I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I would have rather the Cowboys signed Brandon Wheaton as the backup quarterback.

He was just he's available. Yeah, I think he would have been. He is a better backup quarterback than Kellen Moore. I do, Okay, maybe actually I kind of agree with Oh Hamber's like, I don't know, guys, all right, tell you what Amber I want to have you hold that point just a second. We're a little over on our break. Let's go to our break when we come back. Amber has a great point for us to advance this conversation. We'll bit when we come right back. This is a

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Pick up a nice cold, twenty ounce bottle today, Doctor Pepper to your grave. I hear all this talk about what it takes to be a cowboy. Everyone's got their ideas, but I just say to myself, it's what's up top that matters. Sure, you need men with the muscle and heart to get her done. But if your scouts and coaches are listening out there a word of advice. Pick the man with the most well worn stats. That's the

one most cut out to be a cowboy. Stetson hats her hand made right here in Texas and have been on cowboys heads for over one hundred and fifty years. The rest of you can visit Stetson dot com slash cowboy to find a retailer nearest you. Back to the break Welcome back. This is the second segment of the break life in the s WBC Mortgage Studios. At the start,

I'm talking about the roster final cuts. We got down to we were talking about the quarterback position, and just before we ended for our first break, Amber had a great point she wanted to throw out there. I don't know how much of a great point it is I'm just trying to find different ways around this and kind

of comprehend what the Cowboys are doing here. And maybe, and just maybe Kellen Moore is that guy that kind of serves how Mark Sanchez was last year to Dak Prescott, the guy that kind of well, Mark Sanchez didn't know this offense. But Kellen Moore has a time that he's been here, he knows this offense very well, and he can be that guy that possibly is the one that is helping out these other guys. I've been on the sideline and I've watched them how Callen Moore is always

helping Dak Prescott and even Cooper Rush. And everyone would think, you know, hey, he hates Cooper Rush because of everything, how he's beating him out of the field, But he has been there. He has been kind of teaching them and showing them the iPad and do this or do that, or look at this play or whatever. Maybe we don't know as much obviously as they do. And he might have another purpose here aside from being the backup quarterback to help out when Dak can't be on the team.

Maybe he helps out in other ways. I mean, that's why he's here. That's why the Cowboys are willing to go along with this is because that's the role that he feels. He's been with Scotland Hans since twenty twelve. He knows what he's talking about and regarded this offense honestly. Despite the fact that he was on injured reserve, he was he was far more helpful to Dak Prescott last year than Tony Romo was. I feel comfortable saying that

he did advance scouting. He was basically an extra member of the coaching staff, which I've seen no shortage of people suggest that maybe that's just what he should do instead of being backup quarterback. But I think you know, at the end of the day, this is a preseason storyline. I don't anticipate that Dak Prescott's gonna get hurt and missed too much time knock on wood, and I think that's probably their attitude as well. He's twenty three, he's

built like an ox. As I've said, he's I don't think they're worried about it the way they were worried about Tony Romo, so you know, they get along. Kella Moore can help him out. Kella Moore knows a lot about what he's looking at in regard to the offense, And what you just said is exactly why the Cowboys are going along with this. So if you're looking for a rational argument for why this is the case, that's it, you know. And I actually I agree with you, Amber,

and I'd take it one step further. And I know we talked about this couple weeks ago, and I'm kind of going back on what I thought back then. I'm not convinced that if if Dak knockling Wood does go down, does go down for an extended period of time, that that Kellen would be the guy that they'd want to be the backup. I kind of think if it's for an extended period of time, maybe they go with Rush and say, hey, we think he's the better quarterback. And again,

we still have more there. Who can be the whisper, who can be the guy that's on the sideline giving him the kind of feedback that we want him to have during the game. Um, Now, if we have a short term thing, maybe we go with the guy with

a little more experience. But if it's a longer term thing, maybe we go with the guy that we think is better but just doesn't have the experience and we'll just have to move along with the difference will probably be like, you know, what their record is, and what they how much part of the season has left, and do they think it's solvageable and if there anybody else that's out there that they can get and you know what's it's Tony in shape. I mean, just all those those questions

you've got to ask yourself. He looks like he is just based on you know, seeing him on team. You know, so I agree with that. I agree with what Kellen Moore serves from from like the mentor you know, standpoint.

But if that's the case, then then I agree with you earlier Derek that that they had to have a deal in place, And I don't know if that's even legal to say, but they probably had some kind of yeah, we'll put you out there, but you know, keep your phone by you unless unless one of the other teams called, then then you can like ignore that call because we'll be calling you back. I'm excited for Sunday because we

can just talk about the starting quarterback exactly. But you know, the thing that I think it would be one thing if it was another situation. But I don't think the Rico Gather situation is good. I don't think that's a smart deal for the Cowboys either. That's why I think this whole thing kind of reeks, because he needs to if you if you really like him and you want him to continue to and grow, then he didn't you know,

play him and practice him for sure. I wanted to bring that up, and it kind of got lost in the shuffle, which I agree with you. If he's if he's good to go, he needs practice more than anybody else. But I do want to say we don't know for sure, and no two concussions are created equal. Like I mentioned on Sidney Crosby was out for like months and months with a concussion that he couldn't podcast, and it's you know, I know, but it's still I'm just selling for fans

out there listening. It might not know the name right, but you know it's no, those two things aren't created equal. And it goes back to the rant I always have about you know, people look at football players is like they're on Madden and it's like, Okay, concussion, that's one week and then you're back out there. It's not the way it works. I mean, and it was a nasty hit that he took, so he might still be having

trouble getting over this for all we know. And if he really is still messed up, then he doesn't need to be practicing. He needs to be resting because that's his life basically. And if there were gonna be let's say two more weeks to this injury, that means really, it was only four weeks that you're giving up of practice. And be honest with you right now, I don't think he. I don't think he. I think he's probably an active if you were out I instant the practice side of it.

But they look at it and they say, let's assume it's four to six weeks of mispractice time. Does that really set him back? You know, maybe it doesn't. Maybe it doesn't if you can then get him back after that time, he starts back practicing and maybe by the end of the season he's able to contribute something. Most likely it's probably not contributing anything for the rest of

this year. Really, again, you're working. You're just trying to get him time, reps in practice to get him ready for hopefully next year, to be able to I don't agree with you, Nick. I mean, I don't mind them making this move, and just for this reason. Although he had a great preseason, he was doing wonderful and I really don't think he was going to contribute that much anyways.

And yes, he should be practicing, and he should not have that stop and kind of let the rhythm end and just kind of, you know, it is good to kind of keep it going. But either way, I don't think he would have done much anyways. Well, I agree he was going to be an act of every game, but I just think that that's I mean, it affects him if that's something like eighteen or twenty practices that don't miss out. I think what I've been saying all along. I think I said this three to four weeks ago.

Kellen Moore should be on your practice squad, like he should be your practice squad quarterback. Nobody's taking him, No one's gonna poach him off and put him on their team, clearly, so put him on your practice squad. Why does he have to be on the fifty three. If Dad gets hurt in a game, knock on wood, Cooper Rush is gonna have to go in there and finish the game. It's probably gonna be it's gonna be tough either way, So let him be your third quarterback. But isn't there

that side of this that we don't know? If there were teams that were possibly interested in signing him and he wanted to come back to the Cowboys, that's what we don't know. And if that's the case, you put him on the practice squad. There is no guarantee he's not gonna go somewhere else, right, Well, I mean they did it with Rico. You can do the same thing.

You know, you can pay Rico. Rico made first year salary last year and instead of the practice squad for that got so you can make the money make yeah, you could. I think he's eligible for the practice squad. I would just put him on the practice squad to be honest with you. All Right, let's move on. Let's talk a little bit about the defensive line. They were table moves and sending him on the road, make sure

he comes every game. There were a couple moves that the Cowboys made on the defensive line that I thought were interesting and worth noting. Uh they acquired Brian price

Um as a defensive tackle. They also released Cedric Thornton, which last week when we were talking about the team, we assumed he was going to make the team, But to be honest with you, if you go back through training camp, he was he was injured some of it UM, and I don't think he necessarily turned a lot of heads and made anybody feel like, hey, he's a guy that's important. Stephen Piatt came in basically take the job as a starter when they were expecting. I think that

Cedric Thornton was going to be the starter. You know. We did a show UM on Friday night and Brian hosted, I brought us hosted. It was projecting the fifty three the way. I wish we would have had a little bit longer time for that to be up, because yeah, it was. It was really interesting. But when when when thor his name came up, Dave, you remember there was a slight pause and everybody else like lock, yeah, lock, lock it in Pia and it was Thornton's name. It

was a little bit of a pause. I was like, yeah, yeah, a lot, yeah, yeah, go ahead, don't lock it just kind of leaked the lock kind of open. We've talked about him on the show before and I think somebody maybe even called in when we were in Oxnard and asked about him being cut, and it was always I don't think he'll be cut because they don't want to eat that money. It was never like it was never

like he's just you gotta have him. It was like, well, they'll owe him this and then there's just dead money on their cap, and I don't see him doing that. And clearly, you know, yeah, I would have said he underperformed, and think anybody would, but I'm still relatively surprised that they thought he was so bad that they didn't mind eating that money. So explain the money situation. How much did the Cowboys give up and dead money? How much was he's he gonna be counting this year and money

that they're gonna that's gonna hit the cap? How much was guaranteed him? What's the money situation of this move? So it was a four year seven nineteen eighteen million dollars deal. He had three million coming to him this year that there was guaranteed that they're just going to eat, and then I think it drops down to to something next year. Now there is some offset language in there that if he does sign right another team. But if he's not, he's not going to sign with anything major.

They will make up the difference between just like the Browns and Osweiler with Denver, they will make up the difference between whatever he signs for. So I don't know. I mean, he's clearly not going to sign for as much as he signed here, but you would assume even if he's making vet minimum, that'll take a you know, roughly a million off the cost. But he is he that that a player where you're willing to eat three million dollars for him, not tet. I didn't think so.

I didn't think so either, And I was like, great, he'll be your third or fourth tackle. He'll he won't be first on the field. He'll you know, he's mainly a run stuffer, not great, but you play this year and even you know next year. Contracts always, the way they structured contracts, they always become more palatable after the second year. So you wouldn't have surprised me at all to see him be a free agency time cut next year.

But even right now, I'm kind of surprised that they were like, nope, we just were ready to go a defensive tackle. You got to do one of two things, and if you can do both, then you're going to be a pro bowler. But you've got to be You've got to hold up in the run. You've got to fill those gaps, and you've got to take on double

teams and not get blown off the ball. You got to show you know, some some of that that size and strength, or you've got to get up the field quickly and get to the quarterback and shared the blocks, I mean, and be disruptive. Yeah, make plays if you can do both, and you really are a good player. And Malie Collins is looking like he could maybe be both. But Thornton was neither. He really wasn't. He wasn't a guy that you thought was really quick and was making

plays behind the line of scrimmage. And he wasn't a guy that was just kind of man handling the gardens center and all that. So he was kind of just a guy and just the guy making a lot of money. But it's still prising though, it's still surprising to say, hey, we're gonna pay this money to go. So so with that being said, I don't think any of us necessarily think that was or understand that move. Does that say more about Brian Price and maybe what he is, because

you weren't gonna have both of them. You're not gonna keep four defensive tackles on this team. So does that maybe suggest that they feel like he really adds something significant to their rotation? There for them to say, we'll pay three million for you to go at us to be able to replace you with this guy, it has to be that way. I mean, otherwise it definitely it wouldn't make sense. It doesn't make sense to me why

they made this move in the first place. But they know more than I do, so I'm sure they see something in Price. Then Yeah, I don't think it's so much about price. I think it's the price was better. You know, somebody was just better than him, and so who's it gonna be? Well, it was this guy. But is he that much better though? No, I mean he can't be much better. This has to be more about Thornton being off the team. Off the team. It's not like we gotta get priced, gotta get pricefell who were

gonna cut price for? I guess Thornton, And we're gonna move Thornton. But he could be a better fit, like, for example, I think Pie as an example of that, nobody said in the offseason, this is the greatest free

agent signing. However, he got here and you start seeing him in this system and saying, wow, this guy's pretty good in this system, right, I think it would be disingenuous to try to convince anybody that a guy that was part of somebody else's roster cuts is like this massive upgrade that you need to be doing cartwheels about. I mean, maybe he turns out to be a great player, but and well, that's the thing, and that's that goes

to Knick's first point. Right, if you go back and we talked about this too, you kind of had a like a side eye glance at Richard ashe because he is a completely different defensive tackle than any of the other ones that they have on the roster. He's just a big guy. It's hard to move, probably not going to generate a ton of pass rush, but he can clog up the line, and that's what Brian Price appears

to be even more so. Honestly, he's six three three twenty, so he's I don't know for sure, but I think he's the biggest one tech that they've had here. Oh yeah, I mean, and how much does Rod Marinelli love those guys. He loved Nick Hayden. Nick Hayden was Kellen Moore before Kellen Moore. Nobody understood why he was here, but Rob

Marinelli loved him and he did a job. So you know, I'm not gonna sit here and try to tell you that Brian Price is like the man, but he I think can be a better nose tackle than anybody else on this roster. Because that was the problem with Thornton. He was never going to beat out Malik to be

the three technique obviously, and same thing with Paia. Pie is so good at generating pressure, but he was a three four end moving into this system and he wasn't sturdy enough to really be that space eater that you want, which so I think Brian Price might be able to do that a little bit better. I'm, like I said, I'm not going to sit here and act like he's a pro bowler, but he fits I think he fits

the scheme a little bit better. And I'm still surprised that they were so adamant about this that they were willing to eat that salary to do it. But in that regard, at least it makes sense. All right, Let's take our final break, will come back, and I do want to talk a little bit more about a couple other a couple other moves that Cowboys made picking up a linebacker and a cornerback. I will talk about that when we come right back to Dallas Cowboys dot com radio.

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is all. This is all fun, getting it feel. If it's felt contentious, I get maybe this the Zeke stuff just puts me on. We've had much more contential. This has been fun because it's good to get back on and this week one. So starting tomorrow, as we those of you who have been listening to our show for years, even though Dave and Amber are new to the show, we're not going to change what we do. So this year, as we do every every year, on Wednesdays and Thursdays,

will really dive deep into the game. Talk about the other team, their offense, their defense. Give you guys an idea of what we can expect as far as matchups on either side. Um, and so Dave be ready. You know, I've been doing this show with Brian more than Dave does. She actually does, so she's probably we're going to add

a little more to this conversation than Dave will. I've been doing this show with regularity for like three or four years, like I know, I don't know if it's regularity, maybe once a month regular and regular know how the routine works. Okay, So all right, well good, so we're ready to go tomorrow we'll jump into that. We'll probably jump into the into the Giants maybe the Giants offense versus the Cowboys defense tomorrow and then flip it for

the next day. All right, let's get into I did want to talk about a couple of other acquisitions Cowboys made. They acquired linebacker Jerome Elliott, and he was a The interesting thing about this was he was a three four linebacker with the Green Bay Packers outside linebacker. What does that fit on this Cowboys because you would think, okay, this has to be a move to making a move to be able to help them with the loss of

Hitchens for whatever period of time, that's gonna be. But how does an outside three four linebacker fit in a four three defensive with the Cowboys? Well, I think that where they're gonna play him as mainly if you if you watch some of the highlights on him, he's tackling the punt turner a lot, So they're gonna play him

a lot on special teams. Um, if they needed to be in a situation where that he needed to rush the pastor he probably may probably would be better than Kyle Wilbert as a defensive end to do that in a in a third and twelve situation, if you need to to have a guy that can just get off the edge, because when when you're new to the team, there's not a lot of the concepts you need to learn there. I mean, there's your guy, there's the tackle,

get around him and get to the quarterback. I mean, and then from a special team standpoint, I think that's what they'll use him. He was just a better option than Mark Nazacha at this point. Oh, I think they're trying to get back, trying to get back to practice, practice, squad not official yet. Um, I think he's been claimed. Jay Ron Elliott has Kyle Wilburt right now over him. Really yeah, absolutely. I mean he's a little bit bigger,

and I think he's more athletic. But I think Wilbur's finally at a point where obviously he makes his money on special teams, but he's slimmed down enough to where I don't think it makes a lot of sense to use him as a pass rusher. But Elliott can, He could probably, he could probably play sam if you need him to. He could probably play in if you needed him to. And he's gonna play like four special teams. So he's just kind of that jack of all trades

help us get through this stretch where we're down a linebacker. Basically, he's probably gonna win somebody some money too. If they bet you know that Elliott would play a week one on the Cowboys roster, make sure you specify kids. One more player that Cowboys acquired, cornerback ben A ben Wickery

they traded for him. Um tell me what he what he adds to the group, because I know that there are obviously there's a lot of any problems for our pa announcer in the booth, that's gonna be a big problem. But when, but when you look at it from the standpoint of the experienced level of the depth at the cornerback position. Um, it seems like this move was made for the purposes of being able to add a little

more experience to that to that depth. You guys agree with that, We don't know for sure that should have be a Woozier and Jordan Lewis are even going to play they I mean they had very limited camps Lewis and didn't have one at all, so you know, if they're active, they're probably not gonna be able to do a lot, and it's probably going to take them weeks with an S to really get up to speed where you can expect them to play like the highly touted draft picks that they are. So you trade away a

not very valuable conditional draft pick. I think it's very interesting. I don't remember off the top of my head, but he has to be on the forty six for X amount of weeks for the pick to even qualify. So you know, if you use him for two weeks and then Cheeto and Jordan look great and you cut him, then you didn't give up anything to get him. I think that's worth noting. So and that's Brian uses the term bridge player all the time. This is a bridge

player over a very short span. I mean, maybe he'll be fantastic and have a longer term future here, but this is to help you get through this month or so where your rookies maybe aren't quite ready to play. All right, let's take some calls. You guys can call us the numbers two, one, four, eight seven two twenty

one oh two. You can call us about questions you may have, or if you have an opinion about the roster, the final roster, or at least the final roster as of now, make sure you give us a call again the number two, one, four, eight seven two twenty one oh two. We can also take questions on Twitter at Cowboys Break and but let's start with the question from Twitter. Chicano ask, I have a question, how come we switched from a three to four to a four three? For

some reason? I felt like our defense was more aggressive in a three four, and they haven't played a three. I didn't cover this team last time they played three four. They've been in Rod's scheme since since I started. So I don't know, Nick, what do you think? I mean?

It's all about the personnel that you have, and that was about the time when they were losing the Marcus ware and Anthony Spencer off the edge, they had some of the bigger ends, I guess, but I mean it was it was more about, let's let's switch this up a little bit from Rob Ryan's defense and to get something different. We had a chance to get Monty Kiffin came in and then obviously Rod Marinelli and those two guys, and that's kind of what they played. Was the was

the four to three. So we talked about that actually in the UM press box. Was it last game you ask me? I kind of asked you the question of like, how many players do you think it would take for the Cowboys to make that switch? Um, well, the only thing I really like is having Jalen Samith and Sean Lee in the middle of a three four I think that would be pretty good. Other than that, I don't

have any honestly, don't have an outside linebacker. That's the thing the most in my opinion, one of the most important things of a three four defense is you need to have that guy screaming around the edge, and I don't don't have it. I know you don't have it. I was about say, I don't think you have it. I know you don't have that guy, Like, you don't have a DeMarcus Sware type guy who can also maybe drop back in coverage or play the flat or just

have the athletic ability to play that way. The personnel that they have on hand would be so screwed if they tried to play three four right now. I don't have anybody. They don't. Actually, you know who would be awesome in a three four Lee Collins at the end, No, Randy Gregory, Oh yeah, if he get on the field, that yeah, good question, So it would I. I mean, I like the three four because it allows you to be super versatile, and I think it's easier to find

pass rushers for a three four. But at this point, for the time being, at least you're kind of committed to it. And I like, I like this defense when you've got the pieces that you need to run it well on't. I mean, my favorite defense if recent memory was this defense in Chicago, And like, when you've got the guys who can do it, it's pretty good. Chun Lee has been healthier in this defense to playing the weak side as well than playing right there. In the middle.

But I do think having him and Jaylen Smith they would be really good, but subject to more injury. You don't have the big defensive tackle either, and you don't have you don't have big defense big linebackers. You need bigger linebackers a lot of times. I know when Bill Parcel's got here and he switched, one of the things he always talked about was like, you know, these linebackers

aren't really big. At the time, I think it was, and they they proved to be better than they but he also said that they were special players, like from the stay point that most guys that size cannot pull it off. He didn't think that Win was going to be able to pull it off like he did Um and Kakeley, right, But but I do think that you need you probably want bigger linebackers than what you have

right now. Is only really the guy, right Janala Smith is really the only guy at linebacker position that's probably big enough to play at middle linebacker in a three four. I would hate it for Malie Collins if he got switched into a three four though. That's the other thing is I mean, you can make a difference there if you're a good player. Think about J. J. Watt, You can't defensive end. That's about the only guy. But there was a guy from Pittsburgh, yeah years ago. Was no

I'm thinking about was his name? It wasn't Aaron Schobel. It was it was a white guy. That's why I was thinking Aaron Schobel. But Ki Kissel was a defensive end. But there was another guy too. I thought that was pretty good at defensive end. That was kind of a difference may Maker type player. But it also depends on what kind of three four you're talking about. Like Bill Street four defensive end. All you're gonna do is take on blocks and then decide whether you go on one

way or the other. You know, in Wades, the three four defensive ends expect to get up feel. So it's a little different depending on what kind of three four you talking about. With the resources that they've sunk into running this defense, I think it would be a mistake any right now. I agree. I mean, Malik is just starting out on his deal. You just drafted Taco, who would be I don't like the thought of him. You don't think Taco would be good as a stand up

guy on the outside. Maybe maybe he could be good as a three four end. He'd be an end. Yeah, him and him and David Irving would be the three four end. Don't think he's athletic enough to play d You know what's you say? All this and we're wasting time talking about something that's not going to happen. But like you never thought Jay Ratloff would be a good defensive tackle in the in three four and he put or hold up for the Pro Bowl four years in a row. All right, let's go. Let's get a phone call.

We got a call from Johnny in North Carolina. Johnny, what up? What's going on? How are you doing today? How are you? I'm doing good work right now? Um? Quick question? Do you think Jeff he will start or do you think Xaviel would? Because I got my Ireland Woods David Helman, what's going on? Man? It's my second time talking to you. Hey, what's going on? Dude? There's not much from you? Hey, stay strong against Brian broadest Man. He's a tough cookie. Ah, he's a big teddy bear. Okay,

appreciate that, but yeah, that's my question. All right, thanks for the call. Well, just keep watching the sidelines because that's where Xavier Woods is going to be. You get your eye on him this game. I mean, Jeff Heath is gonna start, but this game, yes, go ahead. Xavier Woods will probably play special teams. Do you think he'll be inactive? We kind of got into an argument about that. I don't know. Brian made the astute observation that they

preferred address all four safeties. That's about say, you can play special teams, and again, I think you want to use probably three, if not four safeties in your different sub packages and stuff. So I'm not gonna be surprised to see him on the field at some point. But Jeff Heath is going to start at safety. Do you

think that that changes at some point this season? I'm if he gives up him seventy three yard touchdown to you know, Larry Fitzgerald or something in Week three and he hasn't played well the first two games, Yeah, you could make a change if if you feel like, you know, you feel like these guys are better. I think that he's gonna be better though. I think he's gonna be better than the other two. Yeah, he's gonna be in position.

See and people just they don't really think he's that great of an athlete, but he's one of the better athletes on the team, So you can just kind of take that stereotype and put it over there that that's not the case. And he is around the ball. He makes more plays than these other guys probably in the secondary have made combined. I bet he's had the ball in his hand twice as much as Orlando Scandrick. Ever, that's probably fair. So I it's the same thing I

keep saying. Jeff Heath is gonna get credit on the stat sheet for sixteen starts as long as he's healthy. I think that. But Woods and Cavan will have their role to play, and they'll rotate him in, and they'll have three safeties on the field at certain times, and those guys will probably finish with, you know, thirty or thirty five tackles and maybe even make some plays. But when you look at the stat sheet, that says, you know, when they run the intro at the beginning of the game,

Jeff Heath will be the starter. All right, let's take another question from Twitter. Well, I'm seeing a lot of questions about the defense, and we are already in week one. How are you guys feeling about the defense overall, just in general at this point, I hold my breath a little bit. You know, they got you gotta get the Giants coming in, and it doesn't really matter if if I mean, it does matter if Odell Beckham plays the game.

But I do think that they're going to be I've seen Eli Manning come in with a lot less uh you know, weapons on offense and still do well. He plays well there. The Cowboys Giants always will have these these interesting games. Sometimes they're shootouts, sometimes they're low scoring,

but they're always gonna be good games. And I just think that, you know, with the suspensions that you have on defense, you have some injuries, you have concerns with the corners and with Crawford, I think you hold your breath a little bit there on defense. Yeah, Hitchens, sorry I forgot Hitchens. That's a big injury. Yeah, I think that's a huge injury. But I don't think I mean, I don't think it's changed since before the season. I

think they're the same. To me, they're the same defense that they were when we when we went into training camp. I know you guys didn't know with me on that, but I think I bet you don't know what I'm gonna say ahead, but I I don't feel great about the defense and I never have. But through the last six weeks, do you kind of feel like maybe the pass rush will be better than we give it credit for. Maybe if MALIEK Collins can be a difference maker. Malik

looks like a potential difference maker. Yeah, Stephen Paya looks like a potential difference maker. DeMarcus started slow, but I really felt like he kind of came on at the end of camp. Yeah. I don't know what to think about Mayowa because he's been on and off with his knee so much, but he led the team in sacks and that counts for something last year I'm talking about. So that's four guys that are pretty nice right there.

I would feel better if David Irving was was sure I would feel and I was about to throw in Demontre Moore right maybe was the most consistently good edge rusher on the entire team through all of training camp and he's only out for two games. That's not that bad. So do I think they're gonna get sixty sacks? No?

But I don't know. I kind of feel like maybe they'll be better than we give than people give them credit for, especially against the Giants O line that I don't think it's very good, but I agree with you on that. I don't know if I think they may have taken a step back, especially if you're just talking about week one. I think they may have taken a

step back in the secondary. I don't feel as comfortable with that guys that they have in the second, specifically at the cornerback position, as I did last year at the cornerback. That's why I made sure to preface that the unit as a whole, you lose hitch. The rookies aren't ready. The secondary didn't look great in the dress rehearsal. I don't feel that great about the defense as a whole, but I feel better about the pass rush, and I think everybody would agree that a good pass rush can

ask a lot of other problems with that. I just don't know if it's that much better to mask the difference. So I guess my point is with the changes, if I feel a little bit better about one area, I don't feel as good about another. So I still think you got pretty much the same pretty much. It be point where it's like over all just all of it we feel good about. But I will say this though too, I also don't agree that this was that the defense

was horrible last year. I think the defense was an average defense, and so I still think they're an average defense. I don't think they're the type of defense that's the worst in the league. Also don't think they're anywhere near being the best in the league. If the offense does what it did last year, they should be fine the

majority of the games that they play. And that's why I think that this ruling, this decision, whatever comes down with Zeke, I think Rod Marinelli is going to be the most interested person in the room because I think that his defense, if they can get the offense can move the ball and can kind of give them some rest and kind of stay on the field, get first down,

to do all those things. I think that'll help this defense and kind of how it's been structured a little bit this year, but without it, and we saw in the Packer game last year it was an average defense. You're right, but for the most part they got by with it because the offense was moving the ball. But when they when they struggled out of the gate against Green Bay, then they got exposed a little bit more are so, but still we're in position to win and

make that. They buckled down and you know, they made it a tight game and all that, but then at the end they got by the probably the best in the league, if not the second best. All right, let's take We're done with for today. We'll be back tomorrow. Remember, tomorrow we'll talk about the Giants offense versus the Cowboys defense. Start breaking that down, getting you guys ready for opening Sunday. Till then for Nick Eatman, David Helman, Ambergarcia, I'm Derek Haklson.

This has been The Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.