Mick Shots: Offseason Begins

the final Friday in February, very nice. And you know what that means. That means that the off season is over. It's it's almost time for the new league years. It's the month of March and Dangs are about to pick up again. Did you have a good offseason, Mickey? I did. Half of it was just the last two days in the house. And I hate the off season by the way you made in the month of February and March. And yes, yes, because I mean the stuff already starts, right,

all the mashed potatoes being thrown at the wall. Hope some sticks don't need any facts about anything, right, all the talk about guys that are already free agents and they're not free agents, and half of them will get and how many of that are on a roster, not I'm not talking necessarily this roster, but other rosters who are actually about to become free agent agents that they

don't know they're going to become, right, that's right. And the only official thing that has started is the franchise tag season has opened on Wednesday something like that Tuesday, and I think it was, so yeah, it's been a couple of days, so yeah, but yeah, this is my least favorite time of the year because of that stuff, because of all that speculation. Yes, and you know, and it's well, there was a report. Well now it wasn't

a report, it was somebody's opinion. You know what. I'll tell you why it's one of my favorite times of the year because this is the time of the year where when you can spread conspiracy. That too, but this is the time of the year when a football team is put together. The team is not put together in training camp. You're just practicing plays in training camp. The team is put together starting now, starting with the combine next week, and then you got free agency, and you

got the draft and all of that stuff. And as has happened for the last thirty years in this league whatever ever since free agency began in this league and the early to mid nineties. Uh, you have a third of the team. A third of the team changes over from year to year, at least a third. I don't see a big green notebook started yet. I have started by big Green yea. But it really starts next week at the free agency and we are having a combine. By the way, they're not striking. Okay, okay, nice, nice

that got cleared up and cleared up real fast. Uh huh. So we were talking about guy I forgot what the heck I was gonna say, you cut me? Okay, we'll go Yeah, who cares about that? Here's what I want to talk about, Okay, Kenny Burrows man, Yeah, I think it was. Yeah, but you know he was diabetic. I used to see him maybe a year at the in Atlanta at the Black College Hall of Fame. If I'm not mistakes Black of fas uh and man, I look at some of his Uh. His bio went to Rains

High School. You guys ever heard of Rains High School in Florida, Jacksonville, Florida. Yeah, I think I have there's a lot of star players they can't, Levoy Butler being one of them that actually just made the Hall of Fame. If I'm not mistaken, did Bob Hayes go the reins? That doesn't sound right. It's they have They have a rivalry with another high school down in Jacksonville, and he may have gone through the other high school. But you've

got some great players went to that school. Kenny Burrows was extremely unique wide receiver, especially for that time. Sixty three, two hundred and fifteen pounds and he could run like the win. He was one of those guys back in the day and I played with the guy like this. They used to part of their running style was a prince, you know, like the horses where they print. He was so big and he was like a big stallion, and boy when he ran, I'm sure he ran one hundred

yards at the time. Sure he ran the sub ten seconds hundred yards. But man, this guy was an amazing athlete. And when you talk about somebody to talk trash, just like Ron Sprangers talked trash, boy, he has you're cracking up all day long. He comes in. You can hear him coming in before you see him. That's just what kind of guy he was. Center like Michael Irvin. Yeah, yeah, he was a lot of fun. He was a lot of fun. But yeah, I guess that's Florida. I think I think I saw he ended up third all time

on the Oilers slash Titans receiving. I think the only guy who had more was Ernest Gibbons, and there was one other one other. I don't remember the receiver. I remember reading it this morning. Um yeah, oh absolutely, Yeah. Bob Hayes went to Gilbert High School in Jackson. That would be their rival, if I'm not mistaken. So yeah, I've got They've got a Wayne's has a well Gilbert Gilberts now in middle school. That was of course, um before back in the day. Yeah, that was before sights.

There you go, there you go. Um but Kenny Kenny in fact, Okay, so Kenny Burrow would have I've lost my spot here, so he would he would have wrapped up his career when if I've got it here played against I wanted? Was my next question? Is? I was wondering? Okay, height one your first year was his last year, nineteen eighty one. By that time, he wasn't playing much. He

was just kind of prancing on the sideline. I'm sure I would have liked to have talked to one Moon about him and see if he did have forty catches his last year and seven touchdowns? Lets you know, man, seven touchdowns his last year. Yeah, so he was and it's so funny. We talked about Ron Springs. He was also afflicted with diabetes and he was being pushed around a lot in the wheelchair those last years, but didn't stop his mouth from running. Still. He didn't want anyone

ever to feel sorry for him. He was proud to show up every time every year, and it got so bad it was just like wine. They had to amputate his foot, but that never uh put a dash on any of his on his spirit at all. So he was just one of those guys you just had, had a joy to be around. And he wasn't belittling at all. It was just mainly bragging on himself. He talked bad about anyone else, just talked about how good he was. So that was always fun to hear him talk double zero.

Last person to do that, that right, Yeah, your word. Yeah. So he came a little after Moto well, especially with the new number. Yeah, yeah, and in memory of Kenny. All right, UM, I know or look at look at the legal pad. He's got multiple legal pads in front of him here. And so Mickey, I'll let you start with the first thing that you want to got something I want to get into at some point, but I'll let you since it's called mick shots, let's start. Let's

start here. We'll move into the free agency stuff. But uh, do you realize yes? I do. Yes, Where were you thirty three years ago today? Yes, that's exactly what I wanted to talk about. Um, Landry. Uh, it's fired and February Jones bought the team February twenty. That was to day twenty, February twenty five. I'm surprised that wasn't shouted out on every TV every and I want to show you every February twenty fifth. It's one of the first things I think of that. I did my homework and

I found a copy of my story that I wrote. Uh, that night, Landry's old friends feel sadness at the end of the coach's reign. Um talk to um Jean Stallings. Yeah, Jean said, I don't that was back in nineteen Oh yeah, Well at that time he was he was Arizona Phoenix at that point, whatever it was. He said, I don't like to think of it in terms of coach Landry being fired. I'd rather think of it as a man bought the team and wanted to put his own man in charge. Landry is too good a man to be fired.

Talked to Ernie Stottner. Um, he said he'd like to see Tom bring the team back. Uh and uh even Jerry Rome by the way, who, by the way, was the quarterback coach on that team. This is a tough situation for me. Now, this is the funny thing, because I think we talked about this a little while ago about when, or at least I recounted the story one of my either mix shots or columns when it came time for Jerry to decide who they were going to draft.

But back then you could sign. You had the first pick, so you could sign the guy ahead of time and not get into a John Elway thing or whatever. Right, and so when they were trying to negotiate with Lee Steinberg for Troy Aikman's contract, they were going, well, you know, I don't think this Mandridge guy. I think we might take him instead of Troy a right, they were just

playing right. But here's here's the quote from Jerry on so my this This ran February twenty six, so the next morning, and the quote from Jerry was, we believe Troy Aikman is the greatest is the greatest opportunity to come down the pike in a long time. There's no football player that Jimmy Johnson thinks higher of than Troy Aikman.

Because there was some thought that because of Jimmy from Miami, he would want Steve Walsh to be his quarterback, and he did, but Jerry said he's the best college player in the country, unquestionably, And then they tried to play this ruse later on to negotiate like, oh, Lee, we may not draft him. So if you want to be the first pick in the drafts, my boy, you gotta

you gotta go ahead and take this contract. So anyway, I found that, and then look at this picture I got when Jimmy Johnson came to town with Steven Jones. What what happens to folks at thirty three and the rest of us too? By the way, right, Steve was out, Oh so he would have been how old about then Steve Stephen how he wasn't very midwe he's probably yeah, well, I want to say he was. He was right out

of college. He might have been twenty three, twenty four at the most, Yeah, because he had thought he was going into the oil business with Jerry, and uh he was twenty five or twenty four then four as close. Ye, so and it was funny question, he's fifty seven, yeah, whoa yeah. So the funny thing was I went back into I'd be like, whoa yeah. Right. I looked at the cliffs and here's one of the headlines in the paper was from Pete Roselle. It was a quote, this

is like Lombardi's death, meaning Landry got fired. That's very I thought that was a little over. This was that's what the cowboys. There's a lot of cowboys fans who felt that way. Yeah, yeah, my sister. There was another There was an other headline, Tram Eclipse by Jones. Jones is in charge. And I saw this quote from Jerry said this is going to be my life. And he

wasn't lying, right, he absolutely did it. And there was also uh, this came about too because we had found out at the last minute somebody else was trying to buy the team. Well it was Don Carter, the odor of the Matmocks, and uh, there was a price is pretty cheap back then, one hundred and forty million, right, he had that. So the headline was Don Carter. Carter made last minute bid to buy Boys and it didn't materialize. Jerry had a what do you call it, a consortium

or a group together to help with the deal. Um, and the night before I saw every and the cat got out of the bag, you know, report Johnson replacing Landry. This was the morning of the twenty fifth Dallas Times Harold the Cowboys deal near with Landry. Cowboys deal near, Landry liking to go. And we even got a hold of the ad at the University of Miami, Sam Jenkovic, however, and he said he didn't know anything about a press conference coming up, but he confirmed that Johnson had talked

to the Cowboys. So it was it was kind of cool to go back thirty three years and read all

this stuff. And my lasting memory of that night, more so than the press conference, was afterwards, when we finished our stories, we retreated into Texas office, tex Ram's office at at the Ranch and there was a bunch of probably about five six of us the writers in there, and of course he had beer for us, and we sat around shooting the bowl and beer beer, not him though, not him, still him there we were sitting and we

ran out of seats. I remember sitting on the floor, uh, next to Frank Luxo, who had covered the team since the sixties and uh and Frank got up. It was getting late. Frank got up and goes, well, I gotta go home to the lovery Henrietta was his wife. Uh and finish off. My birthday February twenty fifth was his birthday. It's it's it's running. Oh there it is the picture at it was MIA's right there. You go, Ivan Mazel Northwest Highway. I've just happened and happened to go into

MIA's restaurant. Uh, and saw Jimmy in there. Of course, no one knew who what Jerry looked like then. Yeah, no, no, Ivan Mazel Mizelle got a photograph from the morning he worked for the Dallas More News then and that's where the cat really got out of the bag. Yeah, it was that picture right there, and so he Ivan Mazell, he was the um but probably college football writer then for the morning news, right, and so he knew Jimmy very well, and so he sees Jimmy there and then

he sees he must have been some guy. No, he just happened to It was a Friday night, Friday night, Friday night, and he went out to dinner at MIA's restaurant, and there's Jimmy and Jerry right in there. And the funny thing was that's where Tom liked to go. He'd loved it, but it's a very popular restaurant anyway, you know, and Hi too much exactly, that's right. What did you think when you heard? Yeah, that's that's why I asked where were you thirty three years ago today? You know? Uh,

I wasn't surprised. And if I'm not mistaken, they had given Tom a few opportunities to retire, and you will call us would no better than I would. The rumor went from the players was textualm was trying to tell Tom, look, you gotta go, yes, because they're coming, and Tom was just being stubborn. The press conference that he had was really the death nail for him, because that's when he said, oh, I might be coaching well into them? What he said,

is I got a three year plan? And the blood came ye, like how because he just agreed to something they hadn't understanding. And then he comes out here with the time and I think he did it. Was it January of eighty eight or January of eighty nine, I can't remember what, but he came out and said he had a three year plan. And the text was, and here's the thing, not Tex had a three year plan. Two right, yeah, And here's what they didn't know. So that that year at the super Bowl, so it had

been January of eighty nine, eighty eight season. It was in Miami, if I remember, that was the Montana beat Cincinnati last minute drive. Anyway, so in the Cowboys Super Bowl box suite, Tom I was at that game, by the way, I was. I knew he was gonna I didn't watch the game until the last drive. I knew he was gonna score. I ran down because I ran down on the field. I ran down to the press room because I knew I was on deadline. I did not see Jack talking about exactly what he's talking about.

I know exactly what the most famous person that was at the game right right, because Joe mention him famous of the game. Just Joe saw him in the hun doing the drive and he was I was Joe Candy over there. First of all, my my, my auxiliary seat was in the stands, and there was a bunch of reporters, media guys just outwardly cheering for San Francisco, right like seriously, And I knew what was going to happen. But I

was on deadline. So I ran down during the time out to get to the room so I could watch the last drive because I knew with my own eyes, I didn't want to see it on TV. I wanted to say anyway in the in the Cowboys box. So it was text, Tom gil Brandt and their guests that evening was Jimmy Johnson. So now that it was always text Text wanted him as his next him, Yes he did, but he didn't have the fields, yes that he could

tell Tom. He was hoping Tom would step away, and Tom knew what he wanted him to say, right, but he was being rebellious at that time. And that's the only time. I really No, that's not true. Tom never did pay attention to the NFL rules like days off. You know, we're supposed to have sudden days off time we got out the Thousand Oaks. He said he's not gonna let a bunch of married men access to Los Angeles and Malibu, you know, on nights off. So he would limit the time that we were supposed to have.

So his protocol was totally not NFL protocol, and he wasn't unashamed about it. He was Bill Parcels before. So that was one of the most rebellious guess what guess which comes? So this was so this came down on Saturday, and I saw the story was the players who were supposed to report Monday for the start of the offseason training,

weight training, whatever. So yeah, in February, let me say this, and I've always thought this, I thought the eighty seventh strike was really the beginning of the end for all of us. Uh. You looked at how the red Skins handled the strike, and that's that's been made from a documentary. They actually interviewed me in the documentary when when when Tom lost the team in eighty seven, he lost the

team and they seven because of the strike. Instead of handling it in the way of either we stick together or we all stay apart, he didn't handle it that way. He handed like the uh, you know, traditional football coach, my way of the highway type of thing. And that wasn't going, that wasn't helping us as a team. That's why Washington stayed together. That's why they ended up winning the Super Bowl that year. After eighty seven, there was no control on the team. We were divided union versus

non union. It was almost like the vaccinations. And Tom really didn't address that. He tried to ignore that because I've always thought and I guess it's no secret he was still he was really as much a coach as he was management, you understand. I've always thought that, right, and so I think that's when he lost the team. I think that's when Tex lost the team as well. And when you look at it, you remember Tex walking out there arguing with you man, come on, man, I

was a Union rep. I I was the one to turn my back on him. So we had an eighty nine. Uh. Well, about the time nineteen ninety came, I'm gone, text Tom Gilm, We're all going. So I just thought that you got you had to pick a side, you know, And Danny White was gone, Randy Whiteman was gone, too tall too tall played one more year. He played that eighty nine season. That was it. Um, Yeah, a lot of the guys.

I thought that. It's almost like when you look at I always look at the America's most wanting, Americans most wanted, but the American greed. All the swindlers were doing well until two thousand and nine, right because that's when we had the recession. All swindlers, you know, that's what made off and all of those guys, that's when they lost everything. Well, the strike itself, that was our divider, you know, to that that was that was the one that that tore

all of us apart. And of course I had a part in it, and as well as management had a part in it. So that was one of those finding moments, not just in the NFL, but especially for the Dallas Cowboys. That really led to the to this date right here, how many years ago? Was it? Three years ago? Day? I think it was. That's a direct connection for me between eighty seven strike and time. So do you realize you went through the only two sales of the Dallas

Cowboys during your career? Did it? Didn't that? Because bum Bright I believe eighty three and then this one eighty nine, so did the players. That was it didn't affect us because he was he wasn't a hands on right, but what you did, what he didn't like because he didn't get along with time well. And what you saw was everything kind of diminished after that, you know, our success, you know, it wasn't nearly as as as counted on you know, from then on, Yeah, we just didn't do

that well after that team was sold. Eighty five was I best season, right with ten and six with him, which ended the stretch of the twenty years stretch of you know, the end of that. Eighty four was the end of the playoff stretch. Eighty five was the last of the twenty straight big season. Yes because we as we remember six and two and lost to the Giants in Game nine and only won one more game in

eighty six, and that ended the winning street. Vaguely remember that had the number had the number one offense in the league, tied with the Giants six and two. Six and two had already beaten him once and it was the game in New York. Remember all the penalties that drives mean pass, I mean everything worked and runoff tackle, doing set is just doing this thing like, Oh, we're

gonna win this game. And who won the Super Bowl that year Giants never lost another game, And who got the gatorade shower at the end of the bill parcel, And who went to disney World for the first time the first of the disney World commercials that Phil Simms still had a great Yeah, you know, the only reason I remember that is because I interviewed or I didn't remember it. I looked it up the other day because I interviewed Phil Sims the other day. He was in

town for the day. I don't I didn't remember. I didn't know that the first of those disney World I'm going to disney World commercials at the end of the Super Bowl was Phil Simms that year. I didn't realize that's where it started until I was doing my research to interview Sims the other day. I swear that Cowboys might have started that drive at the end, maybe at

their own twenty twenty five yard line. They must have gained one hundred and forty yards, right, because they kept going back, going back, and they kept coming down, kept coming down all right, quickly we got to go to break. I gotta tell my sister story about when Jerry bought the team, and Jimmy was going to be at the page like, wait, where were you? I was working in

San Antonio. I was actually working that night, and of course, uh, Jerry had wanted to tell Tom personally, and Landry was on a golf course in Austin, and so we actually had a camera crew. The word had gotten out, you know, and we had a camera crew in Austin trying to capture footage of Jerry running down Tom or getting reaction from Landry and so forth. I can't remember exactly what happened there, but then Jerry got back to sat to Dallas Valley Ranch for the press conference on Saturday night.

But I was I was working it down. The stay in the bottom line on that one too was Jerry text told Tom don't leave town. Something could be going down, and he goes to Austin go play golf. And then he said, no, I'm not bitter, And yes he was bitter, and my sister yes. And my sister was bitter too, yes, because not because Jerry was buying the team, but she's

and that Jimmy Johnson is gonna be our gun. She loved, she loved later because she's an OU grad and Jimmy's the os they're hiring an OSU coach said, And I said, and and I'm Oklahoma protagonist, And so I said, beating. I said, yeah, huh, Miami, they don't don't watch. It's gonna be bitter. So that so that I told her, I said, well, you don't like it, now, you're really not gonna like it because he's about to have the best quarterback in the league, because they're about to draft

Troy Yakman who left Oklahoma. Who al, all right, So there you go. That towers our tripped down memory lane thirty three years ago today, and we're way past the break. And so we continue with more from Mickey's legal pads. In a moment, brace yourself for an existential question. Has your butt been having enough fun lately? Have you been treating it well? Has it been going places? If not,

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Specific restrictions and acceptance may apply. Back back to mixed shots. K Post Roofing and Waterproofing, proud partner of the Dallas Cowboys from corporate homes to your home. Have your roof check by choice, not by chance. Call now two one four two two five four eight six www dot k Post company dot com. No one says that, yeah, people right that there. I'm like, I don't leave you, okay, okay, I know when when did we say ww? Maybe it's just going back nearly twenty five years beginning, so we

kind of dropped that. Yeah, Well, I don't know, I just I wasn't No, that wasn't on you because I hear it just reminded me, I have edit for go to k Post company. Man. That is it? All right? Free agency is upon us in a little over two weeks. You want to en franchise anybody? Well, how about would would Fox like to franchise Troy Aikman? How about that? That's crazy? Bro? He is he making a move? Is he doing it? I mean the word the report came out here in the last day or so, that last

he's mulling an offer from ESPN. You hear the money on that. Everson seventeen and a half million dollars or something like that, Romo's at eighteen. I think, yeah, just guys, m yeah, so boy, that would sure shore up Monday night football, which needs some short although I would imagine he's got good he's got the half games. Yeah, you have to get good games. I don't care who's crying,

he's got the half. He's got to have a say of who's the play by play guy though, because you don't want to get into the situation that Witten got himself in. Witness problem is not the play by play guy. It was the sideline reporter. That's witness problems. It was both. It was it was both. Yeah, I understand that, but

but I know somebody took well advantage of that. So I think, by the way, in twenty twenty three, I think they can flex Monday in that football, So the teams that play on Monday can be flexed into that it's like a better game. Yeah, so they can flex a better game starting to twenty I think it's twenty twenty three that will. Yeah, And and I wonder what

Joe Buck does. Then? Does that pulled Joe Buck along with him if he can do more, because Buck could do more baseball, right maybe with one then yeah, well you know who's happy about this? Moose? He might get some more work. Well he should, you know, maybe he will. I mean that now as you've got an elite spot open, somebody might step in before him, but he'll step into where they were. And Monday night football needs needs a boost. Because I'll tell you what, And this is just me.

I don't know what everybody else did. But if it wasn't a critical game on Monday night, like I needed to watch it for play by play down by down, I turned over to the manning thing and just listen to them, right, And I don't know if that's gonna be a thing in the coming years. Um. You know, they tried to do it with the NBA All Star Game, and I didn't listen to the play by play of the NBA All Star Game. I went to the is it the TNT crew? You watch the NBA All Store Game?

I watched. I watched. Did you watch the Pro Bowl? I watched. I watched the first time. It wasn't as bad as the Proo I did not watch. It was not as I watched. I watched the final quarter of the Pro Bowl. I gave up. I gave up on the NBA All Star Game at halftime, which I wish I hadn't because I didn't see the halftime presentation of the seventy five players top seventy five in history. So I went back and watched it on YouTube. That was

probably the best part. But I'm just wondering, if you know, in some of these night games, if we're just gonna sit around and list to somebody bs and not worry about the third five. There's a lot of that going on even as it is. Well, you're right, especially on ESPN. The latest stow on it. Fox Sports has started negotiations with Sean Payton about becoming its number one NFL game analyst.

He would team with Joe Buck if and when Troy Aitman finalizes his exit to either Monday Night Football or Amazon's Thursday Night Football, Fox will broadcast two of the next three Super Bowls if the If Peyton succeeds, he'd immediately leaped to the top of sports broadcasting along with Akman, Romo, Chris Collinsworth. So what happens with al Michaels. Well, that's the other thing. There's talk that maybe al Michaels would go to Monday to Monday Night Football because talking him

going to Amazon for the Thursday Night package. Yeah, seeing that Thursday Night package is not being good. But this free agency and broadcasting is kind of fun. Did you see the thing about reports maybe that Fox would try to trade for Drew Brees to go to trade Oh because NBC so get him over coming to Fox where they're gonna give up the future draft bit I saw yesterday about trading. Right, Well, there's a you know, there's another we'll give you a couple of games. Another thing

going on in free agency? Right all right? So now what's on your legal pass? So franchise tag yes, you want to. Cowboys got twenty one unrestricted free agents, and you got the franchise tag numbers there somewhat memorizing okay, and so, okay, who would you like to keep that are free agents? Cooper, he's not. And I'm with you on that ballop the wide receiver franchise and they're not set in stone right now because the it's not set until you get the final salary cap number, uh seventeen

million on a franchise tag. Man, you're already paying one wide receiver twenty so and he's coming off in al The key thing with him is you just got to hope, well not hope, You got to figure out what market value is going to be on a guy coming off an ACL that probably is going to end up being

on pup to start the season. So my thinking is, and I'm sure the Cowboys are hoping that somebody's not going to go out and give him a three year, forty five million dollar deal because of his injury situation, that he would think, Okay, I need to come back on a prove it deal and get my market value back up to where it should man, so he can he could afford one year if you can get him for one year five six million with incentives, maybe you can sign them, but I think seventeen would probably be

too much on a wide receiver. Okay, let's do it this way. Free agents. Among the twenty one unrestricted free agents, Keyan O'Neil, he would he would go into the linebacker. I'm give me the numbers. What the wow? So that we can figure this out. Did you see did you see that? Yeah? I watched serious. Here here, I'm just running down the list just so we can figure this out. Keyanuneil, Layton vander esh Or would be under the linebacker tag.

So you work on what the linebacker tag number is for me, here's the ones I have, Okay, because I did it from what would affect the Cowboys. So the wide receiver franchise tag at this point is eighteen point five, So that's for Gallup. You want Gallup at the eighteen point five tag. No, I can't do that. No, tight end Dalton Schultz eleven million. Okay, let's hold that aside. We've got eleven million for Dalton Schultz right here. Okay, okay,

keep going. And then defensive end Randy Gregory seventeen point five at this point, but it's being projected closer to twenty million. Bam. Okay, and you've got twenty million based salary on your other defensive end right now, Jay, So those are those are really the only three? All right? Tell me what Jay run curses because he would be a safety. What's the safety, Captain? I want to say it's around thirty twelve or thirteen million, yes, and so he and it would be the thirteen I think it's

thirteen million for a safety. So it's eleven million. So here are your candidates? Those are really the only yes? Right right? Okay, So those are your candidates for a franchise tag eleven million, Dalton Schultz, thirteen million, Jay Run Curse up to twenty million. Randy Gregory? So are you do you do you feel like you, uh, which one would you put the tag on? And or would you just not do a tag on anybody? I would? Here's here's what I and this is what we dismissed. Gallant

tagged anyone. We haven't not tagged anyone. Oh yeah, okay, a lot of time. Okay. What what their philosophy will be is to try to negotiate a long term deal. You keep them from going into free agency by tagging them, and then you can still negotiate with them all the way to July and and and so to me, So say, let's just say Schultz, right, eleven million franchise take so he knows he's got to make eleven million dollars this

year no matter what the if they tag him right. So, um, what you ask now that it was a rookie contract contract, fourth round draft there. Yeah, I'll throw another one in there. Brian Anger is the other one the putter right and that which is about five million, right, yeah, and you

could kind of qualify that. But here's what you want to do is you want to structure a contract where in the first year, including the signing bonus that you get right away, plus the base salary is going to at least come to eleven million dollars, but with the signing bonus huge, you pro rade it over the length of the contract, and you push the money back over the next couple years of the deal when the salary CAP's going to go back up significantly next year because

of the TV contract. Right, So I could I can structure a contract for Schultz that say he gets a two million dollars base salary this year, but I give him a fifteen million dollars signing bonus, and then it's divided by say it's a three year deal, and so it's five each year, so he costs seven million instead of eleven million. Same thing with with Randy Gregory. You got to try to get a long term deal done where the total in twenty twenty two is going to

be at least what did I say it was? It's probably twenty million, so signing bonus, spread it out over five years. Now can Randy Gregory go fight? He's young, he hadn't played much, but he's twenty nine going on thirty. So that's another consideration that they have to make. And then you mentioned linebacker, so you know, here's my deal.

I keep hearing this and I don't understand it. It's like cut to Marcus Lawrence, which, by the way, cutting to Marcus Lawrence, you will incur nineteen million dollars in dead money, either all of it this year or part this year, part next year. And then who's playing defensive end? Knowing you don't have? Yeah, why why are people don't understand? Because they all they looked at is the base salary

of nineteen million and say, okay, we could save night. No, you don't save nineteen million because you already not only paid him signing bonus, you paid him restructured bonus. You gotta restructure the contract about more than just the contract. And who's gonna play defensive elically like him? Because you don't know you're gonna get Randy Gregor. See how he played, somebody played any We can have a financially structured and sound team, but we won't be with the crowd, right,

yeah exactly. Somebody pointed out that his stats went down this year. Yeah, he only played nine games. Don't don't you know, everybody, All you gotta do is look right, don't just look at stats. Look this team's problems. One of the things this team's problem was in the games they lost was their inability to stop the run. And he was probably their best run stopper on the defensive line. And you're gonna say, okay, he knew what the play was and he just yes, came by the position and

just blew everything up. So he did that a ministrategic And then I hear, well then you then you well, well, Michael Parsons will be the defensive end, and I go, Okay, now, who's playing linebacker? Because Lton vander esh you may not get a chance to resign him. And oh, by the way, you don't even have Jalen Smith to you know, punish,

So who's playing linebacker? And so you start cutting these guys, and all of a sudden, Well, I need a first round wide receiver, I need a first round defensive Oh no, I need a linebacker back. And Alan got one first round pick, and I don't have money to go out in free agency to go out and find somebody that's really good. And oh, we do need to improve that offensive line. So that's why I hate this time of year, because people don't give out the entire facts of the

whole deal. They will create money by restructuring Dack's contract. It's already planned. It's just winning they executed because they put a phony voidable year in twenty twenty six, because they knew they were going to have to restructure his twenty million dollars base salary this year. They'll go down to two three million, right, and then pay him up front. Restructure so he gets his money before he works, and

spread it out over five years. That's why they put the voidable twenty twenty six year in his contracts so they could have five years to spread it out. And then when you get to that and everybody's well, now you're just pushing your money down the road. Well, you've pushed it down the road when the salary CAP's gonna go up and it'll absorb it. So there, I push everything down the road if that's the case, because I

hear that the contract is going to be amazing. Another yes, CB contract, I mean they already know it is, but it doesn't go into effect this year. So those are the three guys and the other thing on the defensive end. Oh, by the way, my third defensive end, Dorin's Armstrong, is an unrestricted free agent. So how's your depth there? Uh, not real good. It's Chauncey Gholston and Terrell Bashum. You

know that doesn't get me excited. Well, when you look at all these guys, they all played well at some point. It's just when we needed them to play well, they didn't well exactly. So we can always say, well, man had a great game here. Well, they didn't have a great game when we needed them to have it. And that's almost everyone on the team. So that's what you're looking at, is the sour taste is left in everyone's mouth from from the last few games, and that that

horrible ending. But then you look before that to get us to that point, to get us to what were we twelveing before twelve and five? We're talking five, So yeah, that's game we went to get us to twelve and five, that's where you saw the superlatives, but we didn't continue with that as we went down down the strets. That's

the problem. And the thing I printed out that they didn't get was my column for today, and it was basically, we've given the defensive pass right because of the things they improved on from last year, but in critical times the defense wasn't good enough. Like in the games they won, they averaged given up eighteen points a game. In the six games they lost, including the playoff game, they gave up twenty seven points a game. All right, let me throw this at you. We gotta get it. We don't

have enough time here. I know we've got to get to a break. But all right. Chris Beam, our producer, passed along to me from SPO track the market value on some of these free agents. Okay, and that's project projected market value. So for Randy Gregory, okay, his market value as a free agent, they put in the range.

They compare him with Zadarius Smith, Leonard Floyd, Preston Smith, Olivier Vernon, who are basically in the range of the average is basically a three year forty eight million dollar contract, So sixteen million a year, right, is that right? Right? Something like that? Okay, on a sixteen would be forty eight right out on the open market. Uh, let me see if I can quickly get back to let's see, I'm not paying sixteen this first year right on the cap,

right right? Uh, Michael Gallup is in the market, I believe around four years, forty five millions something like that. But that's when. So what they're doing is they're just multiplying off this franchise tag. But they have examples. But you're right, they have examples of other players who have gotten I got you that deal last year, I guess, um.

And then Dalton Schultz was in the four year fifty million dollar range, which is around um, what, oh, let me find it here, twelve twelve, twelve and a half, yeah, which is what the franchise was for the tight end whatever. Ye. So, and by the way, in free agency, there's like eight other tight ends out there that you would say I want that guy. Now, I'm not saying they're not going to say they don't want Dalton Scholtz. But the tight end market is stacked and even backups. Yes, you got

some great backup tight ends that out there. So and we have a good backup and Jarwin, which you just gave three years twenty million to right a couple of years ago. So I just got to make sure he himself healthy. That's right, That's right. And that's the thing on Gregory, Okay, how much can you depend on him from not even from an injury standpoint. I mean, his production tailed off the last half of the year, and you know there was mistakes on the field as well,

you know, so like defensive holding, yeah, in critical time twice. Yeah, okay, all right, we continue a more mix shots. In a moment before there was a draft, you could size up a cowboy by three simple factors. The crease in his hat, the bend of his brim, and his unbending attitude. A man stetson didn't just protect him from what life threw at him. It projected a rugged, unstoppable spirit. Stetson hats

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for you. See more, Do more? Nice? All right? See more? Do more? From your legal pad? What do you get to? Two really quick things? Um and I used this in mix shots on Wednesday. I heard two interviews on Wednesday that if I'm dry, I'm drafting these guys without even looking at their film one was Sam Roberts, who was named UH the Cliff Harris Small College Player of the Year Defensive Player of the Year UM Northwest Missouri State. He's a defensive end. He's six five, two ninety two.

And all I did was listened to him talk Sam Roberts, Sam Roberts, and he played in the Hula Hula Bowl East West Shrine Bowl, Division two and and so that's what the awards for Division two, Division three and AIA right um, And just listening to him, I googled him. He's a Canadian rock singer. Listening to his story radio personality, also self serving, I went up. I went up to

him after it was because he's from Waynesville, Missouri. And I went up to him afterwards and I said, how didn't Missouri not like at your size and speed and proximity. Why did they bring you in? And he had a really good answer, not bitter. He said, my high school was next. Basically is the enrollment is a lot of the kids from the military base. I believe it's Fort

Leonard Ward is right next to it, Leonard Wood. And he said coaches don't come down to look at my high school because they figure these guys are leaving, so I'll never see him two years in a row because of their military family. Interesting. Yeah, and he was, he was really And just listening to him, I said, And Brad Sham leaned to me when we were listening to him, talk right, and he goes, that's my seventh round pick

right there. And I have never seen him play it down, but just the character right the other one, uh the ticket. The next day, after the Davey O'Brien Award, did about a twenty minute interview with Bryce Young, the quarterback at Alabama. Oh my gosh, again, I'm not looking at him as his tape. I'd listened to him for twenty minutes and I'm going, this kid's twenty years old and he's got it figured out already. Sounds like Russell Wilson. Yes, unbelievable

his answers. Somebody would have said about me a twenty years Well, I was thinking about myself, so checked her about. Yes, there a lot he had to be to the Dave O'Brien Award. I think by did you guys cover here's Monday? Yeah, and he was not. He was catching a flight or something. He wasn't there when we were out there. Here's what happened. He finished his workout and meeting in Tuscaloosa, So that's

Eastern time, I believe. And he said he left there like at five thirty six o'clock, flew to Fort Worth, flew into here, did the did the award. He left at five thirty in the afternoon for at seven o'clock banquet here. Well, it's be eight because of the time difference, right, it's not a time differences is not each central? Okay? Well then he got here right in Well that's why you missed him, because he got here in time for

the award. Alabama. Yeah, it's central. Yeah. And then then he left and went back, got to bed like at one thirty in the morning, and was up the next day for class and then his meeting. So one of the guys asked him, so, coach Saban, you won the Heisman, you won the debut of Brian Award. He's just gonna just let you out early. And he started laugh and he goes, you don't know, Coachaban, do you? He goes,

not at all, not at all. And he went on to explain that I've got to take care of what I got to do to make me available to win awards like this, right, And he goes, and everybody at Alabama buys in on this. It's like, you take care of this first, and that gives us opportunity to win, and that gives us opportunity to go to awards banquets. That's assuming ads, right, And it's just amazing how he handled it. And then he went in. They asked him about the nil stuff and you know, supposedly he got

at a touchdown club. Yeah, and and he and he answered it like coach Saban says, and you know, when we get out in the real world, we all don't get paid the same. And he goes, but no one talks about it. Everybody just does their job the way they're supposed to do the job, and the payoff is you're successful. And just the way he handled himself, it's like I'm drafting the guy. I want him on my team.

I worked out. But when he said that about coach, you guys don't know coach Saban, right, which reminded me of when Troy Aikman was going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame the induction ceremony. Jason Garrett was his quarterback coach at Miami the Dolphins, and Jason wanted to go to the deal, but they had practice on that Saturday, and he goes, I finally worked up enough nerve to go into coach Saban's office and ask if I could go, and he goes, I was dreading it. I was just sweating.

I was dreading it. And he goes in. He went in and he made this look. He said, I made this long presentation on why I need to go, and he said. Saban looked at him and he goes, Jason, do you think we can't have practiced without you on Saturday? What are you? But everybody knows him right, and they know how he's a stickler for detail and it kind of works. So you're one thing. I know, I got

two draft choices already, but he's next eligible for Bryce Young? Yeah? Yeah, So you're proposing that the Cowboys No no for Pryce Young. Oh yeah, I'm assuming he's gonna be a first round face. You're proposing the Cowboys tank. I just said, I if I was drafting and trade this year and acquire somebody, Right, Hey, guys, do you realize time many Sam Roberts still have you looked at them all? You got the football player in Northwestern Missouri. You got baseball player Sam. I was two

thousand seventy seven. I was track and field results. Sam Roberts men's tennis, Robin's associate head coach and recruiter. There's some sort of singer the league statistic history, Sam Robert. Oh my god, how many freaking Sam Roberts. And they're all relevant, not just you know, any type of guy. So there you go. There's another reason why you should draft him in the seventh round. He's gonna be relevant.

He's not gonna be mystery irrelevant. You're not gonna have the last That's right, all right, Okay, I think that we build up another show and guess what we get to talk about next week on Mick Shots Mickey Um Combine Combine. They have started on the first right, and we're about second or third and we'll be previewing it. Basically, the NFL network coverage would be Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, whatever that means. I'm gonna have my big green notebook.

And and here's two quick shots. Number One, we're talking about paying guys. Anthony Hitchins, Cowboys couldn't afford him, Kansas City said they could with a forty five million dollar deal, and now they can't afford the last year, so he's a free agent. You know what, he liked to come back here on a one year deal. I need a

veteran linebacker, right. And then the other one I thought was funny that Wade Phillip's son West is going to Minnesota as their offensive coordinator, although the head coach is going to be the offensive coordinator. But made me think of was a twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen when everybody wanted to sign an assistant coach that worked with Sean McVay, and Wade Phillips said, hey, my son knows Sean mcvain too, right, he could be a head coach. He's now he's an

offensive coordinator. And all those guys there's like five of mcvay's assistants. Now that's a fast track to being a head coach. In thisalygue, you don't have even I mean,

look at the offensive coordinator. San Francisco is now the head coach at Miami and he and Shanahan's running right, and O'Connell going to Minnesota head coach and McVay runs the offense right, so but Zack Taylor was it with with with McVeigh and he wound up in the Super Bowls and they had another, they had another, They had another guy ended up the University of Arizona as the head coach um and he was just an assistant. So yeah,

he's had a lot of guys. Move on. But if you know Sean McVay, this is Sean McVay coaching tree. Wade Phillips is just he's just funny as hell. All right, how can we never mind? How can we got weak here? Had another five minutes, Let's go Okay, that doesn't for this edition of Mick Shawns and we'll talk at you again next week. Go Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.