Talkin' Cowboys: Better Next Year?

our favorite dip of Talking Cowboys. Welcome in everybody, as we are back in the s WBC studios having some fun along the way. Isaiah stand back, Hello, we're in the bright yellow jersey. Doug alright. Want to make you y'all see me since you got the yellow submarine in the building. Yes, sir, that's him. That's it. Wait, we're playing high and go seek after this Laga La Liga. Yeah, I love it. You have no idea named one other team in La Man. I know the person's jersey I'm wearing.

Name one of the Kedler shot out to one of my clients, Kinney Keler, trainer from high school all the way to playing pro that's pretty cool. You said La Liga. He said, it's got a big patch on his flight sleeve. You see, you've never heard of Real Madrid. I have FC Barcelo. I'm trying to learn a lot more about soccer because I'm trying to introduce my kids to watching more soccer being that we're financially invested. So I'm like, you, guys, gotta watch them dog on soccer. So now we're just

watching games and I'm learning. That's a good thing for you because your facility is in Coppel, right, Yeah, we're in Lewisville, Nowisville now right, Okay, still a hotbed of soccer town, a lot of soccer because Copel Louisville. He resolutely always usually really good in the soccer game. Heck, my Harrison back in studio as all days? How's it going with my friend? Oh? Good good. It feels good to be back in studio. You know why? Why is that? Because Rob Phillips is Rob missed last week. But we

are glad to have you back and ready to go. Yeah, we discussed a minute ago where I was let's not talk about it. We're not gonna do it. Just back. It is period. It's great to be back. That's as far as we need to go. We'll be here for the next hour. I love our hour shows, man, I love the hour shows. Well, you get a chance to kind of play back show the personality a little bit more. It's not as straightforward business as we do a lot of time. We're gonna get you a smaller hoodie. Man,

you slimming down, slim I'm with you. I'm like in the gene. I don't know who there wants to challenge me right now, but it probably wouldn't be a good idea to stop it. Let's stop it. I'm feeling I'm feeling good. I hit a hit a PR. I hit a first. I hit a PR today that I haven't hit in sometime. I guess it's not a PR, but I guess it's. Oh no, I did h two eighty five on some hand cleans and three forty on bench. That's what really surprised Meye, it moved, and it moved pretty.

There was something left. I had some left in the tank. It wouldn't like struggle bust. You're about seventy percent of what Rob can do on a normal day. You're almost there. What you think your bench is right now, just straight up, like if you had to, like to save your life, what could you get to chat the bar off your chest? The bar is forty five? Ye he knows that, but hey, I play. I mean I used, I used to lift,

not like I said, I'll tell you let me. I don't know, slap a couple of tens on each side. That what we curled. We taped our season and review show a couple weeks ago, and Isaiah just every time you talk about weights, it's just I just like I just want to go crawl in the corner. And we were about to tape it, and Isaiah, it's like you came late because you're you're late. You had you had business and you're you're dressing in studio and it took

a while. I mean you had to button. Now you're like, god, this church's tie. I did too many push ups today. I'm like, my God, just just putting me during the season. During the season, it's at least for myself, for my schedule, it's hard to maintain direct not that I would like to. So I literally I get skinny, man, I get thin walking up, I get thin mass the shirt I go down. So my weight fluctuates, so I'm anywhere from two. On the light end, I'm two fifteen. At the high end,

I'm like two forty, two forty two. So right now I'm like two forty. Yeah. But when I was playing here, I was two of seven. Man, don't nobody want to talk weights? And wait with you? You're losing weight, all right? I mean, but come on you you open up the show up? Yeah, pr I was excited that I can't. I can't gas the reason, no, I have to dask myself off because there's some gentlemen upstairs that feel as if they're still gonna challenge me. Let me tell you something.

They're still talking about it roppy with barrier. Danny, Danny, Danny, No, no, no, Danny sizes me up every single Time's not gonna back down. But here's the thing I just out in my head about what it would be to bitch press three hundred and forty pounds right now. And let me tell you something. Bayless, Scott and White's next door, and I'm so happy Eric here, I just put my labor two pectoral forty. That rip wasn't clothing, that was my That's a good sight too.

You don't want to see that we're gonna get a new drop out of this. Yeah. Absolutely, something out of there needs to be just said. I'm right now, I'm gonna gasp myself up, I'm gonna get that. Oh goodness. But really, credit to both of you guys down at the end of the table. He was looking fantastic. I say, it is bulking up. It looks fantastic. You guys are an inspiration to Rob. Yeah, we got maybe maybe one day figured out. All right, let's talk about the Cowboys

a little bit. There's been a lot going on the last week around the Star, maybe not so much on the field or anything. We're still kind of waiting for that March a March fourteenth, when we finally get to start building this roster again towards twenty twenty, and we're gonna talk about that a little bit later on, talking a little draft as well. Are you optimistic about those dates? Like, when you think about the fourteenth, sixteenth, are you like, is there is there is that a light at the

end of the tunnel tunnel? Or is that the tred train coming at you? Is it the freight train? Which one is it? I mean, how are you thinking about that? I think that's the biggest question right now is because there's so much pure negativity around the cap situation. Twenty one million dollars over the cap, that's the number you hear day in and day out around here. You got to find a way to make the right decisions on who is leaving, because there are gonna be many guys

who leave here and you're going to be disappointed. So they might look like the freight train coming right at you, and that's the light that's at the end of the tunnel. It's coming at you rather than there's a lot of optimism around this team, and Rob you'd probably add to this as well. With the cap situation at hand. It goes back to what the Jones family has been talking about. There are tough decisions on the horizon, and those decisions

are nearing very quickly. Yeah, the franchise tag window starts today. You got until March eight to tack somebody. If you want to tack somebody, I don't know if they will because to your point, trying to slot a guaranteed one year salary that's the top five average of any position in the league, or top ten if it's a transition tag that's that's gonna be tough to do. I think if you're a fan, heck, you might say freight train,

just because you know they don't. Fans want to see the big splash, and I don't think that's going to happen, especially not this year. It hasn't happened since I don't know Brandon Carr in twenty twelve, where they really spent big on the first week of free agency, and I think they've you listen to Stephen Jones talk like they they've warned us there they're going to be very judicious with the cap room that they do have, and to your point, they're gonna have to get creative just to

create the room. And they can do that and they will do that. They do it every year, but they don't have a bunch to spend. And that's what happens when you know, for starters, your starting quarterback is taken up thirty plus million on the cap. So always about the slice of the pie. But you've got to find a way to feel the roster that you feel good about, especially when you have that core foundation. I was on

a podcast this weekend. They asked me that same question, where do you feel like your expectations are right this second about the twenty twenty two season, and I still kind of said they're decently high because you have a foundation, because you have a quarterback. Yeah, you paid him a lot of money, but you still feel very comfortable at that Dak Prescott can be that quarterback to lead you to the promised land. But you also have a core of young players as well that you really do feel

good about moving forward. So, Isaiah, I ask you that same question, is there any chance that your expectations shift over the next couple of weeks, because well, right now they feel bad, but there's still some optimism there as well. They shifted when a clock went to zero. Reason being, you know, I believe, I personally believe that they've missed their window. I personally it's close. I think that windows sure, no, w D forty wow, right, I think the windows closed

because you had a stacked roster. You had a stack coaching staff, and you still retain the majority of them. Let's say they're coaching, they're they're back, and you had a stacked roster. Now you're faced with the same decision. You have to face this every single offseason. Oh we gotta make tough decisions. Oh, we gotta even gotta cut some guys, gotta let some guys go, Guys that we would love to sign back. We're not gonna be able

to hold them all. You hear the same little rhetoric every single year, but this year is even it's even greater because you know, everybody, everybody in Cowboys the nation. No, you're gonna lose some a great player, a great player on offense and or defense. You're gonna lose a superstar. You're going to lose the superstar on offense and or defense. And I say, and because it might possibly be two, you're gonna when I when they say tough decisions, this

is not like, oh we couldn't retain Curse. You know what, he's a really good player. He made a lot of good contributions. We're not gonna able to retain that. This is gonna be something seismic. Yeah, that's you're gonna that's gonna happen, and people are gonna be boo hoo. You know your whole cap myth. You know, the cap is a myth. Every year teams to say we're in cap trouble. They find a way, whether you use the word kicking it, kick the can down the road, whatever, re shuffle, reschedule,

whatever you're gonna do with the money we can. We can restructure guys. Right there, Guys are gonna get cut. We know that last year. We're going into this year that may be the same thing. So I don't worry about that as much because I know that there are the powers that be that are going to figure this out. You still got to sign all your draft picks as well, ye, So if we lose some guys, let's just say on defense, we talked about it last week, Maybe we lose a tank,

maybe we lose age or run curse. That's why the draft and other areas may become more pivotal than before. And also, look, we hadn't gotten to this point, but free agency is going to be very important. I mean we've on over the years where you wanted to sign Steffan Gilmore, we wanted to sign a certain free agent safety for the Seattle from back in the day that that didn't happen. All right, we didn't do was it Jamal Adams? And those times that we could have gotten

those signs, signings done. I still believe that there are going to be those free agents out there that can make an immediate impact that may allow you to forget about some of the guys that you lose. Yes, the team is going to be different, but the majority of teams from top to bottom are going to be different. We should expect it. I think to your point, heck, like they've they did a great job last year signing got like targeting guys, especially on defense, like Dan Quinn.

This fits his scheme, Carlo and you just go down the list, Carlos Watkins, Terrell Basham, Kean O'Neill, Malie Cooker, Kasey Curse, like they really. I mean, I don't know if they batted a thousand, but it was pretty close to the problem with that is, I mean you looked the year before though, and they batted whatever it was

on defense. And I do think when you're when you're waiting into the later waves pools of free agency, that's more of a challenge because you've got guys that you know, it's it's not the market's not as robust, and you're you're taking chances on players that there's something either they're not proven, or they've been hurt or something. And so I think and that's what they're going to continue to do. So they've got to nail that. I mean, we talked

about nail in the draft all the time. That's a given. They've got to find a way to replicate what they did last year, and I think that's going to be challenging. However, I do think. I mean to I say his point like, they missed a huge opportunity. But the division still doesn't look very good and not right now, not right now, and you know some of the teams that we think they're they're facing, it's gonna be really difficult. Who is

Green based quarterback, Who's Tampa based quarterback? All of a sudden, those two games don't look as difficult when you talk about a first place schedule. So I still think they can definitely win the division and put themselves back in position. Are they going to be as good as they were last year? They gonna be deep, they can be as healthy, that's the question. And I think to me it comes down to can they get Dak in position to be dominant in the playoffs back to where he was early

in the season. To me, that's where that's the key to the season. No matter what they do in the offseason. Basically, whenever you look at the contract for Dak Prescott, and we've talked about this at links and on this show, but whenever you pay a quarterback that much money, he's supposed to make up for the shortcomings. He's supposed to fill the gaps of a roster that may not be as strong. You see that around the league with Green

Bay and Aaron Rodgers. This year wasn't the best roster green Bay has ever had around Aaron Rodgers, yet they still were the number one seedon of course, they ended in disappointment as well, so it becomes a question on his category. Do you feel that way about Dak Prescott still? Do you feel like he can make up for the shortcomings because this year there were no shortcomings to a

certain extent around the roster. There were certainly holes, but for the most part, you like you said, you were stacked. You had the talent, you had the health, you felt good going into the postseason, yet you had a shortcoming as a whole. This year, there are going to be plenty of shortcomings that are going to be on that roster. Ken Dak Prescott filled that void. Y'all know. I have defended Dak to no end. You know I have you know and and not apologized about it. Sure, I feel

as though you know Dak. When you start mentioning those other quarterbacks, the identity of those teams are that quarterback. When you think of the Dallas Cowboys, that's not the identity of this team. And I don't know how you change that. Even if Dak has that success next year, I still think that there are other things that you are starting to ask yourself, what is going to be

the identity of this team. We would think that it was Zeke the running game, but we've gotten away from that completely to the point that even when you start grading the running game, you graded on a curve because seventeen games you gotta thout, you know, things like That's still that's not our identity. Dak has to step up

and be that. If last year was his confidence was down, or Wayne because of the injury that he had the year before, if there was some mental residual from that, all those things, he has to get over and take another step in his second year. I'm called to answer your question. Yes, I believe that he can be. I believe that he will be. I don't think that he was a difference maker last year, and I just got to keep it real. In those games where he could

have been the difference, he didn't. You pointed out there are times where we needed him to use his legs. Did he use him? No? All right? There were times where there were awful turnovers. There were games where obviously we need an additional throw from our quarterback. He couldn't make it. Next year. We can't have the same can't have the same conversation. And when you look around the league at the guys that do, obviously that's the separation

between him and those quote unquote elite quarterbacks. I've been on this island and not rob p Island by myself for a couple of years. Well with you guys, I've been there. I've been there, right, I mean when any Dalton gut signed and I said that he had a stronger arm, all those kind of things. People have been throwing torches at me for a long time. IRS Island, Irs Island? Is there? Does that happen? That's the best of place, desert, that's a place American Airlines doesn't fly

there place. However, a couple of boats and row it yourself exactly battle Board. I still stand on this island and say that I don't believe Dak is an elite quarterback. I think he's a good quarterback. I think he's a really good quarterback at times. But when you start thinking about the quarterbacks that are considered elite, you have full confidence in those quarterbacks that they are gonna win you the ball game, no doubt about it. It doesn't matter

what the opponent presents. You feel like they're ready for any situation. It doesn't matter what the situation it is. You feel like they've already been through it a thousand thousand times and you just know that they're gonna get you out of it. And you think about it, even as bad as Seattle is, you still have hoping in Russell Wilson. Right, you got Aaron Rodgers. You just know

Aaron Rodgers're gonna ge on the situation. TV twelve. There's just some guys, Drew Brees when he was like, you just knew there was some guys that once they're on the field, I don't give a dog on what they do. They're gonna He's gonna find his way out of this. You don't get that with Dak and what is it gonna take. It's gonna take victories, what they're gonna take. It's gonna take tough games. It's gonna take, you know, getting out of bad situations. It's gonna take dominant performances.

It's gonna take accuracy, it's gonna take velocity. It's gonna take this decision making all these things. Right, there's not just one thing that's gonna happen to say, you know what, he's elite now, right, He's just not that guy yet? Can he be? Absolutely? What is it gonna take for him to take that step? I don't know, but I know that they have to start stacking up these wins and you can't miss out on opportunities like they had this year. That was a huge letdown. I don't think

anybody would say any different. And those types of losses and those types of opportunities where he does not step into that role is what prevents him from being a quote unquote elite. Do you think did you think Matt Stafford was in that category until he had that winning drive the other night? I still don't put math. I just I just I still think that he just has a mean, he's a really good quarterback. Yeah, I'll put I mean, I'll put Dak in Matthew Stafford kind of. Yeah.

So because I'm with you, like I think the list when you talk, it's short, and you mentioned Hall of Fame guys, like guys that are punched their ticket already to the Hall of Fame. There that is a special type of quarterback. And I agree with I mean, I think I think Dad can get there. I think Matt Stafford people thought maybe he couldn't get there. He got there.

I think, like heck right, Like he's got to elevate his play and he said that, Um, but I think there's some things around him that have to be elevated too. And we've talked about the scheme. I mean, I think they've got to find ways to scheme things up to make things better for him. And I know it sounds like excuses, but I think when you fail, when you fail like this, and there's a problem offensively for ten weeks and it doesn't fully get fixed unless you're kind

of playing bad teams. It's not just the quarterback, it's not just the offensive coordinator. I think we've talked about a lot of things. There's a lot of reasons why it didn't work. I think the offensive line was a factor too, and they've got a dress that from a personnel side, I think it's going to take a lot of things to get to figure out what happened to this offense down the stretch and get it right. I

totally agree with you. If you had to compare the Cincinnati Bengals to the Dallas Cowboys, that's so not fair. It's very much fair because they quarterback. You've got to talk about the quarterback is I'm just saying just the teams, Okay, just a team. I'm talking about individuals, Okay, just the teams. I'm interested to see where you're going because right now I'm with heckma, I don't how can you? Why is it not fair to compare those two? Because go ahead

and you go for it. No, you said it first. I'll back you up. It's just I think that quarterback is his level of elite is where he is the quintessential first round draft pick in the NFL draft period. You look over the time in the league, he is that guy for that, the throws that he make, he is a difference maker to that, the velocity, all of those things that's him Burrow, and just there's no way that he is not the future of not only the NFL,

it's gonna be the AFC. Just everybody said to themselves like, oh crap, this guy is going to make it hard on us for a very long time. I just don't see Deck in that same breath. I just he's not there. My whole thing is it's a great point you guys mean in terms of just being able to elevate everything else. Sure, that's that's what you guys mean, because we can agree the Bengals had half of what the Cowboys had. Yes, personnel wise, they are the exception, not the rule in

terms of building a roster name in the last time. Half, I don't know about half. I mean, they've got they've got the best young receiver in the league, and and but they don't have an offensive line right, no offensive line. They do have a good running game, they don't have a good offensive line. We all pros that we have on offensive line. Two yeah, okay, and they had how many zero? Okay? One? Your left tackle was not right the whole season. Here's what got Zach. The line was

not you're talk about talking abent. You're talking about a team that was giving up seven sacks a game time, I would I'm with you there, But he still figured it out. So that's what different. Okay, so we're saying, so we're saying Burrows above Dak. Is that what we're saying? Yeah, okay, absolutely, at least nothing wrong with that this year. Yeah, I think I think it could be the other way around next year, No doubt in my mind, I think Dak

Scott can get back to being a mobile Dak Prescott. Absolutely, it's a decision. It's absolutely just a decision. So by saying that, though, by saying that, oh man, that's not good. Here's a thing. If Dak improves his game, there should be zero excuses for this entire organization, is what we're saying. Yes, can he improve his game? Because their defense was was good. It wasn't freaking amazing. Talk about Cincinnati. That is okay. Their officer line was terrible. Defense was pretty darn good.

Their defense played well, yeah right, but they didn't have names like the personnel. I guess I'm talking about personnel. I'm not even talk about skiing. I'm talk about this personnel. Have you took the Cincinnati roster and you're playing a game of blitz, old school blitz, and you took their roster, you picked Cowboys. You're picking the Cowboys all day long. Is it possible we just pumped up the Cowboys roster and then personnel on that side of the a little

bit too much. I don't think so. I think they played well. Okay, I like the rabbit hole you're taking this down. This is this is this is fair. This is fair. If the Cincinnati Bengals played the Dallas Cowboys, who should win that game? Cowboys talent wise, but you know they didn't always work out on paper versus on the field. If you put them on the field, who

should win the game. But who was in the Super bowls Rams had the betest giving up seven sacks a game, absolutely, and they still found a way to do it get to the Super Bowl. Kind of with Kyle like, I think this is very talented team, but I watched every playoff game and I think sometimes maybe we're a little too close to it and we think, you know, this is the elite, elite talent, and there's a lot of teams have really good players. I'm with you. If you

stack the rosters one through fifty three. I take the Cowboys talent, but I think the Bengals I think they had. They showed that some really good players at a good defensive line. Yeah. You know, name a position group aside from quarterback that you would swap out with Cincinnati Jamar Chase a position group. Yeah, I'll give you the wide receivers. You would take Cincinnati's wide receivers over downas Jamar Chase, Higgins and Boyd. Those three were fantastic. That's a conversation

we weren't having last year. No, it's not one. He's different and I just want to go back to the Dak argument at seven their tackles too. By the way, at seven years, he's seven years in the league. And even talking about potential with the quarterback that's been in the league for seven years, Like, at what point are you what you? You're that? All right? You aren't what you are? Ye? Who are you today? I'm just asking questions.

I'm just asking questions. One thing you know that you get from number four is that you get you get a leader. You get a guy that's gonna go out there and ball like a dog. I mean, regardless if he has some shortcomings in his arm. He's gonna give you everything you've got. And I think that's what got him the massive contract is you knew you got a guy that's gonna put it on the line every week. Does that make him Arino? Does that make him Montana? No, I'm not gonna jump out the cake like that. So

you asked me about Joe Burrow. I'm gonna be honest with you. Joe Faller, Okay, he can make all of the throws. He tight window throws. He could do that. I don't know if four could do that, but if I had a game to win, I would say I need four. I need four for that one. Even the numbers dictate that he has more come behind victories than guys that were even in his class. That that shows

that he is that winner. To go back to what you were saying, if I do I depend on what can He's already showed you that he could do that. Then he could come back from behind that he can win you. That's what he's done and the stats say that. Isaiah. It's interesting conversation conversation because I think it's the key two. It is if Dad can be dak from the first six games, and what Jerry Jones always says is if I if I've seen it, I know it can happen.

And through six seven games, Dak looked like maybe the MVP of the league. They have to get him back to He has to get back to that. When we come back on the other side of the break, I want to talk about this a little bit more, and I want to talk about the lessons learned from twenty twenty one in that regard kind of going off of your point, continuing this will also take your fan questions. I sent out a tweet fans on the fifty coming up here in just a couple of moments when we

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Visit SeatGeek dot com, the official ticketing provider of AT and T Stadium. April first, at American they're doing the and Smacks Shrine Miant No yes mc numbson shrineman of the undertakers into the Hall of Fame. Oh man, he hadn't called me yet from back. Never there the disappointment. He can't call me. So you got three days in Dallas of just straight WW fire of it. Yeah, man,

that's a lot. We've been made friends. You know, I called me yet on one you know special I told you say he is I was doing this when he was on the sidelines. He's six eleven. Is he really that? I know they sometimes they gassed every Yeah, he's good. He's a legit sticks ten. Rob is not a small guy. For those of you wonder who are listening to this, Rob is not small. You're what six three six four? Yeah? Yeah,

I mean if he's all athlete, all athletes. Oh, in my very distant past, the Undertaker talking, how you doing man? Rob pass talents? Yeah, he was on the floor five pounds. By the way, I want to I want to fix this real quick. Talking Cowboys presented by Tostito's America's Chip for America's Team. They have a new slogan that we got to throw out there. So no helping fans getting on the game. It's America's Chip for America's Team. But yeah, go get your WWE tickets. Is Stoke called Steve Auston

gonna be there. There's a rumor, right, I know nothing, I know nothing. Yes, Oh yeah, they've been dot com to night event you go to though, you know, ah, yeah, you know this. They're gonna started off with some firing. You know. Let me tell you, Let me tell you, let me tell you. Go to both easy money, Yeah, to bat Geek Seegee dot com or the app. The app is phenomenal. Man, you're teasing me with the Stoke Cold Room. If sto there, then get me a ticket

because I'm gonna go. It was just if the rock comps, it's going to be that time might fall over. I've been there last time. Yeah, he did last time. Last I was to fire. I was there that I was all right. I want to continue this Dak Prescott conversation, and maybe not Dak Prescott conversation, but mostly roster building around him. I'm looking at the over the cap situation, twenty one twenty two million dollars over the cap. I've brought up this website. It's called over Thecap dot com.

You can go do this yourself as well. It's got a little calculator's fun with it. It's definitely a great site. They do a good job of it. I have done the worst case scenario, and we've talked about this before on this this podcast. But I've cut DeMarcus Lawrence and a Mariy Cooper and we still only have twelve million dollars in cap space. Back up, back up, you just did what. I cut DeMarcus Lawrence post June one and

I cut A Marie Cooper pre June one. Rest I have not restructured Dak yet, So that's the only two moves I've done. So I went worst case scenario twelve million dollars. So basically, you still have to you still have to sign your entire draft class, which will be six seven, eight picks, and that's probably gonna take ten million out salary cap. So you still only have two million dollars to play around with, and that's baseline without

signing anybody else. So there's a strong possibility that, like Isaiah said in the first segment, you're losing multiple superstars. Do you still feel comfortable with Dak filling that up and having the same kind of success or do you feel like he is hamstrung without the same kind of talent around him moving into the twenty twenty two season. That's the biggest question right now, and I think that's a question that the Cowboys front office has to answer. Wow,

the Cowboys have the third worst. Yes, factors are worse worse than that and Saints Saints and both of those teams. The Rams are in a better position than the Cowboys and the Rams. It's like we talk about the Bengals, how like the Bengals debunk every explication went wrong in terms of salary caps, Like how the Rams do this? Ye? You know what were arguing about last week? I don't know y'all argue about? Were even are you arguing about? Talk about the Rams and what they did in this

salary camp with worst I don't know. Back, Okay, I will say this. I think with the Vaughan trade, I think Denver paid like the rest of his salary. Thing is they have no draft picks coming up. They have none. I mean that was a free agent by the way. Yeah, I mean at some point the lack of draft picks will get them once the roster because they don't have to, They're probably going to let some free agents go. I think it will get them at some point. Just look

at this bow. Yeah but it does? Does it matter? Yeah? It does? I don't know if it matters. Let's need shirt, you know, f them picks there you go Rob p Island back that. I didn't say that they can create room. They can. They can create room. They can restructure guys. They can do just what the Rams do, and they can create enough room. And they're gonna have to because you got to replace I mean potentially twenty spots or whatever. I mean, some guys will be back, but they they'll

make the room. But they're not going to take a huge bite of the free agent apple. They just don't do that. They're gonna do what they've been doing. And that's a week or two into free agency. Start finding guys on one year deals. Florida teams are about to spend some money. M hmm. It's a cool website. Are you playing around with it? I'm looking at it, you're looking at it. The Bengals have the fourth best situation. I did restructure DAC and now it gave me twenty

eight cap. So even that gives you an opportunity to go and mess around with it a little more. But I still also killed the market Florence and Amari Cooper, So let's back off of that a little bit. You want to back off of that, so I cut a Mari or yeah, only a mari nine million dollars and now I've only cut the Marcus and it's twelve million again with the restructure of God, does that make you better?

Though it doesn't, it doesn't look. Look, we had a situation last year where we still had did money that we were dealing with. I mean, we have it now, absolutely, but some of that dead money's fallen off. I believe, you know was Jerreal McCoy was still there. Obviously, we cut Jalen Smith and paid him just not to be here. So and I think that was the offensive. Yeah. Stop, there's just that dead money situation that we had. I mean, but then again this year, how do we get better?

This has been my thing with cutting Tank. You know, the production, the production has to obviously be there from Tank. I think the foot injury definitely limited him. The only one to me is Coop. That's the big mystery, because if we can't figure out a way to get Cooped the ball, then we're wasting him. And it may not be the conventional wisdom approach, but I really have a problem with the way that we utilize this talents. We just didn't. I don't I don't count people's money, get

all the money. You can, but I can't justify keeping tank. Yeah, you think it's okay to let him go? It would be a post June one cut, so it would take a little bit of time. Tanks making more money than Aaron Donald? Yeah, is he? And look at Aaron Donald. But you're gonna have that anyway with the market value contract. Hear you, hear you, you're listening. I mean, but like, do we do we? Honestly? This is again, this is no shade. I say this to anybody. Do we consider

him to be an elite pass rusher? Be honest? Game changing? No? Thank you? No? I mean, is he thank you? Fifteen sacks a game? No, it's it's it's energy, it's run stop, it's it's pressure. He gets pressure on guys. I think he sets the top. I said this many times, sets tone for the defense. Is he? Is he Aaron Donald? He's not Aeron. No, nobody's Aaron Donald. Nobody's Aaron Donald.

I mean, but when you're my whole thing, if you're gonna pay somebody anything, I know that keep money keeps going up every year, right, So it's kind of hard to look at that. And again, I don't count people's money. But if you're gonna pay that, you need somebody who's gonna freaking you need to make a Parsons. You know what I'm saying. You need to make a Parsons. You need somebody who's like, yeah, he's a madman. You can't

stop him. You can't stop him. Well, and you won without him as well, Like you played a lot of games without him this season and you still won without him. Be fair, there are a lot of quarterbacks that shouldn't make more money than Aaron Donald because of the kind of players. Yeah, because, yeah, absolutely, But now that you have Michael Parsons, why don't you just keep it real with yourself and just say who can play with Michael? At this point, you know, Michael, who do you want

to play with? Let's start asking that question, because if the bazookas out there, we could build around him. Love Treyvon Diggs, He's a part of the future plans. But who's gonna be able to play with eleven? We can't lose Randy Gregory and Tank and think that signing Darren so I'm strong or bringing Terrell Bashim back, it's gonna make our defense. Bashim's under contract regardless, But That's where

it gets complicated, because then what do you do with Ray? Like, yep, can you I mean, you don't want to pay Tank that you turn around and pay Randy X amount of dollars. I wouldn't you want to franchise him at No. Twenty millionpe you don't have You don't have twenty You don't have that at all. I don't know if you want to franchise Dalton Scholtz at eleven you know, we talked about that last week, but don't have that either. Yeah.

The thing with DeMarcus is, I mean, name what were the biggest wins of the season this year for the Cowboys? What were the biggest wins if you had the name your top three favorite wins? Rob New England, Minnesota, m Chargers, maybe Chargers, maybe Charger Chargers. How many of those games was DeMarcus Lawrence apart of maybe one of three? He wasn't He wasn't on the field for any of those games. Chargers game. He was hurt. He got that was the week before that is when he got hurt. That's why

Michael Parsons had to play the defensive end position. That that's a fair point. He did. He added something to the group, though when he came back, he definitely a question about it, like they still one without him. Though, I mean and say, that's the thing right now is you're having to make decisions on this cap situation of limiting the damage is ultimately what the Cowboys off season

is right now. It's limiting the damage. You want to keep as much talent as possible with as little money as possible, and one of the ways that you might have to do that is by getting rid of the markets. And again, this is why these are tough decisions. When you let somebody pay cut. If you go and ask him for not gonna happen, He's gonna take one anyways, but it's not gonna happen. But you have to let guys go that are impact guys for you, and to

be impact guys, it just means that you're you. When you're not present, the team misses you, they miss your presence. That's an impact guy. If I'm if I'm not suited up, the team, they're gonna go on. They might even win the game. But guess what there is that what I bring to the team they were missing that day, right, And I think that I think that d law is an impact player. He's had that identity, he's had the idea. I don't think he's an elite player. There's two different conversations.

That's not to say he has impacts. He has a president. He's physical, it makes motor, all those things. Yeah, you miss him when he's not there. He's gonna hustle, he's gonna do all those things. Pressure quarterback. But how many guys can you get on your roster with that same number that can do what he does? No, That's why that's why this is a legitimate conversation. What do you do? Okay? He has to match production and it hasn't for a long time. Even when he finally got the contract, we

were talking about it last offseason. He was in that conversation of guys who didn't live up to their contract last offseason. And now that it's even they're more extended. So I think that's why it's a conversation that needs to be had. The one thing that I loved about the twenty twenty one Cowboys defense is their ability to put pressure on the quarterback and create those turnovers. You got that because of the defensive linemen and scheme and

defensive linemen. Right when you moved Michael Parsons to the edge, it created the kind of pressure where quarterbacks were getting off the ball early. So what does that say your defense? Your front line is making your linebackers better and sequence making your back half better. So let's get better up front. If Tank isn't going to be a part of that, if we could get two guys by releasing one guy, then I'm all for that. And that's probably gonna come

also from the draft. But that's really guesswork. That's what I'm saying. The free agent portion of it is going to be so much more important, and getting those guys that's been the model of consistency. It's some guy that we just wish a hope works out. You felt pretty good about the draft the last couple of years. I mean, you feel really good about your first round pick in twenty twenty. You feel very good about your twenty twenty

one first round pick. You've drafted well, Draybon Diggs was a second round pick, and look at him, he leads The NFL scouting department is killing it. They're killing or at least the college scouting department. I mean, that's so much from the pro scouting department side, but you feel good about your draft and you got to figure it out there at the same time. So with all that being said, I do want to answer a couple of questions from the fans on the fifties, Antoine Simms asked,

And this goes back to the original segment. He said from Isaiah's statement, let's take from the first part of the season and Joe Burrow from the last part of the season. Who do you guys have going with the team if you were to place them in Dallas at that point moving forward? This is just a fun hypothetical. First half of the season, Dak, last half of the season, Joe Burrow. Who's who would be better to lead that

team moving forward? Because originally in the first segment you're thinking Joe, right, Yeah, I think first half Dak is better in my opinion as a quarterback on a rookie deal. On a rookie deal, No, I would. I mean, I would say to me, Dak was playing as well as anybody in the league ye first half, and that's why I think I don't. And he's not using the calf's train his excuse, So I'm not either down the stretch, different production, different different offense we're talking about, we're talking

first half. I'm going with Joe. Yeah, and the reason, the reason why, and I've said this in gazillion times, I think Dak Dak's success is predicated off of the ability to run the ball. I don't think Dak's a drop back and just throw it at you quarterback. I don't sure. That's not such a big part of this offense all the way up until his first running game. It means your point run game. They have to fix it. Yeah,

they have to. In the first part of the season, run game was a money and that's why the play action became a thing, and Dak would destroy you. If he can run play action, he will pick you apart. However, when there's no play action, it's not the same DAC. Yeah, it's not the same day. And I think you can't

say that about Joe. That's just I mean, I just feel like that statement isn't like an AHA statement because you take most of the quarterbacks in the league, if they have a running game, that makes them substantially better. The elite company, the elite company that you're talking about, And that's why I think that's the conversation correct goes

to that because these guys don't necessarily need that. Joe Burrow was in the Tennessee game, I think a historically amount of times he was sacked, no running game, no nothing, and he still was able to pull it off. But he needed some help from the other quarterback as well. I mean, there's just so many things that happened in the course of a football game where you say, hey, this guy would be more equipped than the other guy.

But Helen, you gave guys Ezekiel Elliott twenty sixteen, Zeke ain't a lot of I mean, come on, man, Joe with that. But I think about guys like Josh Allen. I think about you know, like these are guys that it doesn't matter if they have a run game or not, Like they'll line up and just pick you apart. So there are two of those guys, That's what I'm saying. Like I think about Josh Allen, like Jay, he will pick you apart and guess what if it's not open,

guess what he's doing. He's taking off. Yeah, he's taking off. Is a special case. How many times were gonna say that? Though it's thirty two there's thirty two quarterbacks in this league. You right, in the world. We're talking about the world, right, You're supposed to be the thirty two best in the world. All of them are supposed to be special cases. Yeah, and you want dad to be a special case. And you know they all not though you know they all

I know that. All right, let's take our second break. When we come back, we're gonna build the We're gonna fix this team the only way we know how. And that's why drafting. Well, when we come back, you're on talking Cowboys New Doctor Pepper zero sugar, you deserve it. I do deserve that. You deserve decadent flavor without sugar, and a day at the beach without sand getting everywhere, and a relaxing bath that your children don't interrupt. I deserve all that. It's really just a visual metaphor for

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bend of his brim, and his unbending attitude. A man stetson didn't just protect him from what life through at him. It projected a rugged, unstoppable spirit. Stetson hats are still American made with pride. Right here in Texas, there's still the unofficial crowd of all self respecting cowboys, and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Find a retailer nearest you at Stetson dot com slash Cowboys to talk in Cowboys, whether you're watching from home

or you're cheering in the stands. With Lore lenses, you can see every exciting play book. An appointment at your local assel or experts and see what selor can do for you. See more, do more Lore. Oh Man, you gotta love it. We love our friends over at Esler. All right, Rob, you have no excuse. Oh go go get your asselers. I know, I know the off season, get time. I got time, well time for the second time. Ron, Yeah,

I know. We're about ready to Rob getting like a custom super custom pair made and he's just keeping it on the love a dog on Batman just got a new I don't know, some kind of new vehicle about to come out, speakers in the back like next week, ye fourth right, yeah, yeah, a big exhibition down. I'm not excited about it. I'm not excited about it, right, Well, I don't. I don't ban then Christian Bail. Yeah, I don't know. That's tough. I actually go Bill, Yeah, probably Bill.

I don't like Ben as it. No, you're not a big Robert Pattinson guy. I haven't seen it yet. That's true. It just doesn't. He doesn't feel like a boss man. You gotta give him a shot. I'm gonna give him a shot. I'm gonna watch it. It just doesn't from the previews. The previews didn't get me like that. Oh, I gotta go see this. It's hard to mess up either. Yeah, it's hard to mess up Bruce Wayne. I mean, he's

a billionaires. But every other Batman, every other Batman preview had you ready to go bust down the dog on doors. This one didn't have that vibe, which means maybe it'll be a hope. I am surprised. The ones in the mid nineties were bad. Danny Clooney was Batman and it was just like a cartoon. I wasn't watching it was the other one. Val Kilmer was Batman. Those I don't know. I'm killing my childhood right now. Eighty nine Batman with Keaton and Nicholson. Kyle was like minus twelve then Michael,

that was the Batman, Thank you Batman? Right, Yes, yeah, it was original. I had to have that set when it came out. I had Did you have the automatic rewinder? Don't you don't have automatic reader? You know, you push the button in the pops up, you slide in and you put it back down. It was just like a car. Yeah you No, I didn't have. That was a good stuff. I didn't have it. I know, I knew somebody who had it. It blew my muffing cap when I was that I saw I was like, what is that. They're like,

we didn't see one of these vahs. Find you on? Kyle didn't even know what a DVD. You guys probably got player. That DVD player was like my childhood. I was at the very ti Yeah. I was at the very tail end of the VHS era I had. I had a VHS player in my bedroom as a child. Have you ever manually rewound a cassette? No? I was not a cassette. Did you ever go to Blockbuster? Once? One time? There was one on Hwitt Drive in Waco

that I went to. It's now an auto zone and I went I went there one one once or twice. You were I like, yeah, I think I like ordered veggie tails or something that probably was. Yeah, I was like veggie tails or like Land before time, one of those two. You get a blockbuster, get a laser disc. No, I don't even know what a laser disc is, honestly, but yeah, that's it. Uh, that's that's that's it. That Batman's now all right. I want to I want you to give me my wish lists. What should beby looking

for for Cowboys draft needs? Position wise? What do you want to come out of the draft of And I'm talking high quality first second round guys. If you're if you're going into Day three, so I'll even throw the third round in there. If you're going into day three without this position, you're putting your fist on the table. Dang it. We didn't get the job done the right way. What are those position groups for the Cowboys? Hey, I'm gonna say offensive linemen into interior, Yeah, anterior um need

at least one right exactly. Okay, I'm gonna go linebacker. Wow, Yeah, can't go linebacker. And I'm also gonna say not safe I'm going to corner corner Connery play with Anthony Brown, Treybon Diggs. I need another corner. Lewis Okay, I'm gonna hick my train. I agree all the all three of those about wide receiver. Nobody said wide receiver. Yet you guys send me for Hoko the whole blood like okay to Beck almost see that he picked up the notebook Bible.

Lets you please tell the viewers at home that you were joking. I was not joking. They invest it, he's round pick. I mean he's not an investment. Tell me when you get to April and he's getting paid next year. Where's Amari? Where said? Where's Gallup? I mean you think you think they held onto him all season long, not putting them out there one time? Did not play him this year. Sometimes you just don't want to be wrong. That's a good point. Sometimes you just don't want to

be It happens more than you think. Where's Reggie Robinson? Who exactly I are? Yeah, I'm just saying it's a phantomise. They try to change his position. They did, and then he didn't play on either position, so that the north round pick and also tight end. Let me throw that in there tight end. Okay, so now you've put four must have positions in the first three rounds, we only have three picks. Damn it. That means we're trading back up to go get somebody. Rob, who are your positions?

Offensive line? Interior, offensive line? Give me a tackle too, you can make that one and two for me. I'm with heck on linebacker. I mean, yeah, yeah, that's but like we just we just talked about receiver and defensive ents kind of the same way. It's like, tell me who's coming back yea by late April? Yep. If you're they're not, then all of a sudden, your your draft needs changed dramatically. What what receivers do you guys think

they are coming back? Honestly, with all the releases, trades, whatever, coming back, it's a purely impossible question to answer. I would say it's fifty fifty and I said this the other day. I think it's fifty fifty of mars hereft. That's I don't know, that's the thing. It's say fifty fifty. This is I mean, it's hard to talk about a player that you have under contract that should be a dog in your offense, that isn't why your offensive coordinator. Come on, you don't have to lead me into it.

It's not the player. It's not the players not the player, It absolutely isn't. But we're not using him, and that money's going to waste. And if we're whatever scheme he's trying to put together, whatever he's doing, he's gonna be the scapegoat he is right now. For the money. Yeah, yeah, it's because of a contract. Yeah that's terrible. You got a dog on your team and you're unwinning, unleash them. Terrible, So you get so you so you take him to the pound, so you get in the shot. The question

that was asked was who's gonna be back? And that's that's what happened, right. I don't know turn it. I wouldn't be surprising the way you're gonna bring Turner back. Brown's back, for sure. I mean, there's no way to get with it. I think Centric comes back to a certain So everybody's coming back, but Amory, that's what y'all saying. No, I didn't say everybody. That's our gallup. I don't say. I don't know. If Set's back. Seed might get a

deal where you're like mask yeah, maybe. And if he does, yeah, good for him. I think if a Mari does not come back, I think both Gallup and set are back in some shape fashion, and for him, I think they're both back. I bet you Dallas drafts a receiver, Yeah, I bet you they do. Watch. I think they will. I think they'll probably do it in the second round, maybe third. I'm telling you, I'm guaranteed there was a high opportunity for them to draft a player in the

second order, the third round. Yeah, and you know what, obviously we're gonna get into do we get to talk free agent? We had to talk with some free agent talk here. We will probably will next week. But it's hard to talk free agency when you have twenty one million dollars over the catagory. But what will be your reaction if the Cowboys use a second round pick on a receiver? I'm hey, man, I'm gonna turn over. Are

you gonna need an get ready? Yeah, it's just it's it's gonna be hard to believe, but you know, we probably if some glimmer in his eye over there, I don't know what twinkle it is. I don't like it. I don't like it. You know something get ready. But I don't know that'd be upsetting, but you know, stranger things have happened. But that's the thing is is it really that upsetting? Because if Amari Cooper is not back, where is wide receiver in terms of your needs? Isn't

that why you draft the CD? That's my yes, okay? Is it's CD and semi Phihoko looking at each other in a wider So you're saying Gallup doesn't come back, That's what I'm saying. If none of those guys come back, where's your wide receiver room? Well, you would sign somebody, you would, I mean you would know what that's looking like before the draft, right? No? Yeah, necessarily they well they they always try to cover themselves to some degree. Now would it be the receiving cores that we saw

last year? No, hell no, we no clothes. But but but name there are teams that do more with less, not more with really, but but but can function with elite wide receiving corps. Now maybe I'm talking about Tom Brady, but in his New England days, Okay, he said name name wide receivers. Yeah, it drafted wide receivers, right, yeah? Uh. George Pickens Georgia, Justin Ross Clemson, maybe Alec Pierce Cincinnati,

Jalen Tilbert's Southern Alabama or South Alabama. Okay, Yeah, those are four guys that are right around that second third round range that could potentially be there. Man, And is this gonna be like a best player available kind of situation when you get to your pick. I think that we just can't turn this. So that's going to be the philosophy in twenty twenty two draft room. I think at twenty four, yes, honestly, yeah, first three rounds, I would say yes, for sure. I think then you'd fill

in the needs after that. But it's been that way the last two years, and you feel pretty good about it. Ceedee Lamb was drafted. Yeah, Lamb guy drafted, and that wasn't the number one need. Wide receiver was not a need in that spot. But everybody was pumped about CD Lamp. Is there a CD in his draft? Uh? No, nobody had have above CD. But there's good wide receivers. I'm not saying draft him at twenty four. I don't think you're going to see a first round receiver. I can't

do that, don't. I don't think there's a first round receiver that you would draft as the Cowboys at twenty four because of your needs moving forward. Second round, Yeah, I think there's a good possibility that they could maybe draft somebody as a pass catcher, make a lot of

people angry. I wouldn't be surprised if it's offensive line, defensive line in round one, then you would go receiver, linebacker round two, and then corner, And these are just the options that are available, not multiple picks in that draft. And then I would say corner, tight end maybe rounds three and four, something like that. That's probably the way it's shaping up with my thought process. Where did you have offensive line first first round? Yeah? First round because yeah,

I wouldn't wait on that there. Although, look, man, you move LC to left guard if he wants to do that, uh, Terrence Steele at right tackle? Then maybe you saw things for a year. Yeah, so we try to save things. We're on to moving LC to left guard. Now, I would I think it was I think it's something they definitely need to look at. Yep, because you don't have a lot of resources to do anything else, so shuffle

it around. I thought I thought they should have taken a harder look at it during the season is easier. In this draft, the draft a right tackle or a left garden probably tackle Ard. It would be tackle the guy from Texas and him. They might not be there. That's the thing. There's a huge drop off of guys interior wise. There's Linderbaum Tyler Linderbaumb out of Iowa and then Kenyon Green out of out of Texas, A and m. Those are your two interior guys that you hope falls

to twenty four. Both of those guys are most likely to be gone by the time twenty four gets to you. After that, there's a significant drop off between those guys that where you would probably rather take a linebacker and edge rusher. Yeah, Nakobe Dean, he may not be there either, come on, but there's there's possibilities there as opposed to I guess drafting random people from other positions like we've

seen happened in the past draft. Oh his first round draft pickle, I think your knees would get knocked at the combine pretty much combine? Are you yes? Oh? Gosh speak that got resolved real quick in a hurry. It did. We could have talked about that today, but darn well, you guys will get to talk plenty of combine. Next week. I will be in Indianapolis, so you guys will get a phone call from me. It's next week. Gee. I leave on Sunday. I will be back two weeks from now.

But I'll be on the on the show next week. I believe HECMO will probably be hosting this again. Turned down your headphones prior to Yeah No, that's very happy today. Good performance you guys. Great show. Got through an entire hour and that's all I'm here for. That does it for us. You're on Talking Cowboys presented by Tostitos. For Chris Beam in the back, Rob Phillips says as stand back, heck my Harrison, I'm Kyle Yeoman's We'll see you next week.

You are Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.