Cowboys should make a valiant attempt to resign Hatcher and Spencer.
It’s been 18 years since the Cowboys have been to the Super Bowl.
That’s a long time.
18 years sense Brown intercepted O’Donnell. Twice.
18 years sense Dallas finally avenged their previous Super Bowl losses to Pittsburg.
At first, this was all I could think of as I watched Denver and Seattle play last night. The game got out of hand so early I could not help but think about the last time Dallas had made to the super bowl, or even make some noise in the playoffs.
The past few weeks there have been a lot of changes out of Valley Ranch concerning the Cowboy’s coaching staff. All of which were big win’s for Jason Garrett. His hands are on the reigns of this team now, even if Jerry is the one riding shotgun.
So what’s next? How do the Cowboys go from where they are to where they need to be in order to take their next step?
Defense.
That is not a new idea. Plenty of people have been preaching the importance improving this team’s defense for a while, but if the Cowboys want to see themselves playing in a Super Bowl anytime soon they are going to have to buckle down and focus on free agency and the amateur draft so that they can turn this defense around.
Forget having a good draft. This team needs to have a great one. First though, they need to hit a home run in free agency.
The front office needs to be doing everything it can to create space in the salary cap. In the past this has been reworking money and pushing it off to be paid out in another year of the contract. A lot of the reason the Cowboys find themselves in this situation is because of this practice.
So what does that mean?
It means that some players who under performed last year need to either take pay cuts similar to what Doug Free did last year, deals with incentives that allow them earn closer to what they would have if they play up to the original contract, players like Miles Austin, and to a certain extent DeMarcus Ware.
Now don’t misunderstand me. I think this team is better with both of them on the team then off of it, but their lack of production hurt this team last year and if they have years that look similar in 2014 it only puts the Cowboys in worse shape going forward if they play for their current cap amounts.
They need to create this room in order to try and bring back Anthony Spencer and Jason Hatcher.
In my mind Dallas needs to try and come out of free agency and the draft with two defensive tackles and two defensive ends that can play in this system well. By bringing back Hatcher and Spencer it cuts those needs on the defensive line in half and allows you to take the best players available to you in the draft.
Spencer is going to be the easier of the two to sign. Coming of injury and if the market for defensive ends is anything like it was last year then bringing him back should not be an issue. Put him in a rotation with George Selvie and I think it helps them both stay fresh to attack the quarterback.
Where it might get tricky is Jason Hatcher. The man is looking to get paid after a phenomenal season and a carrier of playing in a system that didn’t highlight his talents and I don’t blame him.
He is on the wrong side of 30 though, and teams typically do not value defensive tackles as much as say a defensive end.
John Abraham, who is turned 35 this season, signed with the Cardinals last offseason for 2 years/$4.6 million total. Dwight Freeney, 33, got a 2 year/ S8.75 million contract with the Chargers. Both of them play end and have multiple Pro Bowl appearances so Hatcher might be hard pressed to find offers that exceed that range, let alone some big pay day.
If that is the case then the Cowboys definitely have a shot to resign him to a cap friendly deal that would allow him to finish his carrier in Dallas but the Cowboys will have to milk every last penny out of their cap to make it happen.
Dallas has already created some room by signing Dan Bailey to a new contract. Instead of having to pay him a second round tender as a restricted free agent they saved over $300,000 by signing him to the deal. They will have to do more though to make the changes necessary for them to compete at a higher level in 2014 and beyond.
The first step is resigning Hatcher and Spencer.
