I love Dallas being broke 2014 edition
One down, one more to go. This free agency period hurt a little (demarcus) but the plan stayed the same.
Step 1. Sign no one (of reasonable interest or financial significance)
Step 2. Wait wait wait. Being that on Monday we entered in the red (no money) and by the 4pm start of free agency we were less cash-strapped. This put us in the perfect situation to prove to the world we have changed. We can have money (even a little) and do nothing day 1.
Step 3. Make our moves on May 8th and 9th. Yes the NFL draft ends on the 10th but our moves come on day one and two.
This process is year 2 of the 3 year process. It's not something we planned or even like, but it's necessary. We always hear the word from fans. BUILD THROUGH THE DRAFT because we've been programed to know that is a reasonable way to build a franchise. On a day like today I heard "who are guys we picked up today"? Referring to Terrell McCain and Jeremy Mincey. The two defensive linemen we did sign via free agency. What happened to building through the draft? You know what happened. Most people that say it, they only say it because they hear it so much they "think" it's the right thing to say. We hear it so much we think it's the right think to do. The problem is that fans don't want it that way. We want to sign the name. We want to sign the guy we know. We want to sign the guy we can also draft in our fantasy football drafts in September! That's sexy. That's fun, that's what we can talk to our friends about. What we can't talk to our about. BUILDING through the draft. Not talking about the sweet SEC player we for in the first round.
That's not building. Building comes in the 2nd round. Sean Lee. Building comes in the 3rd round. Jason Witten. Building comes in the 4th round. Doug Free. Building comes in the 5th round. Orlando Scandrick.
As I said in the beginning. One down, one more to go. That was eluding to the 3 year plan. Last year was the first year. No one was really happy with the seasons end but we got through a building year. This year is year two of a building years and next year will be the end. I say build and not rebuilding is because people suggest every team is rebuilding is 80 garbage. The Bills are not rebuilding. The Raiders are not rebuilding and the Jacksonville Jaguars are damn sure not rebuilding.
The Dallas Cowboys are not rebuilding. Teams that haven't been to the post season in 4 years don't rebuild there are starting from the bottom. The Giants are rebuilding because they've won recently. The steelers are rebuilding. They've won recently. We are building. Last year we came out of the season with our offensive line built. Its not finished but baring horrible injuries from our two 1 round linemen it's building.
This year's free agency targets helped with the building of the defensive line. The key piece should come in the draft to finish the defensive line. When this season is over if all things go according to plan we can have a defensive line as good as the offensive. If things go better than expected maybe we make the playoff.
Post season or not in 2015 we will be where a decent franchise should be. Solid line play on both sides of the ball. In 2014 there will undoubtedly be a section of the team that needs fixing. My guess is outside linebacker or safety. It won't be as bas as what happened this year on the d line or last year and the o line. Good news is that we will go into the draft able to fix it. Our cap situation in 2015 will force us to finish the 3 year plan. But by 2014-2015, Dallas should have made the playoff but should be in a position to stay there. That's how you build a team and do it using the draft.
