Dallas Cowboys Free Agency 2009….

Well, Free Agency is here and it didn’t take long for the spending spree begins. Washington has already forked out about $154 million in contracts for two players. Something tells me they will not get their money’s worth. That is typically the case in Free Agency throughout history. Many times you over pay for players who may have over played for that one big contract and then will let up once they get it, or you overpay for that play that is on the decline…sometimes they just do not fit with the team make-up and system. Still it never hurts to look at who is out there and who could help fill holes with the Cowboys:

First, I really want to look at the Safety Role – especially Free Safety.
Atogwe would have been great – but now he is untouchable since the Rams franchised him. I’d like to see the Cowboys look at some young up-and-coming guys:
Jarrad Page, James Butler, Sean Jones, Jermaine Phillips, Renaldo Hill, Yeremiah Bell, James Sanders, Baker has shown some potential, and Sensabauch would be great if he was not such a major problem off the field making him untouchable. Then you can keep Keith Davis, but some of these guys are better and younger, he is a good leader in the locker room, though I hear, but on the field is what I want to see. Row Williams will need to be traded. I would think the Cowboys could at the very least get a third rounder for him.

Second I go to Linebacker…the Cowboys could use a strong field General out there:
Needless to say Ray Lewis and Takeo Spikes would be huge pickups. Ray Lewis would be a better leader, but I think Spikes would not a big drop off. After this you can try to look at young and potential:
Bart Scott, Jonathan Vilma would work well if he can stay out of trouble, Michael Boley, Rocky Boiman, Cato June, Andre Davis, and Paris Lenon (little older).
They need to keep Ware – but man he is going to be expensive.

Third I will look at a position that probably is not quite so necessary to look at but could use another piece especially for depth, the cornerback.
Dre’ Bly really intrigues me here. He would be great opposite of Newman. Some other guys who have been around who could complement well with Newman: Phillip Buchanon, Kevin Dockery is young and has a lot of potential but he is restricted,
Leigh Bodden, Andre Goodman, Jabari Greer is young and very good as well, Chris Johnson, Bryan McFadden form the champion Steelers, Deltha O’Neal is good – but getting a little older, and I like Ron Bartell as a versatile DB.

Forth I will look at the back-up QB. We have to have something better then what we had last year – This position cost the Cowboys the playoff last year.
Rex Grossman has shown interest in the Cowboys – but I would say he is a big upgrade but I do think he is better then what we had last year, Byron Leftwich would be a great pick-up, I think Joey Harrington is even better then what we had last year, People have shown a lot of interest in Chris Simms, but I am not so sold on him, yet he’d be an upgrade. I’d love to see Leftwich here, but I guess we’ll have to see. They have to get someone.

Fifth we could look at the Tight End position since Tony Curtis is probably gone. Cowboys Tight Ends are important to this offense and they get beat up a lot. Some people have talked about Dan Campbell coming back – simply for his leadership, which could be good – I’m a little mixed on it though. Mark Campbell would be a better Campbell to pick up as far s on the field play. Owen Daniels would be a great young pick up in this position – which would solidify this position for a long time. Jeremy Stephens is a decent pick up here as well. I’d love to see the Cowboys get Owens. This would provide a very strong TE position with three guys who could be moved around and in and out to stay fresh.

Sixth I will look at receiver. I’d like to see some young and fast guys looked at here. The Cowboys have talked for years about getting a guy opposite of Owens (assuming he will still be here) to help stretch the field. Obviously there is T.J Houshmendzadeh, who would be huge and of course they could look into trading for Bolden, but after these two the talent does drop off a bit. Laveranues Coles could be a good pick up, Jabar Gaffney is a good position receiver, Devery Henderson showed some great potential, Michael Jenkins looks promising, Lance Moore looked pretty good as well, and then there is Nate Washington who fits that speedy guy who could spread the field mold they want. If they choose to trade/release TO (hopefully trade so they get something – I think the Raiders would give up a lot for him) it will be a necessity to at least pick up one of those top guys and probably a good complement as well. I hope, if they get rid of TO, that it is only by trade and nothing more. He still has very high value and they need to get a return if they give that value up.

Seventh, they need to decide on Chris Canty. He is doing well in the 3-4 system and has great value because of this, but there are some good players out there if they do end up losing out on him. Kalimba Edwards is a good player, Anthony Weaver is pretty good, Kenechi Udeze showed potential while he was playing, Igor Oshansky, and Michael Montgomery is a young potential player from Texas. Of course there is Julius Peppers – but he is untouchable due to that Franchise Tag again. They also need to look at Tank and more then likely his replacement. Rocky Bernard would be great, Dwan Edwards was good in 2007 since he missed all of 2008 – he is probably a big risk because of his back, Kendric Golston I think has a lot of potential, Anthony Montgomery seems to have some potential as well, Darrell Reid, Dewayne Robertson, Gabe Watson looked great with the NFC champs but he is restricted, and Ellis Wyms. There are some good players out there that could fill in those gaps.

Finally for the Offensive Line…The Cowboys pretty much are retaining all their parts from last year, but the offensive line seemed to really break down last year and I still do not think they are as good as they think. There are some good guys out there, many of which are restricted, who could be upgrades and add some depth for that O-line. I hope the Cowboys look at what is out there and evaluate.
I still think the Draft is the best way to build your team and then you can fill in some of the gaps with Free Agency and the Cowboys have some gaps – especially from a leadership role, which need to be addressed and a Rookie could not come in and take that Leadership Role the Cowboys desperately need. So this will need to be addressed in Free Agency. I guess there is a lot to watch and see what will happen. I hope the Cowboys turn things around this year. They really need to come up big so they can open up the new Cowboy’s Stadium with a great team. This team can be great, with just a key addition here and there – mainly in a leadership role. Yet if they consider releasing and or trading some big components, they will open up more holes which will need to be filled. That is fine as long as they fill those holes and get good value for what they let go of. I guess we’ll have a better idea in the next few weeks leading up to the draft. Good luck to the ‘Boys – They’ll need it here in 2009.