We wrap up our series of NFC East offseason reviews with a look at the Dallas Cowboys, who will try to become the first team since the Eagles in 2004 to repeat as winners of the division. The Cowboys play the Redskins in Washington in Week 8 and in Dallas in Week 13.
Record in 2016: 13-3, finished first in NFC East.
Who’s in: DE Taco Charlton (R1), Chidobe Awuzie (R2), CB Jourdan Lewis (R3), S Xavier Woods (R6), CB Marquez White (R6), G Jonathan Cooper (FA), T Byron Bell (FA), CB Nolan Carroll (FA), S Robert Blanton (FA),
Who’s out: QB Tony Romo, T Doug Free, G Ronald Leary, CB Brandon Carr, CB Morris Claiborne, S J.J. Wilcox
Good job: They acted like a team that went 13-3 last year.
Hop aboard the way-back machine and set the dial to the far-off time of, oh, say, July 2016. Make your way to the northern part of Texas. Start telling the locals that a man by the name of Romo is not long for their football world, and see how they react.
OK, so there are a few potential logistical hangups in playing that situation out, but you can imagine that would seem like a problem, right? But Romo was released, and yet the entire tenor of the Cowboys offseason was reasonable and muted.
The ineffective dangling of Romo as trade bait turned into a bit of a charade but, ultimately, Dallas didn’t make any splashy moves in free agency, replacing significant losses in the secondary with Carr going to the Ravens, Claiborne to the Jets and Wilcox to the Buccaneers through savvy draft choices of Awuzie and Lewis. Next year, they’ll reap the benefits of doing so via the compensatory draft pick system.
Jerry Jones and Co. briefly flirted with Adrian Peterson but smartly held pat. They used their first-round pick to address a team need.
Good job: They helped their pass rush by selecting defensive end Charlton at No. 28.
Coordinator Rod Marinelli has a reputation for getting the most out of his players, but he’s developed that in Dallas by manufacturing a pass rush with pieces that didn’t bring a lot to the table to begin with, talent-wise.
Charlton is a first-round talent from a deep defensive draft who, aside from having one of the best endorsement deals in the league with a Taco Bueno sponsorship, is the first pass rusher the Cowboys have taken in the first round in a decade. Charlton collected 10 sacks last season; the Cowboys altogether had just 34 sacks last season with no player getting more than Benson Mayowa’s six individually. Dallas is counting on Charlton, and word out of The Star is that the team is still worried about its lack of a pass rush, but drafting Charlton was a step in the right direction.
Bad job: The Cowboys let their offensive line take a step back.
While they still have superlative players in left tackle Tyron Smith and center Travis Frederick, the Cowboys line doesn’t look like quite the superlative group that it was last season.
The line took a hit with departures of right tackle Free, who retired, and guard Leary, who signed in Denver as a free agent.
They signed Cooper, an often-injured former first-round pick who couldn’t make it work in Arizona or New England, and equally frustrating tackle Bell. A healthy La’el Collins should help, though Collins seems to be moving over to Free’s spot at right tackle, leaving his old left guard spot open. There’s still a lot of talent in this group, but less depth and an interruption in continuity.
Typical, but still bad: Everyone is suspended.
OK, not everyone, and only defensive lineman Randy Gregory’s suspension of at least a year will directly impact the Redskins, who don’t play Dallas until Week 8. Still, it’s not good for a team from a depth perspective or a team-building and chemistry perspective to have multiple players, including stars, missing games due to suspension.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter last week, running back Ezekiel Elliott was already bracing for a short suspension stemming from his alleged domestic violence incident in 2015. (Note: this is curious, because the mandated suspension for a domestic violence incident is supposed to be six games.) Then, Elliott was pulled over for speeding 100 miles-per-hour in a 70 miles-per-hour zone, and then he was accused of punching a man in a Dallas nightclub. Though the Dallas Police Department has now dropped the case because witnesses have refused to come forward, the NFL is doing its own investigation.
Defensive end David Irving is also suspended the first four games of the season for a substance abuse violation. That’s a minimum loss of 20 games combined, and a rising star who seems to struggle with the spotlight on him.
Bottom line: Seismic changes weren’t needed, so they didn’t make any. In Jerryworld, that’s a good sign.
• Nora Princiotti can be reached at nprinciotti@washingtontimes.com.
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