What would a day in the offseason be without your Cowboys linkies? You must eat them to keep you strong, and warm in the winter!
Routt to visit Chiefs, three others | ProFootballScout.com
Well, it appears the Cowboys wanted to do more than just talk with recently released cornerback Stanford Routt. He has scheduled a visit to Dallas; one of four teams the DB will meet with this week. The others; the Chiefs (obviously), Texans and Titans. I have a feeling Routt is going to become a fanbase dividing entity the longer this plays out. He has stats that can excite and scare you, and it will all come down to how much money he's looking for and the team is willing to pay him. I'm sure the club already has a figure in their head and that will be hashed out at the in-person interview later this week.
Routt visited with the Buffalo Bills on Monday and will launch his other stops in KC on Tuesday.
Cowboys expected to be among bidders to host Super Bowl L | ProFootballTalk.com
When May rolls around, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones hopes to get a chance at a do over. It appears he will attempt to right the wrongs from January 2011, and show that North Texas really isn't the land of the Ice Capades. Super Bowl L is the next un-awarded title game, and Jones told Daniel Kaplan of Sports Business Journal that he "absolutely" would make a bid. Super Bowl XLV was a disaster on a couple fronts, but the thing that got everyone in a foul mood was a rare ice storm that shut an unprepared Dallas/Arlington area down.
More...
Dallas Cowboys hire Joe Baker assistant secondary coach | ESPN Dallas
As expected the Cowboys hired former Buccaneers assistant Joe Baker today, to assist Jerome Henderson with the secondary coaching. This hiring rounds out the staff for head coach Jason Garrett. Baker was a receiver that played at Princeton during the same timeframe when Garrett was quarterback.
Staubach to receive Lamar Hunt Award | KansasCity.com
Roger Staubach,the two-time Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys, will receive the 2011 Lamar Hunt Award for Professional Football.
The award honors the life and legacy of Lamar Hunt while recognizing people who have helped shaped the National Football League into the preeminent sports league in America.
Staubach will be honored at the 42nd Annual NFL 101 Awards gala in Kansas City Saturday, March 3 at the Westin Crown Center.
Cowboys offensive line thoughts | ESPN NFL Nation Blog
An entire article discussing the Cowboys offensive line play of last year and prospects for 2012, and not once did they mention Montrae Holland's solid play after being brought back into the fold after his release. I don't think Holland is under much consideration, but geesh.
0 recs | 71 comments
Stanford Routt
Judging from what others have said about him on BTB, he both intrigues and worries me. I feel like if he is on the team Rob Ryan can find a way to make him productive. But it all depends on how much he wants. No need to break the bank on him.
Dezisabeast88 - February 14, 2012
market value
All depends on the $s. If nothing else, Routt being out there might push down the corner market a bit (supply & demand and all that) so the 2d tier guys like Tracy Porter (in my mind a more likely target than Grimes of Finnegan) are more affordable.
DB23 - February 14, 2012
The penalties kill him
He’s okay besides that.
Omar Little - February 14, 2012
and as noted the Raiders franchise seems to embrace taking as many penalties as possible
they not only consistently lead the league in penalties but also personal fouls, suggesting that its more than just players who dont know how to play that maybe its the coaches setting them up for that and lack of discipline/control
but his last year with RR he had only 5(?) penalties the entire season
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 - February 14, 2012
Even then he's still not great.
He’s had one season where he positive ratings by PFF, if he does play “dirty” (not as in Rodney Harrison dirty, but commits a lot of penalties) it could be that the illegal parts of his game helps him in coverage. If that’s the case his coverage could be worse than it looks at first blush./
Omar Little - February 14, 2012
still i'd rather have him than Newman
and trust that RR can utilize him best and mask his deficiencies
He’s committing penalties because he’s sticking to his man. Newman cant even commit those type of penalties because he’’s getting burnt after giving a 20 yard cushion
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 - February 14, 2012
Well yeah...
I’d rather have a Jamel Flemming than Newman.
Omar Little - February 14, 2012
No street FA is going to be great, let's be realistic here
Terry - February 14, 2012
I agree you can coach some of the penatlies out of him
Look at Jenkins, he had 8 PI’s called in 2010 but 0 called last year
somebodyquiet - February 14, 2012
I'd sign Stanford Routt
I know most of us like Grimes as the option, but Routt is a better athlete, is taller, faster, and has comparable stats. Both by the way are the same age.
Routt for his career: over 200 tackles, 50 pass deflections, and 10 INTs.
Grimes for his career: over 200 tackles, 54 pass deflections, and 13 INTs.
Routt’s 40 time was ~4.27 to 4.29
Grimes’ 40 time was 4.55
Yeah, Routt had penalty issues in Oakland, but so did Nnamdi. In 2010, Nnamdi had 9 penalties called against him, and Routt had 11. This was a coaching issue, as the Raiders are typically one of the most penalized teams.
I think Rob and Jerome can fix this.
Rohpuri - February 14, 2012 via mobile
I really don't
know how much the penalty thing should effect signing the guy. The big question is what was the completion percentage against him? And even that has to be measured against the the QBs and WRs he is playing against and the defensive schemes i.e. man versus zone coverage. The latest data I could find showed that Routt got targeted a lot because he played with Nnamdi but when looking at coverage snaps versus completions, he is a top twenty corner. I’ll take him right now. He’s better than what we’ve got.
jevans1729 - February 14, 2012
But for how much?
IMO, 5 years and 20 mil would be a steal. 5 years and 35 mil would be the upper threshold, not sure how good i would feel about that. Depends on how much the other CBs get and how back loaded it would be.
Becho - February 14, 2012
feel like I should amend..
5 mil a year seems like a bargin. 7 mil a year seems reasonable. 9 mil a year is probably on the high end but a backloaded deal would be tolerable
Becho - February 14, 2012
feel like I should amend
5 mil a year seems like a bargin. 7 mil a year seems reasonable. 9 mil a year is probably on the high end but a backloaded deal would be tolerable
Becho - February 14, 2012
I would offer
the five year and 35 mil deal with a 15mil gurantee10 mil signing bonus. The guy will be 29 by the start of camp. Make sure the gurantee is paid in three years. That way if you have to cut him after three years, it will only hurt you the amount of the signing bonus that is left. You can also accelerate the signing bonus to be like 3,333,333 per year and salaries of 1,666,666 the first three years. The last two years would be at 10mil per each. Just an example.
jevans1729 - February 14, 2012
Defensive penalties are some of the most crucial plays in a game
1. Because in most cases they result in an automatic first down regardless of the penalty yardage
2. They can result in huge gains in most pass interference cases
3. They can wear down the defense and keep them on the field
4. Too many times are you able to look back at the course of the game, and pinpoint a big defensive penalty that had a huge impact on the outcome.
For these 4 reasons, and probably more that I can’t think of this early in the morning, I WOULD NOT go out and sign one of the most penalized defensive backs in the game, he may be tall, he may be fast, but his penalties are usually a result of one thing, the man gets beat on numerous occasions. In the long wrong, over the course of his career, he’s probably cost his team more games than he’s won. Please Jerry, just stay away.
KJDH2154 - February 14, 2012
The long wrong?
I suppose that is a much bigger problem than the short wrong. Perhaps tanstaafl will elucidate us.
Tom Ryle - February 14, 2012
Don't get Lieutenant Tan started
We’ll have links to ancient Persian Art, quotes from 12th century philosophers, and my Acme decoder needs new batteries.
White Wolf - February 14, 2012
Acme?!
C’mon, you use a far superior model to interpret the flawed encodings in these feeble attempts to keep wolfie’s wiley from becoming Wile E.
tanstaafl - February 14, 2012
Yeah
For some reason the rockets gave me a throbbing headache. And so much for that far superior model. I went through a similar life change after my last fan post.
White Wolf - February 14, 2012
Sammed, tossed or Tebowed?
tanstaafl - February 15, 2012
Romo'd
In the spirit of Cabo’s vain vain to the core of my veins.
Er, okay tossed.
White Wolf - February 15, 2012
Haha, touche
This could be a combination of many things
1. I was thinking in my head that I was wrong the whole time I was writing it
2. I was thinking how wrong it would be to actually sign him
3. It was 5:22am and I was barely awake
I’m going to go with 3. But I will correct myself, I meant long run. But I don’t blame a front page writer for catching it and pointing it out, considering they’re on grammar watch with every story they write.
KJDH2154 - February 14, 2012
Long wrong's...
… holding significant investments longterm when their value’s decreasing. C’mon, ya knew man (<—-).
Then again, there’re far more serious long wrongs.
tanstaafl - February 14, 2012
You have to concede ...
that if Routt was getting penalities, that means he was close enough to his man to put his hands on him. That, in itself, is an upgrade over some of our corners who wheren’t even close enough to the wide receiver to hit him with a 10 foot pole.
But in all seriousness, penalities are fixable. If Routt was being forcd to play techniques that he wasn’t used to, then he may be out of position at times.
This is a kind of signging that I would have no problems the Cowboys making. If Rob Ryan thinks he can fix whatever caused him to get released, then we can probably get more player than the money we are spending. <— that is how you build a winning football team, find guys who can overperform their contract.
Conn Cowboy - February 14, 2012
Show me a player
that really reduced penalties? Have not heard of any.
burmafrd1944 - February 14, 2012
because those stats aren't readily available
Find me where those stats can be found and I’m sure that I’ll be able to find lots of players who have reduced their penalties.
Conn Cowboy - February 14, 2012
How about Mike Jenkins
Didn’t his penalty numbers dropped a ton this past season?
Hobbes42 - February 14, 2012
From eight (one of which was declined) in 2010 to zero in 2011.
One.Cool.Customer - February 14, 2012
zero?
That’s impressive. Really if he could just stay injury free, he made his 1st probowl at a much younger age than Terrance Newman did
AustonianAggie - February 14, 2012
Newman was 25
when he was drafted. It makes a difference.
jevans1729 - February 14, 2012
well yeah but Newman didn’t make the probowl until 2009; his 6th year and Jenkin’s 2nd I believe
AustonianAggie - February 14, 2012
I still have high hopes for Jenkins
He showed a lot of heart last year playing through so many different injuries
somebodyquiet - February 14, 2012
Raiders play a bunch of bump and run heavy man to man schemes with little to no safety help
with these new rules protecting the offense its no shock why they rack up so many penalties
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 - February 14, 2012
Yes the ice was bad for the Dallas SB, but the seating fiasco is what sticks in peoples minds.
Come on the cowboys were out of the race by week 6, they have no one to blame but themselves(Jerry, Stadium, Arlington).
And hopefully Superbowl L will be enough for them to drop the roman numeral gig. Can we just say Superbowl 50!
thebigham - February 14, 2012
not for me
I think people pretend to be concerned with other people’s problems, but in reality only pay lip service for the most part. The seating problem affected the couple thousand people without seats… Sure it made great copy and was an unforgiveable mistake.
The lack of the cities ability to handle the ice and snow removal, meaning that 10’s of thousands of people couldn’t enjoy themselves for their entire 4-5 day multi-thousand dollar trip, I would think, had a lot more affect on the overall mood of Dallas’ ability to pull off the huge event.
KD Drummond - February 14, 2012
Sure, but they never can handle snow.
My best bud lives down there and they basically treat snow like it never happens and to just let it melt. Its not like the north east at all.
The potential safety of the seats and the lack of preparation which resulted in people missing out is a huge problem. They had a year and one main goal, to be able hold all the people and failed.
thebigham - February 14, 2012
yeah Texas in general does not factor "winter weather" into its state budget
seriously they have one salt truck per county down here. Numerous times I have had school cancelled for a half inch of ice/snow that melted away by noon and by 3 pm it was 75 degrees out
its so rare they feel like why waste the money for prevention. if it happens oh well but I doubt it will. like this past weekend where i lived it snowed over the weekend and not one weather forecast predicted it but it was gone by the end of the day and now its 70 degrees out again in the middle of February where as 2/3 of the country is dealing with snow and sub-40 degree temperature
starbury_to_s-jaxci2000 - February 14, 2012
Well it's not a terrible way to do things.
I mean you can do better, but really…if it’s just a few days a year who cares?
Omar Little - February 14, 2012
Not North Dakota
Picture Southern New Mexico in the winter and you will understand the current conditions in the state.
Jessy S - February 14, 2012
One salt truck per county?? Really?
I dont know the exact number but I know its not 1 per county. Hyperbole at its finest.
Do you all know how rare it is for Dallas to get an ice storm? For Dallas to get snow/ice that actually sticks to the ground for more than 2 days? When this was actually happening, meteorologists said that the metroplex hadn’t seen anything like this in over 100 years. How can you blame the people for not being prepared for weather they had never seen? This isn’t Detriot, New York or Chicago where that kind of weather is expected.
Feb 4, 2012: High 56, low 44, no precip
Feb 4, 2011: High 29, low 19, 2.6 inches of snow
Feb 4, 2010: High 44, low 41, .23 inches of rain
Feb 4, 2009: High 55, low 26, no precip
Feb 4, 2008: High 82, low 69, no precip
Avgs for Feb 4 in recorded history in Dallas/Fort Worth:
Mean temp: 48
Mean high: 58
Mean low: 37
Stats don’t lie. No ‘eye test’ needed for this one, though. I’m sure NY will have their usual weather & people will say “see Dallas should’ve been prepared like this” and that’s just asinine.
Hopefully, the committee does their research and realizes that the likelihood of that weather happening again in this area is very slim. Hopefully, they’re not stuck in the mindset of ‘well it happened the one time we were there, must happen all the time’ because thats completely false.
MicThaRock - February 16, 2012 via Android app
Just goes to show how many people on BTB live in DFW, or have even spent an extended period of time here.
MicThaRock - February 16, 2012 via Android app
I agree with you, Bigham. The seating fiasco was unforgivable. Freakish weather happens sometimes, but not having those seats ready to go was just flat out stupid.
Seanrude - February 15, 2012
Yeah
The people want to be entertained, and snow should have factored into the planning. Plows and ice trucks could have been rented from other areas of the country. Granted it is winter, but I am sure that some portions of the west coast could have let some of their trucks go to the Super Bowl site. If I am the NFL, there is no way that Super Bowl L would get awarded to the metroplex. I would hold the game in Edson, Kansas before considering the metroplex. (Reference to SBNation’s own Jon Bois.)
Jessy S - February 14, 2012
"New Jersey" stadium is also remote and away from the hotels and entertainment like Cowboys stadium is.
Snow/ice storms are random in north Texas. The metroplex has no reason to spend public tax money on snow removal equipment.
But snow is common in NY/NJ. I am rooting for a major super bowl sunday snow storm in NY/NJ harder than ya’ll were rooting for the meteor this year. I will LMAO when the SB is delayed for hours or even suspended because they need to shovel 2 feet of snow out of the seats in Meadowlands stadium and the roads.
fs65 - February 14, 2012
Anything to rid the world of Jets and Giants fans is okay by me.
Leave the north of 25th street alone though, except Queens, but that goes without saying.
Omar Little - February 14, 2012
Stanford Routt
He will definitely be an upgrade over Terence Newman. Not that that is that difficult to do.
Mighty Blue Star - February 14, 2012
Routt would be an upgrade over any CB on the Dallas Roster
this would also allow Dallas to stay away from the 2 pot head CBs at pick 14. Oakland had to cut Routt bc they had the depth & needed to spend the money on other positions.
like someone above stated with his stats, Routt is a top 12 CB in the NFL & will probably play the LCB
DCNation73 - February 14, 2012
All pot heads are not bad ask NE how they like their pot head #81
Coop1228 - February 14, 2012 via iPhone app
Your characterization
of Fitzpatrick does not coincide with the facts. The pot was found in a car he (Dre) was riding in and the driver admitted it was his. Evidently, no pot was found on Dre. Here is a link. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1055721-dre-kirkpatrick-former-alabama-cb-has-possession-charges-dismissed Of course you can continue to villify the guy if you so choose.
jevans1729 - February 14, 2012
For the right price, why the hell not??
He certainly can’t be any worse than our CBs, thats for sure.
Terry - February 14, 2012
Routt and Holland
Agree with the sentiment that for the right price, why not bring the guy in! I’m willing to trust Rob Ryan and Jerome Henderson, if they believe he will be a productive player for them, I’m good with that. He can’t possibly be any worse than Newman or Alan Ball!! Good point on Holland to KD, he did a nice job for them when he came in last year. Not super, but certainly decent! Deserved a little mention at least.
Hobbes42 - February 14, 2012
A cornerback that's visiting 5 teams doesn't come at the right price. He goes to the highest bidder.
If it’s a deep cornerback draft, why not look elsewhere with your FA money, and take what the draft gives you? Guards and cornerbacks in the draft. DL, safety, and center in FA. If a NT like Poe, Chapman, or Ta’amu falls to you in the 2nd or 3rd, Rat is your new pass rushing DE. There’s so many holes to fill, throwing massive coin at one player is probably not a good strategy. That’s not the Cowboys free agent tendency in recent years anyway.
White Wolf - February 14, 2012
not true
at 29 years old & already paid from playing in Oakland i see him wanting to win. i’m sure he doesnt want to play for peanuts but a chance at winning a SB has to be worth something.
Dallas & the Texans both have pieces to win & i wouldn’t be surprised to see him sign with either team.
i’d still take what the draft gives me but it’d allow Dallas to pass on the 2 pot heads projected at 14 & move down to take one or go another direction.
i’m also in huge favor or drafting Ta’amu in the 3rd & move Ratliff to DE. Ta’amu is very strong & give the DL that powerful body that can push the middle of the pocket.
DCNation73 - February 14, 2012
LMAO
That IS true. The two corners being mocked to us in the 1st are stoners. I just don’t want to have to win a bidding war for Routt. Give him the money we save on cutting Newman. I’m cool with that. That’s what, 5 to 6 mil per. It still leaves us able to sign some solid football players in FA. But if Routt wants another 50 million dollar contract like Oakland gave him last year, I’ll pass.
White Wolf - February 14, 2012
As far as the "Pothead" thing goes,
Mark Stepnoski was a serious stoner, and I would love to have a guy JUST LIKE HIM, Pot and all snapping the ball for us now.
You guys would be asyonished at the number of important, intelligent, reliable people holding down key positions in all parts of society that are “Potheads”, both currently and in the past. I think we should give it a rest.
Willy H - February 15, 2012
I think you are missing the point.
A lot of us here don’t really care that people smoke pot, and a bunch of us are pro-legalization.
We are concerned about the people who get caught smoking, holding or buying. Think of it as a litmus test, the “pot wonderlic” so to speak. All of those “important, intelligent, reliable people” (and football players) are not getting caught. Why? Because they ARE intelligent and reliable.
We don’t want the idiot knuckleheads who get themselves caught.
fs65 - February 15, 2012
No...I wouldn't be surprised...at all.
When you’ve secured yourself in the top 10 of the draft, and you get caught with pot three short months before you’re set to become a multi-millionaire, sigh, never mind. You probably would disagree anyway.
White Wolf - February 15, 2012
so, you're saying
puff, puff …pass?
GalTex - February 16, 2012
If the money makes sense sign the guy up
He’s an upgrade, also I think he would want to play for us because of Rob, and Henderson one of the best DBs coaches in the league
djthumpl - February 14, 2012
How was the relationship between Routt and RR?
Not sayin this is the case but wouldnt you visit every team possible even if you wanted to play for one in particular? Field every offer possible to see what your concieved value is, and get a little ego boost to boot! Im not saying we make a all in play for him its nice to know that were showing interest and have a possible seat at the table to make a play for him. Obviously the money is top priority for a FA but then, in this case, he can work with RR again and play at the best stadium in football with a star on his helmet!! (Im a little biased!) No brainer..
AmericasTeamm - February 14, 2012
Routts doing the right thing visiting other teams & i'm sure his agent knows what Routt wants
Dallas or whoever could already be the team Routt wants to play for but until he does what his agent wants bc agents make more $ if the player does.
its a win, win for both Routt & his agent, friend or lawyer
DCNation73 - February 14, 2012
Raiders owe Routt 5 million still come March...
Or sometime soon regardless on where or how much he signs for.
That could possibly help out in his asking price if he really wants to play for Rob again.
goat3000 - February 14, 2012
The Raiders cut him before they had to owe him that 5 million bonus
Rohpuri - February 14, 2012 via mobile
I thought I read something different...
That they cut him to get out of the 10 million he was due. They only saved 5 million in cutting him because of his accelerated salary.
From National Football Post:
“Routt received $10 million in 2011 and was to earn an additional $5 million Friday were he on the Raiders roster. The Raiders released him Thursday to avoid that $5 million.
They cannot, however, avoid another $5 million. Routt has a $5 million guaranteed option bonus due in March. It was structured as a "second signing bonus" so the Raiders did not have to fund the payment in 2011, as per NFL rules. This structure is very similar to first-round rookie deals in the prior CBA, with large second-year option bonuses that shielded large sums from the Rookie Cap.
Here’s a kicker — that $5 million to Routt in March is not offset against future money from another team. Thus, in 2012, Routt will receive $5 million from the Raiders plus any new contract money from where he signs next."
(Hope I quoted that right)
goat3000 - February 14, 2012
Can't really compare Routt to Finnegan and Grimes
A couple of points: Comparing Routt to Grimes and Finnegan is ignoring the critical difference between the three- Routt IS on the free agent market, while the other two have expiring contracts but may not ever see free agency. That’s where free agent wish lists are as speculative as mock drafts. I love to discuss it too but the other top corners could all be tagged or re-signed.
The Cowboys likely need to add at least three corners, with at least one of those being a starter on the outside. To simply put the need aside based on a deep draft at the position ignores the sheer number of corners the team needs to add, and pollutes BPA strategy. They have to add FA corners as well as invest multiple picks there this off-season.
Linebacker22 - February 14, 2012 via mobile
I hope we sign a CB in free agency
if its Routt, thats cool with me I have always been intrigued by him anyway
Archie Barberio - February 14, 2012
Yup
That is the area I think we need to get a nice Vet in. A rookie rusher won’t see as many growing pains as a rookie DB force to start.
thebigham - February 14, 2012
+1
My free agency wish list are a center and a corner as far as upgrading starters is concerned. I’d love to see a third starter in FA at NT or safety, take your pick. There isn’t enough cash to net a top pass rusher and a corner. If one of the two has to be pushed to the draft I’d greatly prefer using rookies in pass rush packages to starting an every down rookie corner. As I said, I still think they’ll need to draft two corners in the first four rounds, sandwiched around a guard and pass rusher.
Linebacker22 - February 14, 2012 via mobile
If a CB gets signed in FA
I think they still go CB early in the draft, remember there are only 2 CB’s currently under contract.
Ceasaleo - February 14, 2012 via mobile
No thanks on Routt,
But SB L is PERFECT! Clearly we will not win the SB this year. But we are winning in 2013, SB XLVII, So, by SB L we will be working on a four game streak ;)
BlueNSilverBlood - February 14, 2012
You must Login with your SB Nation account and be a member of Blogging The Boys to post a comment.