Back home in chilly New Jersey after a fine few days in the warm Arizona sunshine. And yes, the links are in a different order. As someone pointed out in the chat the other day, we were only planning to do 2012 standings order until the start of the new league year. So from now until we've had at least one 2013 regular-season game played in the division, we'll rotate the order. Like this.
New York Giants
Eli Manning says he'd be willing to restructure his contract if it helped the team work out a long-term deal with Victor Cruz. It's a nice sentiment, since Manning's cap number this year is $20.85 million. The problem is that his cap number is right around $20 million in each of the next two years, too, and it's hard to see the Giants wanting to add to that.
Free-agent defensive end Osi Umenyiora is drawing interest from the Atlanta Falcons, who could use them as their John Abraham replacement.
Philadelphia Eagles
Chip Kelly says he doesn't think it's impossible for an NFL team to succeed without a franchise quarterback. This is what NFL coaches say when they do not have a franchise quarterback. Someday, perhaps, Kelly will have one, and he will likely speak of this time as difficult for that lack.
Kelly also said he believes he'll have left tackle Jason Peters healthy for the start of the team's offseason program in April. Peters missed the 2012 season after rupturing his Achilles tendon twice last summer.
Washington Redskins
It looks as though Redskins linebacker Rob Jackson is going to miss the first four games of the 2013 season on a drug suspension. Disappointing news for a linebacking corps that has already lost reserve Lorenzo Alexander to free agency.
With the team struggling to maneuver around a tight salary cap, it was somewhat surprising that veteran wide receiver Santana Moss was not among the cuts. Mike Shanahan explained Wednesday what went into the decision to bring Moss back for another year instead of pocket the savings.
Dallas Cowboys
People make all kinds of cracks when we write about the contract extension Tony Romo is about to get from the Cowboys. But Jean-Jacques Taylor writes that having to replace Romo wouldn't be as enjoyable an experience as some Cowboys fans sometimes seem to think.
As he enters his third full season as their head coach, Jason Garrett says it finally feels as though the Cowboys have his stamp on them from top to bottom.
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Is Jerry Jones too loyal to his players?
When Jerry Jones said the other day that the door was still open for Felix Jones to return to the Dallas Cowboys, my first thought was something like, "Of course it is. Jerry Jones doesn't like to let anyone go." Calvin Watkins had a similar thought, and he has a column on ESPNDallas.com wondering why the players are immune to Jones' efforts to make things "uncomfortable" around the Cowboys:
Calvin's basic point is that roster churning has its benefits and that the Cowboys seem to avoid doing it if at all possible. Franchising Anthony Spencer, in my opinion, was a move made out of fear. It was as though the team asked itself, "Well, how would we replace him?" and then decided they didn't want to think about creative or economically sensible ways to answer the question. The result is that they're pressed right up against the salary cap and can't operate in free agency.
A player like Jay Ratliff can call out Jones in the locker room and get busted for a DUI six weeks after one teammate died and another went to jail for the same crime, and it's made clear to him his job is completely safe. The offensive line can be one of the worst in the entire league and be told it just needs more time to come together. Felix Jones can blow chance after chance for years and years to fulfill his promise and instead of moving on and making a clean break, the owner leaves the door open for him to return.
It's an issue for which Jerry Jones has taken a lot of heat, and the truth is he leaves himself vulnerable to this criticism. If you're going to bellow about accountability and make change for change's sake on the coaching staff (where continuity is actually a proven asset), then you ought to be willing to do it along the roster as well. Or, as Calvin suggests, make it clear that roster changes are at least on the table. Jones' reluctance to do so indicates an inconsistency of vision, and in the long run it's not good for the team.
If the Cowboys are going to ascend to another level, putting players on notice is key. Jones can't worry about hurting feelings, and in some ways he needs to pull away from his close relationships with the players.
Jones needs to cut people. He needs to make it known that three consecutive seasons of missing the playoffs is not acceptable.
Maybe the coaches know that.
The players?
That's a different story. And it has to change.
Calvin's basic point is that roster churning has its benefits and that the Cowboys seem to avoid doing it if at all possible. Franchising Anthony Spencer, in my opinion, was a move made out of fear. It was as though the team asked itself, "Well, how would we replace him?" and then decided they didn't want to think about creative or economically sensible ways to answer the question. The result is that they're pressed right up against the salary cap and can't operate in free agency.
A player like Jay Ratliff can call out Jones in the locker room and get busted for a DUI six weeks after one teammate died and another went to jail for the same crime, and it's made clear to him his job is completely safe. The offensive line can be one of the worst in the entire league and be told it just needs more time to come together. Felix Jones can blow chance after chance for years and years to fulfill his promise and instead of moving on and making a clean break, the owner leaves the door open for him to return.
It's an issue for which Jerry Jones has taken a lot of heat, and the truth is he leaves himself vulnerable to this criticism. If you're going to bellow about accountability and make change for change's sake on the coaching staff (where continuity is actually a proven asset), then you ought to be willing to do it along the roster as well. Or, as Calvin suggests, make it clear that roster changes are at least on the table. Jones' reluctance to do so indicates an inconsistency of vision, and in the long run it's not good for the team.
A 'true baseball town' would boo Josh Hamilton
From Tim MacMahon at ESPN Dallas:
Man, we’ll miss Josh Hamilton around these parts.
By we, I mean the media. It really stings to have such an endless source of drama leave our little football town. Other than the Cowboys, of course, nobody filled more sports talk radio segments over the last five years than Hamilton, whether we were discussing his baseball brilliance or his bizarreness.
Hamilton gave us another hefty dose of the bizarre when he sat down with CBS 11’s Gina Miller last week and felt the need to mention that this is not a “true baseball town.” That’s actually an arguable point despite the fact that the Rangers ranked third in the majors in attendance last season, but Hamilton’s take on how fans will react to his Arlington return is bass ackwards, even by his hypocritical standards.
"People who really get it will cheer and the people who don't will boo,” Hamilton said.
Hate to tell Hamilton, but a true baseball town would rain boos on any player who quit on his team during a pennant race and then signed with the arch rival in free agency. When Hamilton gets booed April 5 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, it’ll be an indication that folks around here get it, not the other way around.
Heck, there’s no better baseball town than Boston and they booed Johnny Damon every time he returned to Fenway Park wearing the pinstripes of the hated Yankees. And Damon actually played hard every day he suited up for the Red Sox.
It’s hilarious to hear Hamilton hint about anyone else’s low baseball IQ, but it’s not like you need to be a scout or sabermetrician to recognize when a star puts a stamp on the season in the middle of a pennant race. It’s pretty obvious when you see a guy miraculously cured from ocular keratitis jog after a misplayed fly ball or weakly wave at three pitches before walking back to the dugout.
That’s why the folks who Hamilton referred to with the hashtag #bestfansinbaseball midway through last season have every right to let the Angels’ $125 million man hear it.
Let’s put this in terms Hamilton ought to be able to understand: Rangers fans don’t owe him anything.
Man, we’ll miss Josh Hamilton around these parts.
By we, I mean the media. It really stings to have such an endless source of drama leave our little football town. Other than the Cowboys, of course, nobody filled more sports talk radio segments over the last five years than Hamilton, whether we were discussing his baseball brilliance or his bizarreness.
| PODCAST |
|---|
| Galloway & Company discuss Josh Hamilton's comments that Dallas is not a good baseball town, Hamilton quitting on the team and why other Rangers players shouldn't blame him. Listen  |
"People who really get it will cheer and the people who don't will boo,” Hamilton said.
Hate to tell Hamilton, but a true baseball town would rain boos on any player who quit on his team during a pennant race and then signed with the arch rival in free agency. When Hamilton gets booed April 5 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, it’ll be an indication that folks around here get it, not the other way around.
Heck, there’s no better baseball town than Boston and they booed Johnny Damon every time he returned to Fenway Park wearing the pinstripes of the hated Yankees. And Damon actually played hard every day he suited up for the Red Sox.
It’s hilarious to hear Hamilton hint about anyone else’s low baseball IQ, but it’s not like you need to be a scout or sabermetrician to recognize when a star puts a stamp on the season in the middle of a pennant race. It’s pretty obvious when you see a guy miraculously cured from ocular keratitis jog after a misplayed fly ball or weakly wave at three pitches before walking back to the dugout.
That’s why the folks who Hamilton referred to with the hashtag #bestfansinbaseball midway through last season have every right to let the Angels’ $125 million man hear it.
Let’s put this in terms Hamilton ought to be able to understand: Rangers fans don’t owe him anything.
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