Tag: Greg Zurelein

McCarthy addresses Cowboys roster holes left behind by Garrett

Mike McCarthy initial moves in free agency all seem to address positions long neglected under Jason Garrett’s watch.

The 2020 Cowboys continue to take shape under Mike McCarthy. If each move the team makes at this early offseason stage reflects the new staff’s immediate thoughts of the roster they inherited from Jason Garrett, the external free agents so far signed by Dallas seem to address areas many perceived as roster holes continually carried by recent Cowboys teams.

In some regards, it’s been a typical offseason in Dallas. They’ve once again stayed out of headline-stealing free agent moves, but also have been involved with several high-profile contracts, mostly with their own players. The Cowboys have retained 12 members of last season’s roster (notably Dak Prescott and Amari Cooper), yet also lost CB Byron Jones and DE Robert Quinn to big money deals elsewhere. Coupled with the sudden retirement of Travis Frederick, McCarthy is juggling many factors out of his control in constructing the team’s upcoming roster. Much more within his control however, is the team’s own aggressiveness in pursuing roster additions with the offseason now in full swing.

The Cowboys were somewhat resistant to bringing in outside players under Garrett, often forgoing spending until the second and third-wave of free agency. With McCarthy now installed, he brings his own preferences and past relationships, and has chosen to supplement the roster at specific positions that’ve long-been identified as lacking. It’s not a coincidence and perhaps expected to experience this with any head coaching change, but Dallas’s recent additions should be promising to anyone who has wished for a fresh eye and perspective when constructing Cowboys teams.

Interior Defensive Line

Immediately noticeable is the additions Dallas has made to the interior of its defensive line, adding a significant amount of beef to both defensive tackle positions. Last offseason signaled a departure in strategy for the Cowboys, when they spent a second round pick on DT Trysten Hill. The draft selection represented a much richer investment than the team made previously made in the position, but one that unfortunately didn’t provide much value during the regular season. The additions of Gerald McCoy and Dontari Poe will hopefully do more than offset the loss of Maliek Collins, and provide a stabilizing force in the center of the defense.

A potential cap casualty target last year, McCoy eventually found his way to Dallas, and stands to be a valuable chess piece for Mike Nolan’s defense. McCoy may no longer be a perennial Pro Bowl candidate or one of the game’s most unsung pass rushers, he’s still plenty capable of providing high quality snaps from the 3-tech position. He can also lineup as a defensive end, and help absorb some of the loss of Quinn opposite DeMarcus Lawrence. He’s a plug-and-play player that makes a ton of sense for the Cowboys DL unit looking for consistency and playmaking as they move into 2020.

The same can practically be said for Poe, the 6-4, 346 pound nose tackle who was McCoy’s teammate last year in Carolina. For too long, Dallas was content with spending the bare minimum at the 1-tech position, utilizing stopgaps and out-of-position players Collins and Hill to take reps at nose tackle. Poe may be a mercenary himself, but he’s a space eater with a successful track record that the team likely would’ve avoided under Garrett. There’s also chance under McCarthy that Dallas will actually draft a NT prospect before Day 3 of the 2020 draft, adding even more mass to a stable that includes McCoy, Poe, Antwaun Woods, and Hill.

Safety

Another position seemingly neglected under Garrett was safety, a hot-button topic amongst circles less than thrilled with the coverage skills of players like Jeff Heath and Barry Church. Dallas almost had an aversion to signing safeties in free agency and upgrading the position, even despite their very public flirtations with Earl Thomas that stretched over two seasons.

HaHa Clinton-Dix has his own flaws, but bringing him on represents another shift in priorities, and he’s coming off a very solid season as a member of Chicago’s strong secondary. A free-roaming ballhawk, Clinton-Dix owns 16 career interceptions over his first six seasons, a welcome sign for a team that continually ranks near the bottom each year in terms of total interceptions. The signing reunites Clinton-Dix with McCarthy, who coached him in Green Bay from 2014 – 2018, and also with Amari Cooper, who were both members on Alabama’s 2012 National Championship winning team.

Kicker

Despite bringing back K Kai Forbath, who was perfect on field goal attempts down the stretch in 2019, the Cowboys set up an intriguing competition this upcoming training camp between him and Greg Zurelein, the longtime Rams kicker who was recently signed. Many were essentially begging the Cowboys to bring on competition for Brett Maher during his time in Dallas, a frustrating run that maybe best highlights how Garrett’s insistence on sticking with certain players eventually costs the team.

While the optics of rostering two kickers seems puzzling, the Cowboys will surely only keep one come the start of the regular season. The minimal guaranteed money involved with both deals makes it easy to walk away from either player, and signals that Dallas is leaving no stone unturned when it comes to rectifying last season’s special teams debacles.

Compared to last season’s external free agency class (Randall Cobb, Kerry Hyder, Christian Covington, and George Iloka), the players already brought in by the Cowboys represent significantly greater investments, and will likely be counted on for bigger roles for 2020. Whether or not the moves ultimately pan out remains to be seen, but it’s still encouraging to see the new staff open to improving areas many have clamored for as needing help.

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