The Hardline- Cowboys Free Agency Roundup

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1:26Hi, I'm Adam Devine, Chief Fundraiser for Children's Miracle Network. No, no, no, no, I said more fun! When I was a kid, a Children's Miracle Network Hospital helped me get back on my feet, literally. So trust me when I say that these places aren't just hospitals, they are oop factories. Those miracle network is hospitals, programs, partners, and donors like you. Join us in making big change for all kids. Visit us online at cmn.org. While I'm sensing amongst the cowboy fandom, a pretty significant amount of underwhelming if that is in fact a word. Even though they've done so much more than they ever have in a long, long time, it's still not enough. Well, I think it's the overselling of whatever the expectations that Jerry set for

2:29self. The word of the day is, yeah, whatever Jerry throws out there that they were expecting much more and try, as Yoda once said, there is no try, only do. And I really do believe that they tried pretty hard on multiple fronts and we've all talked about Max Crosby and the acquisition of and it didn't go their way. They were, they held strong on what they believed what he was worth and they weren't going to budge and they didn't. And I think we all agreed to a man and damn near everybody that that was a good move. They're giving up to first unless you were ready to win right now. And maybe the Ravens feel that they were one Max Crosby away from being able to compete at the highest level. Once again, over there, if you were thinking that, then yeah, you pulled the trigger and you don't have any problems with it and you move on. Hell, it's, it's kind of what happened with Green Bay last year.

3:30Green Bay thought that they were a Micah Parsons away from being able to compete and be in the top four in the NFL and if the breaks go their way, so be it. And nobody batted an eye at two first for Micah Parsons. And so now here we are 48 hours in or however long it's been. And I feel that there has been effort and who knows what happened with, with multiple, we know the Max Crosby story. Yeah. And they were in on the Kobe Dean. Yeah. Yeah. He just, he picked Vegas. Yeah. A couple of thoughts on that, Corby. I think it's, it's, it's well worth passionate out is that first on the difference between let's say Max Crosby and free agency is the draft picks. We all know that. But that, you know, so overpaying with draft picks is damaging across the board and especially

4:30when you talk about premium draft picks for premium players, I, I, I think we've said this enough on the air, but I, but it also probably is worth repeating. If you look at all of your draft picks for in 2026 and you said, okay, let's, let's use up a pie chart to explain it. They have two first rounders and then they have six other picks I want to say. And the two first rounders would be 94% of the pie. And then the other six picks would be 6% total, 1% for each pick, you know, it's, it's a little different for a fourth rounder, obviously, than a seventh rounder, but six percent is all these picks and 94% are these two big picks. So if you trade those two big picks, the 94% goes away and you have no draft left. And what those two picks represent should be five years of a fixed income on a starting player. Real, I realized Taco Charlton and Mazzie Smith, our examples were that fails that does

5:33not mean first rounders are no longer valuable. Now, if you want to move it ahead to free agency and you say, we have to leave with, let's say, Nicobie Dean. I don't know that you had to get Nicobie Dean, but I obviously had a mere mark. Do you think that he, that you creeped him out so much of the superbowl that he was like, I can't go there. No, I think I was a plus mostly, but I, I will say he saw, you know, how you handled Josie Altador and I know that's, I know that gave him some pause. But from that standpoint, it's almost like what the Panthers did yesterday, which I don't think is a great idea. But if you want as the Carolina Panthers to be a massive player in free agency, you might have to overpay. And so they weren't saying, hey, is Jalen Phillips worth this much money? They were saying, we're not leaving without Jalen Phillips. And so from that standpoint, I think it's very fair for cowboy fans to say, I don't want

6:38to hear you offer the same amount of money as Vegas. If you wanted him, money whip him all the way to your facility, like, don't let him, don't let him, don't let him out of your Zoom call, like what's it going to take? And yeah, it's probably irresponsible to overpay a guy and people will laugh at you and ridicule you and project your cap and all that sort of thing. But in the end, you'll have the player and you'll say, you know what? We haven't participated in free agency since Brandon Carr. Teams and agents don't take us seriously in this part of the season. And we're here to tell people we should now be taken seriously because we targeted two guys and we left with those two guys by overpaying. And again, you're going to get criticized, but you're also going to get your middle line backer. And then the other thing is what drives this whole thing and we, you know, I talk about this all the time and I don't know what the value is.

7:39But the Jerry Jones, like, not cliche, but almost like his mission statement every year last year was all in this year. It's bust the budget. One of those other years, it was availability as the best ability. It was what Wildcatter or all, you know, pieces of the pie. He always has a dumb catchphrase. And then everybody for some reason after we, we all pledge that we don't take Jerry seriously when he publicly speaks. So we cut out those three words and every time something happens, let's say they sign a depth safety, like PJ lock, okay, he's PJ lock. He's not going to change the roster, but it's nice to have good players in depth. And there will be a spot for him and he's not bad, but he's not a superstar. And when they sign him for one year for five million people are like, oh, bust the budget

8:43huh? Nice going. That didn't bust. That doesn't bust. So there's, there's a sarcasm. That is a result of 30 years of sucking, but also based on Jerry riffing on a mic and everybody fans, media, everybody just views every single move they make through the prism of bust the budget. And you still have a huge gaping hole at linebacker that you haven't addressed. Yeah. Like you've gotten defensive line depth and secondary depth, which is nice because you are having to fix the entire defense, but yeah, and you didn't get secondary depth and in Thompson, you got a dude, uh, I'm convinced of that after since we've last talked, I've, I've watched him play enough to say that's a starting safety. That's a very good starting safety and I'm, I'm pretty hyped to have him. But the other guys, yeah, we're talking mostly depth. Richon Gary should be a full-time player, but not top of the charts. No. So you've added bodies, um, better bodies, though, that you need the linebacker, but better

9:49bodies than what you added, you know, a couple of years ago, oh yeah, and on September 1st, when they were in full panic and they brought in Jordan Phillips, a couple of other guys that Linveld Joseph literally didn't even play. They didn't even end up, you know, making the team were like, oh, well, I mean, I can see a path or maybe these guys get like 20 snaps of getting out and it just didn't happen. So I mean, the bottom line is they've lost credibility, Corby. I know. They don't have any credibility with their fans. And that's why even when they go ad players, people are rolling their eyes and, uh, and their, their hands are rolling dice and, uh, they just, they just don't want to hear it unless you go get a bell of the ball. Right. And I like, I almost think that if they would have said two first for Max Crosby and Osa and a third, I mean, just what just throw it all out there and be like, we got to have him that people be like, now that's what I'm talking about because people don't want

10:51to, they want the name. Yep. And well, they want their friends that work that hate the cowboys to be like, whoa, you just did that. Right. You want the, you want the other side of Micah? Right. You want, you want the guy that's like, I know he's going to produce and the reality is is that Max Crosby is not going to win you a Super Bowl next year, maybe in the next two years. Right. I mean, it's a process that they didn't his fault that he, you know, if he joins a team that trades for him and, and he's the final piece of the puzzle, it's because they're in the vicinity. The cowboys aren't in the vicinity and it would be ridiculous to put that on him. You know, the packers made that move and, and whether it worked or not, I know you don't get a banner for being the one seed in week 15 when he got hurt, but they were one player away. I really do think so. I, you know, it's tough to win Super Bowls though. So if that's the standard, then almost every trade that's ever been made is a garbage trade.

11:52But the cowboys just have a credibility problem with their public and they caused it not us. They sent out free agency for almost 15 years. So if people aren't impressed with, you know, PJ lock and, and, uh, O, Tito, a gonia, oh, oh, bonia, oh, bonia, oh, bonia, oh, bonia, yeah, oh, bonia, okay, we are going with oh, bonia. That's a day. Okay. For sure. Yeah. I mean, these are, these are NFL bodies and these are not old NFL bodies, but these are depth guys so that when injuries do hit, you're not screwed and there's a real place in this world for that, but it's not going to make your fan base go crazy and run to, uh, lock up their season tickets or their party passes because you've burned your credibility with them. So by the way, all, all bonia, he looks like your bowling ball knows tackle that you've always coveted. Well, yeah, I was going to say my, my, my, my tongue and me have to fight for his job

12:57with another UCLA guy because those are some big bodies in there and, and you know, look, if I can promise you one thing right now with just this roster, they're going to stop the run. Every single guy they go get is a run defense guy first now. Can they cover? I don't know. Can they put pressure on the passer? That is a really good question. But every single player, whether it's Rashon, Gary or Jalen Thompson or Agonia or, or bonia, whatever we're going with and, and, and all these players and then you go back to during the season and your Kenny Clarks and your Quinn and Williams, like every single person they bring in, one of his best attributes is he's good against the run. So I think it's probably going too far in the other direction, especially when you were historically bad and you got trucked every week. I guess, but this is a passing league that isn't going to change. They are going to attack your run defense if you stink at it. So it's a good goal, not to stink at it, but maybe this is all a ploy because we know

14:00where this division is headed. This is a division that's going to be run by Cam Skataboo for the next decade. How do you stop there? They're trying to stop Cam. Yes. Before it starts, I thought he was leaving for, for a professional wrestling career. He's got to run the NFL first. Okay. Well, we, we all wait on pins and needles for the Skataboo era to fully engage.