DMN's Kevin B. Blackistone: Cowboys' off-season moves ...........

[TC4]

Sorry I do not have a link to this column, as it was posted on theCowboys.net. I ran a check for it on the Dallas Monring News website, but it seems that it is in the CowboysPlus.com pay site so thus, no link.

But as you will see, it is a very good read

Cowboys' off-season moves haven't made the team better

Kevin B. Blackistone

08:26 PM CDT on Thursday, April 8, 2004

He turned a loser into a winner, a regular-season disaster into a playoff contestant and a benched quarterback into a season-long starter.

But for his next trick, it appears as if Bill Parcells is going to attempt to do at Valley Ranch what really looks to be impossible: He's going to try to top the job he pulled off last season.

Or, in other words, he's going to try to outdo himself.

Just add up all the parts he and Jerry Jones have in their locker room right now. They don't equal as much as what they had when last season ended at Carolina in the first round of the playoffs.

• That was someday-to-be Hall of Fame offensive lineman Larry Allen, who was reported headed elsewhere the other day. So the offensive line, which struggled, is that much weaker.

• That was starting cornerback Mario Edwards, whom Parcells and Jones let get away to Tampa Bay through free agency, thinking they could upgrade his spot. They have not. Yet, they're scheduled to open the season against Randy Moss and meet Terrell Owens, now a member of the Eagles, twice during the regular season.

• That is Keyshawn Johnson they got from Tampa Bay for Joey Galloway, but their biggest need at a skill position on offense remains at running back.

• That is pass rushing end Marcellus Wiley they signed as a free agent. But with the hole left by Edwards' departure, it is as if defensive coach Mike Zimmer is becoming a poor imitation of the little Dutch boy who saved Holland. Zimmer plugs one leak only to find another spring up.

Meanwhile, the Eagles also added quarterback masher Jevon Kearse to their front line. Joe Gibbs returned to Washington and added all sorts of talent to his roster. The Giants remade their entire defensive line and on Thursday were looking to move up in the draft to get The Next Great Manning, Eli.

If W's and L's were awarded during the off-season, the Cowboys would be in last place and just about winless.

If this current collection of Cowboys talent went into the season, it might land in last, too. Parcells still needs a running back and linemen to block for him. He still needs interior defensive line help and that starting cornerback.

The prime free-agent hunting season is just about over, though. Most of the big bucks have been bagged.

But if this still was just Jones' team, Wiley wouldn't have been the Cowboys' biggest catch. They'd still be making big splashes in the free agency pool before draft day. Jones would be hauling in a Deion Sanders or swapping No. 1s for a Galloway or hiring Parcells.

This, however, is Parcells' team now, too. We knew it would be despite the sights and sounds from the situation room on last year's draft day. We knew it was when Jones couldn't get into the locker room after the team's season-opening loss under Parcells.

Parcells doesn't have a history of operating quite as Jones has done. He's always seemed more comfortable using his coaching to coax production out of players rather than using the owner's bank account to do so by purchasing the best players.

It is almost as if Parcells has some disdain for big-name free agents. It is as if he's decided the only person on his team who can afford to exercise any arrogance is the coach who is headed one day to the Hall of Fame.

So Parcells is going to try to turn someone else's scrap metal into his own reinforced steel, waiting until after June 1, when free agents cost less against the salary cap, to cheaply sign whomever is left who might plug a hole.

Meanwhile, he's got the 22nd pick in the draft, which he could use on the best running back available, such as Steven Jackson or Kevin Jones. More important, he's got some lower picks at hand with which he can try to mine gems that others don't see or know how to find, kind of like he did Curtis Martin with a third-round pick in 1995.

Maybe that is one reason Martin is one of Parcells' favorite players. He helped make the coach look like the genius we've all said he is.

Imagine how much Parcells could add to his legend by working wonders with what he's leaving himself to tinker with right now?

[jschlesi]

You mean everything in Texas is not so Happy Valley...

[Henry]

That may very well just be a knee-jerk reaction to their pre-draft offseason. There's a lot of offseason left to go.

That said, I would like to point out that Bill's teams are not above regressing once in awhile. In 94 his Patriots went 10-6 and in 95 they fell to 6-10. In 98 his Jets went 12-4 only to fall to 8-8 the following year. In fact, since leaving the Giants, no Bill Parcells team has ever had two 10+ win seasons in a row.

So while blindly trusting in Parcells is perfectly understandable, he does appear to have some trouble maintaining excellence in the post-cap era. This article may simply point out some reasons why. I guess we'll see.

[laurent]

I think the Cowboys are trying to take a page out of the Eagles book and slowly build their roster through the draft while saving their cap dollars for sure fire additions.

Let's be honest, other than say Kearse there weren't really any players available that would have made them instantly better, so why overpay for marginal talent when they can just work the draft and see who becomes available after June 1st.