The Landry Hat » Jesse Holley

Third Wheel: Who Steps Up At Third Wide Out?

Mark Lane — Sat, 24 Mar 2012 12:00:47 +0000

In the advent of the 2011 season, the Dallas Cowboys picked up Laurent Robinson, a castoff from the Falcons, Rams, and Chargers. With his 54 receptions, 858 yards, and a team high 11 touchdowns, “Lala” Robinson became the embodiment of Jason Garrett’s “churn the roster” philosophy. However his five-year, $32.5 million contract was too much for the Cowboys to give for a third receiver, so the front office let him sign with Jacksonville.

Now we’re back to where we were in the off-season leading to 2011: we’re wondering who will be our third wide receiver.

Should the Cowboys look to guys like Dwayne Harris or elsewhere for their third wide receiver?

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2012 Cowboys Free Agency: Analyzing Early Signings and Roster Decisions

Brad Austin — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 12:00:22 +0000

With a mere two days of 2012 NFL Free Agency in the bag, the numerous, impacting moves and maneuvers have come at a frenzied pace. For the Dallas Cowboys most of this offseason involved discussions of Carl Nicks, Cortland Finnegan, and Brandon Carr as must-get guys. It seemed all along that one of these three high-profile players had to dawn the silver and blue to provide a new optimism in Dallas after much hard luck of late. With Nicks signing an unprecedented contract for an offensive guard in Tampa Bay and Finnegan quickly secured in St. Louis, the Cowboys impressively finished off talks with Brandon Carr and secured the imperative services of the stingy defender. It would have been a real blow to the Cowboys faithful if Carr had slipped by. First losing Nnamdi Asomugha to the rival Eagles in 2011 and then just missing on Carr in 2012, one can only imagine how bitter that outcome was going to taste for Cowboys loyalists. Fortunately Jerry Jones never allowed much doubt and locked up his new high performance race Carr with a 5-year lease to replace the sputtering Terence Newman.

Moving on, let’s take a look at some of the major decisions and transactions made so far in free agency directly affecting the Dallas Cowboys. Be aware the details and on goings of free agency and the draft are very fluid now and changing by the moment. If transactions have altered or occurred beyond the moves discussed below, don’t kill the messenger. Also, all moves won’t be discussed, just several major ones that directly involve the Cowboys. We’ll start off with analyzing and grading the new additions Dallas has made to the roster thus far and proceed from there.

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2012 Dallas Cowboys Off-season: Free Agency Classes, Salary Cap Notes, and Contract Restructuring

Brad Austin — Sun, 26 Feb 2012 17:00:39 +0000

With the high fluidity of NFL rosters, an overwhelming number of question marks abound, and endless predictions running rampant on the web these days, we’re undoubtedly stuck in the middle of another lengthy, anxious, football-starved off-season. Millions of armchair general managers now get a chance to do what we do best…plot the certain best course for our respective team we pledge our allegiance to. After all, we know best, well in our own minds at least. Countless variables litter the NFL landscape, so let’s shed a little light on free agency, the salary cap, and the effects they have on the 2012 Dallas Cowboys. Starting with basics of free agency to get the ball rolling, this introductory part may be repetitive to diehard NFL fans, yet it’s necessary to discuss as a precursor to filling a roster. Below are the three classes of NFL Free Agents.

Dec. 4, 2011; Glendale, AZ, USA; Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones (right) and executive vice president Stephen Jones prior to the game against the Arizona Cardinals at University of Phoenix Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

3 TYPES OF NFL FREE AGENTS

A basic overview discussing the three types of free agents, general details of each, and the Dallas Cowboys players (2011 starters / contributors) that fall under these categories. Naturally NFL Free Agency is a very complex system, so this is a general look at some of the guidelines and rules.

1) Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFA)

These players have accrued less than three seasons in the NFL. For 2012, their current team has the choice to retain their services at the 3^rd year veteran minimum of $540,000. If extended this offer, the player must accept and play the season for this amount or is unable to play in the NFL in 2012.

Dallas Cowboys 2012 ERFAs:

Starters (0): None

Contributors (2): Jesse Holley (WR), Jermey Parnell (T)

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