Earlier today, agents for Flozell Adams and Ken Hamlin confirmed that the two had been released by the Cowboys.

Adams, 34, was a second-round pick from Michigan State in 1998 and made the Pro Bowl five times in his 13-year career in Dallas. He missed only 14 games during that span, but his play started to decline over the past few seasons. Doug Free looks like the Cowboys’ top option to fill in for Adams on the current roster.

Hamlin, a Cowboy since 2007, has failed to produce after that first season that earned him a six-year, $39 million contract. In 2007, Hamlin recorded 102 tackles and five interceptions. In 2009, Hamlin had 52 tackles, no interceptions and two passes defended.

The Cowboys have a few options on their current roster to fill in for Hamlin. There’s Alan Ball, who filled in for Hamlin last year while the starter was sidelined by a high ankle sprain. There’s also Mike Hamlin, a fifth round pick out of Clemson from last year’s draft.

The draft could see the Cowboys address one or both of these positions.

They have a scheduled visit with Morgan Burnett, a safety from Georgia Tech. Mock drafts have the Cowboys taking safeties like Reshad Jones from Georgia and Major Wright from Florida in the second round or later.

The left tackle spot is less clear-cut. This year’s tackle class is top-heavy, and if most of the mock drafts are correct, most of the talent will be off the board by the time the Cowboys get their first pick, the 27th pick overall.

Then again, the Cowboys have not taken an offensive lineman in the first round since 1981. They might be due, but they’d need to move up to get a game-ready talent on the offensive line.

This blows everything wide open for the Cowboys’ first overall pick. Could the Cowboys move up for a safety like Taylor Mays or Earl Thomas, a tackle from the ranks of Trent Williams, Anthony Davis or Charles Brown, or receiver Dez Bryant?

We’ll have to wait and see.

Draft time and free agency in the NFL is a lot like Christmas.

Your franchise gets new toys.

The Cowboys have a few different types of toys on their wish lists through free agency and the draft, with the most glaring needs at free safety, offensive tackle, middle linebacker and slot receiver. Here are the players that should be at the top of the Jerry Jones’ wishlist, should he decide to pursue them in free agency or with the 27th overall pick in the 2010 NFL Draft.

Free Safety: Antrel Rolle of the Cardinals figures to be released by his team according to the Chicago Tribune. Please, oh please, oh pretty please, let this happen. Rolle would be the best unrestricted free agent on the market by a mile and would probably partner well with strong safety Gerald Sensabaugh, provided that Sensabaugh gets a new contract or at least a tender from the Cowboys (which he probably will). If the Cowboys want to get some depth at free safety from the draft, they’ll probably look at Texas’ Earl Thomas. Thomas had a good combine and he’ll be enticing to the Texans, who have the 20th overall pick. We’d have to leapfrog them to get to that pick. The Seahawks at 14 or the 49ers at 17 make a lot of sense, as they’d be glad to stockpile picks. If not Thomas, then Georgia’s Reshad Jones could be a good pick in the second or third round and Florida’s Major Wright could be on the board as late as the fourth round.

Offensive Tackle: We need to start planning for Flozell Adams riding into the sunset NFL style-playing a disgraceful year or two with the Raiders, Rams or Bears. Unfortunately, the talent pool is shallow and shrinking as teams tender their tackles. The best name that hasn’t been tendered as of yet is San Diego’s Marcus McNeal. He’s only missed two starts in his whole career and he allowed 5 sacks in 16 games last year. He’s going to get a tender, probably a first and third round tender. If the Chargers put only a first round tender on McNeal, Jerry might be tempted to pull the trigger as this year’s tackle class is extremely top heavy. Names like Trent Williams, Anthony Davis and Charles Brown might be gone by pick 27. The best move again is to move up. Bryan Bulaga is one of two offensive tackles who are polished enough and question-free enough to start from game 1. The only problem is that he might go within the first 15 picks. But left tackle might be the most important position for any team looking to do anything in the NFL, so moving up could be worth it. The next best left tackle prospect could be Indiana’s Roger Saffold and he might be around in the draft’s third round. The talent drops off very sharply here.

Middle Linebacker: Keith Brooking, the newest hero for the Cowboys’ defense is not going to be too far behind Adams. He’s 34 now and he’ll turn 35 during next season. We have to be looking for his replacement as well unless Bobby Carpenter or Jason Williams does anything. The biggest name in free agency this year is Cardinal inside backer Karlos Dansby. Again, the talent pool is shallow here and teams will throw boatloads of money at Dansby. There are other names out there like Larry Foote, but Jerry should look to continue the trend of getting younger at this position. Florida’s Brandon Spikes might be a good choice in the second or third round. He does have some deficiencies in the zone defense, but he has the size and the attitude to take on and beat offensive linemen.

Slot Receiver: This might be the position of minimal need as Patrick Crayton is still smart and serviceable and Kevin Ogletree keeps on doing everything right to get himself a starting spot. But the slot position is a position for an obvious mismatch. That’s where guys like Brandon Stokley when he played for the Colts, Wes Welker of the Patriots and Percy Harvin of the Vikings really made opposing defenses sweat. A free agent who would meet that need is Davone Bess of the Dolphins. He’s coming off of a season that saw him catch 71 passes. If we were to address this need in the draft, it’d obviously be in the later rounds. However, there are plenty of guys who fit the mold of a shifty slot receiver who’d still be around on Day 2 of the draft, when the Cowboys usually succeed. A guy who has been shooting up teams’ draft boards is Andre Roberts from The Citadel. The guy was the best receiver on the South team at the Senior Bowl and he turned in a good combine, posting a 4.4 40-yard dash time. He was a top performer in the 40, the broad jump, the 3-cone drill and the 20-yard shuttle. The guy is just plain old athletic and he was dangerous as a punt returner, another need for the Cowboys. He’ll need work at reading NFL defenses and beating press coverage, but he won’t be pressed into service right away.