Oct 2, 2011; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Browns running back Peyton Hillis (40) looks to get around Tennessee Titans cornerback Cortland Finnegan (31) during the third quarter at Cleveland Browns Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Andrew Weber-US PRESSWIRE

Speaking of the Houston Texans, Mario Williams is a free agent this year. The top pick in the 2006 NFL draft, (The Cowboys took Bobby Carpenter 18th, nice move) Mario Williams is the only player taken top 3 in said draft that wasn’t a bust. Williams could make the Dallas Cowboys Defense awe inspiring. Mike Vick, (insert Redskins quarterback here), and Eli Manning would be on the ground with their thumbs in their mouths wanting to go home, which would then take our defensive backs out of the pressure cooker. It’s an awesome thought, but even if the Texans can’t manage to resign him long term, it would be near impossible for the Cowboys to match the asking price and still make a splash in the rest of free agency. So that is why he is on my wish list.

Jim Leonard anyone? Don’t recognize the name? Okay, well Jim has 185 tackles and 15 defended passes in 2 years, and is only 5’8. I’ll give you a hint: He plays next to an Island and a proud father of 9! If you guessed Darrell Revis and Antonio Cromartie, then nice job. Yes, Jim Leonard is that crazy white guy running around the New York Jets backfield. He is pretty tough and I think he would like our Ryan brother (Rob) as much as the Jets’ Ryan brother (Rex). Although he is too important to Rex Ryan’s defense to let him walk, if they do we need to pounce.

Brent Grimes is another stand out for the Dallas Cowboys to sign this free agency. He is a great cover corner and only lets 44.6% of opposing quarterbacks passes be caught (Darrell Revis allows 41.2). A great cover corner could give the Cowboys pass rush a little more time to get to the quarterback. I truly believe that if we had better corner back play last year, we would have at least been NFC East Champions.

Before the Cleveland Browns announced they would put the franchise tag on D’Qwell Jackson unless a long term contract agreement was reached, he was going to be on this list too. (Mon. Feb. 27th, Cleveland Browns resigned D’Qwell Jackson to a 5 year 42.5 Million dollar contract without using the franchise tag.)

Another Cleveland Brown of note is safety Mike Adams. Undrafted in 2004 out of Delaware, Adams was picked up by the San Francisco 49ers. After a few years with the Browns, Adams finally got his shot to start when Abe Elam was signed by our Dallas Cowboys for 2.5 million dollar one year contract. If we were to sign Adams and resign Abe Elam it would greatly elevate our safety play simply because Elam has 3 years of Rob’s defense and Mike Adams has 2. Even though the statistics are not a true insight into the Browns defensive performance under first year Defensive Coordinator Dick Jauron, (teams didn’t have to throw on the Browns because the running game was so effective) with T.J. Ward and Mike Adams at the safety positions the Cleveland Browns had the second best pass yards allowed with 184.9 average. Knowing that the Browns couldn’t stop the run I still wouldn’t want to pass up a shot to at least talk to Adams about becoming a part of the Legend that is America’s Team.

Aaron Ross, cornerback for the World Champion New York Giants, could be a pretty good signing as a 2nd corner. He now has two Super Bowl rings with the G-men, but they might not have him back next year. If the Giants pass on Ross, the Cowboys could not only add a little depth at the cornerback position, but he could have some pretty helpful tips for our offense.

Writers note: Reading some of the comments, a few people don’t agree with me wanting to add a running back to the Dallas Cowboys roster/preseason roster, like I wrote about in the last blog. Think about our running back core. Not a single one of them have stayed healthy for an entire season. We might not have personnel issues in our running back core (they are all talented) but no one can tell me we don’t have injury issues. It’s also my belief that every team should add a few running back prospects each year, if only to training camp. Running backs get old fast so we need a continuous shot in the arm of talent each year. With any luck, we might even discover the next Arian Foster.

Thanks for reading and Go Cows.

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Dec 24, 2011; Kansas City, MO, USA; Oakland Raiders receiver Stanford Routt (26) celebrates with safety Tyvon Branch (33) after intercepting a pass against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. The Raiders defeated the Chiefs 16-13 in overtime. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

So who wants a defense? Although there is evidence of an offensive movement around the NFL, that makes defense that much more important. According to Vince Verhei of Football Outsiders the Dallas Cowboys need a cornerback and a guard in that order. So here is my 2012 NFL Offseason wish list.

-Stanford Routt formerly of the Oakland Raiders would have been my number one goal in free agency. If we were to somehow able to scoop up Routt before the Kansas City Chiefs did early this week, it would have given the Cowboys a little more freedom to draft whoever they wanted at the 14th draft pick, OL, DL, whoever. Routt is a hometown boy (Austin, Texas) and a heck of a player who could’ve played like a champ while wearing the Star.  Nice going ,Jerry! If we had signed Routt, I would have felt a little better about taking David DeCastro with the 14th overall. Side note: What is going on with the Oakland Raiders letting good players go? Is anyone considering Jason Campbell as the Cowboys backup if he is released by the Raiders?

-Nick Foles of the Arizona Wildcats would be my first pick at quarterback of the future for the Dallas Cowboys. Another hometown boy from Austin, this Foles is 6’5 240 pounds and has a cannon for an arm. I think, with Tony Romo’s guidance, Nick Foles could become the Dallas Cowboys next big quarterback.

-LaMichael James from Oregon is, in my opinion, one of the most intriguing running backs in the draft class. While he is considered a finesse runner he isn’t scared to run between the tackles. This guy could be the next Darren Sproles with his speed and athletic ability and but his hands aren’t incredible. Don’t let it scare you that he ran the spread offense at Oregon as I don’t see learning a new offense to be a problem for James. The only unknown factor here is whether or not he can stay healthy.

-Quinton Coples another draft day beast, Coples from North Carolina would give the Dallas Cowboys that elite D. line they’ve always wanted. Opposing quarterbacks wouldn’t know what to do with Coples and DeMarcus Ware tearing through holes coming after them. If the key to the Super Bowl is a pass rush, we would be well on our way with Coples.

-Michael Griffin would be a huge free agent pick up for the Dallas Cowboys. Yep, another Austin boy from Bowie High School, Michael Griffin shows a high football IQ and can be a leader of the back field. He’s also in NFLtraderumors.com ‘s top fifty free agents of 2012. If we can, I think we should.

-Peyton Hillis I would absolutely love having Peyton Hillis on the Dallas Cowboys. Don’t worry about all the drama with the Cleveland Browns, the kid runs and plays hard but due to the average career length of running backs with his type of style, Cleveland didn’t want to pay him. Would anyone else love to have a bull nosed running back sharing the load with DeMarco Murray and Felix Jones? It would be a dream come true for me.

-Michael Bush If you think the only big named running back in the Oakland Raiders’ backfield is Darren McFadden then you haven’t watched an Oakland game or played against someone in Fantasy Football with Bush on their roster. This guy puts up great numbers with or without the help of Run DMC.

Dec 24, 2011; Dallas, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys receiver Laurent Robinson (81) prior to the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at Cowboys Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE

-Laurent Robinson isn’t a re-sign ‘must’ but I like how he took Cowboys Nation by storm and developed such good rapport with Tony Romo. For the most part he caught balls he was supposed to catch and that’s all we can ask for. I think that after the Cowboys saw how injury prone Miles Austin and Dez Bryant are, they will make re-signing him a priority.

This is just a few prospects I would like to see wear the Star. Sound of in the comment section with who I forgot.