Dallas Cowboys: Ramifications of the Nolan Carroll situation
By Carl Daley
The Dallas Cowboys could be looking to replace Nolan Carroll soon following a recent arrest. Which Dallas’ rookies could immediately fill his void?
The Dallas Cowboys are coming off of a terrific draft in which they invested heavily on the defensive side of the football. The selected multiple defensive backs but only signed one during free agency.
The team hopes that these young players can come in and play an immediate role on the field. They may be pushed into a bigger role now that the Cowboys may be down a cornerback for the early part of the 2017 season.
The Cowboys are facing a new issue on the horizon as the team moves forward this offseason. The newest headline is the arrest of newly added free agent cornerback Nolan Carroll.
The veteran corner was arrested on a DWI charge that has been a hot story in what has been otherwise a slow week for NFL news. Carroll was leaving a promotional event that was welcoming him to Dallas and Cowboy fans in the area.
Carroll was stopped for a traffic violation, however, would eventually be taken into custody. He went on to post bail later on in the day. currently, the team is gathering information into the situation.
One thing is clear: Even if Carroll comes out of this unscathed the league will be taking a very hard look at the Cowboys free agent corner just like they do with most players that wear the star on the side of their helmet.
If Carroll is charged, he will likely face a league suspension. Which could force one of the rookies into a more prominent role. There have been multiple viewpoints on what the Cowboys should do with Carroll considering the circumstances.
Some journalists think a hard-line approach is the way to go (i.e. cutting him from the team). Personally, I don’t believe the NFL is a morality contest and Carroll will still be owed 30 percent of his salary.
His three-year, $10 million deal (with a $3 million signing bonus) in Dallas is not so long-term that the team could separate from him fairly easily if they wanted to. The Cowboys have not given up on troubled pass rusher Randy Gregory, so realistically Carroll deserves the benefit of the doubt.
This is the first time in Carroll’s seven-year career that he has had an off-the-field issue such as this, so patience is definitely warranted. This whole situation creates an opportunity for one of the Cowboys young rookies to step up.
In my eyes, the spotlight falls directly on 2017 second round selection Chidobe Awuzie to replace Carroll if he is hit with a suspension. Awuzie is just one of the three cornerbacks that the Cowboys selected during the 2017 NFL Draft.
At the very least one of the cornerbacks drafted is expected to become a starter at some point. The only other players on the roster capable of having that role remain veteran defensive back Orlando Scandrick and second-year player Anthony Brown.
Scandrick should be the starting slot cornerback but even that could be up for debate as Jourdan Lewis should push him in camp. I would not be surprised if the team moved Lewis to the outside a bit during camp to see how he would perform. Scandrick has become fairly injury prone, and should he go down again Lewis would need to come in right away to remedy that situation.
For that reason alone, the Cowboys coaching staff could be selective of what Lewis’s role will be early on. That means Awuzie will continue to be the favorite to start and that could be a dramatically good turn of events for Dallas.
The Cowboys second round pick may be inexperienced however he is a lot more versatile and productive than Carroll. He may still be a rookie but should grow into a prominent part of this secondary. This could also affect how Carroll is viewed during training camp as the team could look to give Awuzie more practice reps early on.
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This could also affect how Carroll is viewed during training camp as the team could look to give Awuzie more practice reps early on. The Cowboys future at the defensive back position might come sooner than previously thought as the rookies might be going up against the best the NFC East has to offer Week One.