Dallas Cowboys players are fleeing from the team as if the franchise has a cough.
Now, judging anything based on social media is a dangerous move but watching people react to the departures of so many Dallas Cowboys you would have thought Jerry Jones just fired a Super Bowl winning head coach.
Like Jerry would ever do something so stupid.
Since the start of NFL free agency, the Cowboys have lost cornerback Byron Jones, defensive tackle Maliek Collins, safety Jeff Heath, defensive end Robert Quinn, tight end Jason Witten and receiver Randall Cobb.
Let 'em go.
They are good guys, pros, and starters, for a team that finished 8-8 and missed the playoffs. That is not all on Jason Garrett.
All of these guys were given an extended chance and none of them, at this point in their careers, was so valuable the Cowboys had to overpay to retain their services.
That's NFL free agency, overpaying for starters.
They were all key players to a mediocre team. All of these vital defensive players helped to make a unit that finished 24th in the NFL.
Never forget they couldn't stop Mitch Tribusky. Or Sam Darnold.
Let a younger guy try to upgrade the position. Or be an equal at a lesser price.
• Byron Jones was a nice, mostly durable, player. He also never made plays on the ball. Law of averages says he would fall into a tipped pass or two for an interception.
He had two in his five-year run with the Cowboys, but zero in 2018 or 2019.
The analytics crowd will tell you Byron Jones was one of the best corners in the NFL in each of the last two years. The eyeball crowd will tell you they never noticed him.
If you are going to be the highest-paid player at your position, which the Miami Dolphins made Jones, you have to make a play or two that changes a game. It was the one element to Jones' game that never developed.
• Safety Jeff Heath is like a Disney movie. He was an undrafted D-II player who managed to not only land on an NFL roster, but made himself as a starter for multiple years.
He became a symptom for the Cowboys defense. He was good, and never quite good enough.
Heath also plays a position this team refuses to address with a high draft pick, or free-agent cash. They wanted guys to beat him out, and no one could.
• Maliek Collins. Durable player who developed nicely under Rod Marinelli as a defensive tackle, and should be a good player for the next few seasons.
The Cowboys essentially replaced Collins by agreeing to terms with Carolina Panthers free agent Gerald McCoy. This is a wash, provided a player who is going to be 32 this season holds up.
• Robert Quinn. The defensive end signed a five-year, $70-million deal with the Chicago Bears.
This one could sting. The Cowboys were his third NFL team, but in 14 games last season he had 11.5 sacks. Opposite DeMarcus Lawrence, Quinn showed he still had the step.
But he's going to be 30, and is he worth this money?
If the NFL allows defensive end Randy Gregory to come back after his many failed drug tests for an item it no longer deems worthy of a suspension (weed), losing Quinn could be a nothing.
• Jason Witten, Randall Cobb.
Once Witten lost Jason Garrett, his chances of remaining evaporated.
The Cowboys wanted Witten to re-retire as a Cowboy, but he wants to play. New Coach Mike McCarthy saw what everyone else does: Witten was in the way of Blake Jarwin.
Cobb is a loss, but replaceable.
All of the players the Cowboys let go have value and can contribute, but this bunch had their chance. It worked, only to a point, which ended in disappointment.
We don't say this very much, but the Cowboys were right in letting all of them go.
Sports on 03/19/2020