Open Rants by bigjohnson86

The Cowboys have a solid young base on offense with the elite O-line being the foundation. The defense is mediocre at most positions.(and I'm probably being generous about that assessment) The biggest problem facing the cowboys(other than Jerry Jones as a GM) stems from their lack of cap space. I am using overthecap.com for my source for numbers for the cap.

Cowboys cap number for 2017 as of today: $179 million

Estimated cap for 2017: $170 million

The Cowboys will get a carry over from this years cap of 4 million and a cap savings for Gregory's suspension of 1 million which still leaves them about 4 million over before anything else is taken into account.

The easiest remedy for this is to trade or cut Romo. I think there will be a very limited market for Romo and the only teams that would be a little interested in signing him are teams with a good defense and a good O-line. He is to injury prone for most teams. The best fit for Romo is Houston. They have a glaring need at QB after the Osweiller debacle and have a pro bowl caliber left tackle to keep Romo up. They also have the cap space to absorb the 14 million Romo is owed for next year. A good trade for Romo should be centered around a 6th rounder this year and a conditional pick the next year based on Romo's playing time. With it starting at a 5 and going up as high as a 1 if Romo wins a playoff game for them. It would lessen the risk of Houston to take on Romo, but reward Dallas if he lives up to his potential. It will let all parties get what they want and the only thing Houston really gives up if Romo misses a ton of time is a couple late picks and a contract they can walk away from at any time since he has no guaranteed money left.

Failing a trade they need to designate him a post June 1 cut to offset his monster cap charge for this year. If they trade/cut him prior to June they will see 5 million in savings this year but have no Romo contract on the books after this year. If they post June 1 cut him they will save an additional 9 million but carry that charge next year.

Assuming they don't post June 1 cut him they will have virtually no cap room left so need to restructure Tyron Smith which will give them about 9 million in total cap space to sign their rookies and the following low cost veterans David Irving(exclusive rights free agent), Barry Church, Mo Claiborne and Brice Butler. I would pick up Zack Martin's 5th year option or sign him to a no signing bonus contract with a ton of guaranteed money the next off season to lock him up. They can also restructure Fredrick if they need additional cap space to save up to another 10 million. The Cowboys need to stay away from restructuring Tyrone Crawford at all costs so that if he does not live up to his contract they can get away from him in the near future.

For the draft the cowboys need to focus on the defense early but need a few offensive players for depth. Ideally they would draft a pass rusher and a corner in the first few rounds and then go hard BPA the rest of the way. Based loosely on Walt's last Mock I would go the following route:

1: Takarist Mckinnely OLB: They need a pass rusher more than anything else and he projects as a high motor guy from a big school which is what Dallas like to draft.

2: Tre'davious White CB: I like Walt's pick of White from LSU, so I will stay with it. They need corner help with Claiborne and Carr hitting free agency. They can't afford to keep both (maybe neither) and White has played really well in the SEC.

3: Jake Butt TE: Witten is on the verge of hanging up his hall of fame cleats and the only ones that will be left on the roster are late round fliers. They are both solid but Butt could be special. He had first round type talent before his nasty knee injury and Jerry has shown he will take flyers on guys with question marks. They can red shirt him his first year and have him learn from Witten and then give him a prominent role starting in 2018.

4: Chad Wheeler OL: Dallas needs a replacement for free and to keep the talent pool filled with Leary leaving in the off season. Wheeler has played at a high level and could easily develop into a starting RT or be a good swing tackle if Chaz Green finally stays healthy.

5: Josh Reynolds WR: Reynolds looks like he could be a solid #2 type wr and Dallas will need depth with Williams departing and Butler having consistency issues.

After the 5th round I am always of the opinion there are no bad picks and you should draft special athletes that can become studs and system guys that can not look lost if they get pressed into service as rookies.