Jerry Jones said the Dallas Cowboys will spend money this off-season to improve his team and thanks his son Stephen Jones for allowing him the leeway to do so.
In 2011, the Dallas Cowboys came into the season with a lot of question marks. Dallas missed the playoffs but one win but that was not as bad as it could have been. Sure, Dallas' fans are angry at losing to the Giants, and most of us believe the team is good enough to make the playoffs every year, but in 2011, they faced some serious problems.
For one thing, the offensive line was young and inexperienced. For another, the defensive backs were getting old and/or injured and the defensive line was questionable. Part of the reason for that was the off-season releases Stephen Jones and the Cowboys undertook.
However, it could have been even worse than that because the Cowboys also released a wide receiver and running back that could have crippled the offense. That might be a little overstating the fact since the running back was Marion Barber and the receiver was Roy Williams, but shortage at the positions could have killed the Cowboys once Felix Jones and Miles Austin went down with injuries.
Luckily, Dallas found Laurent Robinson to step in and he proved to be ten-times the receiver that Williams was. Rookie DeMarco Murray stepped up as well and was better in his short playing time in 2011 than Barber was his entire career in Dallas.
However, the other releases hurt. Marc Colombo, Leonard Davis and Andre Gurode were killers when it came to experience on the offensive line. Ask Tony Romo and his broken ribs if the money Dallas saved was worth it to let his protectors go.
In 2012, we will see if it was all worth it or not. Those five released players will still cost Dallas $24 million in dead cap money in 2012 but the Cowboys will still have $12.6 million in cap room. The moves will really pay off in 2013 when the dead cap money is lifted and Dallas will have even more to spend.
"And we will use it," Jones said.
Let's just wait and see if Jones can use it on the right players this time around.
Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and has been a Dallas Cowboys' fan since he was a child. His favorite players range from Roger Staubach and Tony Dorsett to the Triplets of the 90s and he enjoys talking about all Cowboys' related news, good or bad
