The 2011 season did not end on a high note for Dallas Cowboys' fans, but for Jason Garrett, at least he kept his job. For some Cowboys' fans, that is not a piece of good news, especially with how the team was ran for much of the year.
Garrett himself, in a recent interview, said that he might have not made some of the best decisions in the preseason that needed to be made to make the Cowboys' a playoff contender right now. That lines up with what I heard about the team being considered in a rebuilding process right now.
Garrett pointed to the release of players like Marion Barber, Marc Colombo, Andre Gurode, Leonard Davis and Roy Williams. I have talked quite a bit about why Barber and Williams were not losses at all but addition by subtraction. It is also important to note that most of this season's problems came from an inexperienced offensive line setting up Tony Romo for a beating.
However, Garrett made a good point when he said that, by getting rid of some of the older talent, it set up the franchise to move in a different direction. I think he is right on this account.
With the offensive line having a full year of playing together, I think they should be a more cohesive unit in 2012 and it will be a night and day difference watching them perform. At the same time, by getting rid of Williams and Barber, Dallas allowed DeMarco Murray and Laurent Robinson to develop into stars. Those two young players are twice the talent that Williams and Barber ever were.
2012 will be no different when it comes to phasing out the old and bringing in the new. Bradie James and Keith Brooking should be seeing the door. Sean Lee has stepped up and proven to be one of the best young linebackers in football as well as very compatible to DeMarcus Ware. Another player who should be gone is Terence Newman. While the Cowboys don't have someone to replace him, that is what free agency and the NFL Draft is for.
2011 was a year that Garrett took a lot of chances to try to set this franchise up for the future. In 2012, he will have to start winning the close games and make it to the playoffs for his work to pay off. I think Garrett has only one year left to prove he is moving the team in the right direction.
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
