Many mistakes were made during the first week of NFL free agency, but the Compas are here to help with their latest football roundtable. Dan in Daygo has a special message for the Dallas Cowboys and team owner Jerry Jones
By the Compas on the Beat staff
Here are the moves NFL teams should avoid this draft season and before training camp.
Dan in Daygo: This one is specifically for the Dallas Cowboys. They need to stop Jerry Jones from talking about “going all in.” Stop talking and let others do the work.
Whatever Jerry has done since Jimmy Johnson left, the team hasn’t produced much. Yes, Barry Switzer won a Super Bowl, but since they have had “yes men” head coaches, plus failed stints with Drew Bledsoe, Tony Romo, and now failing with Dak Prescott.
Jerry needs to do one thing that hasn’t been done since Johnson was there … relinquish power and bring people who know more than him. He won’t but he should.
Fernando Ramirez: Every NFL team needs to avoid signing Odell Beckham Jr. He isn’t the player that made the one-handed catch on Sunday Night Football. Heck, he isn’t the same player who helped the Los Angeles Rams win the Super Bowl. Teams need to avoid signing him.
What did he really bring to the Baltimore Ravens? Only 565 yards and 3 touchdowns for $15 million last season. Not worth it. Teams should avoid bringing him in because the lack of production isn’t worth it.
Gilberto Manzano: Quarterback-needy teams shouldn’t panic by relinquishing multiple first-round picks for the third or fourth best QB in the draft. The Minnesota Vikings appear to be this year’s 2021 49ers, who infamously traded three first rounders to move up in the draft for Trey Lance.
The Vikings scheduled a private workout with J.J. McCarthy, the Michigan signal-caller who’s quickly climbing up teams’ draft boards. McCarthy has gotten plenty of hype because he’s younger than most QB prospects and didn’t throw much in college. Somehow that means McCarthy has the most upside. Seems strange. Teams tend to overthink and panic this time of year.
Victor Corona: Now that the first wave of free agency is behind us, the focus turns to the NFL draft. This is the point in the evaluation process in which things get really dirty for top prospects to no fault of their own.
It’s a tradition unlike any other seen in professional sports. Teams want players to drop and therefore they leak things to the media in hopes their stock will drop. Lying season as it’s called is here.
Whether you think it’s right or wrong, this happens every year, with reports often “mysteriously” getting leaked about certain NFL draft prospects. Some teams usually fall for it and end up passing on generational talent.
The examples over the years are too many to go over, but the two players that always come to mind are Warren Sapp and Randy Moss. If you’re a fan of a team with a draft pick in the top 15, you better hope your team doesn’t pass up on an All-Pro prospect over something that gets leaked leading up to the draft.