STEVEN DENNEY
BOISE, ID
This may sound strange, but was releasing DeMarcus Ware and getting the salary cap in better shape the best move of the offseason?
David: I'm not going to laud it as some kind of stroke of genius, because I think there was probably a way to keep Ware and save money. That said, there's no denying the decision to release him helps the Cowboys for the future. They've got a decent amount of salary cap room now, and the salary cap is projected to increase by a pretty substantial amount in the next year or two. If they manage it correctly, the space they're creating should allow them to make moves like renewing Tyron Smith, Dez Bryant and possibly DeMarco Murray. Who knows? Maybe they'll even be buyers in free agency next spring.
Rowan: I don't think so, because I think they still could have had Ware at a discount while still landing Henry Melton, the Cowboys' biggest free agent signing thus far. But as far as the salary cap goes, getting that at a manageable level was one of the best moves of the offseason. Dallas hasn't overpaid for anyone and got a prized defensive tackle at an affordable rate. Now the only question is whether or not the additions play to their potential.
DWAYNE H.
GREENSBORO, NC
Are there any scenarios that you can think of that could happen to make the Cowboys use, say, next year's first rounder to jump back late into the first round to pick a player that could potentially slip?
David:Yeah, I'm sure there are scenarios that could tempt the Cowboys to do that. Maybe a highly-regarded quarterback drops way further than he was supposed to, or maybe a first-round caliber pass rusher is still sitting there at No. 25 or so. I still wouldn't recommend they do it, [embedded_ad] however. We keep talking about how deep this draft class is, which means quality players should still be available in the second and third rounds. I'm not a big fan of compromising the future over one player. How much will the Cowboys want that pick next year if it turns out to be in the top 10? Something similar just happened to Washington.
Rowan: I don't see that happening. I wouldn't rule out anything with the Cowboys and trading when it comes to the draft, but I don't think it'd be wise for them to use next year's first-round pick for a late first-round pick. It's much more likely in my mind that they trade their pick at 16 to go back in the first round and get more picks than trading next year's first-rounder. I just don't think any pick will be sitting there around the 20-30 range that'll be worth next year's top pick, wherever that may be in the first round.
