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Mailbag: Which RFAs Are Likely To Be Gone?

DallasCowboys.com Report
February 9, 2010 3:24 PM
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 OTHER RECENT NEWS

Off-Season Program Begins Tuesday For Injured Rookies  2/8
Rob Phillips: Saints' Rise Should Lend Some Perspective  2/8
Mailbag: Monday, February 8, 2010
As Expected, Smith Gets First-Ballot Hall of Fame Call  2/7
Spagnola: Payton's Aggressive Nature Has Super Results  2/7
A Look Back At Emmitt's Hall of Fame Career  2/7
Notes: Committee Denies Haley For HOF Once Again  2/6
What Great RBs - Past & Present Are Saying About Smith  2/6
Haley Has Strong Canton Credentials  2/5
 

(Editor's Note: Each day we will take the 2 best questions for our staff writers to answer from the Mailbag. "Click here" to email questions now.)

DANIEL LEMMONS - RENO, NV: Which of our restricted free agents are most likely to be gone?

Nick: I would assume that most of them will probably be gone - at least half of them. The Cowboys have 13 RFA's and I would say only Miles Austin is a sure bet to come back. Others like Gerald Sensabaugh and then probably two DE's out of Spears, Hatcher and Bowen will be back other than that. I don't know about guys like Hurd, Procter, Watkins or Siavii. I wouldn't be surprised if all of them are somewhere else next year, especially by the start of the season.

Rob: I would think they'll try to retain most of them, like the defensive linemen (Spears, Hatcher, Bowen), Sensabaugh and Austin. I expect them to look for a veteran kicker, which means Shaun Suisham isn't coming back or will have serious competition. And this might be the end of the line for Pat McQuistan, especially if they want to draft another tackle. We'll see.

Josh: I don't see why almost all of them wouldn't be in training camp. Shaun Suisham's days are probably numbered, but surely they'll tender everybody else, right? Now, you might have a holdout or two in there, guys like Gerald Sensabaugh or Marcus Spears who think they deserve a long-term deal. But what are they going to do? Wish I knew how this off-season would go, but there's just a lot of uncertainty with the new rules.

JASON ALLEN - CHICAGO, IL: Back when Sean Payton left I knew it was a big mistake. That was proven with the Saints victory on Sunday. The Saints have much less talent than the Cowboys. Just imagine what Payton could have done with our group of players. Which of you would have gladly dumped Bill Parcells at that time for Payton?

Nick: Well, if you knew it was a mistake back then, you were probably one of the only ones. It's real easy to say that now, but you're crazy if you think Jerry Jones was going to "Dump" a Hall of Fame coach in Bill Parcells, who had completely turned around this franchise. And you dump him for Sean Payton, who at the time, had been removed of his play-calling duties with the Giants and then let go. Now, and in three years with the Cowboys, the offense ranked 15th, 14th and 13th. Actually, when Payton left, the Cowboys moved up to the fifth-ranked offense, although Terrell Owens and Tony Romo might have had something to do with that. I think Payton is a really good coach, but nothing at the time he left suggested that you get rid of Bill Parcells for that guy. No way.

Rob: The Saints are just as talented, if not more, than the Cowboys on offense. Their defense has some holes. Back to the original question: did you expect Jerry Jones to fire Bill Parcells to keep Payton? He wasn't going to do that, and he would've been ripped for taking a huge risk on a guy who'd never been a head coach. Nobody knew how Payton would fare running a team. That's revisionist thinking.

Josh: What was the mistake? There was nothing Jerry could have done to keep Payton from leaving, short of promoting him to head coach. That wasn't going to happen.
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