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The Dallas Cowboys face several big decisions this offseason and the way they handle these problems will help determine if they will be returning to the Super Bowl anytime soon. Three particular items are key: resigning their own free-agents with little or no cap room, having a successful draft and finding a way to overcome a difficult season in which they not only fell from World Champion status, but also in the eyes of their fans. In the age of the salary cap, good players are forced to leave their original teams because they do not have the cap space to resign them to the money they deserve. Because of the big contracts signed by Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Deion Sanders, several Cowboys face the prospect thatthey may have to move on to another city. Daryl Johnston, Kevin Williams, Darrin Smith, George Teague and Brock Marion are some of this years candidates to possibly move on down the road. Of the these players, Johnston is probably the most important to resign. As a Pro-Bowl fullback, he is a key part of the Dallas running attack. Although the running game was not especially strong this year, it was not due to the blocking of "the Moose." Cowboy management must hope that Johnston's ties to the community will help keep him in Dallas. If not, they will either have to find a creative way to keep him a Cowboy, or look elsewhere for a replacement. For Smith, the chance of him staying is very minute. It is more than likely that he will jump ship, due in part to a bitter contract holdout two years ago with owner Jerry Jones. The linebacker feels that he is worth much more then the Cowboys have offered in the past and because there is no cap room, he will probably choose to move on. The Cowboys will turn his starting job over to second-year linebacker Randall Godfrey. As a rookie, Godfrey had a good year and made several starts throughout the season, so he is not without experience. With the late-season play of Teague, the resigning of Marion becomes far less important, but the resigning Teague is more significant. Only one of these two will probably stay in Dallas next year and the fact that Marion is also recovering from a late-season injury also adds to equation. If he is to stay a Cowboy, he will have to be willing to take far less than he would receive from another ballclub. The resigning of Williams is up in the air at this point, due to the fact that Aikman has lost a lot of confidence in his catching ability. Although he is effective as a third receiver, he has proven that he is not an every-down player. The Cowboys are in the market for someone to play opposite of Michael Irvin and that may mean the reappearance of Alvin Harper, who is currently with Tampa Bay. The former Cowboy is looking to get away from the Buccaneers and they are eager to drop his hefty salary. What was already apparent to us, has now been realized by the wide receiver himself: he is not good enough to be the "go-to" man. He would probably be better off as a second receiver who is known as for being a deep threat. It has become an off-season tradition that free-agent Cowboys are overpaid by other NFL teams. Can you say Ron Stone! Russell Maryland! Or even Super Bowl XXX MVP Larry Brown! These are guys that have capitalized on being a Cowboy on a Super Bowl champion. Unfortunately for this year's group of free agents, there is no ring to flash around. So those that choose to leave may not receive the consideration that they would have in previous seasons. There are others that the Cowboys need to resign, including kicker Chris Boniol. Management will have to change their stance on paying a kicker more then the minimum if they are to keep the very consistent Boniol, who is a restricted free-agent. That means the Cowboys can match any contract that another team offers him so that they can retain his services. Another player that is a restricted free-agent is special teams Pro-Bowler Jim Schwantz. With the apparent departure of Smith, Schwantz will probably receive more time at linebacker next year. He played very well in the nickel package, filling in for the veteran Bill Bates. Every year Bates says he will keep playing, but it may be time to hang up his cleats and grab a whistle. There has been talk that he would become a member of the coaching staff whenever he retires. In order to resign any of these players, management will have to renegotiate the contracts of Aikman, Smith and Sanders. That will be the only way that they will free enough money to spend on free agents. Another free agent who will probably not be returning include deep-snapper Dale Hellestrae, especially if second-year center Clay Shiver works out. The Cowboys are holding out hope that Jay Novacek will return after missing all of the 1996 season with a bad back and that Kendall Watkins will return from his knee injury. This means that tightends Tyji Armstrong, Johnny Mitchell and Derek Ware will probably not be offered contracts for 1997. Finally, Wade Wilson will probably retire, moving Jason Garrett into the number two spot at quarterback. The Princeton man has shown the ability to lead the team in tough games, i.e. Green Bay two years ago. Not only do they need money for free agents but also for this years draft picks. The 1997 draft will be very important to the future of the Cowboys, so they need to have better success than they have had since Jimmy Johnson left three years ago. Dallas has several needs that they must fill via the draft, but the primary needs are along both sides of the line of scrimmage. The offensive line is getting old. Center Ray Donaldson is the senior member of the group, but he has two others not too far behind him. Last year they drafted Clay Shiver a center out of Florida State. He will probably be the heir apparent to the Pro-Bowler when Donaldson decides to retire. George Hegaman is very usable as a role player but probably not good enough to start. What they need to find is another Larry Allen or a pre-accident Eric Williams. Allen has quickly become one of the best lineman in football and Williams, when he is not off-sides or putting his hands in a lineman's face, is still very dominating. It is time to start replacing Mark Tuinei and Nate Newton. Tuinei is coming off a season in which he either missed a game or was ineffective due to a bad knee. Newton is still a Pro-Bowler, but he is not as good as he was even two years ago. The line was the main reason that Emmitt Smith did not have his typical 1,500 yard season. The Cowboys need to draft at least one quality lineman with the hopes that he will be able to replace one of the two aged linemen. On defense question marks are everywhere. Charles Haley probably needs to retire but won't. The money he is getting is too much to walk away from. Leon Lett will not be eligible to return from his second drug suspension until almost playoff time. There's two definite holes to fill. One of the holes could be filled with the return of Darren Benson. The third-year lineman is better known for retiring to become a roofer then as a football player, but he has beeen at Valley Ranch working very diligently in the rehabilitation of his knee. The Cowboys are hoping he can be counted on in 1997. Chad Hennings and Tony Tolbert both stepped up and had good years, with Tolbert going to the Pro Bowl, but they are getting older as well. Dallas will probably have to pick another defensive lineman, especially since last year's top pick Kavika Pittman appears to be a bust. The jury is still out on Shante Carver, who filled in for Haley. He was rarely a factor with the pass rush. One other lineman who had a decent year was Hurvin McCormick. He will be asked to step up and play a bigger role next season. With Smith soon to be leaving, they may want to look at drafting another linebacker. Someone who is versatile enough to start on the outside, but be able to move to the middle when Fred Strickland retires. With word that Deion is the new centerfielder with the Cincinnati Reds the Cowboys will also need another cornerback. Alundis Brice blew out his knee against San Francisco in a game that he replaced the ailing Sanders, so rookie Wendall Davis stepped in and did an adequate job in what was his only chance at real playing time. Brice may need more time to recover, but it is the feeling around Dallas that he may be another draft bust. Davis on the otherhand, may be able to play in this league. He will certainly get a lot of practice in training camp this summer. On the offensive side, the specialty positions are very solid, but they need to find some good backups that they can turn to in case of an injury. Tight End Eric Bjornson may be the next Jay Novacek, but unless he starts holding onto the ball, Aikman will quit looking his way. Aikman finally quit going to him at the end of the season because of all his drops. A year under his belt should settle him down. He needs to concentrate on staying healthy in the offseason so that he can have a full camp. Watkins should return from his knee injury, so the running game should improve because of his blocking. As far as the receiving corps goes, they need to determine whether or not Stepfret Williams is the answer. He had a great camp, but was no where to be found during the season, including the time that Irvin was out. In the past several years, the Cowboys have given up on Willie Jackson and Jimmy Smith, both of whom had great 1996 seasons. They need to find someone who can play opposite of Irvin and let Kevin Williams go back to being the third receiver if he decides to stay. With his new off-season job, Deion Sanders removed any chance that he will be a two-way player in 1997. This draft may not be the best for it, but they may want to start looking for a young quarterback. Aikman continues to say that he does not know how long he will play football. Apparently he is not pleased with the fact that Barry Switzer is still the head coach. The fact that Dallas has had off the field problems does not make him very happy about being a Cowboy. They probably won't find a star type quarterback in this years draft, but they need to at least draft a serviceable quarterback for the next few years who can learn the offense and hold the clipboard for $200,000 a year. Under Jones, the Dallas Cowboys have not had a real impact draft. Sure they found Larry Allen at Sonoma State, but one player in three years is not a very good showing. Their tradition of trading down for more picks needs to come to an end, but with this draft being fairly deep and the Cowboys having several needs to address, picking up extra picks may be just the thing to do. If they keep the 25th pick they probably won't find a superstar but maybe they can still find a really good football player to help out this year. Record-wise, the Cowboys had a fairly good year. A lot of teams would take 10-6, but the fans in Dallas have become spoiled. Five consecutive division titles is not enough to please them. It has been one nightmare after another off the field. Irvin's cocaine conviction, the Eric Williams-and-Irvin alleged rape, Jones against the league, Jones and the IRS, Deion leaving for baseball and finally the fact that they are no longer "America's Team." All of these things make being a Dallas Cowboy very difficult right now. The Cowboys need to tighten the reins on the players a little more. That means Switzer needs to assert himself as head coach, or he may not have a team much longer. There is always talk that Barry would just quit, but that probably won't happen. At least not this year. The Dallas Cowboys know how to put together a Super Bowl Champion. They have done that three out of the last five years, so it's not an impossible task. They are just going to have to work a little harder at doing the right thing. Due to the fact that the Dallas Cowboys have imposed a gag order on all coaches, none of the staff could be reached for comments. Rich Dalryple the Cowboys Public Relations Director, declined to comment and said that Jerry Jones would be unavailable for an interview for this story.
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