"Do you really want a 33-year-old (which he will be next year) trying to keep up with Osi Umenyiora?"

Yes...if you're a Redskins fan.

“Do you really want a 33-year-old (which he will be next year) trying to keep up with Osi Umenyiora?”

The 32-year-old version held him to 1 sack in 3 games, so I'd say yes.

Has Flozell really done well vs. Osi in the past? He might have just been lucky this year, catching crews that didn't call many holding penalties.

Yeah, how could Flozell have possibly stopped him? I seem to remember Osi having pretty consistent production last season... I mean 6 sacks in one game and then 7 the rest of the season is good, right.

#3: It's tough to say. Osi hasn't done a whole lot against Flozell since the Bledsoe-Romo switch has been made. But that might have more to do with the Giants' DL worrying more about 'contain' and less about pure pass rushing. With Bledsoe in the backfield, well, all of their OL looked pretty bad to me.

He's had six sacks against Dallas from 2004-07: Two in 04 and 05 each, and one in 06 and 07 each. So he had six sacks in a total of nine games played between the two, although I believe he missed one game against Dallas in 06, as he isn't on NFL.com's stats for the DAL@NYG game that year.

I don't really like this deal as a Cowboy fan. Yes, Flozell has been a good player... and yes, he was a deserving Pro Bowler this year. But he's also 33 years old, and if you discount the last 3 years of the deal, you've still paid him good money even for a LT for the next 3 years. So you're basically expecting NO drop off for him from this point onwards?

This signing, combined with giving Patrick Crayton way more money than he deserved and franchising perhaps one of the most replaceable pro bowlers ever in Ken Hamlin... it all makes me wonder how long this ride for the cowboys is gonna last.

Yeah, the Ken Hamlin franchise tag was the stupidest decision they've made this off-season. But given how terrible the Cowboys are at finding good OL in the draft, the Adams signing makes a lot of sense.

But given how terrible the Cowboys are at finding good OL in the draft

As a Giants fan who remembers the horrors of the Jimmy Johnson era, you have no idea how happy I feel when I read that.

#2: What about the 34-year old version of him? The 35-year old? 36?

That's an utter crapton of money to spend on a 33-year old tackle. How long do they honestly expect him to keep playing?

I'm always kinda reluctant to comment on contracts because I don't know of anywhere that I can get all the info on players' and team's contracts. Adam's signing is fine by me because the alternatives seem to make "overpaying" necessary.

For the Cowboys, though, I'm least happy with the Bradie James contract. Everything I see tells me he's over rated and his contract is ridiculous, and there's no way to utilize all the other talent they have at that position.

11. You've made me curious now... what exactly is Bradie James' contract? Unlike most cowboys fans who hate the secondary, the part I most disliked about this defense last year was the interior linebackers- Akin Ayodele and Bradie James (Kevin Burnett I thought was useful). But I've never heard about his James' contract being large or anything.

As a Cowboys fan:

Ouch on the Adams contract. Good player, arguably great player but six damn years? And that much? I'd rather see Free back there. But then I guess since it is only $15 million guaranteed. Maybe.

Addressing somethings in the comments:

Hamlin. Best safety we've had since Woodson retired. And it isn't even close (of course Hamlin isn't even close to Woodson though). I expect he signs a longer deal instead of playing under the franchise tag. Personally, I think Hamlin would make a great strong safety...unfortunately we have...Roy Williams (sob) so Hamlin has to play out of position.

As for Bradie James' contract. I had serious concerns when he first signed it. And then watching him suck Parcell's last year didn't make me feel any better. But last year he played well. I think that contract isgoing to be okay.

Now then, as for Crayton...did we really have to sign him? Seriously? I think Sam Hurd would have given you similar production as what Crayton did last year.

Hm, I was kinda hoping they would let Free play. I don't see how we are going to have any cap rom. I know they can cut him after a few years but don't they still have to take a cap hit? Flo did seem to shut down everyone this year though. He definitely deserved to go to the Probowl, but I don't know afte a few more years.

The Crayton signing was ill-advised as well I think. He's esaily replaceable, I don't know why they gave him that money.

But I don't see the problem with franchising Hamlin. The deep pass defense was leaps and bounds better than the year before, there were very few deep passes completed and I wouldn't really want to see Watkins back there again. Hamlin would be great at SS but we have Mr. Horsecollar there unfortunately. Why do you guys think franchising Hamlin was bad?

I can see the reasoning behind franchising him. First of all, the cap hit isn't too bad if it's a (relatively) low paid position like Safety. You get a franchise tag every year, but many teams don't take advantage of it.

Now the Cowboys are guaranteed to have a starter at Safety next year, and can still look for a replacement because they have no long term commitment. They can draft a safety this year and if he works out, let Hamlin walk away. If he doesn't work out or needs more time they can just franchise Hamlin again and try again.

I wish the Giants had franchised Gibril Wilson and found a replacement for him in the draft. He's not a superstar but it would be one less question mark on the roster for next year.

I think in many cases teams would benefit more from tagging an average player at a lower payed position than not tagging anyone at all. If your losing an average kicker to FA and you have no one to replace him but don't want to give him a multi year deal, why not tag him? As long as your not going to use the tag anyway it makes sense.

Adams shut down everybody last year, and I mean everybody. Yeah, he's getting older, but as a Dallas fan I'm stoked about this resigning, even if they can only get a couple more years of production out of him. He's a top tier lineman that just had arguably his best season and is being paid less than the going rate for guards, much less the most coveted position on the offensive line. Without knowing the particulars of the contract its hard to say how much it would hurt Dallas if his production dropped off significantly, but I'd say its pretty likely a lot of the guaranteed money is in the form of roster bonuses.

All I can say is Jerry Jones was talking about moving Leonard Davis back to left tackle if Adams left, so this is the best thing Dallas will do this offseason, in my opinion. Franchising him wasn't an option either, since from what I've read he'd have been a $9 million cap charge if they did.

16,

Yeah according to the Dallas Morning News (link in my name) he allowed only 3.5 sacks last year compared to someone like Diehl for the Giants who allowed 13.5! I'm not sure many fans of other teams no how good he really was. This is a top 5 OL in the NFC IMO.

That said the reason I'm questionable of this deal because of Flo's age and money. We need to see the year by year money to get a better read out and hopefully Flo can play at the same level for at least a couple more years. If so it could get the Boys an extra ring. But if not it would hurt especially if Free is ready to play. I think Free might take RT after next year and they let Columbo walk. Also I read they are trying to trade NT Jason Ferguson to Miami, just in some ectra news.

Last thing is according to footballgab, the Pack traded Corey Williams to the Browns, for I think a second round pick. Not sure where else to put that, maybe there will be an article soon.

I like Hamlin, I really do... but what he did for this team last year wasn't exactly irreplaceable. I think a lot of cowboys fans may overrate his importance because of the way he helped fix the deep pass defense... but personally, I think that's more a slight on the Keith Davis/Pat Watkins debacle of the year before rather than any phenomenal play on his part.

I guess what I'm saying is that there are a lot of safeties who can do the job Ken Hamlin did for us last year. Yes, Hamlin did his duties and he did them well. But look back and ask yourself- is this a franchise player? In all matters of player evaluation, I think you have to look at "replacement value" of the player, or how much better he is than the next best available option. The next available on the team is Pat Watkins- and I really think he stepped up his play. Will Hamlin still be better than Watkins though? Yea, probably... but not so much better that he's due franchise-player money.

And if you want to talk about the low cost of the franchise tag for him, well that argument really only works when you can designate a player for a position he doesn't play (a la Dallas Clark). Hamlin does the assignments that every FS out there would do for our team, so you're paying him as a top 5 at that position when I really don't think he is top 5. Any extra money you spent at FS is money that could be used elsewhere.

I was kinda hoping we might make a run at Gibril Wilson, as I think he's a comparable or maybe even better player yet probably going to be less highly paid. But now we'll have to wait and see what kind of money Hamlin and Wilson end up getting and evaluate from there.

First thing, I wonder why there are that many people surprised by this move ? It's clear that you have to overpay to get a player, so why wouldn't they overpay F.Adams ??? Why is that surprising ? I bet there would have been 5/6 teams at least willing to give him this contract.
Second thing, William not Tra Thomas is still playing at a high level, while I think he is already 33. And seem to have at least 1 good year left.

I'm not a fan of the Doug Free draft pick last year, so I think this is a smart move. $15 million guaranteed for a quality left tackle is a great deal when you consider the market for o-linemen over the last two seasons. There just aren't a lot of good left tackles around.

Besides, from the details that are leaking out, it appears most of the money will be paid over the first three years. That's Adams at ages 33, 34, and 35. It's not unreasonable to expect an o-lineman to play till 35. If Adams does start to decline, he could be shifted over to right tackle or be moved inside to guard and still be an asset to the team.

P.S. Adams only played half of a game against the Giants in 2005. And he was nothing less than dominant against some of the league's best DEs last year.

P.P.S. Crayton is well worth $14 mil over 4 years and the paltry $6 mil signing bonus. That's not a lot to pay for a number three receiver who has consistently played well according to DVOA over the past few seasons.

P.P.P.S. Hamlin's still young and still has room to improve. Whether or not he's the long term solution, it was a smart move to tag him and not get in a bidding war for a free agent. Plus, the upcoming draft has little to offer as far as safeties go.

Old Flo sure did alot better against Osi than "All-pro" Matt Light! Its not all about Osi. Its more like: what is the cost of of the alternative, and how will that impact performance? For '08, I'd take Flo over Light any day, and how much would that cost?

#21
Actually in five total games against Adams and Light last season, Umenyiora didn't register a single sack. Maybe he wasn't quite as good last year as people thought?

Flozell is an awesome name

Flozell is an awesome name

#11 - You can find contract information for most players in most sports at Rotoworld.com. It's on their respective player page.

Besides, from the details that are leaking out, it appears most of the money will be paid over the first three years. That’s Adams at ages 33, 34, and 35.

That just makes it worse, though, because it means if they cut him after the third year, it's going to be more like $10M/year rather than $7M/year, which makes the deal that much crazier.

Just to put it in context, the Eagles tackles are 33 and 34, and last year, the preseason comments were "how long can Runyan and Thomas hold up?" Most Eagles fans expect Thomas and Runyan to be replaced in a year or two - not three or four.

It’s not unreasonable to expect an o-lineman to play till 35.

Uh... I kinda think it is. Jonathan Ogden, who's widely expected to retire, is 33. Walter Jones, who's been described as 'ancient' and 'creaking,' is 34. Willie Roaf, who will probably go into the Hall of Fame, made it to 36.

There is exactly one starting tackle (not left tackle! either tackle!) in the league who is over 34: Wayne Gandy, of the Atlanta Falcons, those bastions of offensive-line dominance.

There are only a handful of teams in the NFL who have a tackle over 33, and universally, fans and sportswriters talk about those teams' need to replace that tackle.

If Adams continues starting until 35, the Cowboys will probably have one of those oldest starting tackles in the league, if not the oldest.

Re 21:
Flozell Adams played very well against Osi for 2.5 games this year. He lost it in the second half of the playoff game, but he stonewalled Osi for the majority of the time he went up against. I don't know how Flozell fared against other teams, but he was a key contributor on that offensive line and that OL was a major reason for Dallas' success. The length of the deal is absurd but the money... well... the money everywhere right now is too much. I would rather overpay a player who has done something to warrant money in the first place.

Your statement is misleading, however, as anyone with working eyes saw that Osi flat-out abused Matt Light for four quarters in the Super Bowl. Not registering a single sack? Fine. Forcing multiple false starts, blowing up runs to his side and constantly harassing Tom Brady when he dropped back to pass? Sounds like a unqualified beatdown.