You can accuse Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones of many things,—and I have—but being timid has never been one of them. Especially on the day of the NFL draft.

Last night, the noted oil wildcatter-turned-NFL-general manager was at his root-’n'-tootin’, gunslinging best when he leaped from the pick 14 to pick six (yeah, that’s a pun, and apropos, because the Rams were robbed).

The guys wearing the star were the biggest bandits on day one of the 2012 NFL draft. To hear son Stephen Jones tell it, he and daddy basically held up the St. Louis Rams and robbed them blind:

We said, ‘Well, what we do we need to do to come up?” Stephen Jones recounted. “And the (Rams) said, ‘We may not need as much as we normally would.‘ “

Stephen said he thought the Rams’ pick should have required the Cowboys to yield a second round  and a fourth round pick along with their 14th pick in the first round. All the Rams required was the 14th and 45th picks overall, the Cowboys first and second rounders.

Just like that, out of the (Cowboys) blue, Claiborne is headed to Dallas. Claiborne never saw it coming. I never saw it coming. None of the talking heads on the NFL Network or ESPN saw it coming.

Neither did you. Right?

Nobody did.

Nobody but the wildcattter and his wild bunch of draft day renegades.

Shock and awe? According to Claiborne, this was:

Claiborne spoke with NFL.com just after he was drafted and expressed amazement that the Cowboys took him, not to mention traded up from No. 14 to No. 6 to do it.

“I was shocked,” Claiborne said. “They didn’t even talk to me.”

It was welcome news. Claiborne said his family is full of Cowboys fans, and he cried when he heard he was drafted by them. Now he’s joining a loaded secondary.

Except for the first pick overall, every one of the first seven picks changed hands, either before the draft or during. Thanks to the best component of the new collective bargaining agreement; i.e., the rookie salary cap, the handcuffs are off NFL owners and drafts are fun again.

Picking in the top ten is no longer a one-way ticket to a salary cap jail cell. Consequently, Jerry Jones and his band of draft day bandits can come out with guns blazing. And that is just what they did.

Welcome to Big D, Mr. Claiborne. In this brave new world of draft day high jinks and highway robbery, it’s good to be a Cowboy. It is good to be a member of the notorious Jones Gang.

Isn’t it?

Calvin Watkins of ESPN.com lists five players the Cowboys might take with the 14th pick in tonight’s draft: Alabama strong safety Mark Barron; Mississippi State defensive lineman Fletcher Cox; LSU defensive lineman Michael Brockers; Stanford guard David DeCastro; Alabama cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick.

Which would you most like to see the Cowboys draft?

For nearly a decade, the Dallas Cowboys defense has been without a safety net.  That should change Thursday night when Jerry Jones and company adds Alabama Crimson Tide strong safety Mark Barron to the roster.

Barron will become, by all indications, the best player at the position since Roy Willams (the young, ferocious-hitting, play-making variety). He may, in fact, become the best at the position since the great Darren Woodson, the best defensive player on the ’90s Cowboys team, the one that dominated a decade.

In his four years at the University of Alabama, Barron recorded 149 tackles. He had 13 tackles for a loss, five sacks and 12 interseptions. He also forced 12 fumbles. He helped Alabama win two national championships.

NFL.com gives Barron a 90 rating, which means they expect him to be a first-round pick, an impact player and an immediate starter. They offer the following overview of the player:

Barron was an imposing defender at Alabama. He simply looked like a professional, from the way that he prepared and warmed up to his productivity and on-field presence. A stalwart at safety, he has the size and athletic ability to contribute right away in the NFL. He has the range and ball skills to make big plays and is an active defender against the run. Barron projects as a top-50 pick.

Gerald Sensabaugh has manned the position for the Cowboys for the past three seasons. He recorded 158 tackles and eight interceptions during that time. He forced two fumbles and recovered two. He didn’t have the kind of impact blitzing you would want from a man at his position. He recorded just two sacks in three seasons.

Of course, if you watched the Cowboys during that three–year period, you know how porous the Dallas defensive backfield was, especially at critical times in close games. If Barron becomes the professional player he is projected to be, he will be an instant upgrade at a position that has been undermanned for too long.

Charlie Campbell of Walterfootball.com summarizes Barron this way:

When watching Alabama, Barron jumps out and is all over the field. He makes tackles in run support and always seems to be in the right spot in pass coverage. He is a big safety who may be the hardest-hitting player at his position in the 2012 NFL Draft class.

At 6’2, 218, Barron could be the kind of intimidator you want at the strong safety position. If he has receivers hearing footsteps, they will be first footsteps they have heard from a Cowboys’ safety in a very long time.

That Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is inept as a general manager in the National Football League is now so painfully obvious that it has ceased to be worthy of mention. Pointing out his management guffaws is like shooting fish in a barrel or beating your seven year old grandson in an arm wrestling match. There is just no joy in it, no sense of fulfillment.

I just happen to be joyous and fulfilled enough to do it anyway.

The announcement that kicker David Buehler has been cut brought to mind the worst draft in the history of the Dallas Cowboys, and one of the worst in the history of professional football.

If you remain unconvinced that Jerry Jones is lost as a GM, unless he has his hand held by an actual football man like Jimmy Johnson or Bill Parcells, I give you (drum roll, please) your Dallas Cowboys’ 2009 NFL Draft extravaganza.

You be the judge, the jury and the helpless fan.

Round by round, here we go…

Round One

Your Heroes had no pick. Jerry had already used it to acquire—wait for it!—wideout Roy Williams. Yes, that Roy Williams. The Lions used the Cowboys’ 20th pick on TE Brandon Pettigrew. Still on the board to be taken later in round one: Clay Matthews (Packers, 26th overall) and Hakeem Nicks (Giants, 29th overall).

I would give this a grade, but I do not want to insult teachers.

Round Two

The Cowboys had the 19th pick and traded it to the Buffalo Bills for the number two third round picks and a fourth rounder. Let’s withhold judgment until we see how this turns out.

Round Three

With the fifth pick (from the Browns), the cowboys take LB Jason Williams out of Western Illinois. In his first three years in the league, Williams has amassed an astounding 20 tackles. (Yes, my tongue was in my cheek there.) He has never worked his way into the starting lineup. He’s a bit player at best; a two-bit player at worst.

With the 11th pick of the third round (from the Bills), the Cowboys take OT Robert Brewster. If you do not know anything about him, don’t bother. He was hurt his rookie season and when he healed, they discovered he couldn’t play. He’s no longer with the team.

Round Four

With the first pick in the fourth round (from the Lions), the Cowboys select QB Stephen McGee out of Texas A&M. McGee was a fabulous high school quarterback, a decent college quarterback on a team that had no real passing game, and has been—and shall forever remain—a backup at best in the NFL.

The 10th pick in the fourth round is spent on LB Victor Butler from Oregon State, because, in a three-four defense, you can never have too many quality linebackers. Butler is a quality backup linebacker. In three years, however, he has managed just 30 tackles and 15 assists. Not the worst mid-round pick ever, but not the man you want to hang your hat on as the best pick of your 2009 draft, which he probably is.

The Cowboys traded for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 20th pick in the fourth to snag DE/LB Brandon Williams—a brilliant move. (Again, facetious.) Williams recorded three tackles in 2010, then moved on to Arizona, where he did nothing at all.

Fifth Round

The Cowboys traded with the Oakland Raiders to get the seventh pick in the fifth round. They saw something they liked in CB DeAngelo Smith, out of Cincinatti. DeAngelo ended up playing in Detroit in 2009, recording six tackles. That’s it. Nothing since.

With the 30th pick in round five, the Cowboys took FS Michael Hamlin. Hamlin made it through the ’09 season and part of 2010 before he was set free. His numbers were nil.

Number 36 in the fifth was spent on K David Buehler, the strong-footed, linebacker-looking kicker our of USC, whom the Cowboys cut yesterday. He was supposed to be for the purpose of kicking the ball too deep to return on kickoffs and for kicking the ridiculously long field goals. He was a luxury the Cowboys could not afford. And he was not that luxurious anyway.

Sixth Round

In this round, the Cowboys picked up SS Stephen Hodge,TCU, and TE John Phillips, Virginia. Hodge is another bust. John Phillips has proved himself a player, especially in the blocking game. He has shown potential as a receiver, as well. That’s good, because the second round pick from the 2008 draft, Martellus “Marty B” Bennett, another colossal bust, is likely on his way out.

Seventh Round

Here, the Cowboys picked up CB Mike Mickens from Cincinatti and WR Manuel Johnson from Oklahoma. For some reason, the Cowboys were completely enamored with the Cincinatti Bearcats’ backfield. They took two players from that unit. One has worked out about as well as the other. If you don’t remember Mickens or Johnson, it is likely because you are not family or a close personal friend to either of them.

I would offer insightful commentary on the lost draft of 2009. I would mention how a team cannot afford to just skip entire years of drafting and developing quality players. I would talk about Jerry Jones and company and how overmatched they are in the NFL.

But the facts do not need me. They speak for themselves.

It is that time of year, folks. Spring is upon us, the football season is behind us. And a fresh, new season of hope is before us.

It is an annual ritual. One team’s fans celebrate their team’s ascent to the glory of a world championship, while fans of the other 31 teams try to figure out which player should be taken in the first round of the NFL Draft in order to catapult their team to the post-Super Bowl podium for the presentation of next year’s Lombardi trophy.

Ah. Spring. Hope. And the eternal spring of hope.

So, who will it be for your Dallas Cowboys? They hold the 14th pick in the 2012 NFL draft. Upon whom will they spend it? Well, I have gone searching for the answer.

First, I went to Confucius. Confucius say, “Better a Diamond with a flaw than a pebble without.”

That somehow made sense to me, but did not answer the burning question. So, I sought the wisdom of five other philosophers and forecasters of all things football.

Charean Williams of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram says that Jerry Jones and his merry band of brown-nosers will select David DeCastro (OG) out of Stanford. Williams states flatly, “Cowboys find the next Larry Allen.”

I do not know about all of that, but if he is 50% of the next Larry Allen, he would be a darn good choice.

Walter Cherepinsky of walterfootball.com has the Cowboys taking Janoris Jenkins (CB) out of Northern Alabama.

Says the smartest Walter since Kronkite:

“I’ve always had reservations about putting Janoris Jenkins in the first round because of his multiple arrests, but he seems to have turned his life around. He hasn’t gotten into trouble at North Alabama, and he even recently told the media that he doesn’t even hang around people who smoke weed anymore. It’s an issue that he has four children already (all with baseborn last names of “Orange”), but it seems that as with Phil Taylor, getting kicked out of school served as a wake-up call for Jenkins.”

Great! Another guy named Jenkins at cornerback and an outlaw to boot. Sounds like a perfect fit for the Jonestown Owlhoots.

Steve Wyche of NFL.com offers Dre Kirkpatrick (CB) for the national champion Alabama Crimson Tide, for your consideration.

NFL.com offers the following analysis of Kirkpatrick:

“Athletes like Kirkpatrick are able to defy the perception that taller skill players don’t have the footwork and agility that shorter players do. Kirkpatrick will thrive initially within a zone scheme, where he can use his burst and length to cover ground and remain active in plays. He is so talented athletically that he could likely be tested early on an island in man coverage and excel, and he possesses the confidence and field presence necessary to take on such a task.”

Dre might be just the ticket to spiff up an otherwise dreadful defensive backfield.

Rob Rang and Dane Brugler, a couple of household names of whom you have never heard, of CBSSports.com agree with Wyche and say Dre Kirkpatrick will play for the Good Guys next season.

(I know I promised only five forecasters’ predictions, but I am counting Rang and Brugler as one. Since they are on the same web page and offered the same opinion, one of them seems superfluous to me. Just call it the Rang-Brugler prediction.)

Finally, we get to the widely read and well-respected NationalFootballPost.com, which has the Cowboys taking Peter Konz (C) out of Wisconsin at number 14.

Oddly enough, on the same page, the NFP has Konz on their Big Board as the 15th ranked player with the arrow pointing downward, indicating his stock is dropping.

The NFP offers the following analysis of the player they chose to be one of Jerry’s Kids:

“For a taller center showcases impressive flexibility, as he typically gains leverage on contact and uses his length to gain proper hand placement. Has some limitations because of his height and will allow defenders to get under him at times.

“However, for the most part is able to quickly re-set his hands, sink his hips and keep the inside of the pocket clean in pass protection.

“Showcases an [sic] good snap through the hips in the run game, is routinely able to create a push inside and drive opposing nose tackles away from the play and/or seal. Looks like a “plus” run blocker in the NFL in more of an angle scheme. “

So, there you have it in a nutshell. What the experts are unanimously predicting for the Dallas Cowboys in the first round of the 2012 NFL draft.

I work for Allstate, and I predict “Mayhem.”

I like my pick because I have seen what Jerry Jones can do. And I have learned what he cannot do.

But my ol’ daddy, the Confucius of Texas, say, “Even blind hog find acorn every now and then.”

Here’s hoping…

The question under consideration today: Will Jerry Jones and his Dallas Cowboys pounce on Mike Pouncey with the number nine pick in the 2011 draft or will Prince Amukamara be given the blue and silver sceptre?

Plenty of prognosticators have the Cowboys snagging Prince with their top ten pick. Not many of them, however, are willing to say that the Prince is a lock to become Cowboys backfield royalty.

CBSSports.com has this to say about Amukamara:

Overrated: Prince Amukamara, Nebraska: Amukamara has proven throughout his career that he has the size, physicality and athleticism to be a first-round pick. Most teams believe that to warrant consideration as a top-10 pick, a cornerback has to have elite ball skills. This is the area of concern for Amukamara, despite the fact that he was a standout running back in high school. Amukamara intercepted only five of the 27 passes he broke up over his career. Oddly, all five interceptions came during his junior season. – Rob Rang, NFLDraftScout.com

Cornerback Patrick Peterson of LSU is widely regarded as the best at his position in the class of 2011, and some say he is the best prospect in the draft. Period. Peterson will not last through the first eight pickers. So, will the Cowboys roll the dice and spend a coveted top 10 draft pick on a guy considered a distant second at his position?

Not if Mike Pouncey is tweeting the truth.

On April 7, Mike Pouncey, the offensive guard out of the University of Florida, tweeted, Headed back to pittsburgh…. would be shocked if i wasnt in a dallas uniform nxt year! The draft is april 28th so we will see….

Pouncey’s twin brother, Maurkice (whom their mother loved more and gave the cooler name), already plies his wares in the NFL for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

NFLDraftBible.com logs the following about Mike Pouncey:

Like his twin brother Maurkice, Mike Pouncey is not only schematically versatile; he can play multiple positions along the offensive line. The interior lineman started all 14 games both as a sophomore and a junior, mostly at the right guard position, and also started on the left side last year. This season he is expected to take over at center, replacing his brother who left early for the NFL. The remaining Gator is skilled to the point that the team even used him at tackle this past spring and some of the coaches at Florida believe he can play center, guard and tackle. That would give new meaning to the term ‘jack-of-all-trades’ when it comes to scouting offensive linemen.

Pouncey and Amukamara are certainly strong candidates for that ninth pick. They are not, however, alone. Texas A&M linebacker Vonn Miller, the Butkus award winner, might have something to say about it. USC tackle Tryon Smith is moving up draft boards, as well.

Then, there is always the chance Jerry Jones trades out of the pick altogether.

By the way, I was joking about  Maurkice being his momma’s favorite. Mike is a perfectly good name, even if you do not trick up its spelling.

Sam Hurd is done in Dallas. The Dallas Cowboys elected not to tender the restricted free agent.

In his four seasons with the Cowboys, Sam Hurd caught just 45 passes for 630 yards and two touchdowns. He has languished on the bench as a second- and third-string wide receiver for the entirety of his career. Despite showing flashes of potential, bigger names and contracts have always taken precedent. (Hello, Roy Williams.)

Sam Hurd has been a standout as a special teams player. The Cowboys, however, do not think that warrants a tender and Hurd is not satisfied to remain in his current role. He wants to be in a place where he can challenge for a starting position.

In other restricted free agent news, The Cowboys did give Doug Free the highest tender, meaning that another team wanting to offer him more would have to give the Cowboys a 1st and 3rd round pick in the 2011 NFL Draft in order to do so, provided the Cowboys did not match whatever offer the other team made.

It would have cost the team $10 million to slap the Franchise tag on Doug Free, so the Cowboys have taken a calculated risk with the RFA tender, especially when you consider that Free was hands down, far and away, unquestionably (and any other superlative qualifiers you might think of) the best offensive lineman on the team in 2010.

In addition to Free’s tender, defensive ends Stephen Bowen and Jason Hatcher received 2nd round tenders and safety Alan Ball was given a 7th round tender.

Of course, this all assumes that, when the NFL and the NFL Players Association finally shake hands on a new deal, the Restricted Free Agent rules still apply in the same way they currently do.

If all goes according to plan, Hurd is free and Free is herded into the fold for at least another year.

You kind of have to wonder whether, as the the Dallas Cowboys assemble their war room for the 2011 NFL draft, they will hang a few “Most Wanted” pictures up on the wall. After the Great Collapse of 2010 (a name I just made up for the disaster that was last season), this team has been shown for what it is: A team with the potential to be a contender, if they can fill a few gaping holes.

Obviously, there are not ten gaping holes on this team. They are not the Carolina Panthers. Still, the way drafts go, you cannot always address your greatest need with a given pick. For instance, you may need a safety really, really bad, but if there is not one on the board that warrants being taken with the pick in hand, you turn your attention to other things.

So, here we go: My version of the Dallas Cowboys top 10 positional needs this off-season, from greatest to least.

Number One: Strong Safety— The Alan Ball experiment at free safety was an unmitigated disaster. His inability to be a play-maker back there put immense pressure on the cornerbacks and even brought Gerald Sensabaugh’s effectiveness down a notch.

Sensabaugh could be more than serviceable as a free safety, if he is next to a run-supporting, ball-hawking, play-making whirling dervish as strong safety. If you want to be a top defense in the NFL, you almost have to have that guy. Look around the league at the best defenses and you will find team leaders and play-makers galore at the safety position.

Number Two: Right Tackle— Marc Colombo has been a good player in his day. He has been a fierce competitor and a leader on the offensive line. His day appears to be past. With the emergence of Doug Free at left tackle, the Cowboys must turn their attention to getting younger, healthier and more mobile on the right side.

Number Three: Guard— I am not saying whether it is right guard or left guard, because either Kyle Kosier or Leonard Davis needs to be replaced. Kosier has battled the injury bug and Davis, a man for whom they named a mountain range out in the west Texas wilds (I assume they did; I could be wrong), takes up a ton of space, but doesn’t open running lanes or provide pass protection as well as you would think.

Number Four: Cornerback 1— It is my contention that Terence Newman has always been a little bit overrated. He has been to two Pro Bowls, but in this age of players begging out of the game and substitutes being named left and right, who hasn’t?

Newman actually recorded five interceptions in 2010, a career high. If you watched all 16 Cowboys games, however, you had to come away with the impression that Newman was at his least effective in 2010. A receiver catching a ball over his shoulder with Newman looking like a vapor trail behind him was an all-too-familiar sight in 2010.

Number 5: Defensive End— I guess everyone who thought Marcus Spears was a bust just didn’t know what a bust really looks like. Meet Igor Olshansky. I swear, this guy ought to have to buy a ticket and sit in the nose-bleeds to watch a game. The only thing he brought to the stadium was a cool Russin hit man-sounding name and an over-enthusiastic dance when he made one of those extremely rare plays during the course of the season.

The over-tatted, muscular Olshansky started 16 games and recorded 17 tackles. He was brought here by Wade Phillips and it says here he can leave and go dance “with the one that brung ‘im.”

Number Six: Inside Linebacker— Keith Brooking has been a great player, a great influence, and an all-around great guy throughout his career. Two of those three things are still true. Might be time for him to go into coaching. Bradie James has been hit and miss throughout his fairly solid career. He needs more hits and fewer misses.

The Cowboys were ranked 23rd overall defensively in 2010. They gave up 108.6 yards per game, putting them at number 16 in that category. They were most vulnerable straight up the middle, where they were often gashed for huge chunks.

Number Seven: Nose Tackle— Look, I know Jay Ratliff is a player. I love him. I love him on this team. I just wonder if the Cowboys signed a big-bodied run-stopper at nose tackle, moved Ratliff to defensive end and kicked Olshansky to the curb, would it fix what ailed the porous, ineffective defensive line of 2010? Ratliff is undersized for a nose tackle. On run plays, he is too easily man-handled by the double team, putting the opposition’s runner into the second level of the defense, where the linebackers miss him and the safeties try to run him down.

Number Eight: Halfback— Felix Jones ran for 800 yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry. That is not a bad showing. He scored one touchdown. That is a bad showing. Jones did not display that burst he had earlier in his career. The home run hitter became a hit-for-average guy, which is not scaring any defensive coordinators. Tashard Choice ran for 243 yards and three touchdowns.

Put those numbers together and you have a thousand yard back and four touchdowns. (Feel free to yawn here.) That is marginally acceptable, but not impressive by any means. One of these guys has to take charge or someone (from Alabama, perhaps) needs to be drafted.

Number Nine: Cornerback 2— After a Pro Bowl year in 2009, Mike Jenkins took a huge step in the wrong direction in 2010. He recorded only one interception while giving up a ton of yardage. He was also spotted, more than once, playing Matador with ball carriers. He made what Deion Sanders famously called “business decisions,” meaning he elected not to stick his head into a play and make a tackle.

I am beginning to worry about a possible knucklehead factor with Jenkins. Hopefully, he rights his ship in 2011, under the direction of new defensive coordinator and renowned cusser, Rob Ryan.

Number Ten: Kicker— David Buehler is the best athlete the Cowboys have ever had at the kicker position. That and five bucks will get you a Grande coffee at Starbucks. Buehler was 24 for 32 on field goals (75%), which is respectable. He was just four for seven from 30–39 yards out, which is not respectable.

One has to wonder if the studly kicker isn’t better suited to kicking off and covering kickoffs than kicking game-winners as time expires.

As you can see, the Dallas Cowboys have plenty of work to do. If they can just get the whole talent-evaluation thing down, it seems like they can hardly go wrong in the 2011 draft. They have needs—some urgent, some not so much— all over the field. If they can plug just two or three of the most glaring holes, I could see them making a hearty playoff run next season.

Then Cowboys fans can take down their “Most Wanted” pictures. You know, the ones with Jerry Jones’ mug on them.

Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones wants to draft Cam Newton. Is the Dallas Cowboys owner officially crazy— or is he crazy like a fox?

One of the entertaining things that happens around this time of year is the way prospective rookies allegedly “move up and down” the draft boards of NFL teams. This often occurs for no other reason than some writer or commentator throws out a suggestion and, like bloody meat in  a pool of sharks, it creates a mindless feeding frenzy.

But then you have those stories generated by statements from teams and players themselves. This is the case with the Cam Newton to Dallas Cowboys furor. It was none other than Cowboys Owner/GM Jerry Jones that said he was, in fact, considering taking Newton with the Cowboys’ number nine pick.

Then Cam Newton confirmed the Cowboys’ interest.

“I did have a meeting with the Cowboys last night for 15 minutes,” Newton admitted, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “It was one of those teams that I did speak with. As far as any teams right now… I’m not going to get particular [about] which teams that I’m interested in, because right now I’m interested in every single team that’s in the NFL who’s willing to take me as a player.”

All of this raises the question: Is Jerry Jones serious about drafting Cam Newton, or is this a bluff?

Certainly, part of the intrigue of the NFL Draft is the games these men play with one another. It is like watching the World Series of Poker. Who is really doing what?

Jerry Jones could be feeding the Newton fire as a bluff for a couple of reasons:

• Interest in Newton is gaining steam, even by teams at the top of the board. With Carolina, Denver and Buffalo sitting one, two, three, it is unlikely the Auburn phenom and Heisman trophy winner makes it past those guys. Jerry could simply be confirming for them the perceived value of the pick, nudging them onward.
• It makes sense that the Cowboys would like for teams to take as many quarterbacks as possible before they pick at nine. Each pick burned by a position that is not a need for the Dallas Cowboys pushes a player they do want another notch down, closer to them.
• The Redskins are picking at eleven. If Newton slides down the board, the Cowboys may be looking to move down, but not too far down. Maybe the Redskins, who do need a quarterback and would be salivating at the prospects of nabbing Newton, would give up the family farm to move two slots and get their man, especially if Jerry Jones is threatening to take their man to Dallas.

Of course, it may not be a bluff at all. Jones and Jason Garrett may actually believe in Cam Newton. Or, maybe they have lost faith in Tony Romo? I do not believe that. But it is possible.

The problem with Newton to the Cowboys is that the team would be burning a rare top ten pick on a player that would not likely see the field for two years, at least. It is highly unlikely that they would throw him to the sharks his rookie year, especially when they seem to believe they have the talent to compete for the Super Bowl right now, if they can just get a couple of key pieces.

The Cowboys drafting Cam Newton would confirm to me that Jerry Jones is, as suspected, more suited to running a circus than a football team. He is just the 21st Century’s version of P.T. Barnum.

What a lethal combination Cam Newton and Jerry Jones could be for Cowboys fans.

Newton has already declared himself bigger than the game of football: ”I see myself not only as a football player, but an entertainer and icon.”

That might work for guys like Lebron James in the narcissistic, superstar-driven NBA, where raw ball skills are enough to win titles. But in the complicated world of NFL football, a guy who hasn’t completed a single pass in the league already worrying about his “brand” has to be a red flag. Kind of makes you think maybe the big stud is actually his father’s son.

Here’s hoping Jerry Jones is bluffing. Here is hoping he is just goading some other poor slob to mortgage his team’s future on the NFL’s next great disaster. If not, here is hoping Jerry’s boy, Stephen, will grab the nearest straight jacket and have dad committed before he destroys what is left the Dallas Cowboys.

Stephen Jones has suggested that Cowboys’ management may need to do what Cowboys’ fans have often dreamed of doing: put his daddy, Jerry Jones, in a straitjacket. Stephen, of course, was joking about how hard it would be for Jones the Elder to sit still and stay put until the number fifty-one pick in today’s draft.

Shake It, Jerry!

Since his awkward leap onto the NFL’s center stage in 1989, no owner or General Manager has done more wheeling and dealing, or made more draft day splashes than Jerry Jones. He has made 51 draft day trades in those twenty years. People who know Jones best know that it will be torture for him to bide his time and bite his tongue and…wait his turn.

Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News allows that Jerry has extra incentive to do just that this year. He writes:

If there was one thing that seemed certain at Thursday’s news conference at the team’s new stadium in Arlington, it was the Cowboys’ preference to stay out of the first round.

Salary-cap restraints will make it difficult for teams to work out contracts for top picks because of the uncertainty surrounding the collective bargaining agreement. Jones said that was one of the reasons he made the deal with Detroit last season, when the Cowboys traded their first-, third- and sixth-round picks this year for wide receiver Roy Williams and a seventh-round pick in 2010.

Perhaps it will be enough for the wildcatter to shake things up beginning in round two, using the eleven picks he has in his pocket. He may well stay out of the first round, but smart money says he won’t just wait his turn every time thereafter.