Cowboys Confusion: Stephen Jones' Free Agency Trouble in Trenches

Gregory shunning, Dinwiddie shining and Kiner-Falefa shuffling, all in this week's DFW sports notebook.

 WHITT’S END: 3.18.22

Whether you’re at the end of your coffee, your day, your week or even your rope, welcome to Whitt’s End …

*So far, so bad. In NFL free agency the Dallas Cowboys have lost two of their top four receivers in Amari Cooper and Cedrick Wilson, two starting offensive linemen in Connor Williams and La’el Collins and their No. 1 offseason priority in Randy Gregory. 

But at least they’ve signed … check that, they’ve signed exactly no one from another team. 

The trenches have taken significant hits. Without Gregory – or his prime potential replacements – not sure who’s going to rush the passer in 2022. And if the season started today they’d protect Dak Prescott with a hobbling Tyron Smith, Zack Martin and a bunch of guys nobody else covets. 

Yikes.

*Next time Jerry Jones trades for another team’s receiver, cringe. The Cooper trade(s) that ultimately turned a first-round draft pick into a fifth is one of the worst in franchise history. But do Joey Galloway and Roy Williams ring any bells?

*Did the Dallas Mavericks mess around and trade for Robert “Big Shot Bob” Horry? Like the former Rocket-Sun-Laker-Spur that had a penchant for taking – and making – the most important shots in the biggest games, Spencer Dinwiddie made more crucial jumpers this week than Kristaps Porzingis did during his entire career in Dallas. 

Dinwiddie, who obviously has already earned the trust of Luka Doncic, hit late 3-pointers to win in Boston and Brooklyn and help the Mavs improve to 11-3 since the trade with the Wizards. 

The Mavs may have finally found their ideal “3 and D” guy.

*A year ago today Isiah Kiner-Falefa was the face of the Texas Rangers. Now, he’s merely Joey Gallo’s teammate with the Yankees. 

Coming off a 2020 in which he won the Gold Glove at third base, Kiner-Falefa was good enough to switch to shortstop last Spring in a move that sent Elvis Andrus – the franchise’s last link to the World Series teams of 2010-11 – out of Arlington. In 2021 he was good (leading MLB with 138 singles and 436 assists) on a team that was historically bad (102 losses). But with the arrivals of second baseman Marcus Semien and shortstop Corey Seager, the Rangers are suddenly as strong in the middle of the infield than at any time in franchise history, and suddenly Kiner-Falefa was downgraded to merely a tradeable asset.

Gregory and Miller

Amari Cooper

La'el Collins

*I filled out a March Madness bracket. So did you. And the guy in the cubicle next to you? Yep, him too. Your dentist. Your golf buddies. Even the woman that prefers to watch eliminations on The Bachelor rather than in basketball. Basically everyone we know, all over the Metroplex, will be consumed by the NCAA tournament over the next three weeks. 

Just imagine our frenzy if DFW was actually invited to the party. 

For all our hoops hysteria, we haven’t enjoyed a Final Four with a local flavor since essentially the days of peach baskets, canvas high-tops and running hook shots. There have been 82 Final Fours. Metroplex teams – SMU, TCU, North Texas and UT-Arlington – have made exactly one appearance. One. Jim Krebs’ SMU squad went to the Final Four in 1956 where it lost to San Francisco and a young center named Bill Russell. Worse, DFW teams have won only four tournament games in the last 32 years and haven’t advanced past the second round in 50 years. 

Metroplex Madness, indeed.

*At the risk of being sexist … Title Nein. Have you been fooled yet? If not, you will. The trick is ESPN shoving the women’s college tournament down our throats, camouflaging the scores and brackets with the men’s in a sneaky effort to create equal interest. 

I’ve looked up at ESPN’s scroll several times this week and thought “Oh, I didn’t realize South Carolina was a … dangit, that’s the women!” 

Look, I’m all about “women and children first”, but the brand of women’s college basketball is laughably incomparable and inferior to men’s. It’s like going to see AC/DC in concert, or being forced to settle on their tribute band, Back in Black. Kinda similar, yet ultimately unsatisfying. 

Here’s the solution: In golf, women play from shorter tees. In tennis, women’s matches at majors are quicker. In softball, the fences, bases and pitcher’s mound are closer. In basketball, the women’s 3-point line is shorter so … let’s simply lower the goals. Take the rims from 10 feet to nine and, presto, you’ve got dunks and key plays above the basket. 

If I’m going to be forced to watch a tribute band, at least give me one that closely resembles the original.

*Two grossly underreported stories this week, one terrific and one troubling. Terrific: We likely have only two more episodes of Fall Back/Spring Forward with our clocks. Ever. A bill expected to unanimously pass the House and be signed into law by President Joe Biden will next year make Daylight Savings Time our new Only Time. No more adjusting our body clocks. No more sun setting at 4:30 p.m. in the Winter. In November 2023 we won’t Fall back, but instead just push forward with a steady, sensical amount of daylight. 

Troubling: Netflix is finally on to us, and will soon end widespread password-sharing. Binge while you still can.

*Hot.

*Not.

*My initial reaction when Gregory pulled his spin move and signed with the Broncos after agreeing to stay in Dallas: DeAndre Jordan 2.0. The center infamously reneged on a verbal agreement with the Mavs to stay with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2015.

*During our annual golf trip to Arizona last week we had lots of extra time – thanks, baseball lockout – to argue and drink and argue some more. Our two hottest debates: MLB’s “no shift” rule and Prescott’s place among NFL quarterbacks. 

Our consensus was that the ban on defensive shifts was silly, in that we’d also recoil at college basketball banning zone defenses or the NFL prohibiting blitzing. 

As for Dak, we went through every team and voted if we’d rather have their quarterback or Prescott. Conclusion (before Tom Brady un-retired) was that he is the seventh-best quarterback in the league. 

So to answer the tired, old “Is Dak Prescott a Top 10 Quarterback?”, yes. Definitely he is.

*This is not how our legal system is supposed to work: Murder suspect in Dallas who killed a guy for bumping into him at a club and, within the next month also fired shots at police officers and a 3-year-old during a road rage incident, was freed from jail after the judge decreased his bond from $2 million to only $500,000. Turns out the judge – Chika Anyiam – received $5,000 in campaign contributions from the alleged killer’s defense attorney. After public criticism and outrage from Dallas police, the judge changed her mind and increased the bond back to $1.1 million. 

Somewhere in there a crime has been committed, and I’m not talking about the guy who pulled the triggers.

*With Seager and Semien, it’s assured the Rangers will be better offensively than last year. But as a delayed spring training commences in Arizona, they have little idea – and few options – as to who will start Opening Day (Jon Gray?) or pitch the ninth inning of close games (Joe Barlow?).

*No way you’re having a bad week compared to the anonymous sucker that paid $518,000 for the football thrown for Brady’s final touchdown pass, only to wake up and hear that he un-retired in advance of throwing many, many more.

Randy Gregory

Mile High Bronco

Trio of Trades

*Re: Gregory, are we perhaps making too much about the departure of a pass-rusher than has never had more than six sacks in a season?

*March 2020: Pandemic lockdown with $1.41 gas. March 2022: Mandates lifted with $4.41 gas. But if life was fair, broccoli would taste like chocolate and masturbation would cure cancer, now wouldn’t it?

*Retiring is difficult, especially for some of the greatest athletes. Just ask Brady, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali, Roger Clemens, Bjorn Borg, Mario Lemieux and even Jason Witten. Makes it even more impressive for the few that called it quits at their peak, such as Pete Sampras, John Elway, Wilt Chamberlain, Jim Brown, Sandy Koufax and Steffi Graf.

*So now we know why Donnie Nelson didn’t attend Dirk Nowitzki’s jersey retirement ceremony in January. The long-time general manager who brought the Mavs Dirk and Luka is now suing the organization for – stop me if you’ve heard this one before – wrongful termination and sexual misconduct by a team employee.

*If you want a unique, personalized license plate this is your chance. Until March 30, My Plates is offering 25 “pure number” plates consisting of only numbers from 0001 to 0026. These plates, which have never been offered, can be bid on during My Plates auction, with opening bids of $500.

*This Weekend? Friday is for Madness on a sun-drenched patio. Saturday is for tennis in the morning and a hangout with Big Brothers Big Sisters lil’ bro Ja at night. Sunday is for visiting the folks in Johnson County. As always, don’t be a stranger.