On Friday afternoon, Jerry Jones said Witten was taking the weekend to consider whether he wanted to retire and begin a career in broadcasting.

Asked about it Saturday after the draft, Jones reiterated that position.

"We still don't know Jason's decision. I don't, he said. "That's his decision. He's got the time to make it. He deserves to make that. So I don't have a timeline on it, and I do know that when we left, he certainly thought he wanted the weekend to come to some conclusion." (David Helman)

• The Cowboys' coaching staff got a closer look at defensive tackle Jihad Ward at the Senior Bowl back in 2016 and thinks he can be a good fit in this scheme, either at 1-technique or the 3-technique."We like his movement inside and we feel like he's capable of doing both," Jason Garrett said. "We did spend some time with him down in the Senior Bowl when he was coming out for the Draft. We feel like he fits in our scheme of being an up the field pressure guy. A guy who can disrupt the running game and affect the passer in the passing game at whichever spot. We feel he has the traits to do both." (Nick Eatman)

Bills GM hints team could have interest in Dez Bryant
April 29, 2018
by Steve DelVecchio

The NFL Draft has officially come and gone, and teams that feel they have not done enough to improve at the wide receiver position this offseason can still explore the possibility of adding Dez Bryant. Will the Buffalo Bills be one of those teams?

Between the chronic knee problems Kelvin Benjamin has and the insane offseason Zay Jones has had, you could say the Bills have some uncertainty at receiver. They tried to address that by taking Clemson's Ray-Ray McLoud and North Carolina's Austin Proehl late in the draft, but Buffalo GM Brandon Beane admitted over the weekend that he has at least taken a look at Bryant.

"We'll look at everything," Beane said, via the Bills' official website. "We have looked at Dez on tape, but I wouldn't take it any further and I don't know where that would go. We're looking to get better at all positions and receiver is one, so if we thought that was the right fit for us we would potentially pursue it."

While many teams don't have the salary cap space needed to sign Bryant given the type of contract he is reportedly seeking, the 30-year-old presents a rare opportunity to land an impact player late in the offseason. With the draft complete, Bryant should find a new home sooner rather than later.

BearForce said:

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BearForce said:

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UDFAs so far
7:19 PM ET - Marchie Murdock, WR, Iowa State
7:19 PM ET - Dalton Sturm, QB, UTSA
7:21 PM ET - Malik Earl, WR, Missouri State
7:21 PM ET - David Wells, TE, San Diego State
7:23 PM ET - Jake Campos, OL, Iowa State
7:36 PM ET - Jordan Chunn, RB, Troy
7:50 PM ET - Bryce Johnson, OL, SCSU
7:50 PM ET - Donovan Olumba, CB, Portland State
7:57 PM ET - Kameron Kelly, S, SDSU
7:57 PM ET - Joel Lanning, LB, Iowa State
8:10 PM ET - Kyle Queiro, S/LB, Northwestern
8:11 PM ET - Jashon Robertson, OL, Tennessee
8:11 PM ET - Charvarius Ward, CB, Middle Tennessee State
8:16 PM ET - DeQuinton Osborne, DT, Oklahoma State

---

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add

Ed Shockley | LB | Villanova |
Tyree Robinson | S | Oregon |
Austin Larkin | DE | Purdue |

BearForce said:

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Gust Avrakotos said:

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Assassin said:

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Assassin said:

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Dallas trades Ryan Switzer to Raider for Jihad Ward

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I dont get that. Surely Switzer has more upside. Towards the end of the year he was looking much better

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He was a complete zero last year and the muffd punt against the rams was unforgivable. Really happy to see Dallas try to salvage some value from the guy.

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The TD return against Washington made up for it in my mind...would you rather Tavon returning punts for you with his fumble history?

Would you rather a declining Beasley who can only fair catch a punt?

Oh by the way both Beas and Tavon only have a year left in their contract. We just gave up on a rookie for a zero.

---

Let's see what Tavon does returning punts, taking handoffs, playing the slot and on kickoff returns. He should get 8 to 12 touches a game.

And no, I don't want a declining Beasley but that doesn't mean that I would prefer Switzer. If Tavon doesn't work out, let them both walk and go find someone who can play. Even with a declining Beasley playing last year...Switzer showed absolutely no promise in the slot and he had chances. Will be interesting to see what the Raiders do with him.

Gust Avrakotos said:

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BearForce said:

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Gust Avrakotos said:

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Assassin said:

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Assassin said:

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Dallas trades Ryan Switzer to Raider for Jihad Ward

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I dont get that. Surely Switzer has more upside. Towards the end of the year he was looking much better

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He was a complete zero last year and the muffd punt against the rams was unforgivable. Really happy to see Dallas try to salvage some value from the guy.

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The TD return against Washington made up for it in my mind...would you rather Tavon returning punts for you with his fumble history?

Would you rather a declining Beasley who can only fair catch a punt?

Oh by the way both Beas and Tavon only have a year left in their contract. We just gave up on a rookie for a zero.

---

Let's see what Tavon does returning punts, taking handoffs, playing the slot and on kickoff returns. He should get 8 to 12 touches a game.

And no, I don't want a declining Beasley but that doesn't mean that I would prefer Switzer. If Tavon doesn't work out, let them both walk and go find someone who can play. Even with a declining Beasley playing last year...Switzer showed absolutely no promise in the slot and he had chances. Will be interesting to see what the Raiders do with him.

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Switzer showed nothing in the slot? When was he ever on the field other than the Philly game? The dude had 7 passes thrown to him all year and caught 6 of them by the way.

By the way he showed a lot more in that game than Beasley showed all year.

http://www.nfl.com/player/ryanswitzer/2557960/careerstats

BearForce said:

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Gust Avrakotos said:

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BearForce said:

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Gust Avrakotos said:

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Assassin said:

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Assassin said:

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Dallas trades Ryan Switzer to Raider for Jihad Ward

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I dont get that. Surely Switzer has more upside. Towards the end of the year he was looking much better

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Switzer showed nothing in the slot? When was he ever on the field other than the Philly game? The dude had 7 passes thrown to him all year and caught 6 of them by the way.

By the way he showed a lot more in that game than Beasley showed all year.

http://www.nfl.com/player/ryanswitzer/2557960/careerstats

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If Ward gives us a 1/3 tech guy in heavy rotation, this was a good trade. If he takes over from Collins or Irving (doubtful, but thats why they play the game) then this was a fantastic trade. If he is inactive for anything other than injury, this trade suks,

I agree that the Cowboys did not give Switzer much of an opportunity to show what he could do. He got 92 snaps on the year on offense which was 8.64% of their total offensive snaps. Early in the year, his decision making on punt returns was abysmal, and he didn't show great elusivity. That got better as the year went on. But they kept trying him on the jet sweep, and it never worked. SO while he didn't get a lot of opportunities, he didn't make the most of those he got. Given the number of WRs the Cowboys have, flipping him for a player in a position of need seems reasonable. I don't know if Jihad Ward has anything, but he was once a second round draft choice. While he has not played to his paper yet, he was drafted by the Raiders as a raw talent. But they thrusted him into early playing time and moved him around on the defensive line as a raw rookie. Last year he had injury problems. So I have at least a little optimism that he could develop under Marinelli if he is allowed to grow as a player.

and believe it or not, talk about a way-too-early 2019 mock draft:

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/draft/news/2019-nfl-mock-draft-dolphins-broncos-chargers-jaguars-land-new-quarterbacks/?ftag=SPM-16-10abi8e

21. Dallas Cowboys

Deebo Samuel, WR, South Carolina. The Cowboys drafted a nice receiver in Michael Gallup but should still be looking for impact players at the position. The 2019 draft could be a good place to find starting-caliber receivers in Round 1. Samuel missed most of his junior year with a broken leg but still managed six combined TDs (three receiving, one rushing, two as a return man) in three games.
====

Add, they have Philly losing to the Pats in the Superbowl. I dont think either one of them will make it through the conference championships.

Franko said:

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I agree that the Cowboys did not give Switzer much of an opportunity to show what he could do. He got 92 snaps on the year on offense which was 8.64% of their total offensive snaps. Early in the year, his decision making on punt returns was abysmal, and he didn't show great elusivity. That got better as the year went on. But they kept trying him on the jet sweep, and it never worked. SO while he didn't get a lot of opportunities, he didn't make the most of those he got. Given the number of WRs the Cowboys have, flipping him for a player in a position of need seems reasonable. I don't know if Jihad Ward has anything, but he was once a second round draft choice. While he has not played to his paper yet, he was drafted by the Raiders as a raw talent. But they thrusted him into early playing time and moved him around on the defensive line as a raw rookie. Last year he had injury problems. So I have at least a little optimism that he could develop under Marinelli if he is allowed to grow as a player.

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I know we discussed him leading up to the draft in 2016. I think we might have mocked him in the 2nd or 3rd rounds to Dallas.

Ward has undergone two surgeries to his left foot over the past three seasons and also had a knee operation in 2016.

Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

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yep. Jihad - "the spiritual struggle within oneself against sin."

None of that sinning!

BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

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No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

Franko said:

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BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

---

No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

---

I can buy that and what I am saying is the Cowboys are just as, if not more, guilty of that with Switzer.

I think they thought Switzer was their Whitehead/Dunbar player when he clearly was a stronger Beasley with return capability.

Assassin said:

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got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

I am inclined to vote yes given your analysis of who posts here.

Assassin said:

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got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

Yes. Not because I have anything against the free board. But I know a lot of premium posters won't venture over to the free board, so they likely will never contribute to this thread..

BearForce said:

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Franko said:

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BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

---

No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

---

I can buy that and what I am saying is the Cowboys are just as, if not more, guilty of that with Switzer.

I think they thought Switzer was their Whitehead/Dunbar player when he clearly was a stronger Beasley with return capability.

---

I agree that he wasn't given much of a chance. But I disagree that he is a better option than Beasley. I really think the departure of Dez and Witten will help Beasley quite a bit. With Dez's ability to get separation on the outside declining, he became more and more of an over the middle target. Witten was always an over the middle target. That junked up the middle for a slot receiver like Beasley. Clear up that middle, and I think you'll see Beasley get many more opportunities.

Franko said:

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Assassin said:

---

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

Yes. Not because I have anything against the free board. But I know a lot of premium posters won't venture over to the free board, so they likely will never contribute to this thread..

---

I was really surprised with some of the comments on the draft thread. It didnt occur to me that some folks wouldnt look over here

Franko said:

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BearForce said:

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Franko said:

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BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

---

No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

---

I can buy that and what I am saying is the Cowboys are just as, if not more, guilty of that with Switzer.

I think they thought Switzer was their Whitehead/Dunbar player when he clearly was a stronger Beasley with return capability.

---

I agree that he wasn't given much of a chance. But I disagree that he is a better option than Beasley. I really think the departure of Dez and Witten will help Beasley quite a bit. With Dez's ability to get separation on the outside declining, he became more and more of an over the middle target. Witten was always an over the middle target. That junked up the middle for a slot receiver like Beasley. Clear up that middle, and I think you'll see Beasley get many more opportunities.

---

Dez didnt work the middle anymore in 2017 than he did in 2016. Beasley got taken out by coverage rolling to him. My point regarding Beasley vs Switzer is Switzer is a stronger runner after contact, stronger in dealing with press coverage, and a factor in the return game who isn't about to turn 30.

BearForce said:

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Franko said:

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BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

---

No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

---

I can buy that and what I am saying is the Cowboys are just as, if not more, guilty of that with Switzer.

I think they thought Switzer was their Whitehead/Dunbar player when he clearly was a stronger Beasley with return capability.

---

I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

Assassin said:

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Franko said:

---

Assassin said:

---

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

Yes. Not because I have anything against the free board. But I know a lot of premium posters won't venture over to the free board, so they likely will never contribute to this thread..

---

I was really surprised with some of the comments on the draft thread. It didnt occur to me that some folks wouldnt look over here

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The free board is referred to as the poors for a reason

Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

---

Franko said:

---

BearForce said:

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Well it's done at the point so hopefully Jihad can live up to his name on the field...never mind he hasn't in two years so far.

---

No he hasn't, but I don't think he has been handled well by the Raiders. Everyone was saying that he was a developmental player coming out of college.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000643293/article/dl-coaches-from-three-nfl-teams-check-out-illinois-ward

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2016/profiles/jihad-ward?id=2555248

Yet the Raiders seemed to have missed the development part and tried to rush him into action. He may well be a bust, but I'm not sure we can gauge anything by his stint with the Raiders.

---

I can buy that and what I am saying is the Cowboys are just as, if not more, guilty of that with Switzer.

I think they thought Switzer was their Whitehead/Dunbar player when he clearly was a stronger Beasley with return capability.

---

I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

---

Franko said:

---

Assassin said:

---

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

Yes. Not because I have anything against the free board. But I know a lot of premium posters won't venture over to the free board, so they likely will never contribute to this thread..

---

I was really surprised with some of the comments on the draft thread. It didnt occur to me that some folks wouldnt look over here

---

The free board is referred to as the poors for a reason

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Okay, I'll ask him to move it

Assassin said:

---

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

This probably should be be moved to premium It is too good to be left here if more are posting on premium

BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

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I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

Wichitabear said:

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Assassin said:

---

got a question - all of the regular posters on this thread are Premium members. Went back 15 pages, other than one post by Wichitabear, one by tommie and one by reallarrydon, all the rest are Premies (had to work that in)

Just spoke to Brian. He can move this thread to the Premium section if you folk think more members will post.

coming from BFans, I didnt really understand that the Premium folk very seldom come over here.

what say you?

---

This probably should be be moved to premium It is too good to be left here if more are posting on premium

---

You should plunk down a couple of bucks. Its not too expensive WB

Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

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I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

---

I know...just hate what we gave up for what I fear we got.

BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

---

BearForce said:

---

Assassin said:

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I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

---

I know...just hate what we gave up for what I fear we got.

---

Hard to believe thats what we're focusing on after a fairly decent draft. But it is what it is.

The other trade was superb!

Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

---

I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

---

I know...just hate what we gave up for what I fear we got.

---

Hard to believe thats what we're focusing on after a fairly decent draft. But it is what it is.

The other trade was superb!

---

Agree, Austin for a 6th is a great deal and he does have those scat back type skills they apparently want.

With that I will let the Switzer thing go.

Getting back on track

I'm not a premium member. Still shows the P by my name for some reason....I guess when you cancel it doesn't take it off.

But I'm not against you guys moving the thread inside if you feel it is best. I'll start a free board Cowboys thread and carry on.

Gust

Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

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I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

---

I know...just hate what we gave up for what I fear we got.

---

Hard to believe thats what we're focusing on after a fairly decent draft. But it is what it is.

The other trade was superb!

---

Good point. I think we got 2 immediate starters (Vander Esch and Williams), 2 eventual starters (Gallup and Shultz) and a rotational edge rusher (Armstrong). That's not bad. And there are some intriguing guys at the end of the draft (Mike White and Cedric Wilson). On top of that, if Austin has anything, we got him for a 6.

Franko said:

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Assassin said:

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BearForce said:

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Assassin said:

---

BearForce said:

---

Assassin said:

---

I get the feeling (with no proof) that there were some things going on behind teh scenes we didnt know about.

He did have some ankle surgery to remove bone spurs. Those things can be nasty. Could be we were trading damaged goods for damaged goods.

---

Maybe but considering the Raiders hired our old special teams coach, I doubt he didnt know the deal. From the Raiders perspective, I think they like the special teams contribution that Switzer provides.

---

Plus, we needed a DT

---

I know...just hate what we gave up for what I fear we got.

---

Hard to believe thats what we're focusing on after a fairly decent draft. But it is what it is.

The other trade was superb!

---

Good point. I think we got 2 immediate starters (Vander Esch and Williams), 2 eventual starters (Gallup and Shultz) and a rotational edge rusher (Armstrong). That's not bad. And there are some intriguing guys at the end of the draft (Mike White and Cedric Wilson). On top of that, if Austin has anything, we got him for a 6.

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Second that thought with the Indiana LB being the only head scratcher. Their were I think better LBs still on the board, like both Wisconsin LB, who probably have a better chance of providing depth.