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Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Wednesday the team isn't going to trade disgruntled cornerback Mike Jenkins. We didn't post on it here because we already knew this. Everybody already knew it. Even Jenkins, though he's let it be known he's unhappy with his contract and his new role as the team's No. 3 cornerback and would like to be traded, probably knew it too. He'd have to be blind not to.

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Jenkins isn't making so much money that the Cowboys would want to dump him like the Eagles did with Asante Samuel. He's too good for them to trade for a late-round draft pick and not quite good enough to convince a team to offer an early-round pick. The result is that the team, as it tends to in NFL contract situations, holds all of the cards and is required to make no move at all in response to Jenkins' decision to skip offseason workouts. If he wants to stay home, he stays home. If he wants to skip mandatory workouts next month or part of training camp, they can fine him. If he wanted to sit out a whole season, they'd just run Brandon Carr, Morris Claiborne and Orlando Scandrick out there and take their chances. They're better with Jenkins in that mix and would like to have him, but they're not desperate enough to even consider granting him his wish.

Jenkins finds himself in NFL contract limbo, and if he's looking for a sympathetic shoulder on which to cry he doesn't even have to look outside his own division. The New York Giants' Osi Umenyiora is basically in the same situation -- he's unhappy with his contract, he isn't thrilled to be the No. 3 defensive end on his team, and he would rather play elsewhere. But he isn't getting traded either, because (stop me if this sounds familiar) he's affordable, he's too good to trade for peanuts, and he isn't going to bring back a first-round or second-round pick in a deal. The Giants are better off keeping an unhappy Umenyiora around than trading him for pennies on the dollar. It's the decision they made when he raised the same fuss a year ago, and they got 12.5 sacks out of him in 13 games (counting postseason) for their patience.

If either Jenkins or Umenyiora really wanted to push this, there are two somewhat extreme ways they could go. The first is that they could sit out the meaningful stuff, like training camp and regular-season games. If they prove that they're willing to do that, then circumstances could, theoretically, improve their leverage. Say Jenkins is sitting at home in late August and Claiborne gets hurt, or Umenyiora is sitting at home Week 2 and Justin Tuck gets hurt. In cases like those, the need for the player may become great enough to warrant a new deal. But that's a big risk to take because injuries are unpredictable, and in the meantime the player has allowed the team the chance to get used to life without him.

The second option in this case is to make a nuisance of yourself -- to show up, but put your contract situation into the spotlight in an annoying and disruptive way. The all-time visual symbol of this may well be Terrell Owens doing pushups in his driveway. Jenkins or Umenyiora could choose to simply continue being a pain, in the hope that the annoyance might prod the team into trading him for less than they think he's worth. But this carries risk, as well -- the basic one being the risk of giving the outside world (and potential future employers) reason to believe you're a jerk.

The Giants don't fear this from Umenyiora, because they trust their coaching staff and their veteran locker room to effectively ignore potential disruptions. And the Cowboys know Jenkins, and I think they're betting on the idea that he's not the pushups-in-the-driveway sort.

What these guys are doing now -- skipping voluntary workouts and letting it be known through third-party sources that they're upset -- is the simplest way to make their particular point. It costs them nothing right now to stand up for themselves, and they should.

If you're unhappy at work and you feel your bosses aren't treating you fairly, it's important to find a proper and effective way to let them know. That goes for you, me, NFL players and everyone else. But in the end, in the cases of Jenkins and Umenyiora, there's not going to be anything either one can do.

This is the nature of their profession, and the working conditions under which NFL players operate. It's not fair, because teams can end contracts on a whim and the risk of injury is incredibly high, but a history of players crossing picket lines and caving in on labor negotiations has constructed a system in which the teams hold all the cards and the player rarely finds himself in the position of strength. Unfortunately for NFL players, this isn't Major League Baseball.

Jenkins and Umenyiora are both eligible to be free agents next year, and I don't think either has to fear the franchise-player designation. The franchise numbers for cornerbacks and defensive ends are over $10 million, and it's unlikely that either the Cowboys or Giants would want to commit so much to their No. 3 player at those positions.

It's too far into the future to predict for certain, but the odds are they won't be in limbo again this time next year. Right now, all these guys can do is decide how much fine money (if any) they're willing to spend to make their point, and once they reach that number, show up, practice, hope they don't get hurt and play well enough to convince some other team to give them big contracts in 2013.

It may not be great. May not be fair. But for Jenkins, Umenyiora and so many others like them in the NFL, they unfortunately don't have much choice.

IRVING, Texas -- Of the cornerbacks on the Cowboys roster, Mike Jenkins isn't attending offseason workouts and first-round pick Morris Claiborne can't practice because of his recovery from wrist surgery. And then there's Orlando Scandrick and Brandon Carr.

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Carr is the newly signed free agent. Scandrick is the slot corner who is working out daily at Valley Ranch and has watched a massive change take place at the position.

Gone are veterans Terence Newman and Frank Walker along with Alan Ball, who switched between corner and safety the past two seasons. The Cowboys also have a new secondary coach in Jerome Henderson.

"I mean, it was a lot," Scandrick said of the changes. "They released Terence, signed Brandon, obviously he's a great player and [they] drafted another in the top 10. It was an area where we didn't perform up to quota and that needed improvement. So we went out and did it. Hopefully if we play up to our ability, we'll have one of the best groups in the National Football League."

In 2011, the Cowboys allowed the eighth-most passes of 20 or more yards at 57. The league average was 52. When the defense gave up 300 yards to a quarterback, the team went 0-3 -- 11 NFL teams failed to win a game when that happened. The Cowboys allowed 19 plays in which opposing receivers went at least 21 or more yards, tied for second-most in the league. The team's 15 interceptions tied for 17th.

The Cowboys needed to improve the secondary in the offseason -- specifically the cornerback position -- but Scandrick didn't take the offseason moves as a personal slight.

"I don't take anything personal," he said. "This is a job and I'm here to do a job and I'm ready to compete and get better and focus on what I can do help the team get better."

With the changes made this offseason, the popular theory is Claiborne and Carr will start, with Jenkins becoming the No. 3 corner and Scandrick fitting in on passing downs.

In the past two seasons, Scandrick has gone back and forth between slot and outside cornerback. Today's NFL is more of a passing league, and you can almost never have enough corners on the field.

"This is year No. 5 for me here and I try not to think about that," Scandrick said of being mainly described as a slot corner. "This has become a passing league and when you're on a good football team, you're playing with a lot of leads, so teams are going to try and pass to get back in the game. It's not technically a starter, but it's not technically a reserve; it's [an] in-between thing. I kind of look at it as the glass half-full instead of half-empty."

While pondering whether there's a decent blog post to be made out of this, I noticed this, which is an ESPNDallas.com story about Dallas Cowboys' cornerback Mike Jenkins not planning to show for the team's organized team activities that begin this week. Calvin Watkins' source is telling him that Jenkins, who wants a long-term contract but has likely become the team's No. 3 cornerback after the free-agent signing of Brandon Carr and the draft night trade-up for Morris Claiborne, isn't going to be there:

Jenkins, recovering from offseason shoulder surgery, has attended only a handful of voluntary workouts, and while team officials wish he would come to Valley Ranch to work out, they have said it's not a requirement.

Now, I debated whether to post on this at all. On principle, I'm not a believer in ripping guys -- even suggestively -- for skipping voluntary workouts. They're voluntary, and if a guy wants to skip them because his shoulder hurts or because his niece is graduating high school or because the flight's too long or because he's behind on "Game of Thrones" and wants to stay home and catch up, that's his perfect right. Coaches (and those occasional media members) who get on a guy's case for skipping voluntary workouts are out of line and should stop. So that's not what I'm doing here.

However, on the off chance that Jenkins is skipping the workouts as some sort of protest over his contract situation or his tumble down the depth chart, I'm going to offer him some advice: Not the best idea, Mike. If the coaches have asked you to show up and you're not going because you're trying to prove some sort of point, I think it's got a pretty good chance to backfire.

The Cowboys have no incentive to give Jenkins a contract extension right now, not with all they've sunk into Carr and Claiborne, and even Orlando Scandrick. And skipping workouts isn't going to change that. Claiborne is recovering from wrist surgery and isn't even likely to see the field before July, so it's not as though the rookie's going to be out there struggling while Jenkins sits home and says, "See what I'm talking about? You need me."

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The Cowboys are going to make it through June on the assumption that Claiborne will play and play well for them in 2012, and they're probably right. Barring an injury to Claiborne or Carr (and even then assuming health from Jenkins, which is a big assumption), Jenkins isn't going to be a starting corner for Dallas this year. While that might hurt his chances to get a new deal from the Cowboys or some other team next year, pouting would hurt worse.

Again, it's entirely possible that Jenkins has a good reason for not showing up this week. But if -- and I mean if -- his reason is some kind of protest about his current situation vis-a-vis the team, I don't think he's making a wise decision. The best thing for Jenkins' market value is to prove he's healthy and look like a team-oriented guy. He's good, and if he's healthy, they'll find ways to get him on the field. But he's not in a very strong position right now, and upsetting team management isn't going to make it any better.

IRVING, Texas -- Mike Jenkins has done nothing wrong this offseason.

It is well within his right to do his rehab work from major shoulder surgery mostly in Florida. The Cowboys’ offseason conditioning program is voluntary even if there is a wink-wink involved.

But it doesn’t mean Jenkins is in the right either.

Is Jenkins, who was the Cowboys’ best cornerback last season -- and that is not meant as faint praise -- upset that he does not have a new contract? Is he upset the team signed Brandon Carr to a $50 million deal and Orlando Scandrick to a $27 million deal before he could cash in? Is he upset the Cowboys traded up to get Morris Claiborne in the first round in the draft?

Maybe it’s yes to all three, but staying home is not the right answer.

Let’s offer up Ken Hamlin and Marion Barber as lessons why.

In 2008, Hamlin did not take part in the offseason program, organized team activities and mini-camp after the team put the franchise tag on him. That same offseason the Cowboys tended Barber as a restricted free agent with the highest compensation possible -- a first and third rounder -- and he missed about two months of the offseason program.

Eventually Hamlin and Barber got paid. The Cowboys signed Hamlin to a six-year, $39 million deal in July 2008. Barber signed a seven-year, $45 million deal in May.

But neither guy was the same player.

Hamlin was cut after the 2009 season. Barber lost the tread on his tire and was cut after the 2010 season. He retired this offseason after one year in Chicago.

Maybe this is just anecdotal evidence about the importance of the offseason program, but you’re hearing a lot of guys talk now about how much better this spring has been than last spring when there was a lockout in effect.

If it’s all about money, then, hey, those guys got their money. Is it a coincidence that Barber’s agent then is Jenkins’ agent now, Drew Rosenhaus?

Trading Jenkins is/was not easy. Why would a team trade for a guy who is coming off major shoulder surgery? Why would a team trade for a guy with one year left on his deal? Why would the Cowboys want to give up on a young cornerback even if they have stockpiled the spot this offseason?

On Wednesday owner and general manager Jerry Jones said he has visions of a long-term plan for Jenkins. Maybe he does or maybe he’s just saying he does. The Cowboys will have significant money tied up in Carr, Scandrick and Claiborne. Can they really afford a fourth cornerback?

Yes, if he plays as well as Jenkins played last year and in 2009.

Jenkins' best attribute as a corner is his willingness to compete at the line of scrimmage and for the ball in the air. Yes, I know people now are talking about two failed tackles he had as a rookie and 2010, but if he didn’t answer any toughness questions for you last year by playing with that shoulder injury then shame on you.

Jenkins can show the Cowboys they have to keep him. He can show other teams he’s healthy and worth the money in 2013.

He can’t show them that from Florida.

Have the Dallas Cowboys really fixed their defense?

I'll give them cornerback. With the free-agent signing of Brandon Carr and the surprising trade up in the first round of the draft to pick Morris Claiborne, the Cowboys have worked hard to make sure that this year's starting cornerbacks will be much more difficult for Giants fullbacks to jump over. Assuming Claiborne is the instant-impact guy he was drafted to be, he, Carr, Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick make one of Dallas' weakest 2011 units a 2012 strength.

But questions remain at other places on a defense whose total system failure was the sole reason the Cowboys lost four of their last five games and the division title. Is Brodney Pool an upgrade over Abram Elam at safety? Can they get reliable production from that other inside linebacker spot from the combination of Dan Connor and Bruce Carter? Will Anthony Spencer be a more effective pass-rusher? Do they have a plan for limiting the wear and tear on nose tackle Jay Ratliff, to help him maintain a high level of performance throughout the second half of the season?

The Cowboys' active and productive offseason has done nothing to directly address the pass rush. There is a theory that the improvements at cornerback will help the pass rush, since better coverage of receivers could give the men up front more time to get to the passer. And that may well be true. But any and all improvements the Cowboys have made on defense remain theoretical until we see that defense on the field. Last year, the party line in Dallas was that the defensive personnel were good and had underachieved and would improve in the first year under new coordinator Rob Ryan. That turned out not to be the case, and now some of the personnel have been changed. But it remains up to Ryan to put it together as a cohesive unit more capable of stopping opponents than the 2011 version was. Right now, we're taking the Cowboys' word that the new faces are dramatic enough upgrades to pull that off. But aside from the money spent on Carr and the high draft position of Claiborne, there's little outside evidence to support it. More could have been done to improve at safety, outside linebacker and defensive line, and it was not. Although Ryan may be able to make it all work, it's hard to feel too certain about it on May 3.

IRVING, Texas – The award-winning 5 Wonders is back for a post-draft look. Today we talk about Morris Claiborne, Bruce Carter, Mike Jenkins and the missing nose tackle?

** The Cowboys traded up for Claiborne because he was the second player on their draft board and they could not believe he slipped out of the top five. In 2003 the Cowboys drafted Terence Newman with the fifth overall pick and said part of the decision was based on Newman’s return abilities. In nine seasons, Newman had 38 punt returns for a 7.5-yard average and one touchdown. They never really let him do it. I wonder if the Cowboys will let Claiborne return punts and/or kicks. He averaged 25 yards per kick return last year at LSU and had a 99-yard touchdown. He’s not Patrick Peterson as a returner, but he could be a good one and the Cowboys’ return games need to improve in 2012. Here’s a bonus wonder: I wonder if Dez Bryant actually becomes more of a full-time returner this season. It’s Year 3 for him and I wonder if the team will sign him to a second contract down the road.

** Claiborne’s arrival has Jenkins’ future in question. Jenkins is in the last year of his contract and is scheduled to make a little more than $1 million. He is also coming off shoulder surgery and as I wrote on Friday, the team is a little concerned at how much rehab time he’s spending in Florida and not at Valley Ranch. But I wonder what you could get for Jenkins. The money is palatable but he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2013. And he’s coming off major surgery and won’t be ready until training camp. Jerry Jones likes to say a player’s value is lowest at the draft, so they could not get equal value for Jenkins or close to it. I wonder if the Cowboys let Jenkins play out the year, hope he does well, signs a big contract elsewhere and then hope they can get a compensatory back in 2014. The team doesn’t wonder about this (they say) but I wonder if they would like a do-over on Orlando Scandrick’s contract.

** I have to take Jones’ word for it that Bobby Wagner would’ve been the Cowboys’ pick in the second round had the team not made the move up for Claiborne. But I wonder what that means about Carter, last year’s second rounder. At every opportunity the Cowboys have said they liked how Carter progressed last season off a torn anterior cruciate ligament, that he met every goal they planned knowing that he was injured. Well, now he’s healthy and I wonder if he’s really a fit. The Cowboys added Dan Connor in free agency to a two-year deal and Jones said they would’ve taken Wagner, an inside linebacker. That would seem to be a little redundant, unless Rob Ryan is drawing up some sort of special scheme or maybe Wagner could play outside. There will be a lot of eyes on Carter during the organized team activities and minicamp.

** Where’s the true 3-4 nose tackle? As good as Jay Ratliff has been, many of you want the Cowboys to grab a huge nose tackle and slide Ratliff to defensive end. That’s why some fans wanted Dontari Poe in the first round or even Alameda Ta’Amu in the third round. I wonder if the need for that type of plugger is as important nowadays. Think about it. The NFL is a passing league and if you have a 330-pound nose tackle to stop the run, he will play about 30 percent of the snaps. Is it worth it? I don’t know, but it looks like the Cowboys don’t believe so. The good nose tackles in 3-4 defenses now also have some pass rush and flexibility, like Vince Wilfork or Haloti Ngata. Those guys aren’t available all the time and run defense was not the Cowboys’ downfall last year. I also wonder this: The Cowboys might be higher on Josh Brent than many people know.

** I wonder how many undrafted players make this roster. You can almost lock up Ronald Leary, the Memphis guard, after how Jones talked about him Saturday. Heck, you wonder if Leary could be a candidate to start. Last year four undrafted players made the 53-man roster and a fifth, Raymond Radway, would have if not for an injury.

» NFC draft analysis: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South


The only NFC East team that didn't trade up in the first round is the one that just won the Super Bowl. That gives you a sense of how hungry the division's other three teams are to catch the New York Giants and take their shot at the Lombardi Trophy they were holding up in Indianapolis a few months ago.

The Washington Redskins made their trade-up a month early, dealing away three first-round picks and this year's second-rounder in order to secure the man they believe will be their franchise quarterback. The Dallas Cowboys made theirs Thursday night, when they decided it was worth spending their first- and second-round picks this year to secure the best defensive player in the draft. And the Eagles made theirs a short time later, when the defensive tackle they wanted, Fletcher Cox, fell further than they expected him to fall and the price to move up and get him became reasonable.

But after the top half of the first round, the NFC East teams' drafts went very different ways. The Cowboys, in need of 2012 help at various places on the roster, oddly began picking project players and unknown safeties. The Redskins made some head-scratchers in the middle rounds before getting workmanlike about their offensive line late. And the Eagles had one of those drafts where everything seemed to be falling their way. Time will tell, of course, and there's no way right now to know how any of these players will perform. But here are some thoughts on how it looks in the very early post-draft light.

BEST MOVE

Washington's trade to get quarterback Robert Griffin III and Dallas' trade to get Morris Claiborne were the headline-grabbers, and I believe that each team will be happy with its first-round pick. But the four high picks the Redskins gave up and the two high picks the Cowboys gave up keep me from labeling either of these the division's "best move" from this year's draft. Washington doesn't have another first-rounder until 2015. And Dallas, which needed help at multiple positions, spent its first two picks on a position they'd already addressed at great cost in free agency. Not enough value in either deal for it to be called a shrewd move.

So I'm giving this to the Eagles' deal to move up and get Cox. Philadelphia arrived at the draft Thursday convinced Cox was the player they wanted, and they believed they might have to move up to No. 6 or 7 to get him. To do that, they likely would have had to surrender at least one of their second-round picks, and they didn't want to pay either of those or their third. Once Cox fell to No. 12, the Eagles were able to move up by surrendering their first-rounder, a fourth-rounder and a seventh-rounder, securing the player they felt was their top target without giving up the picks they wanted to preserve. So while, yes, of course, I consider Griffin and Claiborne better players, I think the Eagles made the best first-round move of any NFC East team -- getting a player who can make a difference for them in the short-term as well as the long-term without handicapping themselves for the draft's second night.

On Friday, the Eagles converted their two second-round picks into a speedy outside linebacker (Mychal Kendricks) and a pass-rushing defensive end (Vinny Curry) and took the quarterback prospect they wanted (Nick Foles) in the third round. That Day 2 haul, compared with what the Cowboys and Redskins were able to get with their Day 2 picks, is what made the Eagles' trade-up the best overall move of the draft in the NFC East.

RISKIEST MOVE

This is a close contest between the two moves that lost out in the first category. It'd be easy to say Griffin, because he cost so much more. But I'm giving this to the Cowboys' trade-up to get Claiborne. It's a tough call, because I think Claiborne may be the best player any NFC East team got in this draft (barely, if at all, ahead of Griffin) and he cost less than Griffin did. But I'm basing this call on the circumstances specific to each team.

The Redskins are taking a big risk, sure, by picking a kid to be their franchise quarterback and telling him they don't have a first-round pick in either of the next two years with which to build around him. But the Redskins had no choice. Their need for Griffin was overwhelming, and they were right to let it overwhelm their priority list for this draft and the next two. Washington hasn't had a franchise quarterback in 20 years, and once they were convinced Griffin could be one, this was a risk worth taking for them.

I do not think, however, that Dallas' need for Claiborne was nearly as great as Washington's need for Griffin. Yes, the Cowboys' secondary was the obvious weak spot of their team last year -- the main reason they fell one game short of the Giants in the division race. But they'd already spent their big free-agent bucks on Brandon Carr and had Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick at cornerback. Does Claiborne have a good chance to be better than any of them? Yes. Could that happen as early as this year? You betcha. But with needs at safety, linebacker, defensive line and offensive line, the Cowboys should have conserved their picks to address multiple needs. They weren't one great cornerback away from being a championship team in 2012, and by trading their top two picks for Claiborne, and then picking project players and reaches the rest of the way, they decided to operate as though that were the case. It's a big risk, and if lingering weaknesses at those other spots do them in this season, they could regret it.

MOST SURPRISING MOVE

Without a doubt, it was the Redskins' selection of Michigan State quarterback Kirk Cousins with the seventh pick of the fourth round Saturday. It was Washington's third pick of the draft and the second that had been used on a quarterback. Their reasoning is that quarterback is a vitally important position at which it's impossible to be too deep, and as long as they make it clear to the players involved and to their fan base that Griffin is the starter and Cousins is the backup, it can work. They can develop Cousins in the backup role, have a player they like in reserve in case Griffin gets hurt and perhaps eventually trade him for something of great value in a league in which quarterbacks are the most prized commodities.

FILE IT AWAY

Nobody in this division does the draft better than the Giants, and it'll be worth remembering that the wide receiver (LSU's Rueben Randle) they picked at the end of the second round was a player they considered taking at the end of the first. Randle is a dynamic talent who now gets a chance to develop behind brilliant and selfless starting wideouts Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz and with the help of quarterback Eli Manning, who has an outstanding record of getting the best out of his receiving targets. Randle could not have been drafted into a better spot for his own development, and he could potentially be an immediate asset for the Giants in the passing game, because he can play the outside spot vacated by free-agent defector Mario Manningham and allow Cruz to stay in the slot position from which he exploded onto the scene in 2011. The Giants managed to combine need picks and value picks at almost every turn in this draft, and their second-rounder may turn out to be their biggest prize.

IRVING, Texas -- Intended or not, the Cowboys’ decision to trade up for cornerback Morris Claiborne sends a message to Mike Jenkins.

One of the messages could be related to Jenkins’ approach to his rehabilitation from offseason shoulder surgery. According to sources, Jenkins has spent the majority of his time working out in his native Florida and not at Valley Ranch, much to the consternation of some at Valley Ranch, although coach Jason Garrett and executive vice president Stephen Jones would not get into that talk.

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The Cowboys' offseason program started last week, but injured players had been allowed to rehab since the season ended.

“He’s coming along,” Garrett said. “He’s been down in Florida some. He was here last week, so he’s coming along. It’s a serious injury he has. We feel like he’s making progress and he’ll be ready to go.”

According to a league source the Cowboys are looking to trade Jenkins, who will enter the final year of his contract. With uncertainty regarding his health and contractual future, getting full value for Jenkins could prove to be difficult.

The Cowboys would be wise to not give up Jenkins for next to nothing.

Injuries forced the Cowboys to play Alan Ball and Frank Walker more than they had anticipated last year, and they were exposed. For short and long spells at different times last season the Cowboys were without Terence Newman, Orlando Scandrick and Jenkins.

Keeping four quality corners in a division with talented quarterbacks and wide receivers might be worth any potential headaches.

One of the reasons I love Twitter, as part of my job, is that I believe this blog needs to be a constantly ongoing, evolving discussion about these four teams, and Twitter is a useful extension of that. Case in point: Thursday night, the Dallas Cowboys make their trade up in the draft to pick Morris Claiborne. I write a quickie reaction post saying I don't like the trade (the trade, not the player, mind you), and my Cowboys fans on Twitter are very upset about it. Hey, I get it. I rained on your parade. You're sitting there with the best defensive player in the draft and I'm telling you they made a mistake. I understand the reactions. Completely.

But overnight, and this morning, my conversations with you all on Twitter have helped me crystallize my thoughts on this matter. And rather than continue to try and explain them in 140-character snippets, I figured I'd do a blog post explaining my reasoning in a more in-depth fashion than was permitted by an instant-analysis post filed from the frantic floor of Radio City Music Hall. So here goes.

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ESPNDallas.com's Todd Archer reviews the first round of the draft and looks ahead to the rest of the weekend. What grade do the Cowboys get for moving up to No. 6 for LSU CB Morris Claiborne? Part 1     Part 2

First of all, I love the player. None of my criticism of this move should be construed by anyone as criticism of Claiborne himself. I believed the Cowboys needed to draft the best defensive player available to them, and they drafted the best defensive player available to anyone. It is my opinion that Claiborne will be an excellent player for Dallas. I think he'll be the best corner on the team by Halloween, and if not for the wrist injury that's going to cost him the OTA portion of the offseason I think he could have been that even sooner.

The problem, of course, is that I don't know how good he'll be, and neither do the Cowboys and neither does anyone else. High draft picks bust all the time, and sometimes they're guys who looked as though they couldn't miss. That's why, in most cases, it's important for teams to be careful with their picks -- to try and get as many good-looking prospects as possible, especially in the early rounds, as a hedge against the possibility that one or a couple of them don't pan out. Sure, there are teams that find themselves in position to make bold moves to jump and go all-in for one player. But I don't think this year's Cowboys are such a team, and that's why I wouldn't have done what they did if I'd been in their position -- no matter how much I liked Claiborne.

One of the results of the move, as many of you have pointed out, is that the Cowboys -- who were utterly dreadful in the secondary last year -- now have one of the deepest and most talented cornerback groups in the league. With Claiborne joining free-agent addition Brandon Carr and holdovers Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick, they have succeeded in turning a killer weakness into a strength. All of that is true, and given the manner in which secondary play sunk their 2011 season, I can understand the temptation to go over the top to fix it.

But there are other results of this move that are more detrimental to the Cowboys' offseason plans than Claiborne himself is beneficial. They still need help for the pass rush and the defensive line, and they could still use an upgrade at safety. Making this trade means they'll get to the end of the second round without having addressed any of those areas. Jason Garrett said just the other day that he believes you get your starting-quality players in the first three rounds. This deal means they've decided to use this draft to get only two of those instead of three. Given their many areas of need, in the short and long terms, I consider this unwise.

Also, there's a report out this morning that they're now trying to trade Jenkins. They're not going to get anything decent for Jenkins now. He's coming off shoulder surgery, couldn't stay on the field last year and, after they spent two picks on a cornerback Thursday night, everybody in the league knows Jenkins is an extraneous piece for them. They won't get good value for him. If they'd wanted to replace him, they should have traded him last week and then moved up to take Claiborne. This is a team that has totally changed its plan on the fly in the past 24 hours, and that's not a good way to do offseason NFL business.

One comparison many of you have used in arguments against me is the Redskins, who clearly gave up much more to move up four spots and draft Robert Griffin III than the Cowboys did to move up eight spots and draft Claiborne. The Redskins, you say, have even more needs, and therefore even more reason to play carefully with their picks. And that is also true. But every team's situation is different, and the Redskins' crying need to do something big at quarterback drove their decision. The Redskins absolutely had to make the trade they made to get Griffin. And as good a player as Claiborne is, and as bad as Dallas was in the secondary last year, they did not absolutely have to make a big move to go up and get him. Not in the same way the Redskins needed to address quarterback. Not even close.

Will any of this matter? Who knows? You can't judge a draft in the first 24 hours or even the first 24 months. If Claiborne is the next Deion Sanders, nobody will care that the Cowboys didn't make as many 2012 picks as they should have made. And you'll remember me (if you remember me at all) as the clown who ripped the pick when they made it. All I can do is sit here right now and read the situation as I see it. The way I see it, the Cowboys had no business using their first two picks on just one player who plays a position they already addressed -- in a major, costly way -- in free agency. That's not a great use of resources. And as much fun as it is to pick out the player you like most in the draft and go get him, it's usually smarter to view these draft choices as resources. The Cowboys don't have as many of them now as they would have had if they'd stayed put, selected one of the very good defensive players still available at 14 and held onto a potentially useful second-round pick. In my opinion, they don't have as many of them as they still need.

IRVING, Texas – Jerry Jones can admit the painfully obvious about the Cowboys’ cornerback situation now.

“We’ve had shortcomings in our secondary for the last three seasons,” Jones said.

No kidding. The Cowboys ranked 20th in passing defense in 2009, 26th in 2010 and 23rd last season. They expect to shoot up those rankings after making cornerback the focus on their offseason spending, recruiting $50 million man Brandon Carr in free agency and paying a steep price to move up in the draft for LSU’s Morris Claiborne.

The Cowboys believe that they’ve turned a glaring weakness into a strength within the last couple of months.

“There’s no question with this draft pick,” Jones said. “Now, with what we gave Carr and what we’re doing here and frankly, we can do some things to get these guys on the field all the time. I’m talking about the corners, for the most part.”

He’s not talking about Terence Newman, who was the last player the Cowboys drafted so high. They cut him last month, a couple of years too late, to be honest. And Jones might not be talking about Mike Jenkins, who is suddenly on the trade block entering the final season of his contract. Asked if he could say Jenkins would be on the Cowboys’ roster this season, Jones quipped, “As long as just because I said it doesn’t make it so.”

Carr, Claiborne and nickel back Orlando Scandrick, who signed a five-year, $27 million contract extension last summer, give the Cowboys supreme confidence in their cornerbacks corps for the foreseeable future.

The Cowboys clearly believe Carr, 25, a four-year starter for the Kansas City Chiefs, has Pro Bowl potential based on the contract they gave him. They believe Claiborne has Hall of Fame potential.

The only player above Claiborne on the Cowboys’ draft board was quarterback Andrew Luck. According to Jones, you have to go all the way back to Prime Time to find the last cornerback the Cowboys scouts considered better than Claiborne.

The Cowboys love everything about Claiborne, but his ball skills really stand out. He had 11 interceptions the last two seasons, including six as a junior in 2011 when opponents attempted to avoid him as much as possible.

The Cowboys think Claiborne has the ability to take a No. 1 receiver out of a game and make a quarterback pay if he is tested. That made it an easy decision to give up two premium picks (14th and 45th overall) to move up eight spots to get one player.

“We didn’t think it was realistic that we’d ever get a player like that,” Cowboys vice president Stephen Jones said.

The Cowboys had Newman as the No. 1 player on the board when they drafted him fifth overall in 2003. The Valley Ranch brass, who have no regrets about the Newman pick, believe Claiborne is a cut above because of his ball skills.

“He was one of the top cornerbacks in my eyes around on coverage, but not necessarily going up and making the plays,” Jerry Jones said of Newman.

Nobody would argue that Newman has been one of the league’s top corners the last couple of years. Now that Newman has been replaced, nobody at Valley Ranch would argue that the Cowboys have had decent cornerback play in recent years.

“We’ve been needing to work on the secondary,” Jones said. “When Wade [Phillips] was here, I talked to Wade about it. This is not something that’s new. We had hoped upon hope and certainly Rob [Ryan] had hoped with the head of the pack that Terence could really be what we wanted him to be. So obviously that didn’t work out. That’s just the way it is.

“But I like the way we’ve come back.”

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys’ decision to trade up for LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne immediately calls into question Mike Jenkins’ future with the team.

Jenkins, a first-round pick in 2008, is entering the final year of his contract and is scheduled to make $1.05 million. Jenkins is recovering from major offseason shoulder surgery and is not expected to be ready until training camp.

On Wednesday, owner and general manager Jerry Jones said the Cowboys’ budget, “allows us to pay cornerbacks well.”

In March, the Cowboys signed Brandon Carr to a five-year, $50 million deal. Last August, the Cowboys signed Orlando Scandrick to a five-year extension worth $27 million. Last year, Atlanta gave wide receiver Julio Jones a four-year, $16.2 million deal, so Claiborne figures to be in that neighborhood.

That would seem to ace out Jenkins’ chances of signing a long-term deal and might mean he could be available in a trade over the next few days.

Jenkins has eight interceptions in four seasons and made the Pro Bowl in 2009 as an injury replacement. He displayed a toughness last year that was missing his first few seasons by playing through the shoulder injury.

But it might not mean as much now.

IRVING, Texas -- The Dallas Cowboys moved up in the NFL draft and selected the best cornerback available in Morris Claiborne with the sixth overall pick Thursday night.

The Cowboys traded the 14th pick and the 45th overall (second round) picks to the St. Louis Rams for the sixth pick.

It was the 59th draft day trade since 1989, the first year that Jerry Jones became owner/general manager of the Cowboys.

Claiborne, 5-11, 188 pounds, was a two-year starter out of LSU who many scouts describe as a smooth athlete with good footwork and balance.

In Claiborne's final season at LSU, he was named SEC Defensive Player of the Year and won the Jim Thorpe Award as the nation's best defensive back. Claiborne finished the season with six interceptions and six pass breakups. He also returned one pick for a touchdown. He also returned kickoffs, averaging 25.1 yards per return. He decided to skip his senior season and leave LSU for the draft.

Adding Claiborne brings some depth to a secondary that was beaten up in 2011.

In free agency, the Cowboys signed Brandon Carr to a five-year contract to go along with Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. Jenkins is in the final year of his contract and seeking a long-term deal. But with Claiborne on the roster, it will be interesting to see how Jenkins reacts to the move.

Last season, Jenkins finished with a just one interception but was tied with Terence Newman with 10 pass breakups. Jenkins played through knee and shoulder injuries.

The Cowboys were projected to get Alabama safety Mark Barron, but they bypassed him to get the cornerback. Barron went to Tampa Bay with the seventh overall pick.

IRVING, Texas – As the Cowboys list their needs entering the NFL draft, cornerback and outside linebacker are at the top of the list for a variety of reasons, including the futures of Anthony Spencer and Mike Jenkins.

The defensive starters are scheduled to be free agents in 2013, which could put the Cowboys in the market for future replacements.

Not so fast, according to owner and general manager Jerry Jones.

“You're an afternoon away from having a Spencer with five years left on his contract,” Jones said. “You don't know. It takes two to tango there, obviously. You can really remedy a contract situation if you think the player merits it. We must think Spencer is a real top player for us to have franchised him, and we do. I'm just saying, I don't think we're in trouble at all if we come out of here without a pass rusher for the future with where we are with our pass rusher right now.”

Spencer signed his franchise tag tender worth $8.8 million Monday, but the team has not had meaningful discussions regarding a long-term deal. Jones said the timing of Spencer’s deal will not have any bearing on what the team does Thursday-Saturday in the draft.

As for Jenkins, who is coming off major shoulder surgery, the question becomes about available money at the position. The Cowboys signed Orlando Scandrick to a five-year, $27 million deal last year and added Brandon Carr with a five-year, $50.1 million deal.

“Our budget allows us to pay cornerbacks well,” Jones said. “So it’s the guys that can cover and the guys that bring the pressure are the key focal points where we spend our money or spend our considerations. So he certainly would fall in that category. Ideally you’d like to have all that not loaded up at the same time.”

In 2013, Scandrick will count roughly $3.78 million against the cap and Carr is scheduled to count $15.9 million. That figure is skewed by a $14.3 million base salary the Cowboys will almost assuredly turn most into a signing bonus to significantly lower the cap figure.

In other words, the Cowboys would be able to retain Jenkins with a big multi-year deal if they choose to.

The sight of Victor Cruz streaking down the Met Life Stadium sideline, trailed by Terence Newman, en route to a salsa-dance celebration illustrated why cornerback was such a desperate need for the Cowboys.

The Cowboys never recovered on New Year’s Day, getting whipped by the Giants in what amounted to the NFC East title game, in which Cruz caught six passes for 178 yards and a touchdown.

Consider that evidence of why the Cowboys were so eager to “pay retail,” as Jerry Jones prefers to say, for Brandon Carr.

Carr, who signed a five-year, $50.1 million deal with the Cowboys to replace Newman, vowed that Cruz’s days of dancing against the Cowboys are done. He vowed on a Friday appearance on ESPN’s NFL Live to get physical with Cruz when the Cowboys and Giants meet in the Sept. 5 season opener.

"I want to use all my body,” Carr said. “I'm six-foot, 200 pounds. I know he's got to run through me to get wherever he's running, so I'm going to be patient at the line. All that salsa dancing, that's fine, but you've got to come through me.

“I don't plan on seeing no dancing."

One problem with that plan: Carr probably won’t be covering Cruz when the Giants go to three-wide formations. When Cruz is operating out of the slot, he’ll probably be working against Orlando Scandrick, who was last seen getting soared over by Cruz on a deep ball that killed the Cowboys’ comeback hopes.

PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Drew Rosenhaus, the agent for Cowboys cornerback Mike Jenkins, approached the team about a contract extension.

The team hasn't exchanged financial numbers yet with Rosenhaus, but there is hope Jenkins can continue to play with the Cowboys long-term.

Update: Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said Tuesday afternoon the team values Jenkins "we like him," but you can't pay everybody, at least right now.

Last season, Jenkins shared the team lead in pass breakups (10) and finished with just one interception.

Jenkins played the bulk of the season with neck, knee and shoulder injuries. Jenkins' shoulder was so bad he couldn't lift his arm above his head and he underwent offseason surgery.

Rosenhaus said Jenkins should be ready in time for the start of training camp in late July.

Jenkins, who is in the final year of his contract, will make a base salary of $1.052 million this season.

During training camp last year, the Cowboys gave nickle corner Orlando Scandrick a five-year, $27 million contract extension with $10 million guaranteed. This offseason, the Cowboys signed cornerback Brandon Carr to a five-year $50.1 million deal.