Philadelphia Snatches Asomugha Away

For about 30 minutes today it really looked like the Cowboys were going to get a deal done with Nnamdi Asomugha. But, at the last minute, the Eagles swooped in and stole him away. I consider it to be a narrow escape.

I know Jerry Jones likes to go for the gusto. But this move was wrong on so many levels I don't know where to start. Just look at the glaring needs remaining on the roster as it stands right now. The Cowboys are in dire need of a safety and they have very little depth at defensive end, wide receiver, and they are still in the market for a right guard. Signing Asomugha would have made any additional free agency moves very difficult to pull off.

And the dead money counting against the cap next year is bad enough without throwing in Terence Newman's cap hit had he been released to make room for Nnamdi. I could have lived with throwing money at a guy like Nnamdi if the Cowboys weren't heading for salary cap hell next year and weren't struggling with the cap this season before signing a high priced free agent.

I know that everyone is in love with Asomugha right now. But I still have visions of Miles Austin going for 7 receptions, 145 yards and a touchdown against him in 2009. Don't get me wrong here. Nnamdi is a very good player. But to get the money he wanted I think you have to be great and I don't know that he is great.

And hey, it isn't like the Cowboys are one guy away from making a Super Bowl run. Coming off a 6-10 season it is hard to imagine that ignoring several areas of need to obtain a luxury item is going to help you turn things around.

I know people are down on the Cowboys secondary right now but I think the secondary is going to be much more effective this year now that Rob Ryan is going to be constantly mixing things up on defense. Nnamdi would have been great in the Cowboys defense. But can he also play safety and defensive end? Can he fill in a right guard if needed?

In other news, the Cowboys were able to come to terms with Marcus Spears today to start to fill the glaring need at defensive end. The contract is for 5 years and $19.2 million. That is a relative bargain compared to the 5 years, $27.2 million contract that Stephen Bowen got from the Redskins. Spears has always been the best Cowboys defensive end against the run so I'm glad he'll be back. Now he just needs to stay healthy.

Unfortunately the injuries in camp are mounting very quickly. Tashard Choice is out with a strained calf and Keith Brooking strained a hamstring today. Injuries are a part of the game but the Cowboys have just seemed to get more than their fair share in training camp over the last few years.

As another crazy day of free agency starts to draw to a close I am actually very thankful that the Eagles saved Jerry Jones from himself today. I know there are promising young players on the roster but you don't want to count on too many of them if you want a real chance at a playoff run this season. Like I said before, getting Asomugha would have make it next to impossible to address the rest of the roster needs. Hopefully the rumors of Astante Samuel being shopped in a trade are true because the Eagles are loaded at cornerback right now.