NFC East: Philadelphia Eagles

Rookie tight end Zach Ertz and rookie cornerback Jordan Poyer missed Philadelphia Eagles OTAs and minicamp, but only because they weren't allowed to go. An NFL rule that prohibits rookies from joining their teams until their college terms are completed kept Ertz at Stanford and Poyer at Oregon State all spring, as those schools' years run later than, say, USC, where Matt Barkley came from.

As a result, Ertz and Poyer are at the team facility this week, playing catch-up while the rest of the team takes a pre-training camp break. Per Zach Berman:
Ertz, who graduated with a degree in management science and engineering, combined his workouts with three classes: bioengineering, optimization, and a senior project that included finding trends in the stock market.

Poyer took part in graduation but still needs a few credits to earn his degree in liberal studies. He worked out with his defensive backs coaches at Oregon State and with other NFL draftees in a similar situation.

As Zach writes later in his story, Ertz has nothing to fear. He's a second-round pick and likely ticketed for a significant role in Chip Kelly's offense as it plots to use multiple tight ends a lot. Plus, if it doesn't work out, he can always go the bioengineering or stock-market route. Poyer is a seventh-round pick, and while there's opportunity in the Eagles' overhauled secondary, he's likely got to show something in camp in order to stick.
Philadelphia Eagles

SB Nation takes a look at the "interesting, albeit not terribly exciting, cast of characters" in the Eagles' quarterback competition. About right. Lots of arguments over this issue lately, but I think the important thing for Eagles fans is to keep standards and expectations low no matter who wins it. They're going to hand off. A lot.

Oh, and in case you were wondering who Snoop Lion thought the quarterback for the Eagles should be, you can click here. Hint: It's Michael Vick.

Washington Redskins

Kirk Cousins has a book coming out next week. (Yes, really.) In it, he writes of a lot of things, including the moment he found out he was being drafted by the Redskins. As he has discussed a few times, he wasn't as thrilled as he expected to be.

It's not completely ridiculous to expect Jordan Reed to contribute as a rookie, but it's important to remember the Redskins look at him more as a long-term project than an immediate-impact guy. He's likely to have plenty of growing pains.

Dallas Cowboys

Third-round pick Terrance Williams agreed with the Cowboys on a four-year contract. The Cowboys plan to use Williams in three-receiver sets as a deep threat on the outside with Miles Austin playing the slot position while they and Dez Bryant are on the field together.

There's been some talk of the Cowboys bringing in Vince Young as a backup quarterback. I agree with Tim Cowlishaw, who says no. Even if it made sense from a football standpoint, I don't see how you sign Tony Romo to a $100 million contract and then create a situation in which the Texas fans who already don't appreciate it him would immediately start calling for a less qualified player to replace him.

New York Giants

Giants punter Steve Weatherford has played for both of the New York teams, but he says his time with the Giants has been so far superior to his time with the Jets that he'd "play for free," and he has bad memories of working with former Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie told an elementary school assembly that he's not a Giants or Jets fan but rather a Cowboys fan. I still like his chances in November.
Philadelphia Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie wasn't joking in March when he mentioned his desire to have the Super Bowl at Lincoln Financial Field. Trust me, I know. I was standing right there, reminded of the same sick feeling I got back in 2010 when I realized they weren't joking about having the Super Bowl in New Jersey.

So I'm kind of kicking myself for not making this connection Zach Berman made about the planned renovations to the Eagles' home stadium:
Lurie first mentioned the possibility in March when he was asked about New Jersey's MetLife Stadium hosting the Super Bowl this season. Lurie noted that if the event proves to be a success, he would push for Philadelphia to host the annual event. An updated stadium will enhance the Eagles' bid.

"That wasn't the intention, but certainly when I'm on the Super Bowl committee, when you're bidding on a Super Bowl, the committee looks very closely at your stadium and your city and what you can host," Lurie said. "Philadelphia would be a great place."

So maybe it's not the intention, but surely it's a potential byproduct that has crossed Lurie's mind. I personally don't think it matters how the weather is for this year's Super Bowl in East Rutherford, N.J. -- I think places like Philadelphia, Chicago and Washington are going to start to bid for Super Bowls, and if their stadiums are deemed fit to host them they will likely get them. When the NFL announced the New York/New Jersey Super Bowl, they insisted it was a one-time deal and special because of New York. But the NFL says a lot of things that aren't true, and they've made it clear that the stadium is the biggest factor in a city getting the game. That's why they'll end up going back to Dallas, even though the weather there crippled the entire Super Bowl week. That's why they won't go back to Miami, which has hosted 10 Super Bowls and is the perfect place to hold it, until they improve or replace the Dolphins' stadium.

The NFL knows it's risking a huge weather mess by holding the game in a cold-weather location and a stadium without a roof. It just doesn't care. If weather wrecks this next Super Bowl, nothing we know about the NFL indicates that it will step forward and admit it made a mistake. No, it will press on, and if owners like Lurie really, really want to host the Super Bowl and their stadiums are of sufficient caliber to do it, the game will go to those towns. Bank on it.

NFC East chat today, noon ET

June, 18, 2013
Jun 18
10:00
AM ET
Please come and join our weekly NFC East chat, which will be held at noon ET today and run for approximately one hour. Click on these little blue letters right here any time in that hour, and I'd be happy to take your NFC East-related questions. Hope to see you there.
New York Giants

Paul Schwartz spoke to an agent who didn't want his name used but who thinks Victor Cruz's only choice right now is to take the multiyear offer the Giants have made to him. The premise is that the Giants are who they are and don't change the way they do business for any player -- they set a value, and if you don't like it, they move on with someone else. So the offer won't get any higher, and Cruz is taking too big of a risk by playing for less than $3 million this year. The options if he doesn't sign now are to have a big year and price himself out of the Giants' plans or have a subpar year and find next year's offer lower. Interesting perspective.

The Giants' tight ends coach sounds as though he thinks Adrien Robinson can start to be a factor in the passing game soon. My question is whether he can be a factor as a blocker, which is what they actually need.

Philadelphia Eagles

You may have read last week about new NFL security rules limiting the size of bags you're allowed to bring into stadiums on game days this year. The Eagles have decided to send their season-ticket holders free bags that comply with the new rules. Good idea.

A lot is being said, written and learned about the Eagles' power structure in the post-Andy Reid era, and I think it'll be a while before we have a handle on who's really in charge of what over there now.

Washington Redskins

Rich Campbell lists five reasons to believe the Redskins will repeat as NFC East champions and five reasons to believe they won't. And this may have given me an idea for some slow-week posts. Thanks, Rich!

Could 2013 be a big year in determining Mike Shanahan's future as coach of the Redskins? Mike Jones thinks it could. I imagine, in the second year of the franchise quarterback's career, coming off a division title, things would have to go pretty poorly in order for Shanahan not to get an extension beyond 2014. But you never know, I guess.

Dallas Cowboys

Miles Austin wanted more reps this offseason. The coaching staff felt it was more important that Austin's hamstrings be healthy for the regular season. The coaches got what they wanted. Their reasoning was sound. We'll see whether it works.

Remember when the Cowboys used to worry about kicker? Dan Bailey doesn't.
Interesting take here from Zach Berman on last week's arrest of Philadelphia Eagles left tackle Jason Peters on charges of drag racing and resisting an officer by flight. Everything is new with the Eagles in the Chip Kelly era, and Zach wonders how the new coach will respond to off-field issues like the one he now faces with Peters:
Kelly's four years as coach at Oregon included high-profile legal and disciplinary issues, and he was notably heavy-handed in his response.

In 2010, Kelly suspended starting quarterback Jeremiah Masoli for the season after Masoli pleaded guilty to a second-degree burglary charge for stealing two laptops and a guitar from a fraternity house. One year later, he suspended all-American cornerback Cliff Harris indefinitely after Harris drove 118 m.p.h. on a suspended license in a rental car.

...

College football has no collective bargaining agreement or players' union, so an NFL coach does not have the kind of authority over players that a college coach does. But Kelly will determine who's on the team and who's starting, and it's reasonable to wonder what his approach will be with Peters or any other player who finds headlines for the wrong reasons.

Peters' first issue, once he's dealt with the legal aspects of his situation, will be the NFL itself, since this is his second arrest and it's entirely possible the commissioner could suspend him under the personal conduct policy. If that doesn't happen, it's unlikely Kelly or the Eagles could take action without a fight from the union. But the larger point here is about ongoing evaluations of players and people, and how tolerant Kelly is going to be long-term with players who find themselves in trouble off the field.

Kelly is preparing the Eagles for 2013, but he's also thinking about building a program for the long-term, and surely part of his process right now is identifying the people around whom he wants to build. Peters is a freakish talent, and when healthy he could be the best offensive lineman in the NFL. If he's that and also a guy Kelly can't trust to stay out of trouble away from the team facility, that will create an interesting situation for the new coach to address going forward. Zach's point about this possibly being a test case for Kelly and player discipline at the NFL level is well taken.
Morning. Hope everyone had a nice weekend. We head now into a relatively dark period for NFL news -- the dead zone between minicamps and training camps, during which time players are away from their teams and apt to make only the wrong kind of news. If there isn't much written about your team for the next month, you have license to be happy about that. So let's see what we've got for links, shall we?

Dallas Cowboys

The Cowboys will be one of the first teams to open training camp. Their first practice is on July 21 in Oxnard, Calif. In the meantime, as Todd Archer writes, the key questions include the health of Tony Romo's back and the fitness of offensive coordinator Bill Callahan to balance his old role as offensive line coach with his new one as playcaller.

Jason Hatcher has a half-brother he's never met, but that's about to change and Hatcher is looking forward to establishing a relationship with a newly discovered member of his family.

New York Giants

The biggest offseason issue for the Giants, Paul Schwartz writes, was a player who didn't set foot on the practice field, and the Victor Cruz saga continues to hang over the team along with a couple of key injury issues as the Giants rest up.

Pretty special Father's Day for Justin Tuck, whose second child was born Sunday.

Philadelphia Eagles

I have yet to watch the DeSean Jackson documentary, which was put together by his brother and chronicles Jackson's life with a focus on his relationship with his father. But I have heard very positive reviews, and it sounds fascinating. I plan to check it out, and to post on it at a later date.

For Brent Celek, it's about taking care of his body as he gets older and amasses injuries and the Eagles load up on tight ends around him on the roster.

Washington Redskins

Mike Shanahan keeps saying that he'll leave it up to the doctors to tell him when Robert Griffin III is ready to return from his knee surgery. But as Jason Reid points out, that moment will be just the beginning of the real, difficult decision-making work for Shanahan.

Brian Orakpo says he's not worried about his contract situation with one year left on his deal. For whatever it's worth, a week ago I believed the Redskins were likely to try to extend Orakpo this offseason, but after spending a couple of days at their minicamp last week and talking to people there, I now believe they intend to let him play out the deal and negotiate next offseason.
Here is our weekly Twitter mailbag, an exercise in which you can participate at any time of the week simply by tweeting something with the hashtag #nfceastmail in it. Like these folks here did.
» NFC Eight in the Box: East | West | North | South » AFC: East | West | North | South

The major question facing each team in the NFC East as summer break looms:

Dallas Cowboys: Did the offensive line improve enough?

I don't think it's overstating the case to say that the Cowboys' season rests on the answer to this question. They added skill-position pieces to an already impressive collection of those on the offensive side of the ball. They're revamping the defense around a 4-3 front that should make stars of players like Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lee. They've altered the way in which they'll plan their offense during the week and call the plays on Sunday. But we have seen, multiple times in recent years, the extent to which poor offensive line play can sabotage a Cowboys season. So the questions are whether first-round pick Travis Frederick can step right in as an upgrade at center, whether Ronald Leary can seize one of the starting guard spots (or one of the incumbents can improve enough to hold him off) and whether Doug Free can play at something near his 2010 level at right tackle. If the answers to these questions are positive, the Cowboys are capable of big things.

New York Giants: Will Victor Cruz come to camp?

I actually think the Giants have a ton of questions on defense, but they'll be into the regular season before they can get any answers on those. Of more immediate concern is the contract status of Cruz, who sat out the offseason program in hopes of a long-term contract. ESPN's Josina Anderson reports that Cruz will sign his $2.879 million restricted free-agent tender today, three days before the Giants had the right to drop it down to $630,000. But that doesn't mean he won't hold out of camp if he doesn't get the long-term deal he wants before then. The Giants could fine him for skipping camp (up to $30,000 per day), but that's a lot less than he'd have risked by leaving the tender unsigned until Monday, and history tells us that fine money ultimately gets made up when the final deal is done. The Giants can talk up second-year wideout Rueben Randle all they want, but Cruz has been a vital part of the offense the past two years, and if he holds out for any of training camp, they will have a serious concern.

Philadelphia Eagles: Who's the quarterback?

Michael Vick has spent the offseason splitting first-team reps with Nick Foles while rookie Matt Barkley works hard to catch up and Dennis Dixon looms as a backup who can't fully be ruled out. Vick said last week he'd like a decision by training camp, but first-year coach Chip Kelly has no interest in providing one on that timetable. Kelly knows he doesn't have any great options here, and he wants to evaluate the candidates in a training-camp setting and in preseason games before picking a starter. Vick is the leading candidate based both on experience and talent, but questions remain as to whether a 33-year-old leopard can change his spots and learn to get rid of the ball quickly instead of always trying to keep plays alive and do something spectacular.

Washington Redskins: When will Robert Griffin III be ready?

The Redskins' megastar quarterback is encouraged by his recovery from the reconstructive knee surgery he had Jan. 9, and he has said he hopes to be ready for the start of training camp. Initially, doctors gave the Redskins a recovery time frame of seven to nine months on Griffin. Aug. 9 would be the seven-month mark, and training camp will already have been underway for several weeks. Since there would seem to be wisdom in the idea of taking it slowly, it's tough to imagine the Redskins green-lighting Griffin for the start of camp. Setbacks remain possible (even likely, given the extent of the surgery), and the high end of that initial timetable lands in October. So at this point, the Redskins still don't know when they'll have Griffin back on the field at full strength, and their plan for the time being is to roll with Kirk Cousins as the starter. By the time they get back from this break, the picture may look a bit clearer.
Washington Redskins

The injury rehabilitation of Robert Griffin III and Brian Orakpo is going well, but the news on Adam Carriker is not as good. He suffered a setback in his recovery from the injury that ended his 2012 season and he'll likely have to start training camp on the PUP list.

Lots of talk the past couple of days about the value and effect of the zone-read offense in terms of keeping its quarterback protected. Keith McMillan went in search of a tutorial on the concepts and how they are employed.

New York Giants

The Giants' coaching staff is raving about all of the progress second-year wide receiver Rueben Randle has made during the offseason program, and I am suuuuuure they'd be saying all of the same things, just as strongly, if Victor Cruz were in camp on a signed free-agent tender. No way one has anything to do with the other. Pure coincidence.

The Giants' web site has a list of 10 things it learned from minicamp, including that David Wilson remains interested in serving as a kick returner in spite of his increased role in the running game.

Dallas Cowboys

Todd Archer thinks talks between the Cowboys and Anthony Spencer on the long-term contract they both want could take a fair amount of time yet.

Randy Galloway runs down eight changes the Cowboys made this offseason, including a few he thinks will actually help.

Philadelphia Eagles

The few Eagles training camp practices this year that will be open to the public will offer a few specific treats, which the team outlined in a news release Thursday. Obviously, this year won't offer fans the same level of access as Lehigh did, but they'll at least try and offer a few days' worth of fan-friendly workouts.

Hey, we're famous! I enjoyed that discussion the other night, and obviously I have no way of knowing whether Chip Kelly will be a complete flop, a massive success or something in between. No one does. It's a huge mystery. But if you're telling me I have to pick over or under 3.5 years on Kelly in Philadelphia, I'll stick with under. Given the average tenure of NFL coaches, how little we know about Kelly, the reasonable questions about his real reasons for leaving Oregon and his current quarterback situation, it's simply the smarter way to bet. Once we have some actual evidence about how it's likely to go for Kelly at the NFL level, all of our outlooks are subject to change.
The Philadelphia Eagles announced that fourth-round pick Matt Barkley has signed his contract, which is not really news, since everybody knows all the draft picks will eventually sign and it's not as though they can sign anywhere else. But it gives us a reason to bring up Barkley and discuss the extent to which he will or could factor into the Eagles' quarterback picture for 2013.

Michael Vick and Nick Foles have split first-team reps at quarterback during offseason work, but as we've discussed at length here, neither is a flawless option for new head coach Chip Kelly. Barkley, who projected as a high first-round pick in 2012 before deciding to stay in school and then tumbled into the 2013 fourth round after a down year at USC, could move up the depth chart quickly if he shows something. This is what Geoff Mosher wrote about him in a recent review of Eagles minicamp:
Vick and Foles are the clear frontrunners to become Kelly’s first starter, but nothing rookie Matt Barkley did (or didn’t do) at camp should rule him out. Barkley’s command of the huddle looked impressive and the idea that he lacks the arm strength to make several difficult throws might have been the biggest myth of the pre-draft process. The first week or two of camp will be interesting, especially if Barkley continues to impress and if either Vick or Foles struggles out of the gate.

If nothing else, Barkley is the guy to keep an eye on for the future. I still believe Kelly will go with Vick to start the season, but we've all seen Vick turn the ball over and get hurt, and there are legitimate concerns about whether he can consistently unload the ball as quickly as Kelly will want him to. There are several ways Vick could give up the job, assuming it is his in the first place. Foles is a just-OK option who was a third-round pick by the previous coaching staff (i.e., not this one). If the Eagles are convinced the arm-strength issues aren't as serious as they were portrayed prior to the draft, Barkley likely becomes a factor in all of this sooner rather than later.
Back home after my minicamp travels and a significant amount of time waiting out construction on the I-95 corridor, I present to you some bleary-eyed Thursday links.

Washington Redskins

The Redskins will bring a couple of new wide receivers to training camp with them next month, as they have signed speedy veterans Donte Stallworth and Devery Henderson. No way to say for certain to what extent these guys threaten for spots on the final roster, but they're guys who'd performed in the league and are certainly worth taking a look at as potential passing-game weapons.

Sometimes, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says something that makes you wonder if he's ever paid any attention, at all, to any aspect of the topic he's discussing. In a letter to Congress, Goodell referred to the Redskins' names as "a unifying force." I mean... whatever else it is, it sure as heck ain't "unifying," Rog.

Dallas Cowboys

Guess who the star of Cowboys minicamp practice was on Wednesday. That's right. Dez Bryant. You know this blog isn't surprised.

Tyrone Crawford has been lining up at defensive end in the Cowboys' new 4-3 front seven alignment, and he says that's the way he sees himself. The Cowboys believed Crawford was ready to contribute as a pure pass-rusher even going into last year, so they surely believe he can find his way to the quarterback from a 4-3 end spot. It remains to be seen how much his game develops beyond that.

New York Giants

A healthy Terrell Thomas would likely change everyone's outlook on the Giants' secondary, and Thomas says he's going to "shock a lot of people" this year. There's no way for the Giants to count on a contribution from Thomas, but if he surprises them with one, it would be a huge help to a unit fraught with question marks.

Veterans don't like it when their teams draft players who play their position, and Giants backup quarterback David Carr admits he "would have freaked out" at the Giants' selection of Ryan Nassib if the same situation had happened to him earlier in his career. Now? Carr pretty much rolls with things.

Philadelphia Eagles

This is the dangerous portion of the offseason, when players are away from their teams for an extended period of time and the only news they can make is bad news. To wit: Eagles left tackle Jason Peters arrested in Louisiana on charges of drag racing and resisting an officer by flight. Not good. The NFL has been known to suspend players for second arrests, which this is for Peters.

Evan Mathis talks sense about this whole Eagles starting quarterback issue. Like the man who will ultimately decide, Mathis doesn't see any reason to rush a decision or an announcement on this.
Last week, it was Michael Vick expressing his belief that Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly needs to name a quarterback by training camp. This week, it's wide receiver DeSean Jackson expressing the same belief.

These guys need to go on vacation and chill out about this whole thing, because it's June 12 and Kelly is 100 percent right to wait and evaluate further:
"The team wants to know, too," Jackson said Tuesday in an interview with the NFL Network's "Total Access" program. "We need to go into training camp prepared and know who is going to be our starting quarterback."

See, that's just not true, even a little bit. Unless they're holding their team fantasy football draft on the first day of training camp, there's no reason the Eagles players need to know by late July who's going to be their starting quarterback. Are we really to believe that the effectiveness of the offense in September rests on the naming of a starter in June or July? Does it make any sense at all to think that the receivers and the backs and the linemen would connect with Vick to such an extent that they wouldn't accept Nick Foles as the leader of their huddle if he showed up there in late August?

The issue at quarterback with the Eagles is that there's no great solution on the current roster. Whoever it turns out to be (and the bet here is still that it's Vick in Week 1, if he can get through the preseason healthy) will be an imperfect solution. If there were an obvious answer to this question, I imagine Kelly would feel all right about providing one. But when there's not an obvious answer, this is what teams do: They hold preseason and training camp competitions to determine a starter. They do it at all kinds of different positions, so why not the most important one?

I would guess that more than 85 of the 90 players in the Eagles' locker room understand the concept of a quarterback competition and are content to wait this one out and take care of their own preparations in the meantime. The few who don't fit that description will just have to be more patient than they appear to be at the moment.
ASHBURN, Va. -- Morning, all. I am headed back over to Redskins minicamp this morning. Assistant coaches talk today, and of course players after practice as usual. Anyone have anything they desperately need me to ask anyone? Anyone want some links?

Philadelphia Eagles

Tim McManus had a smart take on last week's quotes from Michael Vick about how he's not enjoying splitting first-team reps with Nick Foles. Tim writes that what Vick says can't always be taken too far, since he's liable to say something totally different as soon as his mood changes. With Vick, you're almost always going to have a quarterback controversy.

Les Bowen writes about the new vibe around the Eagles with Chip Kelly firmly in charge and doing things his own way, whether the players like it or not.

Washington Redskins

Taking his cue from the Giants' Justin Tuck, the Redskins' Brian Orakpo will unveil a new and more elaborate face mask on his helmet this year. "Think Bane. From Batman," he said.

John Keim's camp observations are always worth a read, and off of Tuesday's practice he had some thoughts on the arrangement of the secondary, which is a primary concern of Redskins fans this offseason.

Dallas Cowboys

One thing about Tony Romo that's always been clear: He doesn't much care about the outside criticism he absorbs. Whatever he is on the field, and whether he'll ever be a championship player, Romo is a guy who's comfortable with who he is. I think that's part of why his teammates respond so well to him.

Todd Archer writes that a key figure in the decision to make Bill Callahan the offensive playcaller was the addition of Frank Pollack to the coaching staff as an assistant offensive line coach. Sometimes, it's the little things that make all the difference, huh?

New York Giants

Hakeem Nicks was back on the field for the Giants as they opened their mandatory minicamp Tuesday, as expected. Victor Cruz, who remains in a contract dispute with the team, was not, as expected. Tom Coughlin continues to believe the guys who are missing time are going to suffer as a result.

Mark Herzlich has a chance to be the starting middle linebacker for the Giants this year, which would complete a remarkable comeback for the former Boston College star and cancer survivor.
The NFC East breakfast links: A Tebow-free zone since 2011. Enjoy.

New York Giants

We'll know soon enough, but wide receiver Hakeem Nicks is expected to be at mandatory minicamp practice today after skipping voluntary OTAs the past two weeks and frustrating coach Tom Coughlin in the process.

Four years ago, Cooper Taylor was diagnosed with a heart condition he feared would take football and possibly more away from him. Today, he's at Giants minicamp, where they're using him at both safety positions and as their weakside linebacker in sub packages. It will be interesting to see how the Giants deploy their fifth-round draft pick and how quickly he's usable in the defense as opposed to just special teams.

Philadelphia Eagles

The Eagles' minicamp was last week, but one of the players' missions over the weeks between now and the start of training camp is to make sure to stay in shape. Conditioning is clearly a significant part of the Chip Kelly Experience.

Les Bowen thinks the planned changes to the Eagles' home stadium will make Lincoln Financial Field more of a "Philly" kind of place, and that it reflects the team's effort to connect more with its fan base.

Washington Redskins

Mike Jones gets you ready for the Redskins' minicamp that starts today with his mailbag, which includes a question and answer about how much he expects the Redskins to integrate the option offense into their base offense in Robert Griffin III's second season. Griffin speaks today after practice, by the way. I may go ahead and write about that, just so you know.

One of the happiest Redskins about Brian Orakpo's return from injury is Ryan Kerrigan, his fellow first-round pass-rusher, who should thrive on the opposite side of the defense from a healthy Orakpo.

Dallas Cowboys

Bryan Broaddus runs down some things to watch for at Cowboys minicamp when it starts today, including the rotation at defensive tackle with Jay Ratliff, Jason Hatcher and Sean Lissemore, and whether Phil Costa can beat out first-round pick Travis Frederick this summer for the starting center spot.

The Cowboys aren't combing the free-agent market for help at this time of year, but you never know what might happen. Calvin Watkins has a list of five free agents still on the market who could pique the Cowboys' interest if someone got injured. The names include an old friend at wide receiver and an interesting veteran running back.
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