NFC Notes: Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

Cowboys EVP Stephen Jones spoke during the Senior Bowl and let it be known that he was frustrated with the way things went for WR Amari Cooper this season.

“Well, it’s sometimes not all on the receiver too. It’s the scheme. It’s getting the receiver the ball, the touches, the targets that he needs. But if you’re gonna pay somebody a lot of money, you want them to be the best at what they do,” Jones said, via DallasCowboys.com. “Whether that’s catching, whether that’s yards, whether that’s receptions, whether that’s touchdowns, whether that’s throwing touchdown passes. Winning football games if you’re a quarterback. Whether it’s a running back if you’re getting your touches and you’re scoring touchdowns and you’re running for yards. I mean all those things. Your pass rushers you want to be getting pressures and making plays. I mean, all those things relate to how a guy’s paid and once you pay that player a lot of money then with that comes high expectations. And they know that. These players know that.”

The Cowboys could save $16 million in cap space by releasing Cooper this offseason. Jones said that the team would make a decision on it going forward, noting it would be tough.

“That’s the tough part of our business,” Jones said. “As much as we respect these men, they also know that we’ve got to run a business. There’s only so much to go around. And we’ve been saying that since day one. But the right guy has the money right now and that’s No. 4 and from there we’ve got to put the right pieces around him.”

Eagles

• Nevada QB Carson Strong mentioned more teams he has met with at the Senior Bowl, including ones he felt went particularly well with the Commanders, Eagles, Saints and Titans. (Crissy Floyd)

Giants

• Dan Duggan of the Athletic says to keep an eye on former Giant Antonio Pierce as a candidate for the linebackers coach position.
• According to Duggan, there was some chatter at the Senior Bowl this past week that the Giants could trade the No. 5 overall pick. Duggan explains that the thinking here is the Panthers could target a quarterback at No. 6, so a team may consider jumping them to No. 5.
• According to Ryan Dunleavy, Giants RB coach Burton Burns is unlikely to return, with retirement a possibility.
• John Brice reports the Giants are interested in Notre Dame RB coach Deland McCullough for their RB coach position.
• Pat Leonard reports Giants HC Brian Daboll wanted to hire Ravens DC Don “Wink” Martindale if the defensive coordinator job opened up, and now that Patrick Graham is taking the coordinator job in Las Vegas, Daboll could revisit hiring Martindale.
• Jordan Schultz reports that several people in the Giants’ organization want former Broncos HC Vic Fangio to replace Patrick Graham who is leaving to become the defensive coordinator for the Raiders.
• Schultz also reports that the Giants were shocked that Graham decided to join the Raiders and were hoping he would remain on the staff of Daboll.
• Adam Schefter reports that the Giants are hiring Eagles director of player personnel Brandon Brown as their assistant general manager.