NFC Notes: Cowboys, Giants, Redskins

Cowboys

• Jon Machota of The Athletic writes that the cornerback position remains the biggest question mark for the Cowboys.
• Some other areas of concern for Dallas, according to Machota, include center and pass rusher opposite of DeMarcus Lawrence.
• Machota believes all of the team’s notable free agent additions including Gerald McCoy, Dontari Poe, Andy Dalton, Aldon Smith, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Greg Zuerlein, Cameron Erving, and Blake Bell will make the 53-man roster.
• Regarding a realistic projection for DE Aldon Smith, Machota says four of five sacks could be what the Cowboys get from him in 2020. Although, he admits there’s more upside.
• Machota doesn’t see the Cowboys signing a veteran defensive Jadeveon Clowney or Everson Griffen.

Giants

Albert Breer of SI notes that a second-year player such as QB Daniel Jones could suffer from the shortened offseason. However, he is ready to take on responsibility and assume a leadership role in New York.

“I certainly feel the responsibility of being a leader,” Jones said, via Matt Lombardo of NJ.com. “That’s something I take seriously. But it’s our team. I don’t know if it’s one guy’s team. It’s not coach’s team, it’s not my team, it’s not Saquon’s team or anyone else’s. It’s our team, and I understand that. Leadership wise, I’m going to do my best to, at first, take care of what I’m doing, take care of my responsibility, be prepared and playing at a high level.”

Lombardo also mentions that both Jones and backup QB Colt McCoy have been working out with several Giants players in Austin, Texas including WR Darius Slayton, TE Kaden Smith, WR Sterling Shepard, WR Golden Tate, WR Corey Coleman, RB Saquon Barkley, and RB Jon Hilliman.

Redskins

When asked about the possibility of the Redskins signing free agent WR Antonio Brown, HC Ron Rivera said they do not want to impede the progress of their younger receivers. 

“For us to bring a veteran guy in a couple of positions, we have to see what we have in terms of our young guys first,” Rivera, via ProFootballTalk. “I made the comment about our left tackle position. We have a group of young guys that we have to find out whether or not they have the ability to be football players. If you bring in a veteran right now, you are going to stunt the growth of someone young.”

Rivera added that he is aware of Brown being an “impact” player, but the Redskins’ coaching staff still wants to examine their other players. 

“I know who Antonio Brown is. I know he is a great player and an impact guy. He is also a veteran guy and we have some guys that we have to find out about. That is the approach. We want to see what we have. If we were able to go through OTAs and minicamp, we would’ve been able to judge that and say, ‘Hey, we need to get a guy at this position or we need a guy at that position.’ These guys aren’t really coming along how we want them to, let’s pull the trigger and bring a guy into our organization. That is the hard part about not being able to see our guys. As I said, I went through it when I was first in Carolina, not knowing what we had and coming out of the lockout. We had to go sign players. We signed them without me knowing who they were. That really does make a difference. You want to know who your guys are and who they want to be. It will help you going forward because these are the guys that you put your energy towards as you progress as a football team.”