NFC Notes: Saquon Barkley, Jerry Jones, Cowboys, Eagles, Giants

Cowboys

Dallas has had a quiet offseason where they lost contributors and haven’t found solidified replacements. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones brought up the trade deadline and mentioned that roster improvement can happen at any point.

“I think relatively, we have given ourselves a chance to be better at the end of next year than we were at the end of (last season),” Jones said, via Jon Machota of The Athletic. “Because I’m figuring in now some young guys that last year didn’t play as much as they’re going to be playing this year, so the positive is there. … We are not compromised because of (salary) cap as much as I implied that it weighed in terms of handicapping. We’re in a situation where these young players, whether they are first-, second-, third-year guys, they got to start carrying the mail for the Cowboys.”

“We’ll continue to work that part of it and improve our roster,” Dallas EVP Stephen Jones added. “Actually, we were on the phone with a couple guys here (recently), trying to get our numbers right, looking at guys who can come in here and help us that might be veteran-type players versus the college players. This is a busy time for us right now. I just see our roster continuing to evolve and will continue to get better.”

Eagles

The Eagles paid big money to RB Saquon Barkley in free agency despite not typically paying marquee free agents at that position. Philadelphia GM Howie Roseman explained the change in philosophy and is thrilled they added that type of talent.

“From our perspective, you get to a situation where you kind of try to find, is something being undervalued?” Roseman said, via Mad Dog Sports Radio. “Is there a way to zig when everyone’s zagging? Or I don’t know if it’s the opposite, and you’re freakin’ zagging when zigging. But I think that it’s hard to find difference-making players and people, and it’s hard to find them for a cost. Those guys, they go for a lot of money, and we felt like there was an opportunity to get one of those guys in Saquon and bring him to the team.”

“There’s risk in every decision you make, but we don’t think there’s any risk on the talent. We don’t think there’s any risk on the person. And we also feel like maybe — not that it wasn’t anywhere else — but we have a good situation here with us in Philly to kind of maximize him. I don’t think there’s anyone when he came out of the draft that didn’t think he wasn’t a Hall of Fame-caliber talent and person. He’s still young, and we’re really excited to have him.”

Giants

The Giants traded for QB Drew Lock this offseason despite giving QB Daniel Jones a massive extension the offseason prior. NFL Network’s Marc Ross spent 11 years with New York in player evaluation and feels Lock could vie for the starting job. 

“Yes, (Lock) does (have a chance to start). And I think our guy Mike Garafolo hinted at it when they said, ‘Yeah, there can be an open competition.’ And I think there really should be,” Ross said, via NFL Total Access. “You look at the Giants’ offense last year and they played better, they scored more points and they won more games when Tyrod Taylor and Tommy Cutlets, Tommy DeVito played, as opposed to Daniel, when Daniel Jones played. It’s the combination of the injuries and the inconsistent and, at times, not very good play there.”

“So there’s still a little small contingent of Giants fans holding onto Daniel Jones. But Drew Lock, I think if they give him an honest, open competition, he might just flat-out win the job, if not Day 1 then at some point during the season.”