Post by golden on Mar 24, 2007 5:41:51 GMT -7
Mickey Spagnola - Email
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 23, 2007 7:27 PM
Ken Hamlin addressed the media Friday with team owner Jerry Jones and head coach Wade Phillips.
IRVING, Texas - Trying to plan for tomorrow yet cover themselves today, the Cowboys purchased a one-year term insurance policy at free safety on Friday by signing free-agent safety Ken Hamlin.
The Cowboys basically got their cake, and can eat it, too, thanks to this shrewd deal.
That they signed Hamlin insures they will have at least one veteran to play free safety alongside strong safety Roy Williams, and most importantly a four-year veteran Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and new head coach Wade Phillips trust can get their defense lined up properly.
But since the deal is only for one year, and a total package of just $2.5 million - that includes minimal signing bonus, base salary and incentives - the Cowboys have not backed themselves into a competitive corner. Hamlin's signing - at least his contract - does not preclude Patrick Watkins, last-year's nine-game rookie starter, from competing to regain his starting job.
Also, Hamlin's shortest-of-terms deal, along with a very modest signing bonus by today's free-agent standards, does not preclude the Cowboys from selecting a safety with the 22nd pick in the first round if they deem one a viable choice at that point in the draft. University of Texas defensive back Aaron Ross could be on their radar, since he's scheduled to visit April 2.
So as you were at free safety, except for the fact there is an experienced fallback, unlike last year when Watkins, the team's fifth-round draft choice, was thrust into one of the more difficult jobs on defense in the NFL in the season opener. And by comparison to last year, the Cowboys are in much better shape at free safety since Watkins now has one year of experience and Hamlin, a 52-game NFL starter and just 26, is a much better safety valve than veteran Marcus Coleman proved to be. Coleman was suspended the first four games of the 2006 season for violation of the league's substance abuse policy, and never was a factor before getting released for good on Nov. 11 after his driving infraction.
"For the future, we like Watkins," Jones made a point of saying here on Friday, the day before he is scheduled to speak at Saturday's 10 a.m. (CDT) memorial service being held in the Stadium Club at Texas Stadium for the team's late mascot Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones, who died last Saturday. "But Wade said it best: If you got a chance to get a top football player, you're not stacking it up if you can get it."
The Cowboys evidently convinced Hamlin, who played his college ball at Arkansas and was quite familiar with Jones after his Fayetteville days and having played against the Cowboys three times over the past three years, including last season's 21-20 beating of the Cowboys in the wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field, to bet on himself. If Hamlin proves still worthy at free safety, something the Seahawks obviously had doubts about since they never tried to re-sign him and subsequently spent $15 million on guarantees to sign free-agent safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell, he earns his money this year and has a chance to capitalize on free agency next year.
Hamlin also became aware free agency was finishing its third week, and while several safeties had been signed, he was still on the open market and the big-time signing bonuses evident in the opening two weeks were rapidly disappearing. This deal gives him a chance to reinvigorate his career without a long-term commitment.
The shining example of gambling on yourself is Andre Gurode, who wasn't getting many lucrative nibbles last year at the start of free agency. So he signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys for $1.5 million, betting he would prove himself worthy at center. Not only did he win the starting job at center with the Cowboys, he landed in the Pro Bowl, which went a long ways towards earning himself the six-year, $30 million deal laced with a $10 million signing bonus with the Cowboys before the start of this year's free agency.
He won, and the Cowboys won, and Hamlin can only hope for similar results.
"Gurode really had success going the one-year route, and Ken's situation really makes this appealing for them and appealing for us," Jones said of batting out the one-year deal. "Both parties thought the best thing to do is see what it's all about."
Maybe not coincidentally, Hamlin and Gurode share the same agent, Kennard McGuire.
"It's definitely a blessing to be in this position to be with this team," said Hamlin, last year's 16-game starter who finished second on the Seahawks with 96 tackles and his three interceptions led the team. "It's going to be a great opportunity."
While Hamlin likely still must compete for a starting job, Phillips at least is comforted by the presence of a safety capable of allowing Williams to play at times closer to the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys' coaching staff has visions of trusting Hamlin to play a little more centerfield than Watkins or Keith Davis were trusted to do last year, putting the defense in more three-across coverages than last year's more standard Cover 2.
Plus, if nothing else, Hamlin has earned the reputation of a being a big hitter. Phillips said don't be surprised if Hamlin is used in blitzing situations, and Jones already put out the warning to receivers nonchalantly crossing the middle.
"We are looking for a guy who can roam the middle," Phillips said. "That's a real plus, and he has shown he can do that. He's really at home in the middle."
The coaching staff also values Hamlin's apparent ability to get the defense lined up, something the Cowboys have struggled with the past three seasons, ever since five-time Pro Bowler Darren Woodson was forced into retirement after back surgery prior to the 2004 season. Far too often the Cowboys relied on young safeties preoccupied with their own assignments who didn't have time to make sure everyone else was in the right place.
Phillips sees Hamlin as a potential quarterback of this defense.
"We're a better team having gotten him signed," Phillips said.
Also possibly working against Hamlin in free agency, and especially in Seattle where the Seahawks management was tiring of off-field incidents, was the near-fatal altercation he was involved in six games into the 2005 season when a brawl outside a Pioneer Square night club in downtown Seattle landed Hamlin in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull, bruised brain tissue and a cerebral blood clot. He never played another game that Super Bowl season for Seattle.
Some say he is lucky to be alive after being hit in the head with a street sign and beaten bloody. While he was not implicated in any manner, the man accused of hitting him with the street sign was found three hours later shot to death in a field.
Even though Hamlin was considered a victim that night, the Seahawks having begun distancing themselves from players involved in off-season incidents, washing their hands of wide receiver Koren Robinson and now recently Hamlin and tight end Jerramy Stevens.
Hamlin insists he has learned a tough lesson.
"That changed me dramatically," Hamlin said. "You only have so many chances, and I was blessed with another opportunity."
Hamlin - and the Cowboys - would like nothing better than for the free safety to earn a big-time "opportunity" in free agency next year.
DallasCowboys.com Columnist
March 23, 2007 7:27 PM
Ken Hamlin addressed the media Friday with team owner Jerry Jones and head coach Wade Phillips.
IRVING, Texas - Trying to plan for tomorrow yet cover themselves today, the Cowboys purchased a one-year term insurance policy at free safety on Friday by signing free-agent safety Ken Hamlin.
The Cowboys basically got their cake, and can eat it, too, thanks to this shrewd deal.
That they signed Hamlin insures they will have at least one veteran to play free safety alongside strong safety Roy Williams, and most importantly a four-year veteran Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and new head coach Wade Phillips trust can get their defense lined up properly.
But since the deal is only for one year, and a total package of just $2.5 million - that includes minimal signing bonus, base salary and incentives - the Cowboys have not backed themselves into a competitive corner. Hamlin's signing - at least his contract - does not preclude Patrick Watkins, last-year's nine-game rookie starter, from competing to regain his starting job.
Also, Hamlin's shortest-of-terms deal, along with a very modest signing bonus by today's free-agent standards, does not preclude the Cowboys from selecting a safety with the 22nd pick in the first round if they deem one a viable choice at that point in the draft. University of Texas defensive back Aaron Ross could be on their radar, since he's scheduled to visit April 2.
So as you were at free safety, except for the fact there is an experienced fallback, unlike last year when Watkins, the team's fifth-round draft choice, was thrust into one of the more difficult jobs on defense in the NFL in the season opener. And by comparison to last year, the Cowboys are in much better shape at free safety since Watkins now has one year of experience and Hamlin, a 52-game NFL starter and just 26, is a much better safety valve than veteran Marcus Coleman proved to be. Coleman was suspended the first four games of the 2006 season for violation of the league's substance abuse policy, and never was a factor before getting released for good on Nov. 11 after his driving infraction.
"For the future, we like Watkins," Jones made a point of saying here on Friday, the day before he is scheduled to speak at Saturday's 10 a.m. (CDT) memorial service being held in the Stadium Club at Texas Stadium for the team's late mascot Wilford "Crazy Ray" Jones, who died last Saturday. "But Wade said it best: If you got a chance to get a top football player, you're not stacking it up if you can get it."
The Cowboys evidently convinced Hamlin, who played his college ball at Arkansas and was quite familiar with Jones after his Fayetteville days and having played against the Cowboys three times over the past three years, including last season's 21-20 beating of the Cowboys in the wild-card playoff game at Qwest Field, to bet on himself. If Hamlin proves still worthy at free safety, something the Seahawks obviously had doubts about since they never tried to re-sign him and subsequently spent $15 million on guarantees to sign free-agent safeties Deon Grant and Brian Russell, he earns his money this year and has a chance to capitalize on free agency next year.
Hamlin also became aware free agency was finishing its third week, and while several safeties had been signed, he was still on the open market and the big-time signing bonuses evident in the opening two weeks were rapidly disappearing. This deal gives him a chance to reinvigorate his career without a long-term commitment.
The shining example of gambling on yourself is Andre Gurode, who wasn't getting many lucrative nibbles last year at the start of free agency. So he signed a one-year deal with the Cowboys for $1.5 million, betting he would prove himself worthy at center. Not only did he win the starting job at center with the Cowboys, he landed in the Pro Bowl, which went a long ways towards earning himself the six-year, $30 million deal laced with a $10 million signing bonus with the Cowboys before the start of this year's free agency.
He won, and the Cowboys won, and Hamlin can only hope for similar results.
"Gurode really had success going the one-year route, and Ken's situation really makes this appealing for them and appealing for us," Jones said of batting out the one-year deal. "Both parties thought the best thing to do is see what it's all about."
Maybe not coincidentally, Hamlin and Gurode share the same agent, Kennard McGuire.
"It's definitely a blessing to be in this position to be with this team," said Hamlin, last year's 16-game starter who finished second on the Seahawks with 96 tackles and his three interceptions led the team. "It's going to be a great opportunity."
While Hamlin likely still must compete for a starting job, Phillips at least is comforted by the presence of a safety capable of allowing Williams to play at times closer to the line of scrimmage. The Cowboys' coaching staff has visions of trusting Hamlin to play a little more centerfield than Watkins or Keith Davis were trusted to do last year, putting the defense in more three-across coverages than last year's more standard Cover 2.
Plus, if nothing else, Hamlin has earned the reputation of a being a big hitter. Phillips said don't be surprised if Hamlin is used in blitzing situations, and Jones already put out the warning to receivers nonchalantly crossing the middle.
"We are looking for a guy who can roam the middle," Phillips said. "That's a real plus, and he has shown he can do that. He's really at home in the middle."
The coaching staff also values Hamlin's apparent ability to get the defense lined up, something the Cowboys have struggled with the past three seasons, ever since five-time Pro Bowler Darren Woodson was forced into retirement after back surgery prior to the 2004 season. Far too often the Cowboys relied on young safeties preoccupied with their own assignments who didn't have time to make sure everyone else was in the right place.
Phillips sees Hamlin as a potential quarterback of this defense.
"We're a better team having gotten him signed," Phillips said.
Also possibly working against Hamlin in free agency, and especially in Seattle where the Seahawks management was tiring of off-field incidents, was the near-fatal altercation he was involved in six games into the 2005 season when a brawl outside a Pioneer Square night club in downtown Seattle landed Hamlin in the intensive care unit with a fractured skull, bruised brain tissue and a cerebral blood clot. He never played another game that Super Bowl season for Seattle.
Some say he is lucky to be alive after being hit in the head with a street sign and beaten bloody. While he was not implicated in any manner, the man accused of hitting him with the street sign was found three hours later shot to death in a field.
Even though Hamlin was considered a victim that night, the Seahawks having begun distancing themselves from players involved in off-season incidents, washing their hands of wide receiver Koren Robinson and now recently Hamlin and tight end Jerramy Stevens.
Hamlin insists he has learned a tough lesson.
"That changed me dramatically," Hamlin said. "You only have so many chances, and I was blessed with another opportunity."
Hamlin - and the Cowboys - would like nothing better than for the free safety to earn a big-time "opportunity" in free agency next year.