DT Vince Wilfork, HUGE Addition for Cowboys
By Reid Hanson
It’s normally pretty bad business in professional sports, to invest in over-the-hill players. Often times, teams that participate in this risky behavior are paying for a name, more than they’re paying for actual talent. The Cowboys, previously guilty of this dangerous practice, have done a good job of restraining themselves as of late. But Vince Wilfork may be an excusable exception…
It should go without saying – the price would have to be right to make Wilfork a good move, but his impact could be HUGE (pun unabashedly intended). At age 33, Wilfork isn’t going to demand money anywhere in the ballpark of fellow free agent defensive lineman, Ndamukong Suh, but he could still be costly.
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The New England Patriots opted to NOT pick up Vince Wilfork’s option for 2015, making him a free agent. The move saves the Pats roughly $8M so it’s hard to blame them. A new deal for a 33 year old NT will not approach $8M per year. If he demands something in that ballpark, then good luck, the Cowboys can find help elsewhere. BUT if Wilfork is willing to take better-than-average guaranteed money and play for $3-$4M per year, then the Cowboys need to kick the tires.
"“Can I still play football? Hell yea,” said Vince Wilfork in a recent statement. “Do I still love football? Hell yea! One major injury lots of gas left in the tank.”"
Vince Wilfork is widely known as world-class man both on and off the field. He’s a great mentor, locker room presence, and performer. He’s the right kinda guy. In his career he had only one major injury (2013) and bounced back impressively last season. He may be over the hill but he’s in-shape (impressively too, considering his massive size), athletic, and plays a position of longevity in the NFL. To play another 2 or 3 years at a high level is not out of the realm of possibility.
Vince Wilfork has been predominantly cast as a 3-4 NT, but he’s versatile enough to play a 1 technique DT in Rod Marinelli’s defense. Last year he logged most time at DE in the NE 3-4, and did so with great success ranking as one of the top 3-4 DEs in the NFL. A transition to the 1 technique tackle in a 4-3 would be a simple transition that carries very similar demands to what he’s done throughout his career.
The biggest thing standing in the way of an acquisition like this is Rod Marinelli. Despite the importance of the position, Marinelli places very low priority on the 1 tech DT. He has always felt he can plug and play anyone to fill that role and would rather spend money and resources elsewhere. It’s hard to argue with that…until you look at who Dallas had last season playing 1-tech.
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The incumbent 1-Tech DT is Nick Hayden. The same Nick Hayden who ranked as Pro Football Focus’ worst DT in the NFL
. (Note: I’ve stated before my dislike that PFF groups 3 tech and 1 tech together in their rankings. They are vastly different assignments and responsibilities that heavily favor the 3-tech. With that said, being last on any list is a red flag indicating a major upgraded is needed, and that is clearly the case here with the Cowboys)
Hayden is a great teammate and possibly even a good rotational player, but he’s just not capable of starting in the NFL. Adding Vince Wilfork would instantly upgrade the Cowboys across the defense. It would free their LBs to make more plays and take pressure off of Tyrone Crawford (or whoever lines up at 3-tech in 2015). If not Wilfork, then it has to be someone who can get the job don because this may be the easiest way to upgrade this team.