SPORTSDAY

The fourth installment in an 11-part series assessing each position on the Cowboys roster (Be sure to follow the jump for analysis) ...

PLAYERS SIGNED THROUGH 2008: TE Jason Witten, TE Tony Curtis, TE Anthony Fasano

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None

TOP NAMES ON FREE AGENT MARKET: Marcus Pollard (Seahawks), Jerramy Stevens (Bucs), Eric Johnson (Saints)

TOP DRAFT NAMES: Martellus Bennett (Texas A&M), Martin Rucker (Missouri), Brad Cottam (Tennessee), Jermichael Finley (Texas), Fred Davis (USC), John Carlson (Notre Dame)

Apparently, a Super Bowl title gets you more than a shiny trophy with an old coach's name on it.

New York senator Charles E. Schumer just stood up at the rally in City Hall and Manhattan and declared the moniker the Cowboys have carried for decades is no longer their's. No, in just a few hours time, it was stripped and passed on to the Meadowlands Monsters.

"The Giants aren't just New York's team anymore. They are America's Team!" Schumer shrieked at this breathless rally. "Goodbye, Dallas!!!"

NFL Network's got continuing coverage of this event, if you're interested in getting all worked up.

The first in an 11-part series assessing each position on the Cowboys roster (Be sure to follow the jump for analysis) ...

PLAYERS SIGNED THROUGH 2008: Brad Johnson, Tony Romo

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None

TOP NAMES ON FREE AGENT MARKET: Derek Anderson* (Browns); Daunte Culpepper (Raiders); Rex Grossman (Bears); Cleo Lemon (Dolphins); Josh McCown (Raiders)
* — Restricted FA

TOP DRAFT NAMES: Brian Brohm (Louisville); Joe Flacco (Delaware); Chad Henne (Michigan); Matt Ryan (Boston College); Andre Woodson (Kentucky)

It's a well known fact that All-Pro tight end Jason Witten is an all-around good guy. Todd Archer takes a closer look at what makes Witten, one of four finalists for NFL Man of the Year, the man he is.

Many of you want Brian Stewart, the Cowboys' defensive coordinator, gone. But he's not going anywhere. Stewart should remain on the staff. In what role remains to be seen. But Dom Capers, if he comes here as the defensive consulant, will work with Stewart.

What Wade Phillips is trying to do, or Jerry Jones, depending on whom you ask, is build a veteran coaching staff. On offense, you have Skip Peete, Ray Sherman, Hudson Houck and Wade Wilson helping Jason Garrett.

On defense you have, as of right now, Dave Campo as the senior member of that staff to go along with Phillips. Adding Capers is a positive.

The way the Cowboys are handling it doesn't look very clean, but the end result might be a good thing overall.

I think.

Todd Grantham had options. But coming to Dallas, in his estimation, was the best one.

“The thing that impressed me is this is a first-class organization,” Grantham said today at Valley Ranch. “It’s a special place. I think they’ve got some good young players that can succeed, so I was excited about that.”

So excited, in fact, that he put the opportunity Dallas presented over several others. There were several position-coach openings that Grantham was in the running for, he even could have re-surfaced as a defensive coordinator with one NFL club.

But the timing of everything would’ve forced Grantham to wait, and decided instead to jump on the Cowboys opportunity. Grantham worked with defensive coordinator Brian Stewart in Houston and also with Dom Capers, the then-Texans head coach who interviewed today for the linebackers coach opening.

The Cowboys did their best to ward off the local media looking for Dom Capers this afternoon. But as he headed for the parking lot with offensive line coach Hudson Houck and head coach Wade Phillips, the prospective linebackers coach couldn't avoid a confrontation with an army of cameras.

So as the coaches try to shoo themselves into the SUV, we could only get one question off -- How was the interview?

"Good," Capers responded. Dressed in a sport coat and dress shoes, Capers appeared cheerful as he left Valley Ranch. So we'll see what happens next.

In the last two days, Dave Campo and Dom Capers have been in for interviews. Todd Grantham has been hired to coach the defensive line.

And if you look at this whole thing closely, it says one thing: Win now or else.

Teams that live in the moment bring in coaches this way. Say Campo and Capers are hired. Then, in the three position coaches, you'll have three former coordinators and two ex-head coaches. Count up the years, and there are 16 seasons of defensive coordinating experience and eight seasons of head coaching on the collective resume of that trio. All will be coaching under second-year coordinator Brian Stewart.

What else can you glean from this? The obvious. That if Jason Garrett's the head coach in 2009, it'd be very, very simple to shuffle things around and create a staff with the existing group.

Jacksonville Jaguars assistant head coach Dave Campo has arrived at Valley Ranch, and is spending the day interviewing with the coaching staff about the vacant secondary coach position.

Campo was granted permission on Friday to speak with the Cowboys, after Jacksonville hired Donnie Henderson, who expected to coach the secondary that Campo oversaw last season.

Even if a decision is made, an announcement may not come until after the Super Bowl, as clubs typically delay those things in deference to the league's big show. But Campo's arrival in Texas would seem to be a strong sign of interest on both sides.

Seventh in a seven-part series ...

QB TONY ROMO

Revisionists may question this selection, with Romo’s late season fade. But those would forget just how high a level Romo played at from September through November, and the totality of his body of work. All things considered, it was the greatest season a Cowboy quarterback ever had, because no Dallas team has ever leaned as hard on its field general and gotten this much out of the position.

Consider this: There was only one season where Troy Aikman was asked to even approach the 520 attempts Romo had this year, slinging it 518 times. The returns diminished for Aikman that year, 1997, as he completed just 56.4 percent of his passes and threw for 3,283 yards and 12 picks against 19 touchdown passes. Conversely, Romo completed 64.4 percent of this passes for 4,211 yards, 36 touchdowns and 19 picks.

To be clear, I’m not saying Romo’s in Aikman’s stratosphere yet. It takes rings to get there, and Aikman played under different circumstances than No. 9. Still, there was clearly a heavy load put Romo in his first full year as a starter, with an inconsistent running game and inexperienced receiving corps (with the exception of T.O.) around him. And he responded.

Now, I will say that I don’t think Romo’s the team’s best player – that would be DeMarcus Ware. But it’s hard to argue, in 2007, that he wasn’t its most valuable one.

DMN FILE

Some of you folks don't seem too fond of the Cowboys interviewing Dave Campo for the secondary coaching gig.

I posted the above picture so we could go ahead and get all the Sea World jokes out of the way. (And because I couldn't find a clip of the classic Hard Knocks episode on YouTube.) Go ahead and get the 5-11, 5-11, 5-11 rants out of your system, too.

Campo's incompetency as a head coach has nothing to do with his ability to coach defensive backs. He sure seemed smart when he earned two Super Bowl rings as a secondary coach and a third as a defensive coordinator. There's no way you can question his qualifications for the position.

Now, if your concern is that this is evidence that Jerry is making decisions without Wade Phillips having much say, you might have a point. If that's the case, special teams coach Bruce Read better watch his back. Joe Avezzano is just a phone call away.

Here's the full story on Dave Campo.

If Campo is hired, it'll leave one opening -- linebackers -- on the staff. Here's the turnover Wade's group has seen this offseason:

Assistant head coach
Old: Tony Sparano (Dolphins)
New: Jason Garrett

Offensive line coach
Old: Sparano
New: Hudson Houck (Dolphins)

Defensive line coach
Old: Kacy Rodgers (Dolphins)
New: Todd Grantham (Browns)

Linebackers coach
Old: Paul Pasqualoni (Dolphins)
New: ???

Secondary coach
Old: Todd Bowles (Dolphins)
New: ???

Credit Jerry and Wade for moving swiftly to fill a lot of these openings. It may not be relevant to the offseason program -- which won't start until March -- but it's good to have people in place with the scouting combine less than a month away.

Five years removed from his ouster as head coach of the Cowboys, Dave Campo could be returning to Valley Ranch as secondary coach.

According to a source, Dallas has received permission from the Jaguars to speak with Campo, who has served as Jacksonville’s secondary coach and assistant head coach the last three seasons. Multiple sources indicated that Campo would like to return to Dallas, where he has family and where he coached from 1989-2002 in several different capacities.

An off-season directive of Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio has been to address a secondary that was torched by Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and Patriots quarterback Tom Brady in the playoffs (combined 79 completion percentage, 599 yards). On Friday, as Del Rio gave Campo permission to speak with Dallas, he hired Donnie Henderson -- a former coordinator with the Jets and Lions -- as a "defensive assistant". It is expected that Henderson will be the new secondary coach.

We'll have more coming soon.

Fifth in a seven-part series ...

OLB DeMARCUS WARE

With all due respect to the rest of the defense, this was an absolute slam dunk. Ware is one of the top 10 players in the game, regardless of position, and should be All-Pro for years to come.

The 14 sacks are just the beginning. How about 27 quarterback pressures? Or eight tackles for losses? Or 80 tackles at a position that doesn’t pile up that statistic, and the fact that teams are constantly running away from him? Or the jump he gets off the ball in long-yardage that makes him darn near unblockable?

There’s no doubt about this one. Ware’s excellence goes beyond his own production. Because of the attention he demands from an offense, it trickles down in other players’ production, and affects the entire game. He’s got two years left on his rookie deal, but the Cowboys might as well go ahead and just break the bank right now.

The Cowboys have hired Todd Grantham, the Browns defensive coordinator in 2007, as their new defensive line coach. More in a moment ...

Todd Bowles, Paul Pasqualoni and Kacy Rodgers followed Tony Sparano to Miami. Jerry Jones made sure strength and conditioning coach Joe Juraszek did not.

The Cowboys re-upped Juraszek before he could become a free agent of sorts, which is the second-best news the club's coaching staff has had so far, second only to Jason Garrett remaining as offensive coordinator.

Bill Parcells became a big fan of Juraszek's work during his time with the Cowboys, and the Dolphins wanted him to follow the crew to Miami. Juraszek just finished his 11th season with the Cowboys and is considered one of the best in the league. He has a non-stop work ethic and his program is challenging for the players. The players appreciate him always being there for workouts regardless of the time or day.

Let me take you inside my last day in Mobile, Alabama.

Spent the morning watching football practice. I think it was the North, or the South. It doesn’t matter, because it’s the Senior Bowl, doesn’t matter.

The game that is.

But the day really gets going when I’m talking to coaches, scouts and GMs to find out what’s going on with the Cowboys and other teams.

Dallas needs assistant coaches. Three in fact. Wade Phillips said he’s the most popular man here and he’s right. A 13-4 record with 12 Pro Bowlers would make several assistant coaches come calling. Phillips says he’s shocked at how many coaches have his cell phone number.

The Cowboys signed defensive tackle Junior Siavii to their reserve/future List today. Siavii was came into the league as a second-round pick (36th overall) of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Siavii had tryouts with the Browns, Saints and Buccaneers over the last few months.

A 6-foot-5 and 330 pounds, he could project at either end or on the nose in Wade Phillips' 3-4. He was released by the Chiefs in Sept. 2006 and is probably a roster longshot.

LOUIS DeLUCA / DMN

The third in a seven-part awards series ...

K NICK FOLK

Here’s a third consecutive award that really wasn’t that hard to sort out. With a rookie class that included a bevy of developmental prospects, it’s Folk in a walk here. And he really may have wrapped this one up on Oct. 8, the night he went from anonymous to Pro Bowl candidate.

That was the night, in a hostile environment in Buffalo, he hit what Terrell Owens called a 106-yard game-winning field. It was actually back-to-back, 53-yarders, but they might as well have had three-figure distance the way they made Folk’s legend grow. There really wasn’t much tailing off from there, either. Three of Folk’s five misses were from 50-plus yards out, another was blocked, and none of them were in the second half of any game.

If any rookie steps in and becomes the answer at a position of tumult, they deserve to win a category like this. And that’s just what Folk did. If there’s anything to complain about, it’d have to be distance on his kickoffs, which didn’t help the questionable cover units much.

The second of a seven-part awards series:

DL JAY RATLIFF

This was another easy choice. Jay Ratliff went from a rotation player to a rich guy.

Ratliff earned a five-year, $20.5 million extension by filling the void at nose tackle left when veteran Jason Ferguson suffered a season-ending bicep injury in the opener. Ratliff had proven that he could be an effective interior pass rusher, and he enhanced that reputation with three sacks and 15 QB pressures (second on team behind DeMarcus Ware's 27). He also answered questions about whether his 6-4, 298-pound frame could take the pounding. The Cowboys ranked sixth in the league against the run (94.6 ypg) and allowed a 100-yard rusher only once -- the only game Ratliff missed.

Ratliff, who was expected to rotate in at DE and NT entering the season, is extremely versatile for a big guy. His athletic ability allowed Wade Phillips to be creative. For example, Ratliff often dropped back into pass coverage when Dallas used its "Cowboy" package that put Ware, Greg Ellis and DeMarcus Ware on the field together.

Ratliff's versatility is a large part of his value. Depending on whether the Cowboys bring back Ferguson, Ratliff could start at NT or DE next season. There's no doubt that he's a cornerstone of the Cowboys' defensive line for years to come.

Today, we start a seven-part awards series, looking back at the Cowboys' '07 season. And to kick things off, here's our Comeback Player of the Year (a real shocker):

OLB GREG ELLIS

If you win the league award, you should win the team award, and Ellis is a runaway winner here. After all he went through, it really is something else to consider that this guy, in his 10th year in the league, was able to post 12.5 sacks and prove himself a very solid three-down player on the edge of the strong-side. And that was in 13 games, 10 of which he started.

To review: He started out blew out his Achilles in Arizona last fall, last all of one practice in training camp, and questioned his ability to come back throughout. He wound up having arguably the best year of his career.

Last week, Ellis expressed concern that he’ll be phased out of the starting lineup, with rookie Anthony Spencer breathing down his neck. Considering the potential Spencer flashed this year, that’s valid. But there’s little question there’s a spot on this team for Ellis if he wants it, and that he’s still capable of being an impact player.

RUNNERS UP

WR Terry Glenn: Yes, I know, his contributions were minor in the grand scheme of things. But to come back from two knee surgeries and play the way he did counts for something. If nothing else, Glenn showed tremendous determination in returning.

S Ken Hamlin: He missed most of 2005 after a nightclub incident left him with head injuries, then was moved out of Seattle before signing a one-year deal with the Cowboys. And all he did was make the Pro Bowl in 2006.

AWARDS SCHEDULE
Comeback Player: Today
Most Improved: Tomorrow
Rookie of the Year: Jan. 23
Special Teams Player: Jan. 24
Defensive Player: Jan. 25
Offensive Player: Jan. 26
MVP: Jan. 27

Jason Witten might take a prestigious trophy home from the Super Bowl. He's one of four finalists for the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year, which will be announced before kickoff of Super Bowl XLII.

Witten is one of several Cowboys who do a lot of great things for folks in need. Bradie James, Roy Williams and Terrell Owens are a few others who come to mind.

Good to see North Texas alum Brian Waters, the Chiefs' outstanding guard, also made the Man of the Year finalist cut.

The Cowboys have signed TE Rodney Hannah and FB Ronnie Cruz to the reserve/futures list.

Hannah, a Houston product, spent the 2007 season on the Cowboys practice squad.

Cruz worked out for the Cowboys during the season. He was with the Chiefs in 2005, and became the starting fullback in '06 before tearing his ACL in the fifth game that year. He's been out of football since.

Former Cowboys running back Herschel Walker is finishing up a book entitled Breaking Free, which will detail the multiple personality disorder that he has been quietly fighting.

"I'm probably one of his closest friends and that's news to me," said Frank Ros, who was captain of Georgia's 1980 national championship team that starred a freshman Walker, told The Associated Press. "I knew he was working on a book but I just thought it was about football. He does 100 things at once and always has projects going on, but that blows me away."

The publisher disclosed that the book will be released in August, but is keeping the rest of the details under wraps.

Is it a coincidence that the Cowboys return to the divisional playoffs, for the first time since 1996, produced the highest television ratings for that round in 12 years?

Probably not. And Dallas, as it usually does in these situations, played the lead dog, with the nation's biggest media market riding shotgun. The Giants-Cowboys game, a dream Gotham-vs.-America's Team matchup for the networks, was the highest-rated program since the Academy Awards last February. Here's the rundown from last weekend, and a look at the last time, 1995, that the numbers were higher:

2007 DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
1. Giants at Cowboys (FOX): 40.1 million viewers
2. Chargers at Colts (CBS): 31.6 million viewers
3. Jaguars at Patriots (CBS): 30.9 million viewers
4. Seahawks at Packers (FOX): 28.2 million viewers
Average: 32.7 million

1995 DIVISIONAL PLAYOFFS
1. Colts at Chiefs (NBC): 37.4 million viewers
2. Eagles at Cowboys (FOX): 36.8 million viewers
3. Packers at 49ers (FOX): 32.0 million viewers
4. Bills at Steelers (NBC): 25.5 million viewers
Average: 32.8 million

Hudson Houck will come back to the Cowboys and become the offensive line coach according to a source. The announcement will come at some point this week. He was coaching at Miami from 2005-2007.

Houck was a Cowboys assistant coach from 1993-2002. He was mainly the o-line coach.

Houck replaced Tony Sparano, who is now the Miami Dolphins head coach.

Houck is considered one of the top offensive line coaches in the game.

DMN writer Jake Batsell wants you to tell him about your lucky charm or gameday ritual that will help the Cowboys win Sunday. Send an e-mail to Jake.