Dallas Cowboys executive VP Stephen Jones said he ‘fully expects’ to re-sign defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli after his contract expires.
For a 12-4 division champ, the Dallas Cowboys have a lot of work to do this offseason. While they clearly have a desirable base of talent for any coach to revel in, the team is still sitting at square one with its staff after Jerry Jones put them all in a prove-it situation. Jason Garrett and his assistants proved their mettle and now owner Jerry Jones and executive VP Stephen Jones have to figure out how to retain Garrett and defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli among others.
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“We fully expect for him to come back,” Stephen Jones said of Marinelli on 105.3 The Fan, per the Cowboys’ website. “It certainly would be disappointing if that didn’t happen, but we’re going to go to work and try to extend his contract or get him a new contract so he’ll be a Dallas Cowboy.”
Marinelli might be the most coveted man on the Cowboys staff after the work he did with the defense this past season. Dallas gave up the most yards per game in 2013 by a decent margin and they were largely expected to be just as bad in 2014. Instead the unit sat in the middle of the NFL all year, which was enough for Tony Romo, DeMarco Murray and Dez Bryant to lead a balanced offense that provided the strength for a team that ran away with the NFC East crown.
Now if the Cowboys want to retain Marinelli, they’ll have to pony up as the defensive coordinator will be a coveted man this offseason. Outside of the general interest he’ll draw from teams looking to rebuild their defense, Marinelli could be the target of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and old friend, Lovie Smith.
Stephen Jones was hardly worried about alternate destinations for Marinelli though, noting the Cowboys have an exclusive three-day negotiating window with all their coaches.
“I can’t imagine anybody has a deal right now, because that would be tampering,” he said. “We have a three-day window here that we have exclusive negotiating rights with our coaches, so I know no one in this league would ever tamper.”
Yes, yes, of course. Who would ever dream to do such a thing in the NFL? And to do it to those loveable little Cowboys, no less. It’s *ahem* heinous to even consider, but three days isn’t much time and if Jones and crew are serious about keeping Rod Marinelli, they will want to kick negotiations into high gear and make a deal already.
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