Cowboys tender 4 of their 5 RFA's

The Dallas Cowboys have placed 2nd-round tenders on 4 of their restricted free agents: WRs Miles Austin and Sam Hurd, OL Cory Procter and DE Stephen Bowen.

The Cowboys will pay all 4 players a 2009 salary of $1.545 million unless another team signs them. If another team signs any of the players, they would have to compensate the Cowboys with a 2nd-round pick.

TE Tony Curtis will become an unrestricted free agent.

Jones tells coaches including Phillips not to talk to media

In an effort to prevent leaks, the Star-Telegram is reporting that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has issued a gag order for all Dallas Cowboys coaches.

While it's common for a head coach to be the voice of the team and not allow their assistants to talk to the media, it's uncommon for the head coach of a team to not be allowed to talk to the media.

Arriving at his hotel in Indy Thursday for this weekend's NFL Scouting Combine, Phillips wouldn't talk to the media.

“Can’t,” he said. “Against the rules.”

If the team is going to be more disciplined and focused in 2009, Jones needs to stop undermining Phillips' authority. Being a nice guy as it is, it would have been nearly impossible for him to a be a tougher coach in 2009 as he promised. But Jones is certainly not helping.

Assessing back-up QB free agents

Todd Archer of the Dallas Morning News took a look at the QB free agents available this off-season.

With the commitment to Tony Romo, the Cowboys certainly won't be seeking deals with the top free agent QBs, such as Kurt Warner of Arizona, Kerry Collins of Tennessee and the franchise-tagged Matt Cassel of New England.

Bryant Leftwich is played well when called to duty as back-up to Pittsburgh is looking for a starter job.

That leaves Chris Simms, Dan Orlovsky, Kyle Boller and J.P. Losman as possibilities.

Out of that group, Simms would make the most sense. But he has expressed an interest in returning to Tennessee.

I'm not a fan of the other three and not sure how much of an upgrade they would be over Brooks Bollinger, who is an unrestricted free agent and who replaced Brad Johnson as the team's back-up last season.

2009 Dallas Cowboys opponents

The NFL should release the 2009 NFL schedule in a few months. But here are the Cowboys' opponents for 2009:

Home opponents (records in parenthesis):

New York Giants (12-4)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1)
Washington Redskins (8-8)
Atlanta Falcons (11-5)
Carolina Panthers (12-4)
Oakland Raiders (5-11)
San Diego Chargers (8-8)
Seattle Seahawks (4-12)

Road opponents (records in parenthesis):

New York Giants (12-4)
Philadelphia Eagles (9-6-1)
Washington Redskins (8-8)
New Orleans Saints (8-8)
Tampa Bay Buccaneers (9-7)
Denver Broncos (8-8)
Kansas City Chiefs (2-14)
Green Bay Packers (6-10)

Note: bold denotes 2008 playoff team.