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Former Troy teammates DeMarcus Ware and Osi Umenyiora just joined Rich Eisen and Marshall Faulk on the NFL Total Access set, and Ware had a special message for his old buddy.

"I’m happy for him, because he’s my boy," Ware said. "But I feel like they stole that ring from us."

Umenyiora was quick to offer up a consolation -- "They’re playing their Super Bowl tomorrow," he responded, alluding to the Cowboys baker's dozen in Hawaii. Ware was in Arizona last week, before Umenyiora won his, and he knew what was coming after it went down.

"I knew I’d be the first person he’d call after the game. And right after the game, 10 minutes after the game was over, he calls me," Ware said. "He called me and said, ‘Do you know what it feels like be a champion?’ I said no. He’s like, ‘Guess what? I am one.’"

In other gripping Pro Bowl news, we just spotted Terrell Owens wearing an Eagles visor during the NFC walkthrough. Stop the presses!

Redskins owner Daniel Snyder has done what Jerry Jones thought about about doing last year -- taking a promising quarterbacks coach and promoting him right through the coordinator level.

The OC that Snyder hired just two weeks ago, Jim Zorn, is now Washington's head coach. Unbelievable. Remember, it was just a year ago that Jones hired then-Dolphins QB coach Jason Garrett before hiring Wade Phillips. Indications were he considered making Garrett head coach then, prior to deciding to tab Phillips.

Zorn's considerably older than Garrett, at 54, and joined Mike Holmgren's staff the same year (2001) that Matt Hasselbeck came in a trade from Green Bay. Hasselbeck became a Pro Bowler, and Zorn, a former Seattle quarterback himself, built his reputation on No. 8's development.

Not sure what this means for the Cowboys' competition, but credit Snyder with making a gutsy decision, rather than taking the safer route of hiring someone like Jim Fassel.

Over at the Sporting News, Mike Florio has 10 predictions for the NFL offseason. And one has Cowboys owner/GM playing the role of aggressor.

Prognostication No. 7 holds that "Jerry Jones will make a big splash". While Florio does address the Darren McFadden rumors, there's another potential bombshell he has in mind.

That's not the only power play Jones might make. With wide receiver Randy Moss hitting the open market Feb. 29 -- unless the Patriots use the franchise tag on him -- hauling in the single-season touchdown receptions leader would create a compelling Texas tandem of Terrell Owens and Moss.

There is only one football, though, and that could create a problem. Likewise, Jones would have to give Owens, who is entering the final year of his contract, a big raise to ensure there would be no locker-room rivalry.

My feeling is that this offseason will probably be more about tweaking than turning heads. But if you really want to look at the Moss possibility, a couple things need to be considered.

First, the Patriots have to franchise Moss to keep him off the open market, because he can not receive an extension, per NFL rules, until free agency starts since his deal was renegotiated at the time of his trade from Oakland. Which means there's increased motivation for New England to tag Moss. Second, Moss has always had a chip on his shoulder over the Cowboys passing on him in the 1998 draft, although that's something that surely could be worked out.

So while the story above is more speculative than anything else, I'll turn this idea over to you: Do you want the "Other 81" joining the "Original 81" at Valley Ranch?

In the wake of spying allegations directed at the Patriots resurfacing last weekend, the league is considering a change that would work to cut off avenues to stealing signals.

According to Washington Post NFL writer Mark Maske, the league will discuss placing receivers in defensive players' helmets, the same way they have them in quarterbacks' helmets, to allow coaches to call plays without signaling. The report indicates that the idea was proposed last spring and fell two votes short of passing, which brings optimism, in the wake of Spygate, that it will pass at the owners meetings in Palm Beach, Fla. in March.

"That should push this [approval of the proposal] over the top," one owner told Maske. "If there are no defensive signals, there's nothing to steal and nothing to videotape. I'm sure the league will want this and that should get it done."

The problem with this, and Maske raised it in his story, is that most teams substitute freely defensively, perhaps making it difficult to identify a player to give the receiver to. It would seem most natural to put the radio in the helmet of the "Mike" linebacker, who generally calls the front.

In Dallas, that would be Bradie James, who comes off the field when the defense goes into most of its nickel and dime looks. So who do you give the receiver to? Maybe Terence Newman or Ken Hamlin? And does it wind up being a guy at a different position on each team? Therein, lies the problem -- it'd be much tougher to set protocol than it is offensively, where you simply give the radio to the quarterback.

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: T Marc Colombo, G Leonard Davis, T Doug Free, C Andre Gurode, G Kyle Kosier, T James Marten, T Pat McQuistan

UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: T Flozell Adams

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: C/G Joe Berger

EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS: C/G Cory Procter

TOP NAMES ON FREE AGENT MARKET: Adams, G Ruben Brown (Bears), G Alan Faneca (Steelers), T Jordan Gross (Panthers), T Max Starks (Steelers)
* — Restricted FA

TOP DRAFT NAMES: T Sam Baker (Southern Cal), T Ryan Clady (Boise State), T Jake Long (Michigan), T Jeffrey Otah (Pitt), T Chris Williams (Vanderbilt)

Reggie Herring will replace Paul Pasqualoni as the Cowboys' linebackers coach, according to a source, a little more than a month he was named the defensive coordinator at Texas A&M.;

Before joining the Aggies, Herring served as Arkansas' interim coach for the Cotton Bowl, taking over for Houston Nutt.

Herring, 48, has spent two years in the NFL, serving as Houston’s linebackers coach in 2002-03 where he worked with Cowboys defensive coordinator Brian Stewart. Herring broke into coaching in 1981 with Jimmy Johnson at Oklahoma State after his playing career at Florida State ended.

The Cowboys had talked with Gregg Williams about the position before he joined Jacksonville this week as its defensive coordinator. The Cowboys have had discussions with Dom Capers about a job on Phillips’ staff.

Emmitt Smith sure is versatile. He's the NFL's all-time leading rusher, a Dancing With the Stars champion, a professional broadcaster and a record-setting dish washer. The folks at Awful Announcing, a blog that writes about Emmitt a lot, found this video of Emmitt washing a 10-foot dish to get his name in the Guinness Book of World Records.

"This right here's a piece of cake incomparable to the things I had to do on the football field," Emmitt said ever so eloquently.

Tony Romo and T.O., who talked to NFL Network earlier this week, also sat down together with FoxSports.com's Alex Marvez.

You can check out that interview here. The Romo/T.O. relationship has progressed to the point that the QB sings love songs to the receiver.

In a touching moment, T.O. reveals that the media made him cry after the playoff loss because he knew what questions were going to be asked about the Simpson Family Bye Week Fiesta.

On a related note, T.O. expressed concern that Romo is "in way over his head" with the Blonde Ambition star. The Original 81 might have been kidding. Always tough to tell with him.

The USA Today's Pro Bowl notebook leads with an item on the cornerbacks chilling in Hawaii who are about to hit the open market. Ken Hamlin apparently doesn't agree with Albert "Einstein" Breer's take that the Cowboys shouldn't sign one of those guys.

"Ken Hamlin, the Cowboys safety, sent me and my girl a couple of mai tais to butter me up," Samuel said.

Speaking of girlfriends, you folks will be relieved to know that Jessica Simpson has been spotted poolside with Tony Romo in Hawaii.

ESPN's Todd McShay has his latest mock draft up (Insider subscription required), and he's got Cowboys owner GM/owner grabbing an Arkansas running back in the first round.

No, not that one. It's Felix Jones here. McShay projects that selection at 28, with Dallas taking USC tackle Sam Baker at 22. Here's what the ESPN draft guru says about the Cowboys taking Arkansas' "other" tailback:

If owner Jerry Jones can't strike a deal for McFadden, he could settle for Arkansas' other first-round running back prospect. Felix Jones is a speedster who could complement current Dallas RB Marion Barber well and provide a home run threat in the return game.

McShay has BC QB Matt Ryan (Dolphins), Virginia DE Chris Long (Rams), Arkansas RB Darren McFadden (Falcons), LSU DT Glenn Dorsey (Raiders) and Michigan OT Jake Long (Chiefs) going 1-5.

Anyone looking for the Cowboys to make a splash and bring in a name free agent to pair with Terence Newman at corner might want to forget about it.

There are three standout guys on the free-agent market at that position: Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha, New England's Asante Samuel and Seattle's Marcus Trufant. Asomugha seems destined for the franchise tag. Trufant could get it too, if Seattle lets kicker Josh Brown walk. And if you want Samuel -- who can't be tagged, per a clause that agent Alonzo Shavers negotiated into his one-year pact last August -- the jumping off point will probably have to be in the range of the eight-year, $80 million deal that Nate Clements got from the Niners last year.

Plus, with a Newman extension on the horizon, it seems like even making a run at one of those three, and tossing numbers around wildly, could poison the waters with the Cowboys' own Pro Bowler. And the truth is, after those three, there's a considerable drop-off in quality on the market.

A couple guys to keep an eye on: San Diego's Drayton Florence and New England's Randall Gay. Both are young, and will come infinitely cheaper than the elite. Florence has experience with Wade Phillips, while Gay brings the versatility to play inside, outside and even at safety. So there's merit -- and given their lower price tags, drawbacks -- with each.

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)