Cowboys balance a flawed future with a declining legend. (Insider).

Lost between Troy Hambrick's low blows and Patti LaBelle's high notes is the fact that Emmitt Smith still can rock a defense.

Without allowing for sentimentality, the Cowboys should bring Smith back next year at a significantly reduced salary. They should retain Hambrick, too. But it isn't clear if anyone in Dallas is comfortable with that scenario.

The Cowboys should show Smith his options and make it his decision, as they do on so many of his rushes. In the A gap: his pride. He can take it and run with it to another team. In the B gap: his loyalty. He can be the rarest of modern sports stories, a superstar who spends his entire career with one team.