NGT: Cowboys restructure Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick

JPP

Cut?

And, yes, I do think JPP is the "War Daddy" Jones wants. He'll will make them better and us worse.

cap hell?

They are going after JPP or driving the price up for us

the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings"

- BBI, for the 11th consecutive year

to about $4M under and cutting Romo (post June 1) adds another $14M. They are still in the bottom 5 in cap space without too many options left to save without cutting guys like Lee or Witten.

In comment 13365942 The_Boss said:

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Cut? And, yes, I do think JPP is the "War Daddy" Jones wants. He'll will make them better and us worse.

Cutting Romo will save $5.7M on the 2017 cap (his dead money is $19.6M)

In comment 13365946 HomerJones45 said:

Quote:

cap hell?

This is what cap hell looks like. They are guaranteeing massive amounts of money to their remaining "core". Romo and Witten are about done and they don't look like cheap deals. Bryant is making 16-18 million forever it looks like.

Lee, Crawford, Bryant, etc... make up a highly paid core. I can't point to a lot of players that are playing on contracts below what they provide the Cowboys. Maybe Cole Beasley is their best bang for buck player behind a draft pick in Elliot?

Elliot goes down and this team does what exactly?

44 million dollar offensive line - ( New Window )

have roughly $88M and $49M more cap room than Dallas will have after they cut Romo. Many other teams will have a chance to outbid the Giants (and Cowboys) for JPP.

are pushing cap issues into future years for the Cowboys; at some point they should be facing a mountain of dead money. J.J. must feel his team is a player or two away from another SB.

These are the only levers the Cowboys have to pull. This puts them nuetral shape. They are hardly cap hell desperation moves, but it certainly doesn't put them in the driver's seat to crush it in UFA.

surprise. They basically had to make these moves just to get under the cap by 3/9.

In comment 13365952 Deej said:

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the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year

LOL, thank you, that was funny

In comment 13365959 Pete in MD said:

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have roughly $88M and $49M more cap room than Dallas will have after they cut Romo. Many other teams will have a chance to outbid the Giants (and Cowboys) for JPP.

Nobody will have a chance to outbid the Giants for JPP if he is tagged. Ergo, he will be tagged. It's a no-brainer.

The Giants need to worry about being outbid for Kevin Zeitler and Jack Doyle, not JPP.

Do you guys realize the Giants hold all the cards here with the ability to use the franchise tag? One of the main reasons the franchise tag was implemented was to give teams more time to negotiate a long term deal. Relax.

In comment 13365968 Johnny5 said:

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In comment 13365952 Deej said: Quote: the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year LOL, thank you, that was funny

If you don't think the bill has come due for the Cowboys, check out how many playoff games they've won in the last eleven years. It's not unrelated to their salary cap situation.

The Giants beat the cowboys twice and are in a much much better cap situation. Their roster when you go through contracts looks like the definition of inequality.

Their offensive line costs more than 3.5 times their secondary.
Their top 2 WRs are 20+ million
Their 2 TEs are 15+ million
Sean Lee is 12 million (supposedly what the Giants value JPP at)


Luckily for them recently they have drafted very well IMO. This is a team that is basically forced to guarantee contracts to any good players just to make room every year. It only works when those players play great and stay healthy. Witten and Romo are grossly overpaid.

In comment 13365971 Milton said:

Quote:

In comment 13365968 Johnny5 said: Quote: In comment 13365952 Deej said: Quote: the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year LOL, thank you, that was funny If you don't think the bill has come due for the Cowboys, check out how many playoff games they've won in the last eleven years. It's not unrelated to their salary cap situation.

Agree, the Cowboys were at/near the top of the NFL as long as J.J. could buy-up the league's best talent without a Salary Cap to worry about. Since the full impact of the salary cap kicked in, not so much.

In comment 13365952 Deej said:

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the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year

You know nothing. We just learned that "cap hell" is extending the contracts of two 20 something All-Pro linemen. I do hope we avoid that awful fate.

In comment 13365969 Milton said:

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In comment 13365959 Pete in MD said: Quote: have roughly $88M and $49M more cap room than Dallas will have after they cut Romo. Many other teams will have a chance to outbid the Giants (and Cowboys) for JPP. Nobody will have a chance to outbid the Giants for JPP if he is tagged. Ergo, he will be tagged. It's a no-brainer. The Giants need to worry about being outbid for Kevin Zeitler and Jack Doyle, not JPP.

I get it. My point was that it's not like the situation is Giants or Cowboys for JPP now that they freed up some cap space. There are 30 other teams and other factors at play, like the franchise tag you mentioned.

In comment 13365985 HomerJones45 said:

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In comment 13365952 Deej said: Quote: the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year You know nothing. We just learned that "cap hell" is extending the contracts of two 20 something All-Pro linemen. I do hope we avoid that awful fate.

Neither were extended. They both already had 6-7 years left on their deals. This was about restructuring to get under the 2017 cap (converting salary to prorated bonus.)

for Smith, or both?
Those guys playing for a sandwich and chips now?
JJ must have the photos.
The COL IS lower in Texas.

In comment 13365985 HomerJones45 said:

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You know nothing. We just learned that "cap hell" is extending the contracts of two 20 something All-Pro linemen. I do hope we avoid that awful fate.

According to the report, they didn't extend them, they restructured them. All it means is that those two 20-something All-Pro linemen now have more leverage in future negotiations with management. It makes it more difficult for the team to maintain control of their rights.

In comment 13365989 old man said:

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for Smith, or both? Those guys playing for a sandwich and chips now? JJ must have the photos. The COL IS lower in Texas.

Huh?

less about JPP and more about trying to maintain leverage to trade Romo vs release him. These restructures were necessary for them to get under the cap. The only other option was to designate Romo a post-June 1st cut and save $14M. If he is traded, they only save $5M. Now they can try to get something in return for him and get him cleared from the cap in 2017. It's a decent gamble. Sam Bradford got a 1st after all.

There's no way they can outbid the Jags or Browns for him or Hankins or anybody else.

But surely they aren't the only free agents in the league that those teams will be able to throw money at.

In comment 13365989 old man said:

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for Smith, or both? Those guys playing for a sandwich and chips now? JJ must have the photos. The COL IS lower in Texas.

Its mostly a wash (probably with an added incentive to sign the deal). Takes a big chunk of this year's salary and converts it to a bonus, which allows the team to spread out the cost over the next 4 to 5 years. Essentially, it adds to the dead money eaten up by each of these players in those future years. As long as they stay healthy and continue to perform at a high-level the team should be able to manage. Should they get hurt or see a significant drop in performance, then the team will be squeezed by the cap.

In comment 13365991 robbieballs2003 said:

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In comment 13365989 old man said: Quote: for Smith, or both? Those guys playing for a sandwich and chips now? JJ must have the photos. The COL IS lower in Texas. Huh?

Pay no mind, Rob. Old man is well... Old. These guys live in an echelon of society that the Cost Of Living has no bearing. It's not as if they are a struggling retiree living off social security where they are concerned that no Cost of Living increase is factored in their annual benefit summary.

and be 50 mil under the cap. The cowboys are doing this just to get under the cap by pushing cap dollars forward, Its up to the Maras and Tischs how all in they want to be with Elis window.

I needed to be reminded how that works.
Good on Boys part since the cap may very well jump big (10M in 1 year)again in 3 years and they'll be in good shape.

Every time a new CBA is being negotiated , Jones is able to get most of the dead money amnestied. It's supposed to carry over into the new deal but only a fraction does. Every off-season, Dallas signs whomever they want. Proof positive that Mara should be authorizing another aggressive signing period. But he probably won't. The Gisnts will keep one , lose one in the d-line . In other words they will be weakening their roster .

If ratings go down and the CAP goes down. Then they are screwed. Other than that pencil them in the NFC championship game after the QB gets experience.

In comment 13365970 robbieballs2003 said:

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Do you guys realize the Giants hold all the cards here with the ability to use the franchise tag? One of the main reasons the franchise tag was implemented was to give teams more time to negotiate a long term deal. Relax.

The flip side to that is that JPP could just be unhappy with being tagged, not sign a long term deal, and then simply play for 1 year at an untenable cap number that limits the team in 2017 and then leave.

a post June 1 cut is useless in free agency. They will bite the bullet this years.

In comment 13365940 area junc said:

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JPP

Can't you just say that about any team restructuring deals to make cap room?

In comment 13366013 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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The flip side to that is that JPP could just be unhappy with being tagged, not sign a long term deal, and then simply play for 1 year at an untenable cap number that limits the team in 2017 and then leave.

It won't limit the Giants. At worst, it will mean they have to restructure some contracts that they would prefer not to restructure. But the Giants aren't going to not sign someone they would've otherwise signed just because JPP is tagged.

But that is the worst case scenario imo. If JPP wants to risk all that money by playing under a one year deal then so be it. I truly doubt that he would sit out. He would give up over a million per game missed. Imo, the Giants do right by their players and they will be able to work out a deal if JPP wants one. I also think JPP is smart and sees the benefits of staying with the Giants over not being happy on another team. Victor Cruz made the comment of how many players have left and have not been happy with where they ended up. Plus, I also think JPP respects the fact that the Giants stuck with him through the whole fireworks incident. The Giants were pissed and frustrated but they were patient and fair with letting the situation play out.

On top of all that, players take pride in their play and what they built. This defense could be something special. The players not only have played well together but seem to be very close. I don't see why JPP would want to leave. I would believe he would want to stay and I believe the Giants want him to stay. With the franchise tag as an option it just makes too much sense that these two sides come to a deal.

In comment 13365940 area junc said:

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JPP

Is this the word out of Dallas' camp or JPP's camp?

In comment 13366017 Milton said:

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In comment 13366013 Ten Ton Hammer said: Quote: The flip side to that is that JPP could just be unhappy with being tagged, not sign a long term deal, and then simply play for 1 year at an untenable cap number that limits the team in 2017 and then leave. It won't limit the Giants. At worst, it will mean they have to restructure some contracts that they would prefer not to restructure. But the Giants aren't going to not sign someone they would've otherwise signed just because JPP is tagged.

I don't think it will come to that, though. Restructuring in itself is limiting because you end up paying for it anyway. It's just kicking the can down the road. Eventually you will feel it. If you believe the reports on what the Giants are valuing him at, and you see what the franchise tag rate is for defensive ends, I don't see them doing that unless they feel confident a long term deal is possible. When is the last time the Giants have ever utilized the tag and had the player play on that contract? They just don't make use of it that way.

The franchise tag is designed to push both sides to work out a deal, not to keep one locked up who doesn't want to be there. Players don't want zero long term security, and teams don't want to be hamstrung by a contract that is a cap burden. The advantage to a long term deal is that you can hide tons of money in ways that doesn't limit your flexibility in the short term.

Are they paying them less this year AND more in later years or just less period? How do these moves work?

In comment 13366031 est1986 said:

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Are they paying them less this year AND more in later years or just less period? How do these moves work?

They are either paying them the same or more but the books report less for the current year. Basically, the team guarantees the player some of their base salary. The player will usually get the same amount of money IF they make it to the end of their contract.

A salary counts towards that years cap, whereas a signing bonus pro rates it over the course of the contract. So they are essentially robbing peter to pay paul. They are converting their salaries to a signing bonus(which the player still gets) and then paying them a league min salary. So the pro rated bonus+salary counts against the cap.

reduced to 1,275,000. More than like received 8.7 mil bonus which others have stated goes into other years increasing salaries in those years. The Giant could do the same with Jenkins, Harrison, Vernon if they so choose to raise cap space in the current year.

contract to lower the cap hit too. At some point they are going to take the hit for these guys.

In comment 13365969 Milton said:

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In comment 13365959 Pete in MD said: Milton. Couldn't agree more with you on JPP. And I'm praying we can get Zeitler. Quote: have roughly $88M and $49M more cap room than Dallas will have after they cut Romo. Many other teams will have a chance to outbid the Giants (and Cowboys) for JPP. Nobody will have a chance to outbid the Giants for JPP if he is tagged. Ergo, he will be tagged. It's a no-brainer. The Giants need to worry about being outbid for Kevin Zeitler and Jack Doyle, not JPP.

Not true if the CAP keeps escalating very easy to absorb.

They are adding to future cap dollars. At some point, they are going to take a hit for these restructures. Will it cripple them? Doubtful, but they are going to pay later.

Dallas cannot just go out and buy top of the line FA's like the giants are able to do. All the Cowboys did with these restructures is get them to 6M in space. They are still like 30th in the NFL. Looking at the rest of the league, the team with the 16th most money available has $36M to spend.

In comment 13366014 WillieYoung said:

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a post June 1 cut is useless in free agency. They will bite the bullet this years.

You are completely correct, they could use that extra space for draft picks but it will do no good in free agency. Forgot about that detail. Makes these restructures 100% necessary to get under the cap but they will have very little to spend on 3/9.

doesn't seem to be one of the teams we need to fear will sign JPP, even after these restructures.

Cowboys will have to make some additional moves to create more CAP space.

Dallas has approximately $4,000,000. of CAP space with the recent restructures. The Cowboys CAP estimates vary from $3,900,000 to $6,800,00 for the top 51 players under contract.

So what can they do with this money?

The CAP has to be reduced by set CAP commitments.
Dallas “Rookie Pool” is estimated at $4,559,006. The estimated CAP impact of the "Rookie Pool" ,based upon the top 51 contracts is, $1,514,006
Most teams prefer to have +/- $3,000,000 to work with during the season.
Effectively the “Rookie Pool” and in season cushion reduces the Dallas CAP by $4,514,006.
Therefore, the Cowboys have either (-) $600,000 or + $2,300,000 to fill their roster (the variation is based upon calculating the top 51 contracts and the actual CAP)

Releasing or trading Romo prior to June 1st would free up another $5,100,00.
This would give the Cowboys potentially +/- $5,600,00 - $7,800,000 to spend to fill out their roster.

What complicates the Cowboys spending is that they have 22 of their own free agents. At least (7) of these players were significant contributors in 2016. The $5-$7.8M will not cover these contracts.
Dallas will likely have to restructure other contracts to create more CAP space to sign their own and to sign others.

Sean Lee, Jason Witten, and Doug Free are the likely candidates for extension.
They all come with a risk. Lee, 30, is a great player but he is oft injured, and his contract runs through 2019. Will Dallas consider extending Lee?
Witten is at the end of a great career. It is more likely that Dallas would cut him rather than to extend his contract. Witten is 34 and in the last year of his contract. Do the Cowboys extend him?
Free is 33. Do the Cowboys extend his contract past this year? It would be tough considering how much money they have invested in the offensive line.

In comment 13366061 AcidTest said:

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doesn't seem to be one of the teams we need to fear will sign JPP, even after these restructures.

Shhhhhhh. This is BBI. We've been fearing the almighty Cowboys every year this site has been in existence. They ALWAYS make the best moves and have the best players. Every. Single. Year.

I'm not sure about you, but I sure am tired of seeing them win the Super Bowl every damn year.

Unrestricted:
QB Kellen Moore
QB Mark Sanchez
RB Lance Dunbar
RB Darren McFadden
WR Brice Butler
WR Terrance Williams
TE Gavin Escobar
G Jonathan Cooper
G Ronald Leary
DT Richard Ash
DT Jack Crawford
DE Ryan Davis
DT Terrell McClain
LB Andrew Gachkar
LB Justin Durant
LB Rolando McClain
CB Brandon Carr
S Barry Church
CB Morris Claiborne
S J.J. Wilcox

a situation where the Giants have somehow found themselves a defense that placed five starters on either 1st team or 2nd team All-Pro, not including the rookie Apple or the veteran JPP. At the same time we have reached the last two or three seasons of starting QB Eli Manning, and the big bite of cap space that he uses.

Someone please make the case against the Giants re-signing JPP. I don't want to face Dak twice a year without JPP, but if Dallas also had JPP you would really wonder what management was thinking.

How about the Giants taking a page from the Cowboys book and restructuring some contracts and /or releasing some players ?

How about converting Eli's next two years salary into a bonus and extending him one year? The Giants could pick up +/- $10M

Or
Extending Pugh and picking up an additional $6M?

Or
Dropping some players (Thomas, Harris ) and saving another $4M)

This could create another $20M and increase the Giants CAP to $52M.

Wait, the Cowboys are about to cut a player and face a 19.6M dead money cap hit, on a contract they restructured twice, in which the last 2 years the player has notched a total of 5 games -- and this is not an indication of why kicking money down the road is a bad thing?

...False. he'll either sign a deal or get tagged for the year. So noone will be able to outbid the Giants for JPP.

We are literally the only team he can sign with if we choose to exercise our contractual rights to him under league rules.

And why wouldn't we.

In comment 13366068 PEEJ said:

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Unrestricted: QB Kellen Moore QB Mark Sanchez RB Lance Dunbar - 13% of offensive snaps RB Darren McFadden WR Brice Butler - 41% of offensive snaps WR Terrance Williams - 70% of offensive snaps TE Gavin Escobar - 15% of offensive snaps G Jonathan Cooper G Ronald Leary - 76% of offensive snaps DT Richard Ash DT Jack Crawford - 50% of defensive snaps DE Ryan Davis - 15% of defensive snaps DT Terrell McClain - 44% of defensive snaps LB Andrew Gachkar LB Justin Durant - 26% of defensive snaps LB Rolando McClain CB Brandon Carr - 96% of defensive snaps S Barry Church - 64% of defensive snaps CB Morris Claiborne - 38% of defensive snaps S J.J. Wilcox - 53% of defensive snaps

Some guys with significant playing time as unrestricted free agents. The cowboys currently have enough cap space to cover their draft picks. I guess they will just have to replace the playing time of essentially 7-9 starters in the draft. Easy peazy.

In comment 13365983 Beer Man said:

Quote:

In comment 13365971 Milton said: Quote: In comment 13365968 Johnny5 said: Quote: In comment 13365952 Deej said: Quote: the bill will come due in Dallas for all these restructurings" - BBI, for the 11th consecutive year LOL, thank you, that was funny If you don't think the bill has come due for the Cowboys, check out how many playoff games they've won in the last eleven years. It's not unrelated to their salary cap situation. Agree, the Cowboys were at/near the top of the NFL as long as J.J. could buy-up the league's best talent without a Salary Cap to worry about. Since the full impact of the salary cap kicked in, not so much.

In fairness, it's largely exaggerated that the Cowboys kicked ass because there was no cap.

If you recall how that monster dynasty was built, it was built off an idiotic Herschel Walker trade netting them a million draft picks and then a super fortunate trade with SF to get a toxic Haley off the team (where Dallas wasn't viewed as a threat at the time).

If I recall correctly, the only real expensive guys on that team were Aikman, Irvin, Smith and Haley. The rest of the team wasn't that expensive. And while the OL was dominant, they weren't all top 5 picks either.

You find a way to repeat that trade today with a good GM, and you would create a monster in no time.

In comment 13366024 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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When is the last time the Giants have ever utilized the tag and had the player play on that contract? They just don't make use of it that way.

All you need to do is look back at the last time JPP was tagged. If it hadn't been for the injury, the Giants were fully prepared to have him play out the season on the tag. Prior to that, they had tagged Brandon Jacobs to ensure he wasn't going anywhere, but they worked out a long term agreement.

Instead of asking when was the last time the Giants had a player play under the franchise tag, ask when was the last time the Giants allowed a player to hit free agency who was worthy of a monster contract? There's a reason the Giants only get 6th and 7th round comp picks when players leave for free agency.

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The franchise tag is designed to push both sides to work out a deal, not to keep one locked up who doesn't want to be there.

The franchise tag is designed to give teams a tool to prevent their "franchise" players from leaving via a free market bidding war. It is also gives them a window of opportunity to work out a long term deal, but nobody is forced to do anything. The price is based on the top five salaries at the given position not for reasons of hamstringing the team's salary cap, but to give the player fair compensation in exchange for his freedom. You shouldn't be penalized for being a franchise player!

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The advantage to a long term deal is that you can hide tons of money in ways that doesn't limit your flexibility in the short term.

We're all well aware of the advantages of a long term deal, nobody is suggesting having him play under the franchise tag is preferable. But it's a fail-safe option to be used when absolutely necessary. And under specific circumstances, the Giants have demonstrated they are every bit as willing to utilize it as any other team in the NFL.

In comment 13366024 Ten Ton Hammer said:

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When is the last time the Giants have ever utilized the tag and had the player play on that contract? They just don't make use of it that way.

All you need to do is look back at the last time JPP was tagged. If it hadn't been for the injury, the Giants were fully prepared to have him play out the season on the tag. Prior to that, they had tagged Brandon Jacobs to ensure he wasn't going anywhere, but they worked out a long term agreement.

Instead of asking when was the last time the Giants had a player play under the franchise tag, ask when was the last time the Giants allowed a player to hit free agency who was worthy of a monster contract? There's a reason the Giants only get 6th and 7th round comp picks when players leave for free agency.

Quote:

The franchise tag is designed to push both sides to work out a deal, not to keep one locked up who doesn't want to be there.

The franchise tag is designed to give teams a tool to prevent their "franchise" players from leaving via a free market bidding war. It is also gives them a window of opportunity to work out a long term deal, but nobody is forced to do anything. The price is based on the top five salaries at the given position not for reasons of hamstringing the team's salary cap, but to give the player fair compensation in exchange for his freedom. You shouldn't be penalized for being a franchise player!

Quote:

The advantage to a long term deal is that you can hide tons of money in ways that doesn't limit your flexibility in the short term.

We're all well aware of the advantages of a long term deal, nobody is suggesting having him play under the franchise tag is preferable. But it's a fail-safe option to be used when absolutely necessary. And under specific circumstances, the Giants have demonstrated they are every bit as willing to utilize it as any other team in the NFL.

In comment 13366020 arcarsenal said:

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In comment 13365940 area junc said: Quote: JPP Is this the word out of Dallas' camp or JPP's camp?

I think its the word out of Anthony Davis camp...

got saved by the draft they had last year.

In comment 13366055 Pete in MD said:

Quote:

In comment 13366014 WillieYoung said: Quote: a post June 1 cut is useless in free agency. They will bite the bullet this years. You are completely correct, they could use that extra space for draft picks but it will do no good in free agency. Forgot about that detail. Makes these restructures 100% necessary to get under the cap but they will have very little to spend on 3/9.

Why wouldn't it impact FA? You are allowed to cut someone now (IIRC, you're limited to 2 players) and designate them a June 1 cut. So it would help with free agency.

In comment 13366036 Keith said:

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contract to lower the cap hit too. At some point they are going to take the hit for these guys.

You can only pro-rate signing bonuses (or the equivalent) over 5 years and Smith and Frederick signed for 7-8 years (IIRC) so they didn't need to add any years. This was basically a planned strategy by Dallas to have large base salaries and continually re-structure to save some current cap $$$.

They did something similar with Romo's latest (still current) deal too which highlights the danger of this strategy. He initially signed a 6 yr/$108M deal in 2013 with $25M guaranteed ($5M per season through 2017). Then in 2014, he restructured and converted $12.5M to a bonus to "save" $10M on the 2014 cap but add $2.5M to his cap hit each successive year. So his total cap hits now had $7.5M "guaranteed" thru 2017 and $2.5M gtd in 2018. Then he restructured again in 2015 to save $12.8M in 2015 cap space at the expense of an additional $3.2M on each successive years cap. So now the gtd portion of his cap hits thru 2017 were $10.7M plus $5.7M in 2018 and $3.2M in 2019. Fast forward to now and he still has 3 years and $19.6M in these prorated bonuses remaining. Which means that the Cowboys will be using ~$20M of their cap dollars between 2017/18 on someone that is unlikely to even be on their roster. Even if they elect to spread the pain over 2 years, you're looking at ~6% of the cap on someone that won't help?

So how is this a good strategy?

And while he's been a model of good health for most of his career, Smith did miss a few games due to a back injury in 2016. What if that becomes a recurring issue? Or if he's able to play through it, but his play drops off a bit? The other downside to this strategy is that the team has zero leverage if a player starts under producing because the dead money hit would be crippling if they were to cut them. For example, even before this latest structure, Smith would've cost more (in cap $$) if cut, then if on the Dallas team for 2017. And after the restructure, 2018 will be the same.

In comment 13366068 PEEJ said:

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Unrestricted: QB Kellen Moore QB Mark Sanchez RB Lance Dunbar RB Darren McFadden WR Brice Butler WR Terrance Williams TE Gavin Escobar G Jonathan Cooper G Ronald Leary DT Richard Ash DT Jack Crawford DE Ryan Davis DT Terrell McClain LB Andrew Gachkar LB Justin Durant LB Rolando McClain CB Brandon Carr S Barry Church CB Morris Claiborne S J.J. Wilcox (primary backup to Church)

With starters highlighted. May not be any stars, but that's a lot of solid depth to (potentially) lose. And there's 0 chance that they are retaining most of that list and stealing JPP.

Restructuring is fine but it will ultimately cost them as the contracts allocation becomes back end heavy. 4/5 of their primary secondary players are FA. They will again have to mask an awful defense and will have no depth.

Just because teams have room to spend does not mean they will lavishly overspend on players - there are long term ramifications on the entire team. You sign top players to huge contracts, everyone else then expects more. It is not as easy as just having the space

In comment 13366036 Keith said:

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contract to lower the cap hit too. At some point they are going to take the hit for these guys.

I believe they were already at 6 or 7 years, so adding more years wouldn't spread the cost. You can only amortize the bonus over the first (up to) 5 years from when it is paid.

In comment 13366202 giants#1 said:

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In comment 13366055 Pete in MD said: Quote: In comment 13366014 WillieYoung said: Quote: a post June 1 cut is useless in free agency. They will bite the bullet this years. You are completely correct, they could use that extra space for draft picks but it will do no good in free agency. Forgot about that detail. Makes these restructures 100% necessary to get under the cap but they will have very little to spend on 3/9. Why wouldn't it impact FA? You are allowed to cut someone now (IIRC, you're limited to 2 players) and designate them a June 1 cut. So it would help with free agency.

Even though someone is designated a post-June 1st cut, that extra money doesn't come off of the team's cap until June 2nd. Look at this article from Over the Cap. They can save $5M by cutting Romo now but that extra $9M stays on the cap until June either way.

Quote:

I think where many people get confused, though, is when they hear that “player x” could be designated a June 1 cut and immediately jump to conclusions that it means a spending spree in March. The league allows each team to designate up to two players per year as a June 1 cut for cap purposes prior to June 1. It’s the one concession that was given to the players as it allows a player to be cut in March and have time to explore free agency but have his cap hit spread out over two seasons, thus creating more cap space in the current year. The issue though is the mechanism by which this works. When you designate someone as a June 1 cut the player and his current contract remain on the books until June 1. Going back to the Breaston example has he been designated a June 1 cut his cap charge today would not be $1 million with $2 million on the books in 2014. His cap charge would be $5 million dollars, the same cap charge as if they never cut him at all. When June 1st hits his cap then moves down to $1 million and the other $2 million accelerate into the 2014 season. By that point in time free agency is finished and the extra cap room does not do the team much good. They would have been in a far better cap position during the important time of free agency by releasing Breaston outright as the Chiefs did.

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but knowing they'll have the money to sign their picks and for in-season moves, means they can go ahead and spend up to the cap instead of saving a $5-10M cushion for those later expenses.

In comment 13366196 mdthedream said:

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got saved by the draft they had last year.

It will only look sweeter if Jaylon Smith returns to form and excels like he did in college.

Of the 53 man roster last year, 44 players had only played for Dallas. The other nine players were Butler and Mayowa acquired through trade. Carr(the last big free agent signing), Durant, McFadden, T. McClain, Thornton, and Sanchez. The last Irving was selected from a practice squad.

The total of actual free agents on the Dallas roster last year was 6.

Under Stephen Jones that last 5 years or so Dallas has not been players in free agency. Stephen Jones changed the philosophy of free agency by not going after the big ticket players like Jerry often did. Dallas now waits until the signing frenzy has finished and concentrates on value free agents. These players serve as bridge players till Dallas is able to find their replacement through the draft.

The way the Dallas off season will go is Dallas will resign a few of their own free agents. Then will sign one to two value free agents. The majority of the talent acquisition will happen in the draft. Between these and getting back players that were on IR last year(i.e. Smith and Tapper) Dallas will be able to field another competitive squad for 2017.

because they can't afford any premium FAs. And the one guy they went hard after (Hardy) blew up in their face.

In comment 13366601 giants#1 said:

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because they can't afford any premium FAs. And the one guy they went hard after (Hardy) blew up in their face.

Dallas doesn't go after top tier free agents because Jones has changed the Dallas free agency philosophy. It's not about free agency, it's about the draft.

If Dallas wanted they could operate like they did under Jerry and restructure many deals and create the cap space available to go after any player they wish. That's what most posters believe is still happening, but Dallas doesn't operate that way anymore.

The contract that Hardy signed was highly incentive laden and very club friendly. Hardy didn't have the effect on the defense that he was brought in for. He played one year and it didn't work out. Gigantic disaster on Dallas's part of course because Dallas is the only team that has ever had a free agent not play up to expectations.

Sure it was incentive laden, but many of the incentives were simply playing. Per this reddit post (by a 'boys fan), Hardy ultimately cost them ~$9M. That's a horrible ROI considering he sucked.

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for Hankins if he leaves.

In comment 13366472 Beer Man said:

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In comment 13366196 mdthedream said: Quote: got saved by the draft they had last year. It will only look sweeter if Jaylon Smith returns to form and excels like he did in college.

He's basically a 2017 draft pick. Crazy. He would easily go top 10 in this year's draft, probably before Rueben Foster.

Sick to my stomach thinking about it, thanks for the reminder.

In comment 13366706 giants#1 said:

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Sure it was incentive laden, but many of the incentives were simply playing. Per this reddit post (by a 'boys fan), Hardy ultimately cost them ~$9M. That's a horrible ROI considering he sucked. Link - ( New Window )

Hardy played 12 games for Dallas and got 9 million.

When Dallas signed Hardy he was considered the top pass rusher in free agency that year. Nine million for the top DE in free agency for one year is below the market average, money wise. Now, that he didn't give Dallas what they were expecting out of him on the field is another story. But in dollars and cents, Dallas got a good deal.

That's the great free agent the cowboys can get...

I can't make this up.

I can't wait to see what garbage secondary and defensive line they trot out next year. Hell when Dez invariably is out for a couple of games it can be the incredible Cole Beasley show at wide receiver.

Their team doesn't even have the illusion of depth at most roster positions.