Slowly but surely we need to get rid of contracts

[Galian Beast]

Players like Austin, Ratliff, Spears, Free, Bernadeau, Livings, Scandrick, Sensabaugh, and even Ware.

Looking at Austin's contract, we really have no choice but to keep him until probably 2015. It'll be interesting if we can move him in a trade. His contract is very trade friendly. Hell we could even release him out right. I think we can do a lot more on offense with paying offensive linemen rather than paying Austin. He can't be relied on to stay healthy. So I'd say we just work on having guys like Beasley, Harris, and Coale step up, and give Romo a running game.

Jay Ratliff is done. His contract blows up, and we might as well get rid of it sooner rather than later. I'm all aboard getting Melton, especially if we let Ratliff walk. That being said, this is going to be a huge cap hit.

I think cutting Spears goes without saying. We don't need him on the roster anymore, and we certainly don't need to be paying him.

Doug Free's contract is a killer too, but I don't think we have any choice but to get rid of this guy now. He will cost 7 million in base salary next year. What a terrible guy he turned out to be...

I have no idea how we signed Nate Livings to so much money. It might be worth keeping him as a backup until 2014, but this signing just glares of incompetence. I gave the F.O. too much credit with this one last year.

I'd also cut Bernadeau this year.

Signing Kyle Orton was also a knee jerk reaction. How much of that money could be going towards actually keeping Romo safe in the first place? At least it was front loaded.

We're going to have to move on from DeMarcus Ware and soon. This has to be Ware's last year in Dallas before his contract blows up to 13 million a year. I'd work feverishly to trade Ware now.

Scandrick and Senabaugh? Releasing Scandrick shouldn't be too hard. Sensabaugh will be a bit tougher, but even more necessary.

[Vintage]

Id also add Witten. He is old.

Lee will need an extension soon. Dump him while he is cheap.

Carter will probably be expensive to retain in a few years, lets get ahead of the curb and move on.

Can you imagine how expensive Claiborne will be if he pans out? Lets dump him, too.

Tyron is a young LT. That could be costly. Maybe find a cheaper alternative.

[Galian Beast]

It's about opportunity cost. Ware is certainly not living up to his cost. Do you know how many solid players you can get as opposed to paying for Ware?

Look at how Houston managed without Mario Williams.

When you design an offense or defense around one player, and they don't play well or they aren't healthy... well things fall apart.

[dragon_mikal]

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

It's about opportunity cost. Ware is certainly not living up to his cost. Do you know how many solid players you can get as opposed to paying for Ware?

Look at how Houston managed without Mario Williams.

When you design an offense or defense around one player, and they don't play well or they aren't healthy... well things fall apart.

First off...don't ever mention Mario Williams and Demarcus Ware in the same sentence.

Second...Ware was obviously hurt and still managed double digit sacks this year. He will be back to dominating next year no doubt.

I seem to recall people proclaiming Witten as done after his slow start as well and were saying he needed to be benched for Hanna. This line of thinking was ridiculous then and is ridiculous now.

[Galian Beast]

Originally Posted by dragon_mikal

First off...don't ever mention Mario Williams and Demarcus Ware in the same sentence.

Second...Ware was obviously hurt and still managed double digit sacks this year. He will be back to dominating next year no doubt.

I seem to recall people proclaiming Witten as done after his slow start as well and were saying he needed to be benched for Hanna. This line of thinking was ridiculous then and is ridiculous now.

People have been saying Witten is done for a while. I'm all for trading Jason Witten. At the end of the day its about opportunity costs. Does the resources our team spends on Witten equal his production? Could we use that money better else where? I would say yeah we could.

[CowboyStar88]

Originally Posted by Galian Beast

People have been saying Witten is done for a while. I'm all for trading Jason Witten. At the end of the day its about opportunity costs. Does the resources our team spends on Witten equal his production? Could we use that money better else where? I would say yeah we could.

I would say yes his production matches his cost. Heck witten can play another 5 years at this level he isn't beat up. Look at Tony Gonzalez at the age of 37. Witten has no decrease in his production at all.

[CaptainMorgan]

Originally Posted by dragon_mikal

I seem to recall people proclaiming Witten as done after his slow start as well and were saying he needed to be benched for Hanna. This line of thinking was ridiculous then and is ridiculous now.

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

[CowboyStar88]

Originally Posted by CaptainMorgan

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

Witten is playing at a high level and understands how defense play and he knows where to sit down in coverages and he always seems to beat who ever is lined up across him. I don't see what you gain in cutting a future HOF TE who can play another 5 years. His cost/production is equal. If this team cut Witten I would be furious and seriously question the direction of this team. May I remind you what it was like before we drafted Witten? So no I don't agree that someone could step right in and give the same production that witten gives.

[Galian Beast]

Originally Posted by CaptainMorgan

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

Exactly right. If we could get trade value for Witten, not only does that make our team better, frees up money, it also adds speed to the offense.

Not to say that Hanna is better than Witten, rather that the drop off compared to what we get in return sounds palatable.

[cowboyeric8]

Originally Posted by CaptainMorgan

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

SMH

[ufcrules1]

Originally Posted by CaptainMorgan

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

Excellent post. Hanna really impressed me with the limited play he got. He is very fast, has good hands and it just seems like his play making potential is higher. Reminds me a little of Aaron Hernandez.

The problem is Jerry is just too loyal to players and has too much of an emotional tie to them. By the time we realize a player is going down hill here, it is simply to late to get anything for that player.

Ware is a prime example. We could trade him now and easily get a #1 for him but we will instead keep him and he will continue to get injured and not produce as much as he used to. It will get to a point where no team will want him, or if they do, they won't offer much.

I love some of these guys like Witten and Ware but this is a business and you have to do what is right for the team/organization. The ultimate goal has to be to win a championship.

[FLcowboy]

Originally Posted by CaptainMorgan

I love Witten but Im betting Hannah can step in and instantly add more speed and play making ability. If we can save money by releasing Witten Id do it.

When you rebuild sometimes those decisions are painful but I'd be looking at building a core of players for the future at this point.

Did you notice that Hanna was hardly used in blocking scenarios? Witten is considered one of the best blocking TE's in the game.

[cowboysgenius]

I'd like to see a trade for Michael Vick.

[durrrr]

Originally Posted by cowboysgenius

I'd like to see a trade for Michael Vick.

[BlueStar22]

Spears doesn't make anything, he's the least of the cap worries.