Spencer's Career Season Will Warrant Big Free-Agent Dollars - Dallas Cowboys Forum

RS12 · 01-01-2013

IRVING, Texas – Before this season, Anthony Spencer had never garnered more than 6.5 sacks. He hadn’t made a Pro Bowl and more importantly, he had never been a consistent player the Cowboys expected when they drafted him in the first round in 2007.

And then came the contract year. Or the second one, actually.

But even though Cowboys’ fans scratched their heads with puzzled looks when the club issued the $8.8 million franchise tag to Spencer, the sixth-year pro has actually proved to be worth every penny of it this year.

And he’s about to earn a few more pennies, probably on a long-term basis here in the future.

Will it be with the Cowboys? That’s an interesting question and one that likely won’t have real answers for a while.

On one hand, you can say Spencer is well worth a long-term contract probably in the neighborhood of $40-50 million over six or seven years.

However, the Cowboys will be up against the salary cap yet again and re-signing him, especially with Tony Romo possibly getting a new deal as well, could make it hard for the Cowboys to dole out a worthy contract for Spencer.

While Spencer will likely test the free-agent market in March, the Cowboys could always give him the franchise tag once again to retain his negotiating rights.

Regardless where he signs, Spencer has earned a big contract with a career season of 11 sacks. And the honors might not be over for Spencer, who ranked fourth in the NFC in sacks and quite possibly could be an alternate for the Pro Bowl roster.

http://www.dallascowboys.com/news/ar...dium=twi tter

dwight · 01-01-2013

I was against Dallas keeping him, but I was wrong.

He should get a new contract but I'm concern about his age now.

TheCount · 01-01-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwight

I was against Dallas keeping him, but I was wrong.

He should get a new contract but I'm concern about his age now.

Same here.

The money and the age are a scary combination.

**jobberone** · 01-01-2013

I wish we could let him go and get a cheaper alternative but I'm not certain we can. I'm not certain we should.

Coakleys Dad · 01-01-2013

Franchise one more year. Draft D-line.

Eskimo · 01-01-2013

I`d let Spencer go and focus on bringing in a younger player at OLB. I`d be okay with going with Albright, Butler, Wilber or Bruce Carter there next year plus a draft pick. I think his production is about to decline markedly after having nearly double his average sack production this past year. He just isn`t a 10M per year player in this league but he is a 7M per year player. I would be fine with letting someone else overpay him and move on. It is far more important for us to focus on where we will be longterm than signing Spencer to help us for the next couple of years before he goes into steep decline.

We already have Ware falling apart on us on one side as father time catches up with him. I don`t want to get caught with two ailing 30 year old OLBs with not much behind them. I would rather spend that money on a young pressure player at LB or DL in FA than spend the money on Spencer coming off of a career year.

We need to focus on the future more than just focusing on 2013. If we can consistently put out quality teams that make the playoffs we`ll have a better chance of winning a SB than loading up contracts to take a shot in a single year. That is what we would be doing if we signed Spencer to a megadeal.

CowboysYanksLakers · 01-01-2013

I can argue both ways... I expect Dallas to retain him though.

RS12 · 01-01-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eskimo

We already have Ware falling apart on us on one side as father time catches up with him. I don`t want to get caught with two ailing 30 year old OLBs with not much behind them. I would rather spend that money on a young pressure player at LB or DL in FA than spend the money on Spencer coming off of a career year.

We need to focus on the future more than just focusing on 2013. If we can consistently put out quality teams that make the playoffs we`ll have a better chance of winning a SB than loading up contracts to take a shot in a single year. That is what we would be doing if we signed Spencer to a megadeal.

I think it gets addressed in the first round of the draft. So many good pass rushers available this year.

Pabst · 01-01-2013

He had a pretty good year. I still think I would pass. Or maybe sit on his rights and try to trade him.

I just get the feeling this is going to be another one of those Doug Free/Marion Barber/Jay Ratliff/Miles Austin contracts. Gets the money and the production just disappears.

StarMan · 01-02-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pabst

He had a pretty good year. I still think I would pass. Or maybe sit on his rights and try to trade him.

I just get the feeling this is going to be another one of those Doug Free/Marion Barber/Jay Ratliff/Miles Austin contracts. Gets the money and the production just disappears.

This. I have a feeling Spencer will quit once he gets paid. Franchise him again.

CowboyChris · 01-02-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Eskimo

I`d let Spencer go and focus on bringing in a younger player at OLB. I`d be okay with going with Albright, Butler, Wilber or Bruce Carter there next year plus a draft pick. I think his production is about to decline markedly after having nearly double his average sack production this past year. He just isn`t a 10M per year player in this league but he is a 7M per year player. I would be fine with letting someone else overpay him and move on. It is far more important for us to focus on where we will be longterm than signing Spencer to help us for the next couple of years before he goes into steep decline.

We already have Ware falling apart on us on one side as father time catches up with him. I don`t want to get caught with two ailing 30 year old OLBs with not much behind them. I would rather spend that money on a young pressure player at LB or DL in FA than spend the money on Spencer coming off of a career year.

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if Bruce Carter is an option, i would be for that, it would be alot easier and cheaper to find ILB.

**ABQCOWBOY** · 01-02-2013

I would consider the idea of trading him if at all possible. He has had a great year but he's going to get a long term deal for consideral cap and I just don't think that's the way to go. I don't begrudge him the money but the reality is that we probably can't afford to keep him.

The other issue, I believe, will be Ware. I see Ware as a career Cowboy and as such, I think it's wise to consider his long term future with the Cowboys. He is getting older and has had several injuries that had slowed him down considerably in the past two seasons. It might be wise for us to consider mobing him to the other side of the formation and drafting a younger, quicker ROLB. This would probably extend Ware's career a bit and would certainly allow him and advantage over most, if not all RTs in the NFL. Time could be split with him on the Left side between some of the LOLBs we currently have on the roster to spare him ware and tear against obvious running situations.

I'm not saying that we will do this but to me, this might be a wise course of action. Would be a lot easier on our long term cap if we could figure out a way to trade Spencer and draft a replacement IMO.

Future · 01-02-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by CowboyChris

if Bruce Carter is an option, i would be for that, it would be alot easier and cheaper to find ILB.

Has Carter ever been an edge rusher?

Putting him there means wasting a lot of his speed and athleticism. Keep him and Lee in the middle and work out.

newlander · 01-02-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coakleys Dad

Franchise one more year. Draft D-line.

............BIG TIME agree: we can do it for one more year so why NOT? Then he'll be gone at 30 yrs. of age, so what? Problem solved...DON'T use it on Jenkins and I don't think they will because he's injury prone and has NO heart.

**Idgit** · 01-02-2013

Sign him. He's too good to let walk, and he's been a good player since the day we drafted him; we should have signed him a year or two ago and avoided the (now) obvious premium.