Cowboys Salary Cap situation is in a lot better shape than it is made out to be

J12B

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,208
Reaction score
22,227
Below is a list of players with their corresponding cap savings if released (post June 1) in 2023:

1. Demarcus Lawrence ($21 million)
2. Amari Cooper ($20 million)
3. Ezekiel Elliot ($10.9 million)
4. Tyron Smith ($13.6 million)
5. Blake Jarwin ($6.25 million)

OTC has Dallas with $19.6 million in cap space entering the 2023 season.

With those releases, Dallas would be around $92 million in cap space in 2023.

Point being, Dallas maybe in a tough cap situation for 2022, but they could restructure guys like Dak and Martin and a couple of others in order to retain all of these core players and bring back a couple of key pending free agents like Schultz, Kearse, and Gregory (who would all have low cap hits for 1st year deals).

The front office could easily plan on targeting the above listed players replacements in the 2022 and 2023 drafts and free agency, while just getting by in 2022 and make 1 big signing like Bates or a to Guard to replace Connor Williams. Cap space will be plentiful for a rebuild in 2023. Of course if the front office acts under the belief that this year's roster wasn't enough for a serious Superbowl run, then we'll probably see a rebuild this season and 2022 will be a bridge year.

I think the cap situation is fine actually, considering Dallas can easily get out of those big contracts easily at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
 

T-RO

Well-Known Member
Messages
14,824
Reaction score
16,341
What are you talking about? June 2023?

That's a year and a half away!

And in 2023 we currently are ranked dead last in cap space with only 27 players signed. Sure we can get out of some of that, but c'mon.

This forum can't think straight about the upcoming season's cap and you want to talk about 2023?
 
Last edited:

J12B

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,208
Reaction score
22,227
What are you talking about? June 2023?

That's a year and a half away!

And in 2023 we currently are ranked dead last in cap space with only 27 players signed. Sure we can get out of some of that, but c'mon.

This forum can't think straight about the upcoming season's cap and you want to talk about 2023?
YaY! We get a chance to start rebuilding in 2 years if we start purging now! Excellent cap management.

2023 is literally 1 season away.

That's not long at all in terms of roster management and construction.
 

CWR

Well-Known Member
Messages
23,425
Reaction score
34,125
The cap is fluid. I stopped worrying about it years ago when I watched teams like the Rams and Eagles load up over and over. It can be manipulated without going into cap hell.

We may part ways with some guys, but most the guys we lose will be regular forum whipping boys anyhow.
 

Adreme

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,073
Reaction score
3,010
Below is a list of players with their corresponding cap savings if released (post June 1) in 2023:

1. Demarcus Lawrence ($21 million)
2. Amari Cooper ($20 million)
3. Ezekiel Elliot ($10.9 million)
4. Tyron Smith ($13.6 million)
5. Blake Jarwin ($6.25 million)

OTC has Dallas with $19.6 million in cap space entering the 2023 season.

With those releases, Dallas would be around $92 million in cap space in 2023.

Point being, Dallas maybe in a tough cap situation for 2022, but they could restructure guys like Dak and Martin and a couple of others in order to retain all of these core players and bring back a couple of key pending free agents like Schultz, Kearse, and Gregory (who would all have low cap hits for 1st year deals).

The front office could easily plan on targeting the above listed players replacements in the 2022 and 2023 drafts and free agency, while just getting by in 2022 and make 1 big signing like Bates or a to Guard to replace Connor Williams. Cap space will be plentiful for a rebuild in 2023. Of course if the front office acts under the belief that this year's roster wasn't enough for a serious Superbowl run, then we'll probably see a rebuild this season and 2022 will be a bridge year.

I think the cap situation is fine actually, considering Dallas can easily get out of those big contracts easily at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

I mean any team's cap situation can sound good if you not only skip over one season, but also then split up the following seasons dead cap hit into 2 parts. Dallas has a cap situation RIGHT NOW. Forget 2023. Dallas is 13.5 million OVER the cap right now. To get under the cap, and have some breathing room, you are basically cutting Cooper, Brown, Jarwin, and Greg. That clears you enough to sign one of your free agents if you want them (provided they are going to be in the 10 million range and no higher) and sign your draft picks but still does nothing about the massive departures that are going to happen because you still have to build the rest of the roster and right now there are a lot of departing players with no money to sign them. The cap situation is really bad right now.
 

J12B

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,208
Reaction score
22,227
I mean any team's cap situation can sound good if you not only skip over one season, but also then split up the following seasons dead cap hit into 2 parts. Dallas has a cap situation RIGHT NOW. Forget 2023. Dallas is 13.5 million OVER the cap right now. To get under the cap, and have some breathing room, you are basically cutting Cooper, Brown, Jarwin, and Greg. That clears you enough to sign one of your free agents if you want them (provided they are going to be in the 10 million range and no higher) and sign your draft picks but still does nothing about the massive departures that are going to happen because you still have to build the rest of the roster and right now there are a lot of departing players with no money to sign them. The cap situation is really bad right now.

Restructuring Dak, Martin, and one other guy the front office plans on keeping long term easily creates $25 million in cap space.

I'm all for those cuts you mentioned (I'd prefer to cut Lawrence over Cooper just because the WR unit is losing Gallup and most likely Wilson. Plus Micah can step in Lawrence's place).

But Dak and Martin could easily be restructured to create another $20 million in space.

Now you can sign another 2 key players easily, a couple of role players, and the draft class.

https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...hem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook
 

Adreme

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,073
Reaction score
3,010
Restructuring Dak, Martin, and one other guy the front office plans on keeping long term easily creates $25 million in cap space.

I'm all for those cuts you mentioned (I'd prefer to cut Lawrence over Cooper just because the WR unit is losing Gallup and most likely Wilson. Plus Micah can step in Lawrence's place).

But Dak and Martin could easily be restructured to create another $20 million in space.

Now you can sign another 2 key players easily, a couple of role players, and the draft class.

https://cowboyswire.usatoday.com/li...hem&utm_medium=trueanthem&utm_source=facebook

Cutting DLaw saves you 8 million and you are not getting a DLaw for 8 million (and the DLine is also losing starters as well) whereas Cooper is not worth the 16 million in savings you get by cutting him. If the numbers were reversed I would reverse the position, but I thought Cooper got overpaid at the time and it seems like time has shown that to be true.

The problem is with all those restructures is that while you could use it to sign a couple key players you more likely need to use it to build a roster because depth aside you need a lot of new starters and not just 1-2 big contracts. Multiple on both DLine and OLine, an entirely new WR room except for Lamb, possibly a new TE if you do not resign Schultz (I do not think he will be worth 12m per year), a new starting CB, and a new starting S and of course depth. You can draft 1-2 of those positions sure but if your plan going into the draft is to find year 1 starters in rounds 5-6 that is a very risky proposition.

There is also the problem that it is REALLY hard to find cheap OLine play in free agency because even below average OLine players get overpaid because everyone is looking to upgrade the OLine.
 

J12B

Well-Known Member
Messages
7,208
Reaction score
22,227
Cutting DLaw saves you 8 million and you are not getting a DLaw for 8 million (and the DLine is also losing starters as well) whereas Cooper is not worth the 16 million in savings you get by cutting him. If the numbers were reversed I would reverse the position, but I thought Cooper got overpaid at the time and it seems like time has shown that to be true.

The problem is with all those restructures is that while you could use it to sign a couple key players you more likely need to use it to build a roster because depth aside you need a lot of new starters and not just 1-2 big contracts. Multiple on both DLine and OLine, an entirely new WR room except for Lamb, possibly a new TE if you do not resign Schultz (I do not think he will be worth 12m per year), a new starting CB, and a new starting S and of course depth. You can draft 1-2 of those positions sure but if your plan going into the draft is to find year 1 starters in rounds 5-6 that is a very risky proposition.

There is also the problem that it is REALLY hard to find cheap OLine play in free agency because even below average OLine players get overpaid because everyone is looking to upgrade the OLine.

We have Micah who could step-in for Lawrence day 1. He did it this season and was far more disruptive as an edge rusher.

I wouldn't lose any sleep on losing Schultz to free agency but there will be plenty of cap space in 2023 to take on that hit and the team could move on from him in 2024 or 2025.

Cutting Cooper is understandable. But we saw how bad the offense was in 2018 going into a season with no real deep threat, which was how Cooper got here. Lamb would literally be the only WR on the roster next season without including depth players like Turner. That sounds risky to me and would guarantee that a 1st or 2nd rounder would be used on WR and there would be no room for error. That's not exactly gamble I would want to take.
 

Adreme

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,073
Reaction score
3,010
We have Micah who could step-in for Lawrence day 1. He did it this season and was far more disruptive as an edge rusher.

I wouldn't lose any sleep on losing Schultz to free agency but there will be plenty of cap space in 2023 to take on that hit and the team could move on from him in 2024 or 2025.

Cutting Cooper is understandable. But we saw how bad the offense was in 2018 going into a season with no real deep threat, which was how Cooper got here. Lamb would literally be the only WR on the roster next season without including depth players like Turner. That sounds risky to me and would guarantee that a 1st or 2nd rounder would be used on WR and there would be no room for error. That's not exactly gamble I would want to take.

If Micah steps in for DLaw that is fine but now you basically only have Micah as pretty much your only non scrub DLine player and if he is lining up there add multiple LBs to the positions that need to be filled. I agree that DLaw is not worht the 19m cap hit but he is worth the 8m especially when there is nothing behind him.

The thing about Cooper is that he plays WR and while cutting him makes the room thin the depth of the past few WR drafts means you can find average WRs on the market for bargain prices and be okay. Finding even 80% of DLaw will cost you more than you save in cutting him and you cannot go into training camp with a DLine of Parsons/rookies/scrubs and hope something shines through.
 

charron

Well-Known Member
Messages
13,290
Reaction score
13,652
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
They will be fine if they want to be. But Stephen likes to use the cap to justify not making moves
 

MyFairLady

Well-Known Member
Messages
5,373
Reaction score
6,517
Cutting DLaw saves you 8 million and you are not getting a DLaw for 8 million.
When I read statements like this I imagine it is exactly the kind of things that Jerry says. It is completely ignoring the reality. The reality of the situation is that he is due 19 million in non guaranteed salary next year. Only the most incompetent front office in the world would accept that. His very best season ever would barely be worth that. Same goes for Amari who is due 20 million in non guaranteed salary. I am not interested in the myopic view of cap hit for an individual season and I would hope that the front office would feel the same.
 

Adreme

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,073
Reaction score
3,010
When I read statements like this I imagine it is exactly the kind of things that Jerry says. It is completely ignoring the reality. The reality of the situation is that he is due 19 million in non guaranteed salary next year. Only the most incompetent front office in the world would accept that. His very best season ever would barely be worth that. Same goes for Amari who is due 20 million in non guaranteed salary. I am not interested in the myopic view of cap hit for an individual season and I would hope that the front office would feel the same.

Its the kind of thing that every NFL GM says because it is what matters. When you cut a player you have to replace them and while sometimes it is okay to replace them with a slightly worse player for a smaller cap hit, you are not even going to get a slightly worse player for 8m, you are going to get a far worse player. Whether or not he "should" make 19m this year in salary is immaterial, what matters is whether the 8m you get back improves the team and in this case it does not.
 

CTcowboy203

Well-Known Member
Messages
3,264
Reaction score
4,108
What are you talking about? June 2023?

That's a year and a half away!

And in 2023 we currently are ranked dead last in cap space with only 27 players signed. Sure we can get out of some of that, but c'mon.

This forum can't think straight about the upcoming season's cap and you want to talk about 2023?

it’s not his fault the forum has an attention span of a gnat. Thinking 1 year out in terms of cap space and money for an organization is really nothing. His point is that financially while in the immediate is tough the long term isn’t as dire as made out to be which directly contradicts many’s points here about how screwed we are.
 

Aerolithe_Lion

Well-Known Member
Messages
10,785
Reaction score
11,694
Problem with restructures is you lock the player into being untradable or uncuttable for more seasons. Which players with monster contracts (beyond Zach Martin) are you comfortable being handcuffed to for 4, 5, 6 more years?
 

PhillyCowboysFan

Well-Known Member
Messages
4,062
Reaction score
4,968
Below is a list of players with their corresponding cap savings if released (post June 1) in 2023:

1. Demarcus Lawrence ($21 million)
2. Amari Cooper ($20 million)
3. Ezekiel Elliot ($10.9 million)
4. Tyron Smith ($13.6 million)
5. Blake Jarwin ($6.25 million)

OTC has Dallas with $19.6 million in cap space entering the 2023 season.

With those releases, Dallas would be around $92 million in cap space in 2023.

Point being, Dallas maybe in a tough cap situation for 2022, but they could restructure guys like Dak and Martin and a couple of others in order to retain all of these core players and bring back a couple of key pending free agents like Schultz, Kearse, and Gregory (who would all have low cap hits for 1st year deals).

The front office could easily plan on targeting the above listed players replacements in the 2022 and 2023 drafts and free agency, while just getting by in 2022 and make 1 big signing like Bates or a to Guard to replace Connor Williams. Cap space will be plentiful for a rebuild in 2023. Of course if the front office acts under the belief that this year's roster wasn't enough for a serious Superbowl run, then we'll probably see a rebuild this season and 2022 will be a bridge year.

I think the cap situation is fine actually, considering Dallas can easily get out of those big contracts easily at the conclusion of the 2022 season.
LMAO :facepalm:

If it was only that easy. How do the Cowboys handle the $36 million dead money hit by cutting the players you listed?
 

unionjack8

Well-Known Member
Messages
21,850
Reaction score
26,187
CowboysZone LOYAL Fan
Every year we get the we can do what we want thread's.

Well we don't, haven't done in years so expect guys to leave and be replaced with lesser versions.
 

NeathBlue

Well-Known Member
Messages
981
Reaction score
1,568
Cutting DLaw saves you 8 million and you are not getting a DLaw for 8 million

For $8m, I want someone better than what we had from DLaw this season..
He spends way too much time on the sidelines injured and when he does play, he really isn’t that great a player.
 
Top