Everyone, it is Time to come to Terms with it. This is the Plan

[fivetwos]

They're going to remain competitive and likely win 10ish games in 2024 & 2025.

I actually think this is a really sound plan for the front office to pursue. I do take two issues with how it has been executed though.

#1) Jerry and Stephen clearly trolling the fan base with their "All in" comments. This is nothing but an intentionally dishonest & misleading way to increase fan interest during a period of Cowboys apathy that has been worse than anything we've seen in some time.

#2) They now forced to run this reset without ever having really pushed the chips all in. This iceberg has been visible since the 2022 season, but the front office never decided to say fine, we accept this fate but we're going to build a juggernaut for two seasons at the expense of the future. I find it rather frustrating that they didn't just decided to push even more money into the next two seasons in order to sign immediate short term impact players in 2023 and 2024.

Everything done from here on out needs to be viewed through the lens of a 2-3 year long term strategy and it makes everything they've been doing this offseason more palatable.

Couldn’t agree more and I’ve been saying it.

They were cheap in free agency during a clear open window to win under the excuse that they didn’t want cap problems down the road.

Yet they still have cap problems. They should have made a better effort, but genius Stephens plan blew up when Damone Clarke didn’t play and lead like Bobby Wagner could have…as one example.

It’s just being a bad GM and squandering an opportunity your scouting department gave you is what it is.

 

[IrishAnto]

It won't be as bad as you make it sound. The salary cap went up a lot more than most thought it would this year. The same thing will happen next year. That provides the Cowboys some breathing room and a quicker end to this salary cap re-set.

Which is also true for the other 31 teams!
So if many of them currently have more money to spend than the Cowboys then ....

 

[Aerolithe_Lion]

The concern is: What is the plan after this year?

All this cap hoarding is going to lead to huge space in 2025 and 2026. Is Jerry going to go ham wild in free agent pickups to fill all the deficits from the 2024 season? You know he’s not, he doesn’t believe in it. I assume the plan is to try and give as many big contracts as he can to current Cowboys and continue maintaining the status quo.

I wouldn’t be worried about this year’s plan; on some levels it makes sense. But this is a short term plan where the long term plan doesn’t make as much sense.

 

[IrishAnto]

I think they will replace them. They just will replace them with guys already on the roster. Let's remember we lost Diggs all year....so him coming back probably puts Bland and Diggs on the outside and Lewis in the slot.

Kendricks can easily replace LVE.

Mazi will replace Hankins

Kearse.....Juanyah or Bell....or anyone...

Gallup...Tolbert

Dorance....Sam Williams


Pollard....as of now I don't see anyone as good as him but a committee can produce what he did since he seemed to be hurt last year.


I'm just saying I think we overrate what we lost.

I have my issues but it's not what we lost. It's that I don't think we really took a step forward.

I think many here overrate the entire team (including the owner)!

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

The concern is: What is the plan after this year?

All this cap hoarding is going to lead to huge space in 2025 and 2026. Is Jerry going to go ham wild in free agent pickups to fill all the deficits from the 2024 season? You know he’s not, he doesn’t believe in it. I assume the plan is to try and give as many big contracts as he can to current Cowboys and continue maintaining the status quo.

I wouldn’t be worried about this year’s plan; on some levels it makes sense. But this is a short term plan where the long term plan doesn’t make as much sense.

This is my issue with it. The short term plan combined with the long term strategy is incoherent.

The front office is likely just going to begin this cycle anew in 2026 by handing out a bunch of huge contracts and get themselves right back in this situation again without ever having really gone for it.

Maybe this is the start of a new day in how they are going to team build, but I'm not holding my breath.

 

[rambo2]

Cowboys must have the worst cap management in the league. Teams far better than us are giving their star players extensions and still adding talent in FA and the draft.

We are being relegated to shopping in the cellar of the bargain basement store.

There aren't a lot of teams that are far better than the Cowboys.

 

[MikeT22]

There aren't a lot of teams that are far better than the Cowboys.

Your opinion noted.

My statement stands.

 

[rambo2]

Your opinion noted.

My statement stands.

My opinion is based on win results.

 

[MikeT22]

My opinion is based on win results.

Great, and I still see teams that are better than us being able to keep many of their guys while adding key players in FA and thru trades bcause they are better at dealing with the cap.

 

[rambo2]

Great, and I still see teams that are better than us being able to keep many of their guys while adding key players in FA and thru trades bcause they are better at dealing with the cap.

Sure there are teams that are better, but not many.

 

[blueblood70]

I mean it wasn’t hard to replace Armstrong, Gilmore, LVE, Tyler, Kearse, etc…..

Only free agent we were gonna have issues replacing was Tyron. Rest of those guys were replaceable.

I think Gilmore and tyron are the ones that would be the hardest to replace but not irreplaceable for sure I think this dude is like so off he doesn't remember how we got those guys Armstrong is a really good backup that we drafted in the mid to late rounds and we already had replacements for safeties and Tyler was good but not special we can get good much cheaper than paying these guys I think that's what they don't understand is they are replaceable....

Yeah, I I still don't know why fans keep thinking this is a rebuilding year and that the office is tanking and that they have no plan and they know they're going to be bad & they're just going to live with it..

that couldn't be farther from the truth, they're just replacing some of these guys with next man up, I mean Sam Williams, Gholston, Fehoko, Bell, Thomas, Kendricks, clark, Malik Jefferson, Damien wilson plus the draft picks. As far as replacing Gilmore that might be tough but we are getting back healthier we should because we're still going to have Trayvon diggs and they're on the bland on the outside along with Jay Lew on the inside that's probably not looking much different than last year, as long as they stay healthy and yeah we got to provide some depth there maybe with Scott and the draft picks and they're not done with the veteran free agents I don't know why people here think they're done they're not done they're the type of front office they're just getting started this is their blue light special veteran free agent time of the year...

Tyron and the line; you have offensive lineman like Hoffman and bass were already there as worst-case scenario to replace some of the guys on the line and then you have Richards then they went to the draft and got a bunch of offensive linemen they picked up...

I'm not saying this is a Super Bowl ready team, but I still believe they'll find a way to make the playoffs they'll win 10 games give or take they'll probably start out slow and hit their stride later as usual.

 

[Kwyn]

lol.

The eagles have won a Super Bowl, rebuilt and were in another one in the last decade.

Jerry is still trying to figure out the salary cap.

One of these isn’t like the other. So please don’t compare them.

I bet you Howie knew what the Cowboys cap situation was at the senior bowl. And he isn’t the GM of the cowboys.

So, guess the team shouldn’t even try? I know people are frustrated but for the first time in years there’s at least a hint that there’s some type of plan. Our fans are just so married to the echo chamber here that they can’t see it.

Even @MountaineerCowboy sees it. He just picks his moments to recognize it. Many of the rest just hur dur their way through the threads without bothering to make an attempt at critical thinking.

Those of us who are hopeful for a plan over the next couple of years may be disappointed again. Jerry may do Jerry and completely change direction. But at least we can see beyond the thread titles.

 

[MikeT22]

Sure there are teams that are better, but not many.

well that’s awesome.

 

[blueblood70]

I think they will replace them. They just will replace them with guys already on the roster. Let's remember we lost Diggs all year....so him coming back probably puts Bland and Diggs on the outside and Lewis in the slot.

Kendricks can easily replace LVE.

Mazi will replace Hankins

Kearse.....Juanyah or Bell....or anyone...

Gallup...Tolbert

Dorance....Sam Williams


Pollard....as of now I don't see anyone as good as him but a committee can produce what he did since he seemed to be hurt last year.


I'm just saying I think we overrate what we lost.

I have my issues but it's not what we lost. It's that I don't think we really took a step forward.

Plus you gotta add in some of these veteran free agents we just added like Damien Wilson people still forget Malik Jefferson and the fact that Mike Zimmer will be running this defense and maybe he can get more out of the linebacker position and plus they're not done in veteran free agency this is the time of the year this particular front office likes to pick clean whatever's left and then you add in the draft pick some of them might shine you think pollard's not replaceable but I think that maybe one of these young guys we picked up maybe can be as good as him hell the guy from what's his name Nathaniel Peat, he's got the speed and the type of body style that he looks like Tony Pollard, Tony Pollard was a fourth round pick that didn't play a lot in college there's kind of a similarity there besides the fact I know deuce Vaughn is small but he can do a lot of the stretch plays and the behind the line of scrimmage stuff if this damn coaching staff would put more value in scheming the run game...

 

[phildadon86]

So, guess the team shouldn’t even try? I know people are frustrated but for the first time in years there’s at least a hint that there’s some type of plan. Our fans are just so married to the echo chamber here that they can’t see it.

Even @MountaineerCowboy sees it. He just picks his moments to recognize it. Many of the rest just hur dur their way through the threads without bothering to make an attempt at critical thinking.

Those of us who are hopeful for a plan over the next couple of years may be disappointed again. Jerry may do Jerry and completely change direction. But at least we can see beyond the thread titles.

No thread title involved. I was responding to you trying to justify what the Cowboys are doing by using the Eagles as an example because they are going to be tight on money soon.

I have faith they can rebuild and get back to the playoffs faster than the team we love can. You know why? Their GM actually doesnt have lifetime job security and has someone to answer to. There is no plan. Jerry didnt even know how much cap space this team had at the senior bowl. You think he has a plan?

And to answer your first question.

Do you think this off-season shows the Cowboys trying?

 

[rambo2]

well that’s awesome.

It is.

 

[DandyDon52]

I have been seeing post after post talking about how there is no way this team is going to be better than last season. I'm not here to refute this, but rather state that I completely agree with this sentiment. I think we all need to realize that this is not some weak attempt at building another contender, but pretty clearly the start of a a two year rebuilding period. There is a pile of evidence supporting this.

Let's walk through the shotgun barrel the Cowboys are currently staring directly down and the moves made so far this offseason:

- Lame duck head coach and QB. No major contract restructures to clear space. No attempt at signing an impact free agent.

- No earnest attempt at resigning decent starters like Armstrong, Biadasz, Kearse, etc.

- Massive deferred cap hits from stars whose contracts have been restructured multiple times or have recently been released. The most notable of which include:

2024

Martin - $17,991,000

Lawrence - $20,445,000

Gallup - $13,850,000

Dak - $55,132,647

Dead Money

Tyron - $6,005,000

Zeke - $6,040,000

2025

Dak - $40,137,647

Lawrence - $7,445,000

Martin - $10,655,000

Dead Money

Gallup - $8,700,000

It was never even a remote possibility that this team was going to replace the production of all the key departures this offseason (Gallup, Biadasz, Tyron, Pollard, Gilmore, LVE, Hankins, Kearse) and somehow magically improve the roster with nothing but draft picks. It just is not possible. In a great draft you generally can expect to land three good-great starters at most and maybe a handful of quality backups. Even with a great draft, there were going to be a number of obvious holes.

We all need to start to come to terms with it now - This team is going to take a step back for the next two seasons. The plan in 2024 & 2025 is pretty clearly to eat a number of pretty hideous cap hits in the form of deferred contract dollars + dead money while remaining competitive. There just is no other logical path forward than this.

The only thing Dallas is "All in" on right now is rebuilding this roster and churning what's left of some big contracts. 2026 will be the next time this team will be in financial position to even think about making a run.

doesnt it depend on whether they extend dak lamb and parsons?
I think jerry still extends them paying market price. (Whatever that is at the time)
Now if he lets dak and lamb walk then maybe it is a rebuild.

It looks like a rebuild, but could be just the jones boys doing things in a odd manner throwing away this season and maybe 25 as well.
I think jerry said he wants to clean up the cap situation, but who knows what that means.

 

[CowboyoWales]

If you pre June 1 him, you will be eating:

2024
Dead Money - $66,270,294 (An additional $11,000,00 against the cap this year compared to keeping him)

2025
Dead Money - $40,137,647 (No additional charge against the cap)

I agree with your assessment here. If you don't intend on resigning Dak in 2025 (personally I think they've already made up their mind not to at this point), then just getting it over with now and really turning this into a true tank job is probably the most reasonable path forward.

Yep. Got confused first of all as you added the 2025 Dead Money of $40m, which we wouldnt be on the hook for if we Pre-June cut him......just the $66m Dead Money in 2024.

If Dak's not giving a home town discount, and we're not looking as if we're getting our SB (nor Championship) Parties in 2024, there's no real point in keeping Dak. Play Lance (worse case scenario he fails badly and we get a decent draft position). Then we can join the Dak sweepstakes in 2025.

 

[BleedSilverandBlue]

Yep. Got confused first of all as you added the 2025 Dead Money of $40m, which we wouldnt be on the hook for if we Pre-June cut him......just the $66m Dead Money in 2024.

If Dak's not giving a home town discount, and we're not looking as if we're getting our SB (nor Championship) Parties in 2024, there's no real point in keeping Dak. Play Lance (worse case scenario he fails badly and we get a decent draft position). Then we can join the Dak sweepstakes in 2025.

When I look at Over the Cap and pre June 1 Dak I still see $40mil on the books for 2025, but I could be mistaken. Still trying to learn how to work their cap tool.

Agreed on all fronts.

 

[DandyDon52]

No thread title involved. I was responding to you trying to justify what the Cowboys are doing by using the Eagles as an example because they are going to be tight on money soon.

I have faith they can rebuild and get back to the playoffs faster than the team we love can. You know why? Their GM actually doesnt have lifetime job security and has someone to answer to. There is no plan. Jerry didnt even know how much cap space this team had at the senior bowl. You think he has a plan?

And to answer your first question.

Do you think this off-season shows the Cowboys trying?

LOL this is jerrys plan ?