What is the Cowboys reasoning for delaying contract signings?

[gimmesix]

Deadlines make deals lol

That is their belief, but it's also led to holdouts until the start of the regular season and players not having a proper warmup for the season IMO.

 

[Chasing6]

Managing the salary cap should be much simpler than the Cowboys make it.

In today’s NFL, the ability to evaluate the talent on your roster is a big part of cap management. Knowing not only the players you have that are worth paying market prices, but also knowing when or if you make the decision to pay them - or not.

The process of managing the cap should go something like this:

• Evaluate the talent you have.
• Decide as EARLY as you can whether you want to extend a player or not.
• If you know you want them, don’t wait. Offer them an extension as early as possible. It saves $$$.
• Avoid long contract negotiations or delays. Because the longer you wait, the more you pay and the less flexibility you have for other signings.

One reason this team always seems to have cap issues is they fail to follow a process anything close to the above.

Another factor. The longer you drag it out the more resentment you create.

 

[DarkVader33]

Why should they? It’s literally the agent’s job the get the player the best deal possible.

Players have a very short time to make money playing football. They would be foolish to take less money than the market dictates. The only time a player takes less money is at the tail end of their career.

NFL owners are making money without breaking a sweat. I guarantee the owners don’t take less money for their negotiated TV deals. The idea that players are “greedy” compared to the owners is IMO silly.

Can’t both things be true? Both the owners and the players are greedy. Just like most people.

 

[gimmesix]

If they don't start negations until the deadline then they are correct. Several deals have already been made this off season before any deadline.

Jerry gets decide when the deadline is in this scenario.

I think it's different when we're talking about negotiating a deal with one of our top players and negotiating deals in free agency, etc. The deadlines for free agency are that you have to sign a player before someone else does. The deadline for a deal with a player on the final year of his deal is getting him signed before the season. It'll be interesting if they see the deadline for the tag as the actual deadline day (July 15) and start negotiating in earnest with Pickens' representatives a little before then or if they won't even bother negotiating, leaving it to Pickens' reps to make them an offer they can't refuse.

 

[DarkVader33]

That is their belief, but it's also led to holdouts until the start of the regular season and players not having a proper warmup for the season IMO.

Maybe they do it so the players can avoid offseason injuries.

 

[gimmesix]

Maybe they do it so the players can avoid offseason injuries.

I do think that is part of their reasoning, and then either the players get off to a slow start or are injured early in the season.

 

[DarkVader33]

There is not now, nor was there ever, a reliable source that knows what they offered Aubrey. The 6.8 number appears a to be a leak from the cowboys and we all know that they have a thirty six year history of lying about players and contracts.

Further, Aubrey, and his wife, called BS on the front office whisper campaign that he had demanded $10m. That carries weight with me because, unlike Jerry, I don’t have decades of proof that Aubrey is a grifter and a liar.

This is just like Pickens. The team put a tag on him and will pay him that because they don’t want to actually pay him top of market.

Can you recommend a good novel? You seem to be experienced reading bluebloods.

Just kidding blueblood.

 

[DarkVader33]

I heard it was $5m and a sack of McGriddles

Source: my butt

McGriddles are disgusting! You’d have to up the offer to well over $10 mil to compensate.

 

[KingCorcoran]

Can you recommend a good novel? You seem to be experienced reading bluebloods.

Just kidding blueblood.

“War and Peace”. All four volumes.

 

[SymphonySteve]

“War and Peace”. All four volumes.

I especially enjoyed it in the original Cyrillic.

 

[deerhunter11]

Because we are stupid. And that's not joking.

We do not even begin to understand the machinations of an NFL football team. We suck at evaluating talent, we refuse to watch tape, and way too many of our decisions are based on flash. Just think about how many years it took them to understand the importance of the OL, and they're just now beginning to understand the importance of the DL. I mean, this is something a 12 year old could've told them from the start, but instead they take 30 years to learn. However, since they are completely inept at evaluating talent, the best we can hope for is that they hire someone they will listen to. Even the worst talent evaluators in the NFL are better than this duo. Calling them dumb and dumber would be a compliment.

So, to answer the question. We don't understand football at the NFL level, and all too often base our signings on the timing of when Jerry thinks we need attention. Prolly around draft weekend. We basically don't have enough cap space to sign our draftees w/o Pickens either signing or being traded.

Mama said stupid is as stupid does, 1989 a year that Dallas fans want to forget ever happened. All I know for sure is I am personally embarrassed with the lack of leadership the last 37 years and it is not going to change. The Jones crew have no clue how to run an NFL football team. An Idiot with lots of money and absolutely zero common sense about football was allowed to buy this team. Sad stuff.

 

[Whyjerry]

Because the 2 turds in charge are narcissists and drunks.

 

[DandyDon52]

Could someone please help me understand why we do this, why we think this is some kind of special tactic to use? I'm sure "other teams do this too" but we're focusing on the cowboys. What is the reasoning, has the player not shown enough, is it the agent, is it both, or the Cowboys just aren't sure the player fits in their plans?

It's kind of hard to believe as the Cowboys have great things to say about every player. If you ask them, you always hear positive feedback on how they WANT said player to return and play for them, yet they stall and take their time. I realize it's good to see what the market is set at, but find out what the market is, and get the player signed. Often times we run the price up by waiting too long, doing the opposite of what we want to do. We all know they're cheap, yet they wait and wait things out, only to see the price increase! Please give your thoughts on this

jerry says "deadlines make deals"
and he keeps people talking about it for long periods.
It is all false but he believes it so......

 

[DandyDon52]

Mama said stupid is as stupid does, 1989 a year that Dallas fans want to forget ever happened. All I know for sure is I am personally embarrassed with the lack of leadership the last 37 years and it is not going to change. The Jones crew have no clue how to run an NFL football team. An Idiot with lots of money and absolutely zero common sense about football was allowed to buy this team. Sad stuff.

you know this could be what bum bright was hoping for?
I have heard jerrys bid was not the highest, and yet he sold to jerry !
He wanted to get some type of revenge on landry and schram, and maybe hurt the cowboy fandom too.

 

[Kwyn]

McGriddles are disgusting! You’d have to up the offer to well over $10 mil to compensate.

I’ve heard from a certain old drunk that sprinkling salt on them makes all the difference

 

[DarkVader33]

I’ve heard from a certain old drunk that sprinkling salt on them makes all the difference

Think I heard that too. I’ll take his word for it.

 

[deerhunter11]

And that's not even considering understanding who to pay and who not to pay. Many of us wanted to keep Lewis and didn't think Diggs was worth it.

When Ol Jerry went to sleep at the wheel and lost Jordan Lewis a tremendous nickel corner, that right there shows they have no clue about football and how important Lewis was to the defense. It is just embarrassing to watch these clowns year after year run this football team into the ground. Too cheap to offer Jordan Lewis a descent contract so he signs with Jacksonville, I knew what kind of loss Lewis was going to be and Ol Jerry still just can't seem to understand why the defense got worse. There is absolutely no football common sense to be found, I wonder if the coaching staff may have said something like Jerry, Jordan Lewis is a good football player you might want to try and keep that star on his helmet, keep him in Dallas. If somebody did try to talk to Ol Jerry, then this makes him look even more cheap, stupid and incompetent, and Dallas is still looking for this Jordan Lewis replacement. Ol Jerry let another good one get away.

 

[deerhunter11]

Yeah, here’s the thing—calling this unfortunate for Pickens is ridiculous. The man can sign his tag, and even without a long-term deal, he’ll make $29 million.

Even if that averages close to $16 million over two years, that’s just how it works—that’s the rule.

Here’s the counterpoint: are we pretending the agent and player don’t know this? Why not come down on the price a bit? Over the last few seasons, non-quarterback players wanting to be the highest paid at their position has changed how contracts get done for the top 10% of elite players, making it harder to sign them early.

Negotiations are about compromise—meeting in the middle. George Pickens hasn’t done enough to deserve being the highest-paid receiver in the league, not even top three. If he wants to aim for top five, fine, but it’s also on the agent and player to compromise. Some people don’t seem to get how you run a business with a budget.

That’s what the cap is. Even without a salary cap, businesses exist to profit—sports teams are corporations. You don’t just hand employees whatever they demand or cave to threats.

Look at Parsons—his exit wasn’t about money but his attitude, antics, body language, and social media behavior. Jerry played along, but Parsons pushed it too far.

I wouldn’t want to play on a team that operates like that. Sometimes patience pays—Prescott was patient, and he took Jerry to the cleaners twice, even after getting hurt, still landing a big payday.

Fans need to stop acting like players should instantly get whatever they demand; you don’t know what’s going on behind the scenes or what number they’ve set.

Why don’t fans stop stressing over contracts and money and just let things play out? Acting like the Cowboys’ front office is doing this on purpose isn’t true. Even with Aubrey, they tried to sign him last year as the highest-paid kicker—it wasn’t by much, but it was still the best deal for a kicker. He turned it down, that’s on him. Now he needs to sign the tender—has he? I don’t think so. Until Pickens signs the tag, he can’t get offers, so where’s all this supposed high value? Cowboys fans tend to overvalue their players, get attached, and think they should get everything while taking owners to the cleaners because they dislike ownership.

Across the league, 90% of contracts get done easily; the other 10%, like this, are driven by ego on all sides. Negotiation and compromise are necessary, or nothing moves.

Let’s see the value for Aubrey and Pickens—you won’t until they sign their tags and tenders and offers start coming in. I haven’t heard a single one. I’d take the money and conversation Waddle got in that trade; I think Pickens could get that or more, and I’d do it in a heartbeat instead of dragging this out. All three sides are holding this up. Show me where he’s signed his tag and then show me teams aggressively pursuing Pickens. Some say he’s not worth a first, not even what Waddle got; others say a second. If that’s the case, he’s not worth $34 million. I bet if he asked for $31 million, Jerry would sign him now, but I think his number is closer to $36 million.

Ol Jerry won't talk to the agent there lies the main deal killing problem, pure incompetence from GM genius himself. You have to communicate with the agent, get a number per year and sign him or trade him based on those numbers. We need a competent leader, and we don't have it here.

 

[Cebrin]

Jerry is a bad GM. He for years has picked old head coaches with antiquated schemes and understanding of modern day football, or his buddies that used to play for him. This has lead to consistent turnover at the HC position, and posistional coaching posistions, which in turn leaves you with a constant fluxuation of good players that worked well in one scheme and terrible in the next. These players tend to get extentions based on their play, and then constant restructures as we move through the coaching carousel. These restructures leave you stuck with players due to their dead cap hit. Take Daron Bland for example. He has a dead cap of $30M this year. The same Daron Bland that was getting torched by DK Metcalf so bad that they switched an aging Stephon Gilmore on to him. Jerry decided to make him a top 7 paid CB after that. Daron is a slot corner, and we pay him like Revis Island. That is a bad GM in a nutshell. Daron is just one example. Steele and Ferguson aren't much better. Middle to low end play players that are paid way over skillset and value.

I like where we are headed in the coaching department currently, but I fear the effects of Jerry's poor GM work will stifle their ability to make the impact us fans have long awaited.

 

[deerhunter11]

It was obvious from day 1 Pickens was going to have a monster year.

1. He had a better QB to play with.
2. He was playing with a top 5 WR who was being doubled.

This is like when our DB's Diggs and Bland played outstanding with Micah's pass rush. Then without Micah, not so much.

Not only do we not know how to build a complimentary football team, we also can't recognize inflated performances because of it and then tend to over pay players.

A great year does not necessarily mean you over pay them. Pay them what they are worth, or trade them after a monster year, and reap the rewards in draft compensation.

Good post, this is common sense stuff in your post, making common sense football decisions is not this front office's way of decision making. Ol Jerry has to talk to Pickens and his agent first, but what is Ol Jerry doing again, WAITING.