What is the Cowboys reasoning for delaying contract signings?

[Kwyn]

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.

You choose to believe in Jerry despite his documented history of deceit.

I choose to disbelieve Jerry for the exact same reasons.

 

[Kwyn]

Don't always assume that the delay is always on the front orifice. These agents know how to milk money from owners as well.

Thst would require the front office to asked the phone, which in this case, they aren’t doing now that they put the tag on him.

Next big news will be Jerry starting the whisper campaign when GP doesn’t attend OTAs, which is appropriate since he is not under contract.

 

[KingCorcoran]

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.

Someone from the Cowboys talks to the agents. It does not have to be Jerry.

 

[jazzcat22]

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.

That $10 million came from the media.
And you have no idea they do not want to pay Pickens.
The tag is in place to allow more negotiation time.

 

[TheSport78]

Agents don't like Stephen. Agents laugh at Jerry. The Joneses try to triangulate agents to their clients, which makes nobody happy in the end. They're just bad people.

 

[visionary]

1. Clicks/revenue
2. Sheer incompetence

 

[deerhunter11]

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

The key word in this post is reasoning, I don't think there is much reasoning that goes into any of Ol Jerry's decision making at all. I think Ol Jerry and son just shoot from the hip so to speak, meaning very little thought is put into what is some very important football team related decisions, that other better run organizations make. Because of this look at the poor results that this team has recorded in its recent mediocre history. Poor GM fingerprints are all over this organization, and this is the main reason why this team can't get over the hump and have failed to be more successful. Some of these boneheaded bad decisions linger for seasons and take a while to get corrected, hence the loss of one Jordan Lewis a mistake that is yet to be fixed, and a good football player yet to be replaced, a big reason this defense has continued to struggle.

 

[jazzcat22]

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.

Well that did not work out too well for him now did it.
They won 3 SB’s and were the team of the decade in the 90’s.

And went from losing a lot of money per month to the most valuable sports franchise in the world.

 

[deerhunter11]

Someone from the Cowboys talks to the agents. It does not have to be Jerry.

Good, I feel somewhat better knowing that somebody with talent and ability, gets to do some of these important football tasks. Somebody else may have some better luck with Pickens agent than the oil and gas man.

 

[Kwyn]

That $10 million came from the media.
And you have no idea they do not want to pay Pickens.
The tag is in place to allow more negotiation time.

Maybe that was more Jerry but he said they had informed Pickens they were tagging him and told us he wasn’t planning on negotiating when he was on the combine bus.

I’ll he surprised if he doesn’t jsut play on the tag . It fits Jerry’s one year, below market, contract strategy to a tee.

I finally reached the point with Parsons, where after seeing Jerry run him down for weeks until Micah finally pulled the table stunt, that it was best for everyone that he be traded.

I don’t think Jerry learned anything at all and I expect to see him fire the Cowboy PR machine when OTAs roll around.

We’ll see the nasty threads about GP get going with tweets from Jane, Calvin, etc. and I just don’t have the patience for another drama filled training camp.

 

[LonnieElam]

I really think Jerry values the media exposure, and in his mind the, let's say 10 million, that he could have saved by doing it in a timely matter is worth the exposure. Also, they're just stupid when it comes to football. My best friend damn near hates this team after working for them 8 years.

 

[deerhunter11]

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.

Well Ol Bum Bright succeeded on getting revenge on the Cowboys, Landry and Sham and us fans. Way to go Bum, you have seriously hampered this legendary franchise. Thanks for the information, Don. I was 20 years old when Igor was able to buy my beloved Dallas Cowboys. Now I am 57, that was 37 years ago, and the last 30 years have not been very successful.

 

[deerhunter11]

Maybe that was more Jerry but he said they had informed Pickens they were tagging him and told us he wasn’t planning on negotiating when he was on the combine bus.

I’ll he surprised if he doesn’t jsut play on the tag . It fits Jerry’s one year, below market, contract strategy to a tee.

I finally reached the point with Parsons, where after seeing Jerry run him down for weeks until Micah finally pulled the table stunt, that it was best for everyone that he be traded.

I don’t think Jerry learned anything at all and I expect to see him fire the Cowboy PR machine when OTAs roll around.

We’ll see the nasty threads about GP get going with tweets from Jane, Calvin, etc. and I just don’t have the patience for another drama filled training camp.

Me either I hate drama, and it sucks the life out of a football season. It is the GM that causes most of the team's drama.

 

[kskboys]

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.

Especially considering that while Diggs was garnering 11 picks, he was also giving up the most yards in the NFL.

 

[Coogiguy03]

Me either I hate drama, and it sucks the life out of a football season. It is the GM that causes most of the team's drama.

So is it wrong to say that the season is over pretty much

 

[Coogiguy03]

Especially considering that while Diggs was garnering 11 picks, he was also giving up the most yards in the NFL.

Nobody wants to talk about that

 

[Chasing6]

Especially considering that while Diggs was garnering 11 picks, he was also giving up the most yards in the NFL.

His picks had a lot to do with Parsons.

 

[kskboys]

You choose to believe in Jerry despite his documented history of deceit.

I choose to disbelieve Jerry for the exact same reasons.

It's the strangest thing I've ever seen. I mean, there's just so much proof of this.

 

[dupree89]

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

Just kidding blueblood.

its always good to get a few words from blue blood on topics like this one.
He has a good feel for this front office stuff

 

[deerhunter11]

So is it wrong to say that the season is over pretty much

I don't know, maybe we luck up and get these young coaches some talent to work with, and they figure out how to win despite the leadership. Innovative coaching and team chemistry is still a possibility for optimism. Moral is low at the present time; however, I am a long-time homer and love this team and I always hope for the best. This team needs more good luck though than other teams in the league in order to compete with teams that have better more sound decision makers at the top.