We won't be players in FA again in my opinion

gjkoeppen

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Dead Money

Is a falsity, any team can maneuverer their cap to create as much money as they need.
The difference is, if you feel that its the right time to do so.
Nothing wrong with proper cap management, but the teams that succeed know when to strike while the irons hot.
I wont pretend to be a cap expert, but without even looking, I would bet that Cleveland has a ton of cap space...lol


That's the same philosophy that has kept the Cowboys in cap he11 since the cap started. Every time a team restructures a contract they 99.99% of the time are just eventually adding dead money to their cap in future years because very few players ever see the end of a restructure contract. By restructuring contracts all a team is doing is kicking the cap problem down the road. Stephen has publicly said that teams can't continue to restructure contracts if they want to get the cap under control. The Cowboys have done it from the getgo but Stephen is seeing the error in that and wants to hold that to an absolute minimum.
 

Hawkeye0202

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5 million is nothing for a starting MLB. But the caveat is Jaylon. The FO is not about to give up on him so I don't see them blocking that by resigning Hitch which will be a huge mistake. LB's take time in the NFL just like WR's do.

If we go in with Lee and Jaylon and a couple of draft picks I will be scared to death!

Think you just hit on the issue regard Hitchen......he and Jaylon both at MLB. We KNOW Jerry and Stephen are excited about Jaylon's 2018 season. We have not heard or seen anything to suggest he will move outside. So my guess as of today Jaylon has 2018 MLBer spot lockdown IMO. Hitch value comes in he can play ALL three position very well but can he start over Jaylon, Lewis or Lee. He lost snaps to Jaylon at the start of the season until they realize he wasn't ready. Then, of course, Jaylon was benched in favor of Hitch. So to be honest, we are not sure Hitch wanna come back. His position could very well be the same Brice Butler ( bless his soul lol), if he's not coming back it can't start. Can they guarantee him that? I'm not sure but I doubt they are willing to pay him starting $$$$ on the high end if they can't. This is why Stephen wouldn't give the commitment of his return during a recent interview. Only saying we want him back and going to do everything we can. No question IMO, he saying at the right price, which could totally from what he means to let's say Browns or Commanders. In fact, I'm guessing Hitchen situation could be one where both parties agree its best he move on.
 

cern

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That's the same philosophy that has kept the Cowboys in cap he11 since the cap started. Every time a team restructures a contract they 99.99% of the time are just eventually adding dead money to their cap in future years because very few players ever see the end of a restructure contract. By restructuring contracts all a team is doing is kicking the cap problem down the road. Stephen has publicly said that teams can't continue to restructure contracts if they want to get the cap under control. The Cowboys have done it from the getgo but Stephen is seeing the error in that and wants to hold that to an absolute minimum.
I liken it to a form of crisis management. better to be smart like new England and know when to fold them if you can't hold on to them. that and good drafting which we've been pretty good at the last several years.
 

Howboutdemcowboys31

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I think we will be players. Jerry knows he can only hold onto his son JG for one more year before the fanbase totally explodes. He’s gotta protect him with talent
 

noshame

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I think Jerry goes all out in free agency this year because if his boy fails he's got no way to protect him next year

LOL I should have read the post before this but yeah same here
 

Sydla

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Let's do this for the new guys from DC.com who apparently are struggling with this concept.

Currently, Martin will count $9.3MM against the cap. If he signs a new deal, that number will most likely not be $9.3MM.

Let's look at the most recent big time OG contract - Kevin Zeitler signed with Cleveland this past March. He signed a 5 year, $60MM deal, with $23MM guaranteed at signing and the rest ($8.5MM) guaranteed after 2018. They gave him a $12MM signing bonus (which was spread over the life of the contract for cap purposes - $2.4MM a year) and then only $6MM in salary in year 1 (this was guaranteed as well). In doing so, they lowered the cap hit in Year 1 to only $8.4MM. The remaining years, the cap hits are $12.4MM, $12.4MM, $12.4MM and then $14.4MM.

The Cowboys could (and other teams do this all the time) structure a deal in a similar manner, giving Martin a bigger signing bonus, smaller first year salary and have a cap hit under the new deal lower than the existing cap hit Martin currently has.

However, even if they didn't do that, and let's say they took a larger cap hit in Year 1 (say the first year cap hit is $11MM) the effect on the cap isn't that large because the Cowboys are already carrying a cap hit of $9.3MM on their 2018 cap. In reality, signing Martin to a new deal, worst case, would only increase the cap, maybe, a million or two.
 

Aven8

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Think you just hit on the issue regard Hitchen......he and Jaylon both at MLB. We KNOW Jerry and Stephen are excited about Jaylon's 2018 season. We have not heard or seen anything to suggest he will move outside. So my guess as of today Jaylon has 2018 MLBer spot lockdown IMO. Hitch value comes in he can play ALL three position very well but can he start over Jaylon, Lewis or Lee. He lost snaps to Jaylon at the start of the season until they realize he wasn't ready. Then, of course, Jaylon was benched in favor of Hitch. So to be honest, we are not sure Hitch wanna come back. His position could very well be the same Brice Butler ( bless his soul lol), if he's not coming back it can't start. Can they guarantee him that? I'm not sure but I doubt they are willing to pay him starting $$$$ on the high end if they can't. This is why Stephen wouldn't give the commitment of his return during a recent interview. Only saying we want him back and going to do everything we can. No question IMO, he saying at the right price, which could totally from what he means to let's say Browns or Commanders. In fact, I'm guessing Hitchen situation could be one where both parties agree its best he move on.

Nice post. You know that's what they are thinking and if Jaylon's foot suddenly heals it's not a bad plan. But if it doesn't than we have two liabilities at LB again just like we did this year. LB is our biggest need IMO, besides speed on offense.
 

gjkoeppen

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You guys really need to educate yourselves on this. It's embarrassing now.

Martin doesn't have to sign a "cowboys friendly" discounted deal for the Cowboys to get some cap relief from him in 2018.


You just keep telling yourself that and you'll keep believing it but numbers don't lie. In order for the Cowboys to sign Martin to the kind of contract you think, Martin would have to take less money than what he would be guaranteed for his option year which is forcing him to do a team friendly deal. With being an All Pro EVERY YEAR since becoming a pro he knows that he'll make bukoo bucks after the option year so why would he agree to take less money with Dallas for 2018 on an extension when he knows that loss pay from what the option year would have been will never be made up? That's throwing away money.
.
 

KingintheNorth

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You just keep telling yourself that and you'll keep believing it but numbers don't lie. In order for the Cowboys to sign Martin to the kind of contract you think, Martin would have to take less money than what he would be guaranteed for his option year which is forcing him to do a team friendly deal. With being an All Pro EVERY YEAR since becoming a pro he knows that he'll make bukoo bucks after the option year so why would he agree to take less money with Dallas for 2018 on an extension when he knows that loss pay from what the option year would have been will never be made up? That's throwing away money.
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You are forgetting about the concept of immediate money (signing bonus). He gets no signing bonus with that option year. It's divided over the 17-week season and he has no guarantees after his year if he were to get hurt.

He signs an extension, gets a ton of up-front, guaranteed money and insurance beyond this season. The team lowers their cap number for him this year. Everyone wins.
 

KJJ

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I know it was asked already, but what is our cap space looking like?

I’m hearing it’s not all that much but haven’t looked it up. Franchising DLaw and keeping Dez is going to eat up a lot of the cap. The Cowboys could save all of 13 million cutting Dez but we would need to replace him.
 

LittleD

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Dead Money

Is a falsity, any team can maneuverer their cap to create as much money as they need.
The difference is, if you feel that its the right time to do so.
Nothing wrong with proper cap management, but the teams that succeed know when to strike while the irons hot.
I wont pretend to be a cap expert, but without even looking, I would bet that Cleveland has a ton of cap space...lol

The teams that succeed have outstanding coaching and a great QB in the mold of Brady. Dallas has none of those and
is probably years away from competing for anything above the wild card round.
 

Typhus

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You just keep telling yourself that and you'll keep believing it but numbers don't lie. In order for the Cowboys to sign Martin to the kind of contract you think, Martin would have to take less money than what he would be guaranteed for his option year which is forcing him to do a team friendly deal. With being an All Pro EVERY YEAR since becoming a pro he knows that he'll make bukoo bucks after the option year so why would he agree to take less money with Dallas for 2018 on an extension when he knows that loss pay from what the option year would have been will never be made up? That's throwing away money.
.
I don't know, maybe Guaranteed Money?
Ask Tyron Smith.
 

gjkoeppen

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I liken it to a form of crisis management. better to be smart like new England and know when to fold them if you can't hold on to them. that and good drafting which we've been pretty good at the last several years.


Hi cern. You're one of the few I recognize from the Cowboys site. Hope things are well.
.
 

Hawkeye19

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He's not signing a 1-2 year deal buddy
He'll be looking for a pay day
LBs have a short shelf life

Maybe. Players JJ wants he figures out a way to make it work to keep them.

Bottom line is we need him or another vet FA to replace him— so I’d rather reward a guy who has been productive, knows our system, and has already gelled with the defense— than pay to bring in a different FA.
 

Sydla

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You just keep telling yourself that and you'll keep believing it but numbers don't lie. In order for the Cowboys to sign Martin to the kind of contract you think, Martin would have to take less money than what he would be guaranteed for his option year which is forcing him to do a team friendly deal. With being an All Pro EVERY YEAR since becoming a pro he knows that he'll make bukoo bucks after the option year so why would he agree to take less money with Dallas for 2018 on an extension when he knows that loss pay from what the option year would have been will never be made up? That's throwing away money.
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He would not. You seriously do not have a clue how this all works.

For one, he's not guaranteed anything in 2018. The Cowboys could cut him today and get a full $9.3MM back on the cap.

The Cowboys could end up giving him even MORE MONEY this year than the $9.3MM if they paid him a substantial signing bonus for the new deal even with a smaller guaranteed first year salary.

Again, look at Kevin Zeitler's deal. In the first year, he was paid $18MM dollars cash. $6MM in salary and a $12MM signing bonus. He walked with $18MM in cash in year one. But for cap purposes, the Browns could spread the signing bonus out and guarantee other future salaries to lower the cap hit in year 1.

So no, Martin doesn't have to take less money for the Cowboys to have a fairly cap friendly deal in Year 1.
 

JustChip

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Roy Williams was traded to Us by Detroit, cost Us a 1st and 3rd if I recall correctly, as well as a huge contract.

I can't decide whether that trade, or the Joey Galloway trade, was the single most idiotic trade ever made! At least Galloway was worthy of a 1st round (but not 2 1st round picks) and was derailed here by injury. Roy was never worthy of a 1st round even coming out of college. He succeeded at UT due to his size, not his route running skills. He was kind of a Dez Bryant, but not near as good.
 
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Typhus

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The teams that succeed have outstanding coaching and a great QB in the mold of Brady. Dallas has none of those and
is probably years away from competing for anything above the wild card round.
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