Cowboys Spending by Position

Bobhaze · Jul 31, 2021

rocyaice said:
They haven't had anyone worth even spending on in secondary that's the issue there.

They really haven’t even tried at Safety. No premium draft picks on the position and mostly band aids in free agency. After so many years, it can’t be said that it’s an accident. This FO just doesn’t value that position at all. And it’s mystifying.

DanA · Jul 31, 2021

Bobhaze said:
If you want to know what an organization values, look at how and where they spend their money. I always find it interesting to check how our Cowboys spend their salary cap dollars each year.

Here is a list of what the Cowboys spend by sides of the ball as well as position and how it ranks in the NFL. This is obviously including some players that will eventually not be on the roster after cuts.

OFFENSE: 43 players; $124.880 million; 59.48% of the total cap space. NFL RANK: 2
DEFENSE: 38 players; $83.543 million; 39.7% of the cap space; NFL RANK: 20
SPECIAL TEAMS: 4 players; $5.88 million; 2.66% of the cap space: NFL RANK: 15

POSITION RANKINGS

QB- 4 players; $24.8 million; 11.8% of the cap: NFL RANK: 8

RB- 6 players; $27.6 million; 8.38% of the cap; NFL RANK: 1

WR- 14 players; $37.29 million; 17.76% of the cap; NFL RANK: 5

TE- 6 players; $9.9 million; 4.73% of the cap; NFL RANK: 16

OL- 14 players; $36.11 million; 17.2% of the cap; NFL RANK: 12

DL- 13 players; $37.7 million; 17.96% of the cap; NFL RANK: 13

LB- 10 players; $25.1 million; 11.99% of the cap; NFL RANK: 11

Secondary- 19 players; $26.05 million; 12.41% of the cap; NFL RANK: 24

STs- 4 players; $5.58 million; 2.66% of the cap; NFL RANK: 15

The 3 positional areas that jump out to me are RB, WR, and the Secondary. Being overpaid at RB and WR is the “Jerry effect”. IMO, WRs and RBs should never be that high on cap space.

If you want took at individuals pay or just browse where I got this info, I highly recommend this link to Spotrac:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/positional/

I was thinking how the hell does RB add up to 27.6m....typo, it's 17.6m.

To be honest, it's all pretty decent except for four contracts:
1. Demarcus Lawrence (25m)
2. Amari Cooper (22m)
3. Ezekiel Elliot (13.7m)
4. Jaylon Smith (9.8m)

I don't even mind Lawrence and Cooper contracts, at least they were top players when they got their contracts and have only slightly underperformed with injuries playing a factor. Zeke and Jaylon weren't IMO and have well underperformed their contracts to date. If we spent that 70m in the trenches and secondary with Pollard, Wilson, Neale and a better value LDE we'd be a much better side.

Bobhaze · Aug 1, 2021

DanA said:
I was thinking how the hell does RB add up to 27.6m....typo, it's 17.6m.

To be honest, it's all pretty decent except for four contracts:
1. Demarcus Lawrence (25m)
2. Amari Cooper (22m)
3. Ezekiel Elliot (13.7m)
4. Jaylon Smith (9.8m)

I don't even mind Lawrence and Cooper contracts, at least they were top players when they got their contracts and have only slightly underperformed with injuries playing a factor. Zeke and Jaylon weren't IMO and have well underperformed their contracts to date. If we spent that 70m in the trenches and secondary with Pollard, Wilson, Neale and a better value LDE we'd be a much better side.

Thanks. I corrected the typo for the RB position.

Flamma · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
Think about this…approximately 25% of our total cap space is dedicated to RB and WR.

It's mainly Cooper at WR. He's almost 60% of that 37 million. The next 3 highest are just under 8 million combined. No one else is over a million. Most of which will either be off the team or on the practice squad.

Just a guess, but I think Cooper is either no longer here in 2022 or he gets restructured going forward.

Flamma · Aug 1, 2021

USArmyVet said:
JJ gave Zeke a huge extension 2 years before he needed to and reset the running back market......and here is Nick Chubb, arguably better than Zeke, just now getting an extension valued at 3 years $36.6M with $20M guaranteed.....compare that to Zeke's 6-year $90M extension with $50M guaranteed.

Jerry screwed the pooch yet again.

Both Zeke and Chubb got their extension after their 3rd season. But yeah, Zeke did get a monster deal. But I don't see too many teams following suit. Even McCaffrey didn't get 50 million guaranteed.

ConstantReboot · Aug 1, 2021

USArmyVet said:
JJ gave Zeke a huge extension 2 years before he needed to and reset the running back market......and here is Nick Chubb, arguably better than Zeke, just now getting an extension valued at 3 years $36.6M with $20M guaranteed.....compare that to Zeke's 6-year $90M extension with $50M guaranteed.

Jerry screwed the pooch yet again.

WE should not have caved on Zeke. We could still have gotten the same production from Pollard.

Zeke is way overrated and overpriced. Jerry is just terrible when it comes to signing players.

TheMarathonContinues · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
They really haven’t even tried at Safety. No premium draft picks on the position and mostly band aids in free agency. After so many years, it can’t be said that it’s an accident. This FO just doesn’t value that position at all. And it’s mystifying.

For safety that is true. Can’t say we haven’t spent resources on corner though.

Diehardblues · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
If you want to know what an organization values, look at how and where they spend their money. I always find it interesting to check how our Cowboys spend their salary cap dollars each year.

Here is a list of what the Cowboys spend by sides of the ball as well as position and how it ranks in the NFL. This is obviously including some players that will eventually not be on the roster after cuts.

OFFENSE: 43 players; $124.880 million; 59.48% of the total cap space. NFL RANK: 2
DEFENSE: 38 players; $83.543 million; 39.7% of the cap space; NFL RANK: 20
SPECIAL TEAMS: 4 players; $5.88 million; 2.66% of the cap space: NFL RANK: 15

POSITION RANKINGS

QB- 4 players; $24.8 million; 11.8% of the cap: NFL RANK: 8

RB- 6 players; $17.6 million; 8.38% of the cap; NFL RANK: 1

WR- 14 players; $37.29 million; 17.76% of the cap; NFL RANK: 5

TE- 6 players; $9.9 million; 4.73% of the cap; NFL RANK: 16

OL- 14 players; $36.11 million; 17.2% of the cap; NFL RANK: 12

DL- 13 players; $37.7 million; 17.96% of the cap; NFL RANK: 13

LB- 10 players; $25.1 million; 11.99% of the cap; NFL RANK: 11

Secondary- 19 players; $26.05 million; 12.41% of the cap; NFL RANK: 24

STs- 4 players; $5.58 million; 2.66% of the cap; NFL RANK: 15

The 3 positional areas that jump out to me are RB, WR, and the Secondary. Being overpaid at RB and WR is the “Jerry effect”. IMO, WRs and RBs should never be that high on cap space.

If you want took at individuals pay or just browse where I got this info, I highly recommend this link to Spotrac:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/positional/

I think overall we are paying proportional to the production . Which punctuates where our weaknesses are.

And nice research and presentation Bob!!

ArtClink · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
And unless I’m terribly wrong (which is very possible, ) Zeke will never be as good as he was 2016-18. We are literally paying top NFL money for a position where you can find similar talent for way less money. Same for WRs.

I would argue Zeke’s play has dropped to the point where he’s tied w Pollard as the best RB on the roster. Hoping Zeke has a rebound year, but he looks done to me.

Creeper · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
If you want to know what an organization values, look at how and where they spend their money. I always find it interesting to check how our Cowboys spend their salary cap dollars each year.

Here is a list of what the Cowboys spend by sides of the ball as well as position and how it ranks in the NFL. This is obviously including some players that will eventually not be on the roster after cuts.

OFFENSE: 43 players; $124.880 million; 59.48% of the total cap space. NFL RANK: 2
DEFENSE: 38 players; $83.543 million; 39.7% of the cap space; NFL RANK: 20
SPECIAL TEAMS: 4 players; $5.88 million; 2.66% of the cap space: NFL RANK: 15

POSITION RANKINGS

QB- 4 players; $24.8 million; 11.8% of the cap: NFL RANK: 8

RB- 6 players; $17.6 million; 8.38% of the cap; NFL RANK: 1

WR- 14 players; $37.29 million; 17.76% of the cap; NFL RANK: 5

TE- 6 players; $9.9 million; 4.73% of the cap; NFL RANK: 16

OL- 14 players; $36.11 million; 17.2% of the cap; NFL RANK: 12

DL- 13 players; $37.7 million; 17.96% of the cap; NFL RANK: 13

LB- 10 players; $25.1 million; 11.99% of the cap; NFL RANK: 11

Secondary- 19 players; $26.05 million; 12.41% of the cap; NFL RANK: 24

STs- 4 players; $5.58 million; 2.66% of the cap; NFL RANK: 15

The 3 positional areas that jump out to me are RB, WR, and the Secondary. Being overpaid at RB and WR is the “Jerry effect”. IMO, WRs and RBs should never be that high on cap space.

If you want took at individuals pay or just browse where I got this info, I highly recommend this link to Spotrac:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/positional/

The DL spending is skewed high because of Demarcus Lawrence's contract. Look at just the DTs and see where they fall. I think Urban is the highest paid DT on their rosters and he is making under $2 million a year.

Bobhaze · Aug 1, 2021

ConstantReboot said:
WE should not have caved on Zeke. We could still have gotten the same production from Pollard.

Zeke is way overrated and overpriced. Jerry is just terrible when it comes to signing players.

Another reason why having the owner also be the GM is not a good idea. Especially an owner who gets emotionally attached to his players. Effective GMs (especially the ones who are accountable for results) have to separate how they feel about a player and make decisions accordingly. JJ has always struggled with that.

ArtClink · Aug 1, 2021

Creeper said:
The DL spending is skewed high because of Demarcus Lawrence's contract. Look at just the DTs and see where they fall. I think Urban is the highest paid DT on their rosters and he is making under $2 million a year.

Actually our front office has a long history of spending more on the offense (esp off line), than most teams. We are capable of building a great offense with poor depth but it’s another thing to build a great roster on both sides of the ball with decent depth. We haven’t really seen a Super Bowl caliber roster here since Parcells handed Wade Phillips the team Bill mostly built. And that team couldn’t ever get past the div round.

ArtClink · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
Another reason why having the owner also be the GM is not a good idea. Especially an owner who gets emotionally attached to his players. Effective GMs (especially the ones who are accountable for results) have to separate how they feel about a player and make decisions accordingly. JJ has always struggled with that.

“Accountable for the results”? Wow what a concept. I’ve heard winning franchises hold their gm accountable (ie, 5 years max and you better mk a deep playoff run) but it’s such a foreign concept here in Dallas. Do you think hiring a credentialed, experienced nfl gm would help lol?

Bobhaze · Aug 1, 2021

ArtClink said:
“Accountable for the results”? Wow what a concept. I’ve heard winning franchises hold their gm accountable (ie, 5 years max and you better mk a deep playoff run) but it’s such a foreign concept here in Dallas. Do you think hiring a credentialed, experienced nfl gm would help lol?

Yes- apparently it’s a SB winning concept to hire a GM and hold them accountable for results.The owners of the last 25 winning SB teams- 100% of them- thought it would be a good idea to hire a football expert to run the football operations side of things and hold them accountable for results.

Our model centers on a family with lifetime contracts, regardless of on field results, regardless of age or recent track history of success. We have the oldest GM in football by a mile. The game has passed him by, which happens even to great football minds, much less to a great businessman who isn’t great at building rosters that win.

Diehardblues · Aug 1, 2021

ArtClink said:
I would argue Zeke’s play has dropped to the point where he’s tied w Pollard as the best RB on the roster. Hoping Zeke has a rebound year, but he looks done to me.

With all due respect Art it’s difficult for me to see Pollards ability and talent level equal to Elliotts.

Now it’s possible we have seen Zekes best but that didn’t mean he still can’t be a very productive force for us . Now whether that measures up to his contract is another argument which most would agree they wouldn’t have caved in.

NotForLong · Aug 1, 2021

DallasInDC said:
Interesting... but not surprising... secondary is the only position group that we pay in the bottom half of the league. They really don't value the secondary.

Because we haven t drafted and developed anyone with Paying . . . gifted CB and Safeties get 2nd contracts and we have developed anyone worth outbidding other teams . Diggs and Joseph should change this ranking in a couple years

ArtClink · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
Yes- apparently it’s a SB winning concept to hire a GM and hold them accountable for results.The owners of the last 25 winning SB teams- 100% of them- thought it would be a good idea to hire a football expert to run the football operations side of things and hold them accountable for results.

Our model centers on a family with lifetime contracts, regardless of on field results, regardless of age or recent track history of success. We have the oldest GM in football by a mile. The game has passed him by, which happens even to great football minds, much less to a great businessman who isn’t great at building rosters that win.

Agreed. The game has not however passed him by. He was never a football mind and after 30+ years of experience, he's not appreciably better at "GM'ing the hell out of this team". Jerry had a window to hire a GM and have the respect of the rest of the league but after the Jimmy-built dynasty ran its course, we never got another great football mind with the authority to build a winner (Parcells was close but JJ has the last word).

CouchCoach · Aug 1, 2021

I wonder how this compares to the playoff teams of 2020? Not suggesting Bullet do more research and work, because this was special, but I will await the rankings of the other teams.

Bobhaze · Aug 1, 2021

CouchCoach said:
I wonder how this compares to the playoff teams of 2020? Not suggesting Bullet do more research and work, because this was special, but I will await the rankings of the other teams.

Well…since you asked Coach…here are some recent top teams’ positional spending last couple of years:

Tampa Bay- 2020 SB champs- offense was 5th in NFL in spending, defense 14th. QB was 8th, RB was 17th, and WR was 25th. In 2021, they will 3rd in offense spending, 25th in defense spending.
Kansas City- 2019 SB champs and 2020 AFC champs- Very interesting that in 2019 when chiefs won SB, they were 26th in spending on offense, 4th in spending on Defense. Obviously with the Mahomes deal that will change.

Here’s a good spotrac link to browse all this stuff:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/kansas-city-chiefs/positional/2021/full-cap/

CowboyFrog · Aug 1, 2021

Bobhaze said:
If you want to know what an organization values, look at how and where they spend their money. I always find it interesting to check how our Cowboys spend their salary cap dollars each year.

Here is a list of what the Cowboys spend by sides of the ball as well as position and how it ranks in the NFL. This is obviously including some players that will eventually not be on the roster after cuts.

OFFENSE: 43 players; $124.880 million; 59.48% of the total cap space. NFL RANK: 2
DEFENSE: 38 players; $83.543 million; 39.7% of the cap space; NFL RANK: 20
SPECIAL TEAMS: 4 players; $5.88 million; 2.66% of the cap space: NFL RANK: 15

POSITION RANKINGS

QB- 4 players; $24.8 million; 11.8% of the cap: NFL RANK: 8

RB- 6 players; $17.6 million; 8.38% of the cap; NFL RANK: 1

WR- 14 players; $37.29 million; 17.76% of the cap; NFL RANK: 5

TE- 6 players; $9.9 million; 4.73% of the cap; NFL RANK: 16

OL- 14 players; $36.11 million; 17.2% of the cap; NFL RANK: 12

DL- 13 players; $37.7 million; 17.96% of the cap; NFL RANK: 13

LB- 10 players; $25.1 million; 11.99% of the cap; NFL RANK: 11

Secondary- 19 players; $26.05 million; 12.41% of the cap; NFL RANK: 24

STs- 4 players; $5.58 million; 2.66% of the cap; NFL RANK: 15

The 3 positional areas that jump out to me are RB, WR, and the Secondary. Being overpaid at RB and WR is the “Jerry effect”. IMO, WRs and RBs should never be that high on cap space.

If you want took at individuals pay or just browse where I got this info, I highly recommend this link to Spotrac:
https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/positional/

Great write once again Bob.

Cowboys Spending by Position

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