Revisiting Free Agency Next Year

Cowboyny

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  • Who do you target for re-signing?
  • Who do you cut to get under cap?
  • What positions do you rely on the draft or free agency?
I would try to re-structure Tank, Zeke and Coop with potential cuts for all three depending on how much room is needed and what the draft or FA holds. Other cap hit targets - Collins (replace with Steele), Zuerlein (replace with free agency), Jarwin (replace with free agency, draft).
Top free agents for me would be Gregory, Kearse, Schultz, and Gallup. Lower contracts would love to retain if possible - Armstrong, Neal, Anger and McQuaide. C.Williams is a goner if they're already benching him for McGovern.
OT and EDGE are looking nice in the draft for a first rounder.

I think your outlook is pretty accurate, but don't think we are going to be able to keep everyone:

-Gregory/Kearse are the priorities from me
-There is no chance DLaw plays on that 27 million number, extend him and spread out the money
-If I had to choose, much rather keep Cooper over Gallup, don't think they will be able to keep both. 16 million for a #3 WR too expensive.
-Must decide if Wilson or Noah Brown are worth 5 million or more players, Cooper's contract needs to be restructued.
-Shultz play has really tailed off, resigning him is all about price. Think McKeon can replace Shultz. Jarwin needs to be released, need in the draft.
-Do believe Collins either is a june 1st cut or gets traded in the offseason, Steele is our new RT.
-Don't think either Kazee/Hooker have done enough to warrant a multi year extension, fine bringing them back on another low level 1 yr deal.
-Lve/Neal can leave via fa, neither has earned an extension. Need to sign a veteran and target one in the draft.
-If the team does lose Connor Williams and Collins, they need to add more depth via the draft.

Draft needs in no particular order, not all will get addressed: G/T, WR, TE,DT, DE, LB, FS.

To me LB, S and OL are the top priorities.
 

USArmyVet

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Tyron has missed 29 games in about 10 1/2 seasons, Terron Armstead who you mention as a possible FA replacement has missed around 48 in 9 1/2 seasons. Upgrade lol!!! That said, they chose to restructure Tyron this year…. Don’t see him going anywhere. Wouldn’t be surprised at all if they trade Collins this off-season!

Missed games by Tyron Smith:

2011: 0
2012: 1
2013: 0
2014: 0
2015: 0
2016: 3
2017: 3
2018: 3
2019: 3
2020: 14
2021: 3

So the reason people are concerned about Smith isn't based on his total missed games throughout his career but the pattern of missed games in his last 6 seasons (29 total missed games for an average of 5 missed games per season).

Smith counts $17.5M against the cap next season with $12M remaining in dead money so a trade/release would only save Dallas $5M so my guess is Smith stays next season but depending on injuries the rest of this season and next, Dallas would be best served looking to move on from Smith after next season where they will see a $9.6M in cap savings as Smith would be entering his age 33 season and being a free agent after the 2024 season.
 
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Stash

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no interest in Schultz.i think Gregory is gone too.

I think you’re in luck. There’s no way the Cowboys could afford to keep Schultz even if they wanted to. Barring a season-ending injury, he’ll get a contract in the $12 million and above range. Dallas can’t pay that.

But my own belief is that they will release Lawrence and re-sign Gregory to a multi-year deal.
 

reddyuta

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imo we need a better all round TE,none of the TEs on the roster can block.so back to the draft one more time .
 

Vinnie2u

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Keep drafting well and don’t sign good players to Elite player contracts. This includes other teams free agents.
 

USArmyVet

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I think you’re in luck. There’s no way the Cowboys could afford to keep Schultz even if they wanted to. Barring a season-ending injury, he’ll get a contract in the $12 million and above range. Dallas can’t pay that.

But my own belief is that they will release Lawrence and re-sign Gregory to a multi-year deal.

Keep an eye on Schultz and KC as their All Pro TE Kelce will be entering his age 33 season next year and KC has an out wherein they save $3.3M against the cap next season ($5.6M dead money) but save almost $48M the next 3 seasons after that.

While Kelce is still performing at a high level, the Chiefs will need the cap space and Schultz would be a viable replacement for Kelce.

Also keep an eye on the Cardinals as Zach Ertz is gone after this season and Schultz would give Murray one heck of an underneath security blanket to pair with outside options Hopkins and Kirk seeing as how AJ Green is gone after this season.
 

tm1119

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DALLAS COWBOYS ON PACE TO BE -$12M CAP SPACE IN 2022 (3rd Worst)


2022 FREE AGENTS (Sample cap hits below of potential big contracts)

  • QB none
  • RB Corey Clement
  • TE Dalton Schultz
  • (Top 10 TEs NFL 2021 Cap Hits $5.8-$8m)
  • WR Michael Gallup, Cedrick Wilson, Noah Brown, Malik Turner
  • (Top 20 WRs NFL 2021 Cap Hits $6.5-$22mm)
  • G/C Connor Williams
  • (Top 10 Gs NFL 2021 Cap Hit $7.7-$18.8m)
  • OT Ty Nsekhe

  • DE Randy Gregory, Dorance Armstrong
  • (Top 5 EDGEs NFL 2021 Cap Hit $20-$25m)
  • DT Brent Urban, Carlos Watkins
  • LB LVE, Keanu Neal, Luke Gifford
  • S Jayron Kearse, Demontae Kazee, Malik Hooker
  • (Top 5 Ss NFL 2021 Cap Hit $10-$20m)
  • CB Maurice Canady

  • ST Brian Anger, Jake McQuaide
  • (Top 5 P NFL 2021 cap hit $2-$4m, Top 5 LS cap hit $1-$1.5m)


2022 TOP SALARY CAP HITS:
  1. Dak $34.5m
  2. Tank $27m
  3. Coop $22m
  4. Zack Martin $20.2m
  5. Zeek $18.2m
  6. Tyron Smith $17m
  7. Lael Collins $15.2m
  8. Anthony Brown $6.5m
  9. Blake Jarwin $6.2m
  10. Jourdan Lewis $4.7m
  11. Micah Parsons $3.9m
  12. CeeDee Lamb $3.8m
  13. Terrell Basham $3m
  14. Greg Zuerlein $2.8m


2022 TOP 100 NFL DRAFT PROSPECTS BY POSITION COUNT:
  • QB 7
  • WR 15
  • RB 7
  • TE 3
  • G/C 5
  • OT 13
  • EDGE 16
  • DT 5
  • LBs 8
  • S 8
  • CB 14
  • K/P 0


2022 TOP FREE AGENTS IN COWBOYS POSITIONS OF NEED:

  • OT (Tyron Smith's injuries) Terron Armstead, Orlando Brown Jr.
  • EDGE (if lose Gregory and/or Tank) Chandler Jones, Von Miller, Jadeveon Clowney
  • DT Akiem Hicks
  • WR (if lose Gallup and/or Coop) Davante Adams, Chris Godwin, Allen Robinson, Mike Williams, Courtland Sutton
  • TE (if lose Schultz) Mike Gisecki
  • S (if lose Kearse and Kazee) Marcus Williams, Jesse Bates, Tyrann Mattheiu
  • Even if Cowboys cut Zeke's contract, Pollard is a good RB replacement, so didn't include RBs.
  • No idea on how many journeymen will be available at each position.

Out of curiosity, what cap figure are you using for next year? And how much would the below change it?

 

USArmyVet

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I think you’re in luck. There’s no way the Cowboys could afford to keep Schultz even if they wanted to. Barring a season-ending injury, he’ll get a contract in the $12 million and above range. Dallas can’t pay that.

But my own belief is that they will release Lawrence and re-sign Gregory to a multi-year deal.

Releasing Lawrence creates $8M in cap savings but also escalates $19M in dead money ($27M cap hit for 2022) so I do not see Lawrence leaving until after the 2022 season (Dallas would save $18M against 2023 salary cap with $11M in dead money).

If Dallas makes an effort to re-sign either or both Gallup & Schultz then Amari Cooper might be in trouble as he will only have $6M in dead money remaining after this season and his trade/release would save Dallas $16M against the 2022 cap (with $22M saved in both 2023 and 2024) which would be enough to re-sign BOTH Gallup & Schultz should Dallas choose to go that route.
 

Hawkeye0202

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I think your outlook is pretty accurate, but don't think we are going to be able to keep everyone:

-Gregory/Kearse are the priorities from me
-There is no chance DLaw plays on that 27 million number, extend him and spread out the money
-If I had to choose, much rather keep Cooper over Gallup, don't think they will be able to keep both. 16 million for a #3 WR too expensive.
-Must decide if Wilson or Noah Brown are worth 5 million or more players, Cooper's contract needs to be restructued.
-Shultz play has really tailed off, resigning him is all about price. Think McKeon can replace Shultz. Jarwin needs to be released, need in the draft.
-Do believe Collins either is a june 1st cut or gets traded in the offseason, Steele is our new RT.
-Don't think either Kazee/Hooker have done enough to warrant a multi year extension, fine bringing them back on another low level 1 yr deal.
-Lve/Neal can leave via fa, neither has earned an extension. Need to sign a veteran and target one in the draft.
-If the team does lose Connor Williams and Collins, they need to add more depth via the draft.

Draft needs in no particular order, not all will get addressed: G/T, WR, TE,DT, DE, LB, FS.

To me LB, S and OL are the top priorities.


Something to keep mind, Jerry was highly p'd at Coop for missing the 2 games. In fact, he stop short blaming him for one loss, calling him selfish. My point is, some have long memories........it wouldn't surprise me if Coop still doesn't sit well with Jerry after the season's over.

Think CW walks and competition is brought in to compete ( draft or free agent ) with McGovern for starting LG
 

Stash

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Keep an eye on Schultz and KC as their All Pro TE Kelce will be entering his age 33 season next year and KC has an out wherein they save $3.3M against the cap next season ($5.6M dead money) but save almost $48M the next 3 seasons after that.

While Kelce is still performing at a high level, the Chiefs will need the cap space and Schultz would be a viable replacement for Kelce.

Also keep an eye on the Cardinals as Zach Ertz is gone after this season and Schultz would give Murray one heck of an underneath security blanket to pair with outside options Hopkins and Kirk seeing as how AJ Green is gone after this season.

I would have to look into the cap position of both of those teams. Schultz is going to get paid a lot by some team. I wouldn’t pay it, but some team will. TE isn’t a position that I’m paying huge money for, unless the player is an amazing game changer.
 

John813

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The team can re-sign anyone they want.
They will not have to cut anyone else they think a restructure of said deal would not be worth it.
The deals of Prescott and Cooper will be the two major deals restructured to fit the team under the cap and allow the year 1 deals of re-signed players to fit under the cap. They may do more minor restructures as needed. Cooper is still an great WR when healthy, still young and clicks well with Prescott.

I don't think they'll touch D-Laws deal or Collins. But they shouldn't need to to keep the guys they want.

I expect another low key FA signing guys they think could be a diamond in the rough/depth like Urban-quality depth.


Of course this is all imo.
 

Stash

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Releasing Lawrence creates $8M in cap savings but also escalates $19M in dead money ($27M cap hit for 2022) so I do not see Lawrence leaving until after the 2022 season (Dallas would save $18M against 2023 salary cap with $11M in dead money).

I think they just rip the band-aid off. 2022 cap situation almost demands it.

If Dallas makes an effort to re-sign either or both Gallup & Schultz then Amari Cooper might be in trouble as he will only have $6M in dead money remaining after this season and his trade/release would save Dallas $16M against the 2022 cap (with $22M saved in both 2023 and 2024) which would be enough to re-sign BOTH Gallup & Schultz should Dallas choose to go that route.

I don’t expect that. The offense thrived without Gallup. Without Cooper? Not so much.
 

Stash

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The team can re-sign anyone they want.
They will not have to cut anyone else they think a restructure of said deal would not be worth it.
The deals of Prescott and Cooper will be the two major deals restructured to fit the team under the cap and allow the year 1 deals of re-signed players to fit under the cap. They may do more minor restructures as needed.

I don't think they'll touch D-Laws deal or Collins. But they shouldn't need to to keep the guys they want.

I expect another low key FA signing guys they think could be a diamond in the rough/depth like Urban-quality depth.


:lmao:
 

CCBoy

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I think they just rip the band-aid off. 2022 cap situation almost demands it.



I don’t expect that. The offense thrived without Gallup. Without Cooper? Not so much.
I still wouldn't break up what is the very best receiver group in the NFL...
 
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