2017 Free Agents. Decisions

[BAT]

Scandrick is a very good player dude...and since when does a guy's love life have anything to do with anything?

Garrett will handle Scandrick just fine. You want a guy to want to play. He had an OUTSTANDING game Thursday btw in case you didn't notice.

We would owe Scandrick $6mil in dead money, have only 1 cornerback under contract! There is no way in hell the Cowboys spend 5 seconds thinking of cutting Scandrick.

I'm not the one suggesting cutting him. And yes, Scandrick finally had a good game, when his reps were limited and his responsibility was focused solely on the slot. Whether it was injury or attitude reasons, he learned how to tackle again.

 

[T-RO]

That's nonsense. McClain only has 300K of guaranteed money and he probably has been our best DL this year. He is exactly the kind of guy posters here called to be cut but Dallas brought him to camp. Jack Crawford only has 250K of guaranteed money, which is half of what we pay some Practice Squad players.

You are the one talking nonsense. You want us to re-sign all these guys with the idea we could easily cut them?!

Crawford and McClain received a signing bonus AND a portion of contracts guaranteed money.

You don't throw away half mil here and 1.5 million over there so that you can have extra options to churn in camp. Especially since the Cowboys now have already seen them play and have an extremely accurate estimation of their value in Marinelli's defense.

 

[Kaiser]

You are the one talking nonsense. You want us to re-sign all these guys with the idea we could easily cut them?!

Crawford and McClain received a signing bonus AND a portion of contracts guaranteed money.

You don't throw away half mil here and 1.5 million over there so that you can have extra options to churn in camp. Especially since the Cowboys now have already seen them play and have an extremely accurate estimation of their value in Marinelli's defense.

You know absolutely nothing about the salary cap and you prove it daily.

Terrell McClain signing bonus hit for 2016 is 100K, which is .0006 percent of the Dallas Salary Cap.

 

[T-RO]

To follow-up on my last post...

NFL teams do try to actively churn on players where there isn't much to lose. Vince Mayle: no signing bonus...no guaranteed money.

These are most often rookie contracts for non-drafted players...or guys on the street looking for a shot.

 

[T-RO]

You know absolutely nothing about the salary cap and you prove it daily.

Terrell McClain signing bonus hit for 2016 is 100K, which is .0006 percent of the Dallas Salary Cap.

I see you are intent on bringing a bigger shovel to dig your hole deeper?

McClain's AMORTIZED portion of the bonus for 2016 is 100k. But the total salary cap commitment to bring McClain to camp was 300k.

The whole notion of churning is bringing a guy in that you don't have a book on yet...see what you might develop.

McClain has been played for the Cowboys 3 seasons--you think the team doesn't know what he can do?

If the Cowboys think McClain can win a roster spot they'll give him a new contract. Otherwise he's gone.

 

[Kaiser]

McClain has been played for the Cowboys 3 seasons--you think the team doesn't know what he can do?

Could McClain teach you Elementary School grammar? Has been played?

 

[T-RO]

Mayowa comes to camp but is cut unless he makes dramatic improvement)

And looking back on your post I see you piled up a whole stack of silly.

We are obligated to pay Mayowa 2.6$ million in '17 for him to play
We are obligated to pay Mayowa 2.2$ million in '17 for him to walk

There is very little chance Mayowa won't be a Cowboy next year.

 

[Kaiser]

And looking back on your post I see you piled up a whole stack of silly.

We are obligated to pay Mayowa 2.6$ million in '17 for him to play
We are obligated to pay Mayowa 2.2$ million in '17 for him to walk

There is very little chance Mayowa won't be a Cowboy next year.

More nonsense. You don't even know the difference between Cap Hit and Salary, guaranteed or not. My discussion was with Blue Fin, who understands the cap and understood my point. T-Ro understands neither and goes on the Ignore list.

 

[dfense]

Here are the 2017 free agents and what I think the Cowboys will do:

Rolando McClain GONE
Morris Claiborne PROBABLY GONE
Ron Leary PROBABLY GONE
Barry Church KEEP HIM OR WILCOX
Mark Sanchez KEEP HIM OR MOORE
Andrew Gachkar PROBABLY GONE
Darren McFadden GONE
Lance Dunbar GONE
Jack Crawford PROBABLY GONE
Gavin Escobar PROBABLY GONE
Terrell McClain PROBABLY GONE
Justin Durant PROBABLY GONE
Johsua Thomas GONE
Terrance Williams GONE
Kellen Moore KEEP HIM OR SANCHEZ
J.J. Wilcox KEEP HIM OR CHURCH
Brice Butler PROBABLY GONE

The only big issue I see here is with the secondary.

Claiborne will get a big check when there are 32 teams bidding on him. I suspect the Cowboys will make efforts to sign him, but the price will get too high. Fortunately we have Brown and Scandrick. Will need a CB in the draft or FA.

Wilcox/Church. I would think the Cowboys will go hard to retain one of the two, probably Church. I suspect the salary needed won't be too painful.

Butler and Williams ultimately are JAGs. Keep or replace won't make much difference. I'd sure like the cowboys to get a WR/KR when they replace.

Kellen Moore could be retained on a minimum contract...so maybe it's him over Sanchez.

McClain and Crawford. I'll defer to other posters as I don't have a meaningful evaluation on these guys. But this upcoming draft is purported rich on defense ends. Tapper will also hopefully be contributing. McClain is a starter on our depth chart but is more of a rotational player, IMO.

I agree with some of the other posters Claiborne will stick around at least a year. I think he may feel some loyalty to Jerry for sticking with him all this time with his generally below average play and injuries. I think you can find a bunch of Williams's in the 3rd to 4th round.

 

[T-RO]

More nonsense. You don't even know the difference between Cap Hit and Salary, guaranteed or not. My discussion was with Blue Fin, who understands the cap and understood my point. T-Ro understands neither and goes on the Ignore list.

You've demonstrated, Kaiser, that you don't understand:

-What churning is....it's NOT bringing back older veteran players you already know about
-How to churn...using throw-away contracts
-What total amortized salary cap commitments are
-What the Cowboys will do in 2017
-What it means to admit your mistakes and learn

So yes...perhaps you best 'ignore' me...and run away now.

 

[endersdragon]

I think Mo stays another year, and the rest of the guys who cares about? Leary is a backup when Collins is healthy. McClain has been suspended all year and we have Smith to replace him. McFadden and Dunbar have done nothing all year. Crawford will be missed a bit, but I think he might stay especially if we don't go DL in the first. Escobar hasn't done much all year, plus we have Swain so whatever. Terrell McClain, maybe stay, sort of a JAG anyway. Durant was a JAG who is being replaced with Smith, plus we could still keep him for fairly cheap if we so desire. Who is Joshua Thomas? Williams we might keep, but with Dez, Witten, and Beasley he's sorta a JAG who can be easily replaced as the 4th option. Moore, who cares. Wilcox/Church, as long as we keep one who cares. Butler who cares. That seems like a pretty good situation to me.

 

[T-RO]

I agree with some of the other posters Claiborne will stick around at least a year. I think he may feel some loyalty to Jerry for sticking with him all this time with his generally below average play and injuries. I think you can find a bunch of Williams's in the 3rd to 4th round.

32 teams will have a chance to bid on Claiborne. He's only 26 and will certainly get offers for a long-term contract.

dfense...Would you want to give him a longterm deal?

I agree that T-Wil won't be too difficult to replace with a younger guy w/more upside.

 

[LocimusPrime]

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Dallas will likely try to do a balancing act.

Keep some of their defensive free agents, add a few from other teams and then look for help in the draft.


Go to the draft with as few glaring needs as possible. Avoid reaching for help at thin spots too early. Follow the draft board closely. Use positional need, depth of positions in the draft as secondary criteria when deciding between closely ranked players.

Trades and waiver claims can also be used.

I don't disagree with going into the draft with minimal glaring needs so you can draft best player available and not reach for a need.

usually you won't get much out of waiver claims. nobody waives a good player. there is always an issue with a player ending up on waiver wire.

I disagree.

We need to address CB, S, DE, etc. during free agency so that it isn't an absolute early in the draft. This doesn't mean we have to sign big ticket free agents to fill out the holes, though we may add a few. Just do something that can help cover an area for a year or two, if need be.

Be ready to do anything in the draft. Defense or offense, the mission is to find good players who make the team better long term.

I disagree with over spending or over paying for FAs. if they are good and the missing piece maybe. you don't have to look far, we over paid for Carr and all everyone wants is get rid of him. we tried Hardy and that didn't work. both well over paid. look at the giants and their 80 million FA signins this past season. although I like to go to the draft without obvious needs, I am more against spending in FA and reaching. I rather reach in draft, than reach in FA. the cost to your cap and future is much less impactful.

Did you notice Danielle Hunter in the game Thursday night?

2 sacks and 3 QB hits.

Hunter was a talented prospect at LSU who never had the production on the field to match his talent. He fell to the bottom half of the 3rd round last year, three spots ahead of Dallas selecting Chaz Green. Hunter had 6 sacks as a rookie and 9.5 so far this year playing in a reserve role.

The odds of finding an impact edge rusher are going to be greater the earlier you can select a prospect, but good drafting teams can find help in any round.

I'd sign to sign one or two DEs in free agency before also looking for a keeper in the draft.

so how many other 3rd, 4th, 5th round DEs did a lot of damage this past weekend. and what's the ratio of hitting on those in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, round? will teams find those type of players? yes. what are the chances low? there is a reason those players drop. chances of hitting on DEs in the first round and top of first round are higher? does everyone of them work out? no, but again, chances are higher.

so getting an impactful DE in the lower rounds is going to be tough. unless you subscribe to luck and lighting hitting the same place twice. do we expect to find the Dak Prescott of our defense?

and its going to be tough finding impactful DEs in the FA. they usually don't hit the market. QBs, Pass Rushing DEs and CBs are tough to find in FA.

at this point, we simply don't know enough. what's available in the draft? is it a deep draft? is it a deep DER draft? and what's available in FA and how much money they want. its not surprising that we are finding success by not over spending in FA and being disciplined in the draft. of all the positions the one that worries me the most is the DE, that's going to be the toughest and further more its harder because we are trying to find that 4-3 DE, a position that's really difficult to project into the pros.

Again, the idea is to be ready for any situation.

Maybe a coveted rusher falls to out pick, maybe one drops within range of trading up, maybe it can't be addressed until the later rounds.

I'm never crazy about surrendering picks to move up, but getting a pass rusher is worth it, even if his consistent impact may not come until year two or three. If the Cowboys cover themselves in free agency, they won't feel forced to trade up or to take a DE over a much higher graded player at another position with an early selection.

Maybe they will trade up or use another early pick on DE, but the other clubs won't be looking at them like they have to come away with a rusher on Thursday or Friday.



Selfishly, I'd like a barren trade market for Tony Romo. He'd then agree to a reduced base salary with incentives if put back into the starter's job.

In reality, Dallas will work with Romo in the off-season if he lets them know he wants to leave and start elsewhere. I wouldn't expect a player for player trade, those just don't happen that often anymore. I'd want a 2017 draft choice and a 2018 conditional pick based on Romo's performance with his new team.

 

[T-RO]

I disagree with over spending or over paying for FAs. if they are good and the missing piece maybe. you don't have to look far, we over paid for Carr and all everyone wants is get rid of him.

Free agency is for selective over-paying. It's a necessary evil to fill in holes. Teams that draft well can limit how often they do it.

so how many other 3rd, 4th, 5th round DEs did a lot of damage this past weekend. and what's the ratio of hitting on those in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, round?

Good point!
We might not get a great sack guy...hopefully can draft a good one. I do see a number of third round finds amongst leaders.

Here are current leaders with draft slot
player round pick
Von Miller 1 2
Vic Beasley 1 8
Lorenzo Alexander undrafted? undrafted?
Cliff Avril 3 29
Dee Ford 3 24
Ryan Kerrigan 1 16
Khalil Mack 1 5
Danielle Hunter 3 24
Brian Orakpo 1 13
Cameron Wake undrafted undrafted
Chandler Jones 1 21[/QUOTE]

 

[dfense]

32 teams will have a chance to bid on Claiborne. He's only 26 and will certainly get offers for a long-term contract.

dfense...Would you want to give him a longterm deal?

I agree that T-Wil won't be too difficult to replace with a younger guy w/more upside.

I would. He's their best corner when healthy.

 

[Bluefin]

Mayowa's contract is 75% locked in! $3.3 mil of his contract is guaranteed and he had a $3.3 mil signing bonus spread over 3 years. Player has huge leverage.

He will almost certainly be in a Cowboy uniform unless he is 50 pounds overweight or doing purple drank.

The $3.3M signing bonus has already been paid and is scheduled to count $1.1M against the cap each season.

Benson Mayowa will go to training camp, but if he isn't one of the 4 or 5 best DEs, he will get released.

After June, any player removed from a roster will only have that season's signing bonus count against the cap. Any future years bonus money will count against the 2018 cap.

Dallas would see a net cap savings over $1M in '17 and $2.2M in '18.

Mayowa isn't a big money contract, he will need to earn a spot next summer.

 

[T-RO]

The $3.3M signing bonus has already been paid and is scheduled to count $1.1M against the cap each season.

Benson Mayowa will go to training camp, but if he isn't one of the 4 or 5 best DEs, he will get released.

After June, any player removed from a roster will only have that season's signing bonus count against the cap. Any future years bonus money will count against the 2018 cap.

Dallas would see a net cap savings over $1M in '17 and $2.2M in '18.

Mayowa isn't a big money contract, he will need to earn a spot next summer.

Under no circumstances do we escape any part of the salary cap obligation of the accounting!

The fact that we can pay some of that $2.2 walking fee with the league's virtual cap credit card rule, deferring it 12 months changes nothing.

The statement I made still stands and is ironclad:
We pay Benson 2.6 mil to play
We pay Benson 2.2 mil to walk

Mayowa might get cut if the Cowboys find an undrafted free agent they like a lot. Very doubtful otherwise. The budget gives the guy a lot of leverage.

It's unlikely he starts next season, but he'll be around one more year. The escalation of his base in 2018 makes him likely gone after '17.

 

[Bluefin]

The statement I made still stands and is ironclad:

We pay Benson 2.6 mil to play
We pay Benson 2.2 mil to walk

Wrong on both.

If Benson Mayowa makes the roster next season, he will be paid his base salary of $1.5M in 17 weekly installments.

He will count $2.6M against the salary cap, but that number includes his signing bonus proration of $1.1M.

The entire signing bonus ($3.3M) was paid up front this year when Mayowa agreed to terms and Oakland opted not to match the contract.

For accounting purposes, signing bonuses are divided over the life of the contract (up to five years) because the money is given based upon the expectation the player will fulfill the deal.

If Mayowa gets released, Dallas won't owe him a penny. His 2017 and '18 base salaries will never be paid.

The signing bonus money will still count against the salary cap, it's often referred to as 'dead money' when contracts are discussed, but it isn't money that is owed to the player.

In Mayowa's case, he would count $1.1M against the cap in '17 and '18 if he failed to make the cut following training camp/pre-season.

Dallas would then save $1.035M against the cap next season, that's Mayowa's base salary minus the cost of a minimum salary ($0.465K) player taking his roster spot, and $2.27m in '18.

That's cap savings, the actual cash savings for the team would be $4.25M.

I'm not saying Mayowa is definitely going to come under the axe next summer, it's just a possibility.

He may improve as this season closes and never be in any real danger next year.

We shall see.

The salary cap will not help Mayowa remain on the roster, he has to do that himself.

 

[T-RO]

Wrong on both.

If Benson Mayowa makes the roster next season, he will be paid his base salary of $1.5M in 17 weekly installments.

He will count $2.6M against the salary cap, but that number includes his signing bonus proration of $1.1M.

The entire signing bonus ($3.3M) was paid up front this year when Mayowa agreed to terms and Oakland opted not to match the contract.

For accounting purposes, signing bonuses are divided over the life of the contract (up to five years) because the money is given based upon the expectation the player will fulfill the deal.

If Mayowa gets released, Dallas won't owe him a penny. His 2017 and '18 base salaries will never be paid.

The signing bonus money will still count against the salary cap, it's often referred to as 'dead money' when contracts are discussed, but it isn't money that is owed to the player.

In Mayowa's case, he would count $1.1M against the cap in '17 and '18 if he failed to make the cut following training camp/pre-season.

Dallas would then save $1.035M against the cap next season, that's Mayowa's base salary minus the cost of a minimum salary ($0.465K) player taking his roster spot, and $2.27m in '18.

That's cap savings, the actual cash savings for the team would be $4.25M.

I'm not saying Mayowa is definitely going to come under the axe next summer, it's just a possibility.

He may improve as this season closes and never be in any real danger next year.

We shall see.

The salary cap will not help Mayowa remain on the roster, he has to do that himself.

Rule #1: When we talk football salaries we ONLY care about salary cap implications. You repeatedly are violating that rule. Some might get the idea you keep doing it to obfuscate the issue for our readers.

Nobody here cares snot about Jerry's bank account or a player's bank account.

When you agree to continue this discussion without further fog attacks we can make much better progress.

Salary cap accounting and only salary cap accounting. Am I clear on that? Can you do our readers that courtesy?