First off... How you doin' Stash? You're a poster that I agree with much of the time so I'm not going to argue with you too much on this subject. We simply differ here.
No, they're not saying it. And they've repeatedly chosen to not say it whenever they've been asked.
Yeah, I don't think they'll ever say, "No matter how upset he gets, we aren't trading him."
Teams just don't really say that. Besides everyone agrees that if Minn gets enough compensation they'll trade him.
I have no doubt that Minn doesn't want a disgruntled on their team taking a lot of salary cap space. I just think that what it will take to get AP away from them is way, way above what Dallas would be willing to pay.
I think that if they don't get what they want, Minn will simply deal with him being unhappy rather than fire selling him to another team. Especially the Cowboys.
Then why was the guaranteed money structured the way it was? Why not spread it out if you intended to honor the entire thing? Or better yet, why not guarantee more of it? C'mon, you can see this if you're willing to look.
I think they didn't spread it out as much as they could have because going forward, AP will be an over 30 back who will be getting no younger. NFL teams do all they can to mitigate things after a back turns 30. I'm sure they would have liked to have no guaranteed money after this year. Any NFL team would like that. It is part of the reason why Dallas let Murray walk, IMO. It is also part of why I don't think Dallas wants to make this AP trade now. Unless AP would have no problem taking significantly less and Minn wouldn't ask for very much compensation, Dallas wouldn't be in the equation... and we all know Minn wants a lot and AP won't play on the cheap.
RB's named Murray they have. They set the value for what they believed Murray was worth.
No, they set the number they felt Murray was worth and they stuck to it. Good for them.
I hear you man. You feel like it was more a problem with Murray himself why Dallas let him walk. I think it is more a reflection on how they value the RB position.
While I do think Murray's injury history worried the Cowboys, he had everything else going for him. Dallas clearly liked having him as their lead back. His intangibles are off the chart. Dallas loved his mental make-up and his toughness. IMO, if Dallas was going to pay big at RB, I think they would have ponied up for Demarco.
Now, like you, I could see them paying AP a significant salary this year to try to push to the super bowl. Where I differ from you is that I feel like Minn is going to ask for way more than Dallas is willing to part with for a guy his age, and I think that Dallas wouldn't want to push much money at all forward for a back his age. We probably differ in what we see as significant draft compensation, too. I would think long and hard about a 3rd for AP, but I wouldn't want to pay a 1st or second pick for him. I'd rather draft a 21 year old and not be worrying a year from now if his skills are starting to diminish already.
I honestly think that Dallas feels the same way I do on the subject, but I could be wrong.
They also went out and signed the best pass rusher available for one year with no ability to tag in 2016 to a big money contract.
Hardy is a completely different story. 26 years old is the first thing. If Hardy stays clean and performs like they expect, they'll sign him to a long-term deal. If they had AP on a one year deal (which he wouldn't do), they wouldn't give him a long-term deal going forward because he is on the tail end of his career and it would be stupid.
Also, Hardy plays DE. NFL teams have shown that they have no issue paying edge rushers big time money. Dallas is no different there. A great edge rusher is very, very difficult to find and teams will pay. For a long time now, NFL teams have been shying away (for the most part) in paying big money to backs. Paying big money to 30 year old backs is almost unheard of.
I mentioned earlier that many times you and I agree on subjects. Hardy was one of them. I see a young, dominant edge rusher who didn't cost any draft picks to get and like you, I was all for it. Age, position, and no draft picks were all in his corner.
For AP, age, position, and draft picks are all against him.
All due respect, I think I've pointed out some things I do think you've missed.
Well, we agree that Dallas has not come out and said, "Just because we didn't pay Murray a lot of money, doesn't mean that we won't pay another RB money". Of course, nobody would reasonable expect the team to do that even if they don't want to pay any RB big money. I disagree that Dallas not saying that means anything in relation to the RB position.
I also disagree that the the Hardy deal is anywhere remotely close to what would happen with an AP deal. No draft picks, age, and position are polar opposites in this discussion. Only link is domestic violence and that isn't part of what I'm talking about.
I never said Dallas won't spend big on any position regardless of age. I said they don't want to pay age, and that they don't want to spend big on a RB. And that is without taking into consideration that this draft is filled to the gills with good running back prospects and that Dallas has pretty much had personal visits with all of them.
I honestly think it is perfectly clear that this just isn't going to happen. You think it is, and that is fine. We will find out soon enough which one is right.
In the end, we both want Dallas to do well and have a healthy salary cap going forward.[/quote][/quote]
