Big Contracts in 2019 - The real reason Dez was released

[DIAF]

My worst nightmare is that Dak repeats 2017, and then we sign him to a 100+ mil dollar deal. Oh my god please don't let that happen.

 

[kskboys]

Good effort on the details but you missed on the big picture.

They were just tired of Dez. If it was about money they would have offered him a paycut to stay instread of paying Hurns.

Stephen Jones never wanted to sign Dez to the big contract.

Now Stephen Jones is running the show and Linehan has his ear.

It is obvious by the guys they've added that they wanted the opposite type WR from Dez. Hurns, Gallup and Wilson are all above average route runners and all are reported to be students of the game. The WR coach didn't even let the receivers touch a ball on day 1 of mini-camp because he wanted to make a statement about the importance of route running.

Yeah, the salary was part of it, but Dez not playing well and not fitting w/ the QB was an even bigger part of it.

 

[kskboys]

Who’s a good fit with Dak?

Route runners who play hard.

 

[kskboys]

Curious why we released Dez in 2018 if we don’t intend to use the Cap space until 2019?

Cuz he's been stinking it up and won't STHU.

 

[cern]

Back in 1989, Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys didn't have many good established players. The one great player they had was Herschel Walker. So they traded him to the Vikings for 7 draft picks, and 5 players. We all know what came next.

Flash forward to 2018, and the Cowboys already have a bunch of good young players, but they need Salary CAP space in 2019 & 2020 - a lot of salary CAP space - to resign that good young talent base. So, a choice was made to part with Dez Bryant this season, and eat his entire Salary CAP hit. That reduces the Cowboys salary CAP hits by about $25M over two seasons. Witten's retirement frees up another $26M over the next 4 years. The Cowboys parted ways with Romo last year, freeing up $54M in CAP space planned for 2017-2019.

Similar to the Herschel Walker decision, these choices allow the team to commit to younger talented players, and they hope is that a similar result will happen to when the Cowboys made a similar commitment to youth 29 years ago.

The Cowboys have a number of players that will likely take a large chunk of the salary CAP in 2019 with much higher salaries than they currently are being paid.

1. Dak Prescott - will command a contract worth $18-$22M per season, perhaps more.
2. Zack Martin - the Cowboys are trying to sign Martin to a long-term deal this year. If they are unsuccessful, he'll be the franchise tag player a year from now. If they do sign him this year, his salary CAP hit next year will be substantial
3. DeMarcus Lawrence - if he repeats his performance from last year, will command a long-term contract worth slightly less than Prescott's deal
4. David Irving - this physical freak of nature hasn't yet put together a complete, unsuspended, uninjured year. If he does, the Cowboys will want to keep him around, and he might want a contract similar to the one the Cowboys anticipate giving Lawrence.

In 2020, these players will have their contracts coming up for extensions or renewals.

1. Byron Jones - the Cowboys picked up his 5th year option, and new DB coach Kris Richard calls him the "prototypical" cornerback for his system. That means the Cowboys will be paying Jones a lot more in 2019. If he breaks out over the next two seasons under Richard, he'll command top dollars in 2020.
   
2. Ezekiel Elliott - while the Cowboys will almost certainly exercise the 5th year option on Elliott, his contract will be subject to renewal in 2020. Since entering the league, he's led the NFL in per game rushing yards each of his first two seasons. The Cowboys will be in talks with him in 2020, just as they are talking to Zack Martin now.
3. La'el Collins - Collins current contract will expire after the 2019 season, and he'll be a free agent. If Collins develops into one of the better Right Tackles in the NFL, the Cowboys will want to lock him up on a long-term contract.
4. Jaylon Smith - Smith will be a restricted free agent in 2020, and the Cowboys can keep him by giving him a 1st round tender offer. If he's fully healed, and back to performing like the top 5 pick many thought he'd be, then the Cowboys may choose to give him a long term extension earlier to potentially save money over time.
5. Randy Gregory - Like Jaylon Smith, Gregory will also be a Restricted Free Agent in 2020. Like Jaylon, he was considered a top 5 talent in the draft that fell to the Cowboys in the 2nd round, and like Smith, he missed some seasons because of those reasons. But if he also comes back and performs at his talent level, the Cowboys will be talking about how to keep him with the Cowboys on a long-term deal.

So, the Cowboys potentially have at least 9 big new contracts over the next two seasons to keep their young talent base intact. Managing the Salary CAP now also includes planning for 2019 and 2020. Those focused only on this year's Salary CAP are missing the bigger picture.

good stuff, jumbo. it also shows the cowboys are leaving behind their former crisis management mode and planning for the future. not sure your thoughts on Stephen. many here don't think much of him and consider him just another jerry. I don't see him that way at all. imo, he's a very bright young man and is moving the team in the right direction. daddy is without doubt the greatest merchandiser and marketing genius in all the nfl. but Stephen shows an astuteness when it comes to personnel decisions. chance favors the prepared mind.

 

[cern]

The truly sad thing is the fact that many people don’t know the sky is blue...

fewer know why it's blue.

 

[erod]

Who’s a good fit with Dak?

Stretch Armstrong.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

@Jumbo075 with this trend our FO is taking(Witten wasnt by design), what do you think the odds of Crawford being cut this offseason are?

Doesn't provide much CAP relief initially but over the life of the contract is a larger amount.

 

[cern]

building a successful team encompasses both the draft and free agency. and money is required for both. so whether having a lot of cap space is just for resigning top vets, or bringing in a free agent when needed, the more you have the better off you are.

 

[Verdict]

Dez was cut for the following reasons, among others:

1. Dez sucked.
2. Dez was a problem personality
3. Dez ran poor routes
4. Dez was becoming a cancer
5. Dez saw no real need to improve
6. Dez salary cap hit was too high.

If salary was the only issue they would have offered to let him stay around and take a pay cut. The truth seems to be that the team didn't want Dez around for any price.

 

[Diehardblues]

Cuz he's been stinking it up and won't STHU.

Basically Cap space we won’t use this year.

 

[dckid]

Back in 1989, Jimmy Johnson's Cowboys didn't have many good established players. The one great player they had was Herschel Walker. So they traded him to the Vikings for 7 draft picks, and 5 players. We all know what came next.

Flash forward to 2018, and the Cowboys already have a bunch of good young players, but they need Salary CAP space in 2019 & 2020 - a lot of salary CAP space - to resign that good young talent base. So, a choice was made to part with Dez Bryant this season, and eat his entire Salary CAP hit. That reduces the Cowboys salary CAP hits by about $25M over two seasons. Witten's retirement frees up another $26M over the next 4 years. The Cowboys parted ways with Romo last year, freeing up $54M in CAP space planned for 2017-2019.

Similar to the Herschel Walker decision, these choices allow the team to commit to younger talented players, and they hope is that a similar result will happen to when the Cowboys made a similar commitment to youth 29 years ago.

The Cowboys have a number of players that will likely take a large chunk of the salary CAP in 2019 with much higher salaries than they currently are being paid.

1. Dak Prescott - will command a contract worth $18-$22M per season, perhaps more.
2. Zack Martin - the Cowboys are trying to sign Martin to a long-term deal this year. If they are unsuccessful, he'll be the franchise tag player a year from now. If they do sign him this year, his salary CAP hit next year will be substantial
3. DeMarcus Lawrence - if he repeats his performance from last year, will command a long-term contract worth slightly less than Prescott's deal
4. David Irving - this physical freak of nature hasn't yet put together a complete, unsuspended, uninjured year. If he does, the Cowboys will want to keep him around, and he might want a contract similar to the one the Cowboys anticipate giving Lawrence.

In 2020, these players will have their contracts coming up for extensions or renewals.

1. Byron Jones - the Cowboys picked up his 5th year option, and new DB coach Kris Richard calls him the "prototypical" cornerback for his system. That means the Cowboys will be paying Jones a lot more in 2019. If he breaks out over the next two seasons under Richard, he'll command top dollars in 2020.
   
2. Ezekiel Elliott - while the Cowboys will almost certainly exercise the 5th year option on Elliott, his contract will be subject to renewal in 2020. Since entering the league, he's led the NFL in per game rushing yards each of his first two seasons. The Cowboys will be in talks with him in 2020, just as they are talking to Zack Martin now.
3. La'el Collins - Collins current contract will expire after the 2019 season, and he'll be a free agent. If Collins develops into one of the better Right Tackles in the NFL, the Cowboys will want to lock him up on a long-term contract.
4. Jaylon Smith - Smith will be a restricted free agent in 2020, and the Cowboys can keep him by giving him a 1st round tender offer. If he's fully healed, and back to performing like the top 5 pick many thought he'd be, then the Cowboys may choose to give him a long term extension earlier to potentially save money over time.
5. Randy Gregory - Like Jaylon Smith, Gregory will also be a Restricted Free Agent in 2020. Like Jaylon, he was considered a top 5 talent in the draft that fell to the Cowboys in the 2nd round, and like Smith, he missed some seasons because of those reasons. But if he also comes back and performs at his talent level, the Cowboys will be talking about how to keep him with the Cowboys on a long-term deal.

So, the Cowboys potentially have at least 9 big new contracts over the next two seasons to keep their young talent base intact. Managing the Salary CAP now also includes planning for 2019 and 2020. Those focused only on this year's Salary CAP are missing the bigger picture.

Dez was released because he was not producing in relation to his cap number.
That’s is. Don’t know how much is his sloppy route running, lack is speed, Dak issues, injuries and wear and tear.
I’m honestly not worried about the cap at all, the cap is increasing every year. Just look at the last few years
Fox just signed a five year deal for Thursday night football for 3 billion dollars. That’s over 200 million more than what CBS and NBC were paying. We all have to admit that TNF was the worst display of football over the past few years. Now that sports gambling has been legalized, the NFL will be making even more money.

So to bring this conversation back, salary cap he’ll should not be a concern.

 

[jazzcat22]

Dez was released for two main reasons.

1. He is a bad fit with Dak.

2. He's a pain in the ***.

Everything else is table dressing.

Maybe they would be better off changing QB's than the WR.

 

[Diehardblues]

Dez was cut for the following reasons, among others:

1. Dez sucked.
2. Dez was a problem personality
3. Dez ran poor routes
4. Dez was becoming a cancer
5. Dez saw no real need to improve
6. Dez salary cap hit was too high.

If salary was the only issue they would have offered to let him stay around and take a pay cut. The truth seems to be that the team didn't want Dez around for any price.

This is a reasonable assumption. “ we didn’t want Dez for any price”

 

[3rd_n_inches]

I think Gregory is due a one year deal at some point with the assumption he is reinstated this year.

 

[Diehardblues]

building a successful team encompasses both the draft and free agency. and money is required for both. so whether having a lot of cap space is just for resigning top vets, or bringing in a free agent when needed, the more you have the better off you are.

But why aren’t we using the Cap savings this year? It’s not like we can accrue into 2019.

 

[Diehardblues]

I think Gregory is due a one year deal at some point with the assumption he is reinstated this year.

He’ll never make it thru the summer without failing another random drug test.

 

[Diehardblues]

Cuz he's been stinking it up and won't STHU.

But that’s always been a problem. Why now? Especially if we aren’t using the Cap space for additional talent in 2018.

 

[QuincyCarterEra]

But why aren’t we using the Cap savings this year? It’s not like we can accrue into 2019.

It does accrue into 2019. That's exactly why we arent using it.

Browns, jets, and 9ers had excess of $100M in cap due to not spending theur excess cap the year before.

 

[Diehardblues]

It does accrue into 2019. That's exactly why we arent using it.

Please explain . I’m not as familiar with details of Cap.