NewsBot
New Member
- Messages
- 111,281
- Reaction score
- 2,947
The Dallas Cowboys can't afford to lose Dez Bryant, he is just too important to their locker room and what they do on offense. He is one of the vocal leaders of the team and an absolute stud on the field.
Now, it would be beneficial for both sides if they were to come to a long-term contract agreement; however, the Cowboys community has to come to the conclusion that using the franchise tag on Bryant is not only possible, but it may also be the odds-on favorite on what may actually happen.
One reason that may be the case is that Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones made a statement recently regarding Bryant and the franchise tag, per ESPNDallas.com's Todd Archer:
"Right now we're probably leaning that way," Jones said of using the tag on Bryant, who is an unrestricted free agent. "But that doesn't mean it won't change."
Because the NFL has not set the 2015 salary cap, the Cowboys do not know how much the tag will be or how much room they will have to spend. In all likelihood, the tag will be somewhere around $13 million for wide receivers.
"We'll probably wait 'til the midnight hour to make that decision," Jones said in a break between competition committee meetings at the NFL scouting combine.
The Cowboys are projected to have about $13.9 million in cap space right now, per OverTheCap.com; therefore, they would need to make some other moves to gain cap space so that they can re-sign their own and even grab a couple of other free agents.
There are a few things that the Cowboys could do to get further under the cap.
First, the Cowboys could have Brandon Carr restructure his deal to open up space, or they could make him a June 1 cut, which would free up $8 million in cap space. They could also restructure Tyron Smith's deal to gain another $8 million in cap space, or they could restructure Tony Romo's to recoup $12.8 million in cap space as detailed by **click-bait**.com's K.D. Drummond.
For this scenario, let's assume that the Cowboys don't touch Romo's contract, as Jones has stated he would like to do, per Archer, and they get Carr to come back at less money to free up about $8 million in cap space and restructure Smith's deal to gain another $8 million in cap space, which will give them around $17 million in cap space.
With that type of space, there are three non-minimum re-signings that they must accomplish: Doug Free, Justin Durant and Rolando McClain. After this re-signing the Cowboys would likely have $9 million-$13 million in cap space, depending on how they structure each deal. In this scenario, we will split the difference and say $11 million in cap space left.
After that, the Cowboys would have free agency and the draft to fill in any other holes. The first of which is at defensive end; the Cowboys need to find a player who can team up with DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
In free agency, the Cowboys could look to bigger-name free agents such as Jason Pierre-Paul and Jerry Hughes or go for players who are cheaper with upside such as Brandon Graham or Pernell McPhee.
Jones has indicated that the Cowboys will stick to their philosophies from the past couple of seasons and look for players with the best return, per Archer, which most likely rules out Pierre-Paul and Hughes.
Therefore, the Cowboys will look for players similar to McPhee and Graham, or even a guy like Adrian Clayborn, in free agency. The best value of those three would likely be McPhee, who won't be as expensive as Graham, but he'll much more effective than Clayborn.
With McPhee, McClain, Durant and Free in the fold, the Cowboys would be able to head into the draft with running back as the only major need; therefore, they could go in with a best-player-available type of strategy. The Cowboys could possibly grab a Todd Gurley at the end of the first round or choose a player such as Duke Johnson or Jay Ajayi with their second-round pick.
From there the Cowboys could go a million different directions; however, if they make the moves as outlined above, their offseason would be a true success.
If the Cowboys agree to a long-term contract with Bryant, it would allow them to be much more flexible in the offseason, but if they end up using the franchise tag, it will certainly complicate things. However, that doesn't mean the Cowboys still can't have a triumphant offseason.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...
Now, it would be beneficial for both sides if they were to come to a long-term contract agreement; however, the Cowboys community has to come to the conclusion that using the franchise tag on Bryant is not only possible, but it may also be the odds-on favorite on what may actually happen.
One reason that may be the case is that Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones made a statement recently regarding Bryant and the franchise tag, per ESPNDallas.com's Todd Archer:
"Right now we're probably leaning that way," Jones said of using the tag on Bryant, who is an unrestricted free agent. "But that doesn't mean it won't change."
Because the NFL has not set the 2015 salary cap, the Cowboys do not know how much the tag will be or how much room they will have to spend. In all likelihood, the tag will be somewhere around $13 million for wide receivers.
"We'll probably wait 'til the midnight hour to make that decision," Jones said in a break between competition committee meetings at the NFL scouting combine.
The Cowboys are projected to have about $13.9 million in cap space right now, per OverTheCap.com; therefore, they would need to make some other moves to gain cap space so that they can re-sign their own and even grab a couple of other free agents.
There are a few things that the Cowboys could do to get further under the cap.
First, the Cowboys could have Brandon Carr restructure his deal to open up space, or they could make him a June 1 cut, which would free up $8 million in cap space. They could also restructure Tyron Smith's deal to gain another $8 million in cap space, or they could restructure Tony Romo's to recoup $12.8 million in cap space as detailed by **click-bait**.com's K.D. Drummond.
For this scenario, let's assume that the Cowboys don't touch Romo's contract, as Jones has stated he would like to do, per Archer, and they get Carr to come back at less money to free up about $8 million in cap space and restructure Smith's deal to gain another $8 million in cap space, which will give them around $17 million in cap space.
With that type of space, there are three non-minimum re-signings that they must accomplish: Doug Free, Justin Durant and Rolando McClain. After this re-signing the Cowboys would likely have $9 million-$13 million in cap space, depending on how they structure each deal. In this scenario, we will split the difference and say $11 million in cap space left.
After that, the Cowboys would have free agency and the draft to fill in any other holes. The first of which is at defensive end; the Cowboys need to find a player who can team up with DeMarcus Lawrence and Tyrone Crawford to put pressure on opposing quarterbacks.
In free agency, the Cowboys could look to bigger-name free agents such as Jason Pierre-Paul and Jerry Hughes or go for players who are cheaper with upside such as Brandon Graham or Pernell McPhee.
Jones has indicated that the Cowboys will stick to their philosophies from the past couple of seasons and look for players with the best return, per Archer, which most likely rules out Pierre-Paul and Hughes.
Therefore, the Cowboys will look for players similar to McPhee and Graham, or even a guy like Adrian Clayborn, in free agency. The best value of those three would likely be McPhee, who won't be as expensive as Graham, but he'll much more effective than Clayborn.
With McPhee, McClain, Durant and Free in the fold, the Cowboys would be able to head into the draft with running back as the only major need; therefore, they could go in with a best-player-available type of strategy. The Cowboys could possibly grab a Todd Gurley at the end of the first round or choose a player such as Duke Johnson or Jay Ajayi with their second-round pick.
From there the Cowboys could go a million different directions; however, if they make the moves as outlined above, their offseason would be a true success.
If the Cowboys agree to a long-term contract with Bryant, it would allow them to be much more flexible in the offseason, but if they end up using the franchise tag, it will certainly complicate things. However, that doesn't mean the Cowboys still can't have a triumphant offseason.
Read more Dallas Cowboys news on BleacherReport.com
Continue reading...