Cowboy Salary Cap thoughts

[Longboysfan]

With the signing of Dez to the 5 years.
This gives thr Cowboys a window of which they have some relief in the CAP for two years.
DEZ cap hits by year:
2015 - 7 million
2016 - 13 million - This does not stop the Cowboys from converting part of the base to signing bonus and spreading it out over the 4 remaining years.
2017 - 17 million - same applies from above.
Now for the Hardy contract for this year the way it is structured the Cowboys can just keep paying it against this years CAP and the remaining monies roll over to next years CAP. For Salary CAP purposes over the cap shows him as a 3,217,850 hit this year. With the other monies in roster bonus.

I do not think that the Cowboys have any big contracts coming up in the 2016 season.
They may take some savings by dealing with the Brandon Carr contract. Morris Claiborn is not listed on the CAP for 2016. The Cowboys did not pick up his option.

So from what I see the Cowboys are in good shape for this and next year in regards to the CAP. Things will get a bit interesting in 2017 when the O line starts to come up for contracts beyond their rookie deals.

Maybe look to get some secondary help somewhere.
Thoughts????

 

[Doomsday101]

With the signing of Dez to the 5 years.
This gives thr Cowboys a window of which they have some relief in the CAP for two years.
DEZ cap hits by year:
2015 - 7 million
2016 - 13 million - This does not stop the Cowboys from converting part of the base to signing bonus and spreading it out over the 4 remaining years.
2017 - 17 million - same applies from above.
Now for the Hardy contract for this year the way it is structured the Cowboys can just keep paying it against this years CAP and the remaining monies roll over to next years CAP. For Salary CAP purposes over the cap shows him as a 3,217,850 hit this year. With the other monies in roster bonus.

I do not think that the Cowboys have any big contracts coming up in the 2016 season.
They may take some savings by dealing with the Brandon Carr contract. Morris Claiborn is not listed on the CAP for 2016. The Cowboys did not pick up his option.

So from what I see the Cowboys are in good shape for this and next year in regards to the CAP. Things will get a bit interesting in 2017 when the O line starts to come up for contracts beyond their rookie deals.

Maybe look to get some secondary help somewhere.
Thoughts????

I think managing the cap as the Cowboys have been doing will go a long way in keeping the so called window open. I have so many times teams going for broke only to end up not winning a SB and paying the price in the following years. Cowboys have a good strategy going and if they continue down this path they can be competitive for a good long time

 

[conner01]

I think managing the cap as the Cowboys have been doing will go a long way in keeping the so called window open. I have so many times teams going for broke only to end up not winning a SB and paying the price in the following years. Cowboys have a good strategy going and if they continue down this path they can be competitive for a good long time

I agree
To me the way to manage the cap is constantly managing it. Jerry has changed for the better. Some of his worst deals was trying to win now. Joey Galloway and others really hurt this team
Rarely is any team one guy away
The important thing is drafting well so you don't have to do second deals with average or good players. Spencer is a good example there. We had no choice because we had no one ready to step in.

 

[AbeBeta]

It is very likely we covert salary to bonus in 2016. We'd add an option year and spread the hit out even further. This may even already be agreed on as the option year destroys the use of the franchise tag at the end of the deal (unless he plays out the option which never happens)

 

[CCBoy]

This group of offensive linemen, and probably defensive linemen, will be meriting retention once their 'rook' contracts are up. That is when the investments start to expand some...but they are already intermeshed in experience and Cowboy's ways. They are already an experienced group together, then.

 

[AbeBeta]

I agree
To me the way to manage the cap is constantly managing it. Jerry has changed for the better. Some of his worst deals was trying to win now. Joey Galloway and others really hurt this team
Rarely is any team one guy away
The important thing is drafting well so you don't have to do second deals with average or good players. Spencer is a good example there. We had no choice because we had no one ready to step in.

Not really cap management so much as better personnel decisions

 

[Manwiththeplan]

This group of offensive linemen, and probably defensive linemen, will be meriting retention once their 'rook' contracts are up. That is when the investments start to expand some...but they are already intermeshed in experience and Cowboy's ways. They are already an experienced group together, then.

It will be interesting to see how we go about this. Tyron Smith was a must sign since he is a LT. And Frederick likely is as well since he is a center. But in a few years, do we resign Zach Martin? And if so, do we resign Collins? What if Collins is just as good (assuming he plays guard), is he a priority, since we retain his rights for longer?

It may not make financial sense to resign all 4, and to instead try to replace them in a few years.

 

[conner01]

Not really cap management so much as better personnel decisions

True
But having a guy ready to replace a vet who is on his rookie contract has a huge impact on the cap
Ideally you keep the super stars and replace everyone else when they come up for a second deal with a rookie who is so much cheaper
Personnel mgmt and cap mgmt all in one
The biggest cap mgmt coming in the next few years is going to be having a QB on a rookie deal
That's really helped Seattle these last few years but that gravely train is about to run out for them

 

[conner01]

It will be interesting to see how we go about this. Tyron Smith was a must sign since he is a LT. And Frederick likely is as well since he is a center. But in a few years, do we resign Zach Martin? And if so, do we resign Collins? What if Collins is just as good (assuming he plays guard), is he a priority, since we retain his rights for longer?

It may not make financial sense to resign all 4, and to instead try to replace them in a few years.

Collins hasn't played a game yet
Way to early to even worry about him but I think when that time comes how well he actually plays won't be as big of a decision maker as what position he plays
If he is a guard, even if he is very good he probably doesn't get a 2nd deal since I think Martin will, but if he is a RT I think his odds of getting a second deal goes up

 

[Vinnie2u]

By the time the OL is ready for more money. Romo will be just about ready to retire, So that's about 20 mil a year.... A young QB with a small cap number will enjoy the Great Wall of Dallas..

 

[BotchedLobotomy]

If they want to keep him, Hardy will be a big contract next year

 

[xwalker]

With the signing of Dez to the 5 years.
This gives thr Cowboys a window of which they have some relief in the CAP for two years.
DEZ cap hits by year:
2015 - 7 million
2016 - 13 million - This does not stop the Cowboys from converting part of the base to signing bonus and spreading it out over the 4 remaining years.
2017 - 17 million - same applies from above.
Now for the Hardy contract for this year the way it is structured the Cowboys can just keep paying it against this years CAP and the remaining monies roll over to next years CAP. For Salary CAP purposes over the cap shows him as a 3,217,850 hit this year. With the other monies in roster bonus.

I do not think that the Cowboys have any big contracts coming up in the 2016 season.
They may take some savings by dealing with the Brandon Carr contract. Morris Claiborn is not listed on the CAP for 2016. The Cowboys did not pick up his option.

So from what I see the Cowboys are in good shape for this and next year in regards to the CAP. Things will get a bit interesting in 2017 when the O line starts to come up for contracts beyond their rookie deals.

Maybe look to get some secondary help somewhere.
Thoughts????

With the 5th year option for 1st round picks, Zack Martin will not be a free agent until the 2019 season. It will be 2018 for Fred. By the time Martin is a free agent, Romo will likely be gone and replaced by a cheap young QB.

They have about 11.5M in cap space this year, but will need about 7.5M of it to pay Hardy assuming he remains suspended for 4 games. It would be an additional 2M if he missed Zero games.

Part of the difficultly in looking several years into the future is that we don't really know what the NFL cap will be in those years.

Claiborne will likely be gone in 2016.

Carr will likely be gone in 2016. Jones will likely replace him as the #2 CB sometime this season. He would have to cut his 2016 salary by 1/3rd to be a reasonable cost for a 3rd CB.

They Cowboys have 12M in dead money this season. That could be near zero by 2017. It is currently projects for near zero in 2016, but cutting Carr would result in about 7M in dead money.

I have no idea what the market is for Crawford who is in the last year of his rookie contract.

I think they could re-sign Hardy is they really wanted to do it; however, if both Lawrence and Gregory look great this season, they'll probably let Hardy move on.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

I wouldn't worry about Hardy until after the season. Let them play and see what happens.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

D-Law is a second round contract so he is going to be a FA at the same time as Fred who was drafted the year before. Witten is around that time as well. Got some work to do.

 

[USMarineVet]

As long as the Cowboys keep hitting on Draft Day, the cap should be manageable for years to come. We won't be flooded with having to pay guys on any given year as it will be evenly distributed across the board. Those 5th year options really help out a lot and allows us to be proactive on certain contracts, rather than reactive.

This is why I think it's so important to lock up Will McClay. If he's offered a GM position somewhere else, create a new title for him and pay him GM money. He's been the life force that supports the Boys' newly found, fiscally responsible ways.

 

[Nightman]

Not really cap management so much as better personnel decisions

That is the key distinction. Everyone thinks DAL has completely changed the way they deal with the cap, but it's just not the case. They still use large signing bonuses and restructures to create a ton of cap room, see Romo, TSmith and Dez.

What they have done better is drafting and choosing which vets to re-sign. They got burned in the past by personnel decisions not by the accounting methods used for the cap. Smart deals that limit risk like Lee, Melton, McClain and Hardy are the new norm.

They are going with shorter deals and higher turnover, but if they keep drafting well there will be plenty of cap space for Dez, Hardy, Crawford and another DB.

 

[Doomsday101]

That is the key distinction. Everyone thinks DAL has completely changed the way they deal with the cap, but it's just not the case. They still use large signing bonuses and restructures to create a ton of cap room, see Romo, TSmith and Dez.

What they have done better is drafting and choosing which vets to re-sign. They got burned in the past by personnel decisions not by the accounting methods used for the cap. Smart deals that limit risk like Lee, Melton, McClain and Hardy are the new norm.

They are going with shorter deals and higher turnover, but if they keep drafting well there will be plenty of cap space for Dez, Hardy, Crawford and another DB.

To an extent but as much as they liked Murray they put the brakes on paying the money where in the past they likely would have paid out. They were willing to walk away from Ware and Hatcher things that this organization had not done very often. I fully agree drafting is getting better and hitting on mid range FA

 

[Nightman]

With the 5th year option for 1st round picks, Zack Martin will not be a free agent until the 2019 season. It will be 2018 for Fred. By the time Martin is a free agent, Romo will likely be gone and replaced by a cheap young QB.

They have about 11.5M in cap space this year, but will need about 7.5M of it to pay Hardy assuming he remains suspended for 4 games. It would be an additional 2M if he missed Zero games.

Part of the difficultly in looking several years into the future is that we don't really know what the NFL cap will be in those years.

Claiborne will likely be gone in 2016.

Carr will likely be gone in 2016. Jones will likely replace him as the #2 CB sometime this season. He would have to cut his 2016 salary by 1/3rd to be a reasonable cost for a 3rd CB.

They Cowboys have 12M in dead money this season. That could be near zero by 2017. It is currently projects for near zero in 2016, but cutting Carr would result in about 7M in dead money.

I have no idea what the market is for Crawford who is in the last year of his rookie contract.

I think they could re-sign Hardy is they really wanted to do it; however, if both Lawrence and Gregory look great this season, they'll probably let Hardy move on.

I think they have around 12m in cap space already accounting for Hardy. That leaves them close to 9m under once the 53 man roster is counted and the practice squad and IR guys are added.

I also think they can sign Hardy as well as TCrawford and either a RB or DB. Hardy won't get top dollar or top years imo and DAL may get him for a deal similar to Dez but maybe 4/56m with 20m guaranteed.

 

[AbeBeta]

That is the key distinction. Everyone thinks DAL has completely changed the way they deal with the cap, but it's just not the case. They still use large signing bonuses and restructures to create a ton of cap room, see Romo, TSmith and Dez.

What they have done better is drafting and choosing which vets to re-sign. They got burned in the past by personnel decisions not by the accounting methods used for the cap. Smart deals that limit risk like Lee, Melton, McClain and Hardy are the new norm.

They are going with shorter deals and higher turnover, but if they keep drafting well there will be plenty of cap space for Dez, Hardy, Crawford and another DB.

I think some of this is just getting luckier in drafting. For example, we had Bjoern Werner and Justin Pugh graded higher than Frederick in 2013. Had the draft played out differently, we'd be sitting here with one of those busts.

 

[xwalker]

I think they have around 12m in cap space already accounting for Hardy. That leaves them close to 9m under once the 53 man roster is counted and the practice squad and IR guys are added.

I also think they can sign Hardy as well as TCrawford and either a RB or DB. Hardy won't get top dollar or top years imo and DAL may get him for a deal similar to Dez but maybe 4/56m with 20m guaranteed.

Hardy's current cap hit is only 3.2M which indicates that his contract has not been fully accounted for under the cap. If he plays 12 games, his total pay will be between 10M and 11M. Let's say it's 10.5M which would leave 10.5M - 3.2M = 7.3M that has not been accounted for under the cap as of right now.