Twitter: Cowboys' Commitment To Defense

[LatinMind]

Lowest in the NFL at 34%.

Obviously, losing Church, Wilcox, Carr and others impacts things. And the draft will change things a little.

Very eye opening though.

Maybe more people need to open their eyes, becaue the main reason why its like this is because most of the def i on rookie deals still.

*Byron Jones
*Anthony Hitchens
Mark Nzeocha
*Damien Wilson
Kavon Frazier
*Maliek Collins
*David Irving
*Randy Gregory
*Demarcus Lawrence
*Anthony Brown

Thats 8 players who have started or are starters on rookie deals.

People eat up whatever the media puts out and flaunts it because they think it backs their theory on this team doesnt spend on defense. Just wait until the contracts or Jones, Collins, Irving, and Lawrence come up and Dallas finally rids itself of Romo. See if that number doesnt come closer to 50-50

 

[fredp22]

you have to take this chart with a grain of salt. Its skewed by rookie contracts

the Raiders show as one of the worst for qbs because Carr's contract isnt up yet- they will jump to one of the highest next year by doing nothing
Eagles show as one of the worst for qb because Wentz is only in year 2
we show as the highest for te only because of the age of W(h)itten and the constant restructuring. in reality- we are thin and TE position needs attention
we show as high in qb because of Romos constant restructuring. when he leaves we drop to bottom but it isnt a position of concern
our ol shows as average but will jump to top when Zack comes up and others start aging
it shows us as lowest for db's because we just lost 4. Guess we could back it up 2 years and have Carr's contract put us near top

chart is misleading

 

[Yakuza Rich]

If you look though at 64% of the offense, that is high. Only Browns and Steelers look higher.

Getting Romo off the books clears a good bit, but at least in terms of money out the door, we know where it is going.

I would assume you want to go to a 50/50 or 55/45 one way or the other.

More like 60/40 from looking at the data of the top teams.

Two things work against it being 50/50:

1. QB's take up a larger %, particularly good QB's.

2. The positions that support the QB throwing the ball are generally valued more (WR's/TE's, OL) than their counterparts (DB's and DL).

What always gets missed out on is the injury rate difference between Offensive vs. Defensive players. Defensive players are more than twice as likely to get injured than offensive players. So the issue is that the closer you get to 50/50, the more risk you run because those defensive players are more likely to get injured and now you are not getting any value out of those players. The Seahawks have been pretty lucky in this regard over the years (which makes me think their practice methods for tackling are far superior than the rest of the league). But once Earl Thomas got injured, their defense was a shell of its former self. And it's no surprise they are open to trading Richard Sherman given how much they spend on DB's.


If you want to build a top *pass defense*, then the split becomes more 50/50 based off the 2016 data.

Here's the top ranked pass defenses in 2016 (according to FO.com) and their cap splits (offense/defense):

1. Denver (41/59)
2. Philly (52/48)
3. Arizona (50/50)
4. NY Giants (49/51)
5. Houston (44/56)
6. Tampa Bay (49/51)
7. Kansas City (49/51)
8. Minnesota (52/48)
9. San Diego (54/46)
10. Baltimore (52/48)

As far as these teams go on defense they have close to an even split between how much they pay the D-Line versus the DB's.

I think in the end, it's about teams that have a good QB and can get quality value out of the players they sign. First day FA's are bad news because they rarely play to the contract they were given and that means more shuffling of the salary cap adjust.





YR

 

[Idgit]

This is the $2 on offense for each dollar on defense point I've made in a couple of threads. It's a pretty illustrative look at the problem.

Not surprising, since our stars are all on the offense. Time to address the talent imbalance.

And the argument that the offense will collapse somehow if the defense is addressed is, of course, absurd. The offensive depth is young and locked up. And it still gets addressed whenever there's a chance to do so. But the opportunity to improve is naturally on defense right now. There's a chance to upgrade talent there with nearly every pick and with so many free agent players. If we're doing our job right, we can't help but add better personnel back there.

 

[LatinMind]

This is the $2 on offense for each dollar on defense point I've made in a couple of threads. It's a pretty illustrative look at the problem.

Not surprising, since our stars are all on the offense. Time to address the talent imbalance.

And the argument that the offense will collapse somehow if the defense is addressed is, of course, absurd. The offensive depth is young and locked up. And it still gets addressed whenever there's a chance to do so. But the opportunity to improve is naturally on defense right now. There's a chance to upgrade talent there with nearly every pick and with so many free agent players. If we're doing our job right, we can't help but add better personnel back there.

Dallas emerging stars in Collins, Irving, Jones are on rookie deals. When Collins is making 9mil a yr, Jones 8mil and Irving 7-10milsee how you like them numbers.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Lowest in the NFL at 34%.

Obviously, losing Church, Wilcox, Carr and others impacts things. And the draft will change things a little.

Very eye opening though.

This can swing wildly from year to year. If you look at 2016, we are 22nd with the Patriots and the Falcons below us (Falcons being last in the league).

 

[Vintage]

If you look though at 64% of the offense, that is high. Only Browns and Steelers look higher.

Getting Romo off the books clears a good bit, but at least in terms of money out the door, we know where it is going.

I would assume you want to go to a 50/50 or 55/45 one way or the other.

The thing is, look at where we've hit on our picks.

Smith and Frederick got big extensions. Martin will too. Bryant at WR. Witten. Romo (though, he was an UDFA).

We've done pretty well in identifying draft talent on the offensive side of the ball and kept those pieces.

 

[Idgit]

Dallas emerging stars in Collins, Irving, Jones are on rookie deals. When Collins is making 9mil a yr, Jones 8mil and Irving 7-10milsee how you like them numbers.

Martin, Dak, and Elliott. Both sides go up, offense goes up more.

Plus not sure you're gauging those defensive deals right. I'd love it if those players earned those bumps, though.

 

[Proof]

anyone notice how many of the most recent playoff teams have pretty close ratios? packers, seahawks, patriots, panthers, chiefs, falcons, etc. don't think thats a coincidence

Ehh. I'd say on each of those teams except probably the falcons and patriots, one dominant side of the ball assists the other side and or a dynamic player (Russ/Cam/Brady) is a game changer in their own right.

Also of those teams only the Seahawks and Patriots have won a SB recently Patriots obviously gave Brady and Belichek, while the hawks had a perfect storm of back to back incredible drafts and cheap franchise qb of which we may have a shot at closely mimicking

 

[Toruk_Makto]

With the cap you can't have a complete team unless you're scary good at drafting cheap talent. The Cowboys should be focused on offense. That's where their talent is.

If you always do what you've always done... You'll always get what you've always gotten.

We should draft Cam Robinson right?

That'll help us against Rodgers I'm sure of it.

 

[xwalker]

Lowest in the NFL at 34%.

Obviously, losing Church, Wilcox, Carr and others impacts things. And the draft will change things a little.

Very eye opening though.

It's good that a bad defense is not getting big money.

A few years ago they were paying guys like Ware, Ratliff, Bradie James, Spencer, etc. big money and the defense was so bad that they got Wade fired.

 

[DandyDon52]

on both charts cowboys are at the top in spending or total spent, and the lowest on defense.
Cant be a good trend, but it is a trend.
Cowboys want a cheap defense lol
Pitt is cheap too and it has hurt them in playoffs.

 

[Idgit]

on both charts cowboys are at the top in spending or total spent, and the lowest on defense.
Cant be a good trend, but it is a trend.
Cowboys want a cheap defense lol
Pitt is cheap too and it has hurt them in playoffs.

To our credit, we have been good about locking up our OLs, and we're carrying the big Tony contract still. But, yeah, the resources need to even out a bit here.

 

[StarBoyz83]

If they didn't suck at drafting defensive players this wouldn't be such a pickle. But oh well.

They've never really had anybody to spend money on.

 

[DandyDon52]

If they didn't suck at drafting defensive players this wouldn't be such a pickle. But oh well.

They've never really had anybody to spend money on.

they could try to get 1 good FA on a 1 or 2 year deal ?
but it seems they just dont want to pay anyone.

 

[StarBoyz83]

they could try to get 1 good FA on a 1 or 2 year deal ?
but it seems they just dont want to pay anyone.

Ya that's what sucks. They want to use only the draft which will take a good 3-4 years to build this defense up.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

Maybe more people need to open their eyes, becaue the main reason why its like this is because most of the def i on rookie deals still.

*Byron Jones
*Anthony Hitchens
Mark Nzeocha
*Damien Wilson
Kavon Frazier
*Maliek Collins
*David Irving
*Randy Gregory
*Demarcus Lawrence
*Anthony Brown

Thats 8 players who have started or are starters on rookie deals.

People eat up whatever the media puts out and flaunts it because they think it backs their theory on this team doesnt spend on defense. Just wait until the contracts or Jones, Collins, Irving, and Lawrence come up and Dallas finally rids itself of Romo. See if that number doesnt come closer to 50-50

You're going to try and fight the...we've invested as much into the defense as we have on offense fight? Listing a number of late round picks and guys who have never produced in a meaningful way? One first rounder in the bunch of 10 names you listed?

Good luck with that.

 

[LocimusPrime]

Jerry and friends have always had a fixation on Offense and especially throwing the ball and sizzle players...hence, no SB's or, in fact, no playoff success in 20+ yrs. Defense wins!

Sizzle

 

[Verdict]

In this day and age of the NFL if you can build a great strength on one side of the ball that's probably the best route to take. How many other teams have 3 all pro level offensive linemen? They all deserve to be the best paid at their position. How many teams have a Zeke caliber RB? A hall of fame TE? A WR like Dez? An elite level QB like Romo?

Their spending isn't out of whack and the last thing I'd do is chip away at our strength to make the defense better.

The eggheads want to talk only about numbers. Players are not a homogenous product. Some are vastly better than others. Having said that, paying 10 percent of your cap on Jason Witten and company is too high. We are also paying too much of our cap at WR. The OL should be the highest percentage unit based om production.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

The eggheads want to talk only about numbers. Players are not a homogenous product. Some are vastly better than others. Having said that, paying 10 percent of your cap on Jason Witten and company is too high. We are also paying too much of our cap at WR. The OL should be the highest percentage unit based om production.

I hate when people talk about paying too high a cap for x,y and z player.

Did you also cheer when through restructures or original signings their cap number was proportionally tiny based on their contribution to the team?

And nobody is arguing to pay money to defenders just to pay it. You pay to keep the talent wherever it is on the club. What people, rightly, have an issue with is failing to invest more draft capital on the other side of the ball.

You have people advocating for John Ross, a TE, Cam Robinson etc at 28. It's insane.