Cowboys Not Likely To Spend Much In Free Agency - And Fans Should Be Glad

[Beast_from_East]

We were more aggressive when the cap was stagnant during the lockout.

Since the CBA the revenues have skyrocketed and we have gone conservative.

This makes little sense since Romo isn't getting younger.

Now we have 40m in space, no dead money and no desire to sign anyone.

Not all FAs are bad, just do your homework like with draft picks.

Exactly, of course it helps if you have John Elway making the decisions............we don't have that here.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Did you read the article?

You are funny.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Honestly, with a good draft I don't think you need too many high end free agents. It's all just a matter of opinion, I know. If we take advantage of this deep DT class and draft a play maker on both sides of the ball, I think we'd be a few mid-size free agent contracts away from having a competitive team (barring injuries). The only issue is, I really don't know if I see Dallas going that route. It wouldn't shock me if Hayden, Church and maybe even Wilcox were back as starters.

 

[jterrell]

The Cowboys are "fine" cap-wise but being big spenders is not happening.

This is for 2 reasons.

1. We are not going to be in the top half of clubs for cap space by any reasonable number.
2. We do not WANT to be big spenders and lock into huge deals. IT VERY seldom works.

If you look at our highest salaries last year were from non-draftees....
1. Brandon Carr at 12.7M
2. Greg Hardy at 8.8M

Neither guy was worth cap that cap hit.
Free Agency sucks.

But, but,but...
Yes, you can cherry pick in free agency and really help yourself.
Dallas has a few solid FA contracts in in 2016 cap hits:
Ro McClain at 2.6 M was a steal.
Jeremy Mincey at 2.2m was still a good deal even though he fell off a cliff in year 2.

Mack Bern making 2.8 and having the 3rd highest cap hit amonst Dallas OL is a bit costly but not bad as a very versatile 6th guy.

Again tho... this isn't just Dallas.
Teams who pony up big for free agents are generally disappointed.
Most of these guys are never going to give more, work harder or develop after that first massive contract arrives.
Outside QB, years 5-8 are either keeping afloat or on that downward slope... and you are paying a guy who was peaking most times.

We've seen this when people overpaid to get guys out of Dallas: Chris Canty, Bruce Carter, Jason Hatcher and plenty of others.
And we've even seen it when we paid fortunes to re-sign our own: Jay Ratiliff(fair enough to exclude him as no one counts on someone going crazy), Miles Austin and others.

You want to find bargain free agents and you want to draft guys who can play now.
The new supplmental system makes drafting even more important.
I used to argue it was 50/50 but with this supplemental system it is now easily 70-30 drafting in team building.

The one game changing caveat to it all is franchise QB.
You pay whatever it takes to get one and keep one of those.

If you can get one and not pay 15+M per year you are going to win a lot of games as Seattle did. 15M more cap room than everyone else basically... until they come up in free agency.

 

[Galian Beast]

The Cowboys are "fine" cap-wise but being big spenders is not happening.

This is for 2 reasons.

1. We are not going to be in the top half of clubs for cap space by any reasonable number.
2. We do not WANT to be big spenders and lock into huge deals. IT VERY seldom works.

If you look at our highest salaries last year were from non-draftees....
1. Brandon Carr at 12.7M
2. Greg Hardy at 8.8M

Neither guy was worth cap that cap hit.
Free Agency sucks.

But, but,but...
Yes, you can cherry pick in free agency and really help yourself.
Dallas has a few solid FA contracts in in 2016 cap hits:
Ro McClain at 2.6 M was a steal.
Jeremy Mincey at 2.2m was still a good deal even though he fell off a cliff in year 2.

Mack Bern making 2.8 and having the 3rd highest cap hit amonst Dallas OL is a bit costly but not bad as a very versatile 6th guy.

Again tho... this isn't just Dallas.
Teams who pony up big for free agents are generally disappointed.
Most of these guys are never going to give more, work harder or develop after that first massive contract arrives.
Outside QB, years 5-8 are either keeping afloat or on that downward slope... and you are paying a guy who was peaking most times.

We've seen this when people overpaid to get guys out of Dallas: Chris Canty, Bruce Carter, Jason Hatcher and plenty of others.
And we've even seen it when we paid fortunes to re-sign our own: Jay Ratiliff(fair enough to exclude him as no one counts on someone going crazy), Miles Austin and others.

You want to find bargain free agents and you want to draft guys who can play now.
The new supplmental system makes drafting even more important.
I used to argue it was 50/50 but with this supplemental system it is now easily 70-30 drafting in team building.

The one game changing caveat to it all is franchise QB.
You pay whatever it takes to get one and keep one of those.

If you can get one and not pay 15+M per year you are going to win a lot of games as Seattle did. 15M more cap room than everyone else basically... until they come up in free agency.

Honestly, I think it is less about how much you spending per say, but more about the circumstances in which you spend.

The Patriots were a very good team before they added Revis, and Revis helped put them over the top defensively. He was worth every penny.

I do think we have some spots that could be aided by adding some free agents who won't necessarily be cheap.

I would like to go into the season with our top three corners all set. You release Carr and maybe you are able to re-sign Claiborne, maybe you aren't. Either way, they have to sign two cornerbacks in the process.

I think they would be smart to invest some money at safety, but it also depends greatly on what they want to do with Byron Jones.

Then we're back to signing some of our old players like McClain and maybe Hardy at the right prices.

And then you can either get a tackle in the draft, which is tackle heavy or you can get a free agent. I'd prefer to get one in the draft.

So basically the money we spend in free agency outside of getting our own players back should primarily be to get some secondary help.

 

[waving monkey]

So let me get this straight......You are gonna ride the coat tails of Jerry signing (20 years ago)....Deion Sanders contract with the Dallas Cowboys (seven years, $35 million with a $12.9 million signing bonus) as a sign he isn't tight with the dollar?

That was over 20 years ago....And a one time deal. What has he done since that made sense?

Every time Jerry has spent big on a player it's been a bad investment.

Barber...
Romo..
Lee...
Carr...

Point is...Jerry has never been wise when it comes to signing free agents. Maybe that's why he doesn't do it. The only other player I can say made sense was La'roy Glover. Other than that....It been one donk after another.

You asked for one example I gave it to you.
Jerry spends money and your once again specious version of JJones as a tight wad is BS.

Again admittedly Jones has spent a lot of big money on bad contracts. The FO doesnt do that
anymore thank God.

Just be accurant and fair

 

[Rockport]

It's not about how much they spend...it's about who they spend it on. This excuse of waiting for the market to come to them is BS. If a guy wants to come here...work out the deal. What's so hard about that? For years this team has played the "we are broke" card...More than Stephen A. has played the race card.

As a fan...we can look back @ history and see Jerry is just tight w/ his money. While other teams get better through free agency. You just have to be smart about it. Don't spend on big name players that are over their prime like Weddle, Mario Williams. Target guys like Travis Benjamin, George Iloka...guys that are just hitting their prime w/ upside.

Jerry Jones tight with his money? You just went down a few credibility notches.

 

[jterrell]

Jerry doesn't handle the cowboys salary cap, Stephen does.
Stephen has always been conservative.
And he has stated openly he hates free agency. Players are very overpriced.

Those praising Elway and Denver might want to wait a bit.
Winning a title is very sweet but teams have to exit for long time after that.
Denver has a crazy crap situation and if they don;t have a QB, they may be one of the worst teams in football for a decade recovering from these signings.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Set your sights a bit lower and you might get your wish. I hear on DC.com that the team is looking hard at Adrian Clayborn who was with Atlanta last year
and won't break the bank. The Cowboys are all about bargains in FA. If you want big money go elsewhere is Stephen's motto now.

I would throw up in my mouth if that's the case.

 

[Nightman]

Jerry doesn't handle the cowboys salary cap, Stephen does.
Stephen has always been conservative.
And he has stated openly he hates free agency. Players are very overpriced.

Those praising Elway and Denver might want to wait a bit.
Winning a title is very sweet but teams have to exit for long time after that.
Denver has a crazy crap situation and if they don;t have a QB, they may be one of the worst teams in football for a decade recovering from these signings.

50 wins in 4 years. Two Super Bowl appearances and 1 Lombardi is worth the hangover.

People want it all but I just want another SB run.

 

[jterrell]

50 wins in 4 years. Two Super Bowl appearances and 1 Lombardi is worth the hangover.

People want it all but I just want another SB run.

Denver didn't spend big in free agency for four years.
They did it one time 2 years ago.
It paid off with the ultimate prize but 10+ other franchises have tried and failed with that model. See Eagles and Skins in our own division.

Denver has a lot of really good young draft picks that made that defense good enough to add some FA talent and it became great.

The Broncos are going to lose A LOT of pieces of that Super Bowl team.
Peyton retired of course but UFA:

OLB Von Miller --tagged
DE Malik Jackson
QB Brock Osweiler --offered 3 years 45m but not accepted yet.
ILB Danny Trevathan
RB Ronnie Hillman
S David Bruton
DB Omar Bolden
TE Vernon Davis
LG Evan Mathis
DE Antonio Smith
OT Ryan Harris
OT Tyler Polumbus
WR Andre Caldwell
WR Jordan Norwood
WR Kyle Williams
S Josh Bush
S Shiloh Keo

 

[Nightman]

Denver didn't spend big in free agency for four years.
They did it one time 2 years ago.
It paid off with the ultimate prize but 10+ other franchises have tried and failed with that model. See Eagles and Skins in our own division.

Denver has a lot of really good young draft picks that made that defense good enough to add some FA talent and it became great.

The Broncos are going to lose A LOT of pieces of that Super Bowl team.
Peyton retired of course but UFA:

OLB Von Miller --tagged
DE Malik Jackson
QB Brock Osweiler --offered 3 years 45m but not accepted yet.
ILB Danny Trevathan
RB Ronnie Hillman
S David Bruton
DB Omar Bolden
TE Vernon Davis
LG Evan Mathis
DE Antonio Smith
OT Ryan Harris
OT Tyler Polumbus
WR Andre Caldwell
WR Jordan Norwood
WR Kyle Williams
S Josh Bush
S Shiloh Keo

They just got 15m from Peyton retiring. They can get another 10m from DThomas and another 5m when VMiller signs long term. Ray is ready to take over for Ware so another 10m. No one on that list is that irreplaceable. Sign Jackson, Os and CJ.

They lose Peyton, Ware, Trevathan and Hillman.

 

[ActualCowboysFan]

You asked for one example I gave it to you.
Jerry spends money and your once again specious version of JJones as a tight wad is BS.

Again admittedly Jones has spent a lot of big money on bad contracts. The FO doesnt do that
anymore thank God.

Just be accurant and fair

How is Romo a bad investment?

 

[waving monkey]

How is Romo a bad investment?

?

 

[LittleD]

I would throw up in my mouth if that's the case.

You may go right over to that chorus which is always "singing the blues" but, that doesn't change the fact
that Stephen is controlling the purse strings and Jerry is going along these days. He lavished big contracts
of sorts on Carr and Hardy and they didn't pan out like most FA who get big money. They will stick with
the mid-tier guys who cost little but, might over-perform.

 

[jterrell]

They just got 15m from Peyton retiring. They can get another 10m from DThomas and another 5m when VMiller signs long term. Ray is ready to take over for Ware so another 10m. No one on that list is that irreplaceable. Sign Jackson, Os and CJ.

They lose Peyton, Ware, Trevathan and Hillman.

Peyton's money gets eaten up by Osweiler. There is no net gain. In fact they have already offered him 15m and he turned it down. So they pay the same salary but lose a starting QB to promote the back up.

Ray is not ready to take over for Ware but he will likely be asked to anyway. Ray has 4 career sacks, he isn't ready to replace a guy who has well over 100.
Travathan is a big loss.

They are seriously considering cutting another 2 or 3 starters for cap purposes.

If you think Denver is fine you haven't been paying attentiont to them. Spend 20 minutes on any free agency preview for them.
That team is being gutted. They have the least amount of signed players in the NFL, are drafting last each round, and will lose a number of Pro Bowlers.

But they did get a title and that is hard to knock this second.

 

[Oh_Canada]

You may go right over to that chorus which is always "singing the blues" but, that doesn't change the fact
that Stephen is controlling the purse strings and Jerry is going along these days. He lavished big contracts
of sorts on Carr and Hardy and they didn't pan out like most FA who get big money. They will stick with
the mid-tier guys who cost little but, might over-perform.

When has Clayborn overperformed.....ever?

 

[LittleD]

When has Clayborn overperformed.....ever?

Doesn't matter...They want and are targeting small contract mid-tier guys who might (not will) over-perform
on a 2-3 year deal. They are just not going after the guys that will get signed in the first 10 days. After the
last 3 years you should know that now.

 

[CowboyRoy]

They need to spend money in FA and they need to do it wisely. Seattle, Denver, and the teams that he was lauding spent significantly in free agency. They just got very good players to take less than maximum dollar. Seattle got two DE for a pittance. Denver got Sanders Ward and Talib.

They also hit on all of them.

It's the difference between signing Jenkins(Carr) because you just have to have a corner and going after Mario Williams(Ware) because he is a talented pass rusher playing in the wrong scheme.

Sign Mario Williams DE
Sign Sammie Lee Hill DT
Resign Bernadeau IL
Resign McClain LB
Resign Claiborne CB
Resign Crawford DT

Rd 1. Ramsey DB
Rd 2. Lynch QB
Rd 3. K Dixon RB
Rd 4. M Collins DT
Rd 5. J Brown LB
Rd 6. B Boddy-Calhoun CB
Rd 7. J Driskell QB

Just look at it this way:

The Cowboys have shown that they stink in FA. How many have actually panned out? The draft I would have to say they are average, at best. Coaching, they stink. The only thing this team has really had going for it over the last 10 years has been Romo and now he is getting old and injury prone. So it would make complete sense that if anything, they need to try and find the next Romo to take over. Because without a franchise QB, this team has little hope of competing year in and year out. That much is pretty clear.

Unless, of course, there isnt a QB worthy of the 4th pick.

 

[Nightman]

HUGE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

DAL signed Jeff Heath to a 1.6m tender