Dallas Salary Cap basically comes down to 6 players

[Wood]

This group of 6 takes up a staggering 47% of Cowboys entire Salary Cap. Of this group I see only 1 that is justifying his pay scale. Check this out:

1. Tony Romo 24.7 million. Won't even go into this. Will be traded, released or retired before tc.

2. Dez Bryant 17 million. That is huge number for WR who over last two years is avg. 800 yards & 6 tds a season. For 17 million his stat line needs to be 1,200 yards & 12 tds. Like his leadership but Dez is top 5 paid WRs in NFL its time he starts performing like top 5 for entire season. To this point Dez has grossly under-performed his contract.

3. Jason Witten 12 million. Recently extended so we don't have details yet. But Dallas paying more than any other team in NFL at TE position. Witten last 2 years is avg. 700 yards & 3 TDs season. If Witten TDs were higher you could somewhat justify the contract but last year 19 TEs caught more TDs than him. Now Jerry recently said Witten is the Bob Lilly of this Cowboys era so this might just be contract you swallow because of his leadership & intangibles but production does not match the contract.

4. Tyrone Crawford 10 million. Where do I start. Let me sink my teeth into this one. Recently saw Crawford referred to as false prophet. I couldn't have said it any better. When you look at Dallas top 6 contracts they look more like charity organization rather than contender who anticipates future production well. Crawford even when healthy lacks any identifiable skill set that would be difficult to replace. He does noting well but passable at desire.

5. Tyrone Smith 9 million. Dallas finally gets one right. Not just elite talent but elite toughness at demanding position. Exceeds contract numbers & I still think his arrow is going up.

6. Sean Lee 7 million. We finally enjoyed entire season with Lee on field but it wasn't a dominant Sean Lee. I felt he faded at end of season (who could blame him as he hasn't played that much). Terrific leader who yet again is under-performing his contract.

So when we read each off-season how Dallas looses starters & isn't in position to make run at tier 1 FA refer to this list and ignore whats being said in media. Dallas simply doesn't get the pay-off on their bigger contracts.

 

[Teague31]

Disagree on Lee. He is worth every penny. Totally on board with the rest of the list

 

[Killerinstinct]

I agree with most of this but I think Sean Lee is earning his money.

 

[Killerinstinct]

Disagree on Lee. He is worth every penny. Totally on board with the rest of the list

It looks like you beat me to it. Was typing it when you posted. HAHA

 

[Wood]

btw: here is where I got salary cap numbers: http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/cap/

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Lee and Smith are outperforming their contracts. Romo is what it is. Crawford needs to take a big step up to justify his number, but this is the first year his cap number has been that high. Dez is still a top 5 guy when healthy. His past two seasons he hasn't lived up to the deal and injuries aren't an excuse so I see where you're coming from.

Witten won't be that high when the season rolls around but he's clearly at a number that reflects more what he's been than what he currently is. I'm not too worried about it, we're in good shape overall and the cap begins to really open up next year.

 

[StarBoyz83]

The dreaded Crawford signing


The guaranteed portion should've been the whole contract.

Plus next year Martin will be raking in 14+ mil a year.

 

[CowboyRoy]

This group of 6 takes up a staggering 47% of Cowboys entire Salary Cap. Of this group I see only 1 that is justifying his pay scale. Check this out:

1. Tony Romo 24.7 million. Won't even go into this. Will be traded, released or retired before tc.

2. Dez Bryant 17 million. That is huge number for WR who over last two years is avg. 800 yards & 6 tds a season. For 17 million his stat line needs to be 1,200 yards & 12 tds. Like his leadership but Dez is top 5 paid WRs in NFL its time he starts performing like top 5 for entire season. To this point Dez has grossly under-performed his contract.

3. Jason Witten 12 million. Recently extended so we don't have details yet. But Dallas paying more than any other team in NFL at TE position. Witten last 2 years is avg. 700 yards & 3 TDs season. If Witten TDs were higher you could somewhat justify the contract but last year 19 TEs caught more TDs than him. Now Jerry recently said Witten is the Bob Lilly of this Cowboys era so this might just be contract you swallow because of his leadership & intangibles but production does not match the contract.

4. Tyrone Crawford 10 million. Where do I start. Let me sink my teeth into this one. Recently saw Crawford referred to as false prophet. I couldn't have said it any better. When you look at Dallas top 6 contracts they look more like charity organization rather than contender who anticipates future production well. Crawford even when healthy lacks any identifiable skill set that would be difficult to replace. He does noting well but passable at desire.

5. Tyrone Smith 9 million. Dallas finally gets one right. Not just elite talent but elite toughness at demanding position. Exceeds contract numbers & I still think his arrow is going up.

6. Sean Lee 7 million. We finally enjoyed entire season with Lee on field but it wasn't a dominant Sean Lee. I felt he faded at end of season (who could blame him as he hasn't played that much). Terrific leader who yet again is under-performing his contract.

So when we read each off-season how Dallas looses starters & isn't in position to make run at tier 1 FA refer to this list and ignore whats being said in media. Dallas simply doesn't get the pay-off on their bigger contracts.

The dumbest one on there is Crawford. I would cut the guy today. Dez at 17 million is overpaying in my opinion. But 12 million for witten is just laughable. Love the guy, but he is too old to be getting that kind of money.

 

[Alexander]

4. Tyrone Crawford 10 million. Where do I start. Let me sink my teeth into this one. Recently saw Crawford referred to as false prophet. I couldn't have said it any better. When you look at Dallas top 6 contracts they look more like charity organization rather than contender who anticipates future production well. Crawford even when healthy lacks any identifiable skill set that would be difficult to replace. He does noting well but passable at desire.

Still makes me go

just as much now as it did then.

 

[Wood]

And my point to this tread was to point out how Dallas is operating. They over-pay for players "they like". That is natural reaction but not a successful approach in most businesses.

 

[Stash]

Lee and Smith are outperforming their contracts. Romo is what it is. Crawford needs to take a big step up to justify his number, but this is the first year his cap number has been that high.

That's because they restructured it and kicked the can down the road. And now they're stuck. They either have a total cost keeping him for roughly $10 million, or cutting him for the same $10 million. It's the one terrible example that destroys any theories about restructures. On top of that, his 2017 salary is now guaranteed. They're stuck deep in that contract and will be regretting for some time.

Dez is still a top 5 guy when healthy. His past two seasons he hasn't lived up to the deal and injuries aren't an excuse so I see where you're coming from.

There are mitigating circumstances as you've pointed out, but he has some things to prove. And it speaks volumes to me that the team isn't touching his deal for a restructure. Once bitten, twice shy.

Witten won't be that high when the season rolls around but he's clearly at a number that reflects more what he's been than what he currently is. I'm not too worried about it, we're in good shape overall and the cap begins to really open up next year.

It's another kick the can deal, but you can't come up with a more reliable player to get into that type of deal with. They continue to do it with the offensive linemen, but fortunately, they've proven reliable and worth it thus far.

 

[StarBoyz83]

The dumbest one on there is Crawford. I would cut the guy today. Dez at 17 million is overpaying in my opinion. But 12 million for witten is just laughable. Love the guy, but he is too old to be getting that kind of money.

Unfortunately they cant cut him. I think it's like a 7 mil cap hit.

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

Unfortunately they cant cut him. I think it's like a 7 mil cap hit.

It's actually a bigger hit to cut him ($10.4 million).

 

[GhostOfPelluer]

That's because they restructured it and kicked the can down the road. And now they're stuck. They either have a total cost keeping him for roughly $10 million, or cutting him for the same $10 million. It's the one terrible example that destroys any theories about restructures. On top of that, his 2017 salary is now guaranteed. They're stuck deep in that contract and will be regretting for some time.



There are mitigating circumstances as you've pointed out, but he has some things to prove. And it speaks volumes to me that the team isn't touching his deal for a restructure. Once bitten, twice shy.



It's another kick the can deal, but you can't come up with a more reliable player to get into that type of deal with. They continue to do it with the offensive linemen, but fortunately, they've proven reliable and worth it thus far.

Dude we've gone round and round on Crawford, I don't know why you need to argue about it again. It's clear we disagree. In my opinion this is the first year his cap number is so exorbitant that he's clearly not worth the money at current production.

As for kicking the can down the road, that's been argued on this site ad nauseum. It's clearly the way the FO prefers dealing with the cap.

 

[Stash]

Dude we've gone round and round on Crawford, I don't know why you need to argue about it again. It's clear we disagree. In my opinion this is the first year his cap number is so exorbitant that he's clearly not worth the money at current production.

As for kicking the can down the road, that's been argued on this site ad nauseum. It's clearly the way the FO prefers dealing with the cap.

Who's "arguing" anything?

I just explained why this is "the first year his cap number is so exorbitant".

Lighten up.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Unfortunately they cant cut him. I think it's like a 7 mil cap hit.

Yep, because they keep doing dumb things like restructuring guys like him. Senseless cap management.

 

[JackOfNoTrades]

not sure how many of these contracts can be viewed in a silo w/o considering the prior restructures their contracts underwent and the resulting cap numbers for the respective years. This is especially true when their stats during those years are being cited as justification.

 

[CowboyRoy]

Dude we've gone round and round on Crawford, I don't know why you need to argue about it again. It's clear we disagree. In my opinion this is the first year his cap number is so exorbitant that he's clearly not worth the money at current production.

As for kicking the can down the road, that's been argued on this site ad nauseum. It's clearly the way the FO prefers dealing with the cap.

Crawford is an injury prone DT and is average even when he is healthy. He was signed on potential and he never lived up to it. I would pay a guy like him maybe 5 million a year tops and very little guaranteed.

 

[Daillest88]

The false prophet Crawford lol man how they didn't approach this guy and ask him to take a paycut is laughable

 

[Wood]

Unfortunately they cant cut him. I think it's like a 7 mil cap hit.

spotrac shows almost $18 million dead money hit if Dallas released Crawford before season. I think next year it gets more manageable at $7 million dead money hit (which could be spread over 2 years).