DMN Blog: A case for Stephen Bowen... for contract extension

Randy White

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theogt;3053677 said:
Not sure why you'd give him a long-term contract now. Tender him whatever you like next off-season, see how he performs that year and just go from there.


Or you can do right by him and give him a contract somewhere similar to Patrick Crayton ( 6 years, 14 millions, with 5-6 millions signing bonus ). That's a little over 2 millions per season, which is twice the vet minimum. You keep a valuable AND happy back up. He's earned it.

However, what's also MUST be considered, right after inking Miles to a long term, is bumping up, SIGNIFICANTLY, Jay Ratliff. He was signed to a reasonable contract ( at the time ) but he's far out played it.

Cowboys must reward it's best player and Ratliff is almost as important as Ware on that defense.
 
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A lot of people, including myself has noticed how well Bowen is playing. I would sign him to an extension for the right price.
 

WoodysGirl

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Randy White;3054265 said:
Or you can do right by him and give him a contract somewhere similar to Patrick Crayton ( 6 years, 14 millions, with 5-6 millions signing bonus ). That's a little over 2 millions per season, which is twice the vet minimum. You keep a valuable AND happy back up. He's earned it.

However, what's also MUST be considered, right after inking Miles to a long term, is bumping up, SIGNIFICANTLY, Jay Ratliff. He was signed to a reasonable contract ( at the time ) but he's far out played it.

Cowboys must reward it's best player and Ratliff is almost as important as Ware on that defense.
Crayton's contract was only four years.
 

Randy White

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theogt;3053734 said:
It's a poor business decision. The guy isn't going anywhere unless we release him. And he's not going to play himself into a mega-contract because he's not going to have enough snaps to do so, unless multiple defensive linemen get injured.

Not necessarily. Happy players, just like happy employees, produce more. If the funds are available, and there should be since he's not going to command top dollars, then do it. It's not going to really hurt the bottom line and the returns would far outpace the investment.

Having key back up players who not only understand, but accept, their role is worth more than just about any middle round investment you're going to bring in to replace him and they're worth more than the 500k to 700k you're going to save in the contracts.
 

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newnationcb;3053771 said:
IMO, a poor decision would be paying Spears big money when Bowen and Hatcher are more than capable of replacing his production. .


I don't think Spears would be resigned, especially if we sign both Bowen AND Hatcher. One of those two would start, while we'd probably draft someone to groom OR Marcus Dixon finally earns a spot in the rotation.

Spears is playing well this year, but, imo, he hasn't earn a long term extension.
 

Randy White

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WoodysGirl;3054273 said:
Crayton's contract was only four years.

Thanks.

Those figures were the ones I'd offer to Bowen, but I thought Crayton signed for 6 years anyways, so I stand corrected.
 

theogt

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Randy White;3054265 said:
Or you can do right by him and give him a contract somewhere similar to Patrick Crayton ( 6 years, 14 millions, with 5-6 millions signing bonus ). That's a little over 2 millions per season, which is twice the vet minimum. You keep a valuable AND happy back up. He's earned it.

However, what's also MUST be considered, right after inking Miles to a long term, is bumping up, SIGNIFICANTLY, Jay Ratliff. He was signed to a reasonable contract ( at the time ) but he's far out played it.

Cowboys must reward it's best player and Ratliff is almost as important as Ware on that defense.
Hard to say he's earned $14 million so far.

Doing "right by him" is giving him more playing time so he can earn a new contract.
 

Randy White

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theogt;3054316 said:
Hard to say he's earned $14 million so far.

Doing "right by him" is giving him more playing time so he can earn a new contract.


It's not really " 14 millions ". At least not guaranteed. If you want to make it more pattable for you, you can say 4 years, 9.5 million, with a 5-6 millions singing bonus or whatever. The key is the bonus, which at 5-6 millions is about middle of the road player, and the base salary. The " 14 millions " figure is just to extend the contract 2 extra years in order to lessen the cap hit.

Would you say that Bowen has earned a contract that averages a little over 2million dollars per season ?

Again, keep in mind, that the veteran ( at least 6 years player I believe ) minimum is nearly 1 million dollars ( 900k ).
 

theogt

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Randy White;3054331 said:
It's not really " 14 millions ". At least not guaranteed. If you want to make it more pattable for you, you can say 4 years, 9.5 million, with a 5-6 millions singing bonus or whatever. The key is the bonus, which at 5-6 millions is about middle of the road player, and the base salary. The " 14 millions " figure is just to extend the contract 2 extra years in order to lessen the cap hit.

Would you say that Bowen has earned a contract that averages a little over 2million dollars per season ?

Again, keep in mind, that the veteran ( at least 6 years player I believe ) minimum is nearly 1 million dollars ( 900k ).
You mean more than what Keith Brooking is making?

No, I dont.
 

Randy White

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theogt;3054337 said:
You mean more than what Keith Brooking is making?

No, I dont.

Come on now, that's apples and oranges. Keith is towards the end of his career and signed a contract that, pretty much, reflects that. The Cowboys think Bowens is already worth at least 1.5 millions going by the 2nd round tender they signed him this off season.

You don't think he's played well enough for about 1 million dollars raise with the security of a 4 to 5 years contract ?

To you and I, a 1 million dollars raise is about 15 years worth of earnings ( at least to me it is ) but I'm talking within the context of this guys' salaries which is, basically, minimum wage.
 

theogt

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Randy White;3054374 said:
Come on now, that's apples and oranges. Keith is towards the end of his career and signed a contract that, pretty much, reflects that. The Cowboys think Bowens is already worth at least 1.5 millions going by the 2nd round tender they signed him this off season.

You don't think he's played well enough for about 1 million dollars raise with the security of a 4 to 5 years contract ?

To you and I, a 1 million dollars raise is about 15 years worth of earnings ( at least to me it is ) but I'm talking within the context of this guys' salaries which is, basically, minimum wage.
Brooking was only 33 when we signed him. He still has plenty of years left in at a high level. He's playing some outstanding football and was going to be inserted directly as a starter. In no way shape or form does Bowen, who would be a backup defensive end, deserve as much money right now.

I'm not sure how the tender system works, but since he wasn't drafted I assume they have to give him at least the 2nd round tender in order to keep him. The lowest tender would yield a pick where the player was drafted, but since he wasn't drafted I'm not sure how that would work; hence, they may be forced to give him a 2nd round tender just to keep him. The lower tender, which they may think is more in line with his value, is a little better than half of the 2nd round tender.
 

Big Country

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theogt;3053677 said:
Not sure why you'd give him a long-term contract now. Tender him whatever you like next off-season, see how he performs that year and just go from there.

Because young DTs like him dont usually last. Sign him up now...
 

Bob Sacamano

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players like Bowen are a dime a dozen, you just have to rely on your scouts to get a guy like him that will do well, a low-round, undrafted player, but not a guy like him who won't
 

theogt

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Big Country;3054482 said:
Because young DTs like him dont usually last. Sign him up now...
Don't last how? He's not going anywhere through 2010 unless we want to get rid of him.
 

Randy White

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theogt;3054444 said:
Brooking was only 33 when we signed him. He still has plenty of years left in at a high level. He's playing some outstanding football and was going to be inserted directly as a starter.

I don't want to rain on Brooking's parade because he's provided exceptional leadership and enthusiasm to a team that badly needed, but his play is not up the level that it was at in his prime. He knew that, the Falcons knew that, and that's why he was available to sign the contract that he did.

Had he had plenty of years left at a " high level ", believe me, he would have been making some serious dollars IF he had been available at all.

In no way shape or form does Bowen, who would be a backup defensive end, deserve as much money right now.

Bowen is a back up and he's making roughly $500-$700 less than Brooking is on a per year basis. His contract as 3 years for 6 million dollars, 2.5 guaranteed while Bowen's is 1 year, 1.5 millions.

What does that tell you ? It tells me that you can't compare them to each other. Two very different players, at two very different stages in their respective careers.

When Brooking was at the top of his game, he would have been making 6 million dollars in one year at the minimum, not in 3.

I'm not sure how the tender system works, but since he wasn't drafted I assume they have to give him at least the 2nd round tender in order to keep him. The lowest tender would yield a pick where the player was drafted, but since he wasn't drafted I'm not sure how that would work; hence, they may be forced to give him a 2nd round tender just to keep him. The lower tender, which they may think is more in line with his value, is a little better than half of the 2nd round tender.

The way it works is that the Cowboys could have offered him the 4 year minimum tender which, if I remember correctly, was somewhere around 600K for undrafted free agents. However, the risk in that offer is that any other team could have made a better offer for alot more money than the Cowboys would have liked to have payed him this year and lose him outright. So, they offered him the 2nd round tender, which is about 3 times the minimum tender, at 1.5 million.

What that says is that the Cowboys consider him a valuable back up player who they wanted to bring back for at least one more season to see if he was worth signing to a long term contract. IMO, he's proven exactly that.
 

theogt

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Randy White;3054556 said:
The way it works is that the Cowboys could have offered him the 4 year minimum tender which, if I remember correctly, was somewhere around 600K for undrafted free agents. However, the risk in that offer is that any other team could have made a better offer for alot more money than the Cowboys would have liked to have payed him this year and lose him outright. So, they offered him the 2nd round tender, which is about 3 times the minimum tender, at 1.5 million.

What that says is that the Cowboys consider him a valuable back up player who they wanted to bring back for at least one more season to see if he was worth signing to a long term contract. IMO, he's proven exactly that.
No, that's not how it works at all.
 

Randy White

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Bob Sacamano;3054483 said:
players like Bowen are a dime a dozen, you just have to rely on your scouts to get a guy like him that will do well, a low-round, undrafted player, but not a guy like him who won't

That's a solid argument.

The counter is: why, at this point in time where team stands, would you want to go out and replace a player that knows your system, is experienced, produces, accepts his role, and is still relatively young, with an unknown player, who may or may not produce, may or may not adapt to your system ?

To save a few hundred thousand dollars per year ? save a million dollars per year ?
 

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Bob Sacamano;3054483 said:
players like Bowen are a dime a dozen, you just have to rely on your scouts to get a guy like him that will do well, a low-round, undrafted player, but not a guy like him who won't
nail meet hammer
 

Randy White

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Pondering a restricted free agent tender
11:03 AM Thu, Feb 12, 2009 | Permalink | Yahoo! Buzz
Todd Archer/Reporter Bio | E-mail | News tips

I've pretty much said the Cowboys should put the second-rounder tender on wide receiver Miles Austin.

Because Austin was not drafted, he would be a prime target among teams if the Cowboys offer him the original tender, worth $1.010 million. A team would not have to give up any compensation to get him. But with the second round tender ($1.545 million) teams would not be so willing to give up that high of a pick.

What about defensive end Stephen Bowen?

Like Austin, he wasn't drafted so a team wouldn't have to give up a pick if the Cowboys put the original tender on him. And like linebacker Ryan Fowler (also undrafted) from a few years ago, he's shown enough that a team might be willing to take a chance. Fowler ended up signing with Tennessee.

I could see a team taking a look at Bowen if he's given the original tender. He had 28 tackles and nine hurries in 2008 and can play tackle in the nickel defense. He also plays some special teams.

Add in Chris Canty's possible departure through unrestricted free agency, and it might make sense to give Bowen $1.545 million in 2009.



The only part I got wrong was the amount for the original tender. I thought it was 600K for a 4 year minimum tender when it was 1 million dollars.
 
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