DMN: Cowboys' offseason: Cap woes make draft, bargain hunting critical

[Kaiser]

Well sure, cut everyone to get under and it's never a problem.

Of course you'll never have a competitive roster but at least the cap won't be a problem.

And since disaster has always been just around the corner from the buffoon Jerry Jones, when has the disaster struck the Cowboys? Answer - one time in the 20 years of the salary cap and that was because of Aikman's injury.

 

[Hoofbite]

And since disaster has always been just around the corner from the buffoon Jerry Jones, when has the disaster struck the Cowboys? Answer - one time in the 20 years of the salary cap and that was because of Aikman's injury.

Define disaster.

 

[Nightman]

Well sure, cut everyone to get under and it's never a problem.

Of course you'll never have a competitive roster but at least the cap won't be a problem.

Yeah I said cut everyone. Not just Austin, Costa and maybe Ware.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

This article seems like it could have been cut-and-pasted from last offseason. Same story, different year.

 

[Kaiser]

This article seems like it could have been cut-and-pasted from last offseason. Same story, different year.

You mean you aren't standing in reverent awe over insights like this one?

"Starting defensive linemen Anthony Spencer and Jason Hatcher aren’t likely to be re-signed by the Cowboys unless they come at the right price"

Without Brandon George, I would never have known that players won't resign unless the team and the player agree on contract terms.

 

[CyberB0b]

I prefer building through the draft...

Me too, but when you are this devoid of talent, it helps to be able to sign a few guys.

 

[Bluefin]

It's a blessing in disguise Dallas doesn't have much cap room.

The team can create plenty of cap room this off-season to do whatever they feel is necessary.

It will force them to build through the draft.

What do you think they have they been doing under Jason Garrett?

2011
1st rd: Tyron Smith - starter, Pro Bowler
2nd rd: Bruce Carter - starter, talented but disappointing, needs to find his game
3rd rd: DeMarco Murray - starter, solid but injury prone
6th rd: Dwayne Harris - role player, pure gold in the return game
UCFA: Dan Bailey - starter, he is money, will likely ink long term deal in spring
UCFA: Chris Jones - starter, a little inconsistent, likely needs to improve to get long term deal
UCFA: Phillip Tanner - special teamer will not be tendered as RFA, minimum deal possible

7 players (6 if Tanner signs elsewhere) with 5 starters, a very good group.

Misses: David Arkin 4th rd, Josh Thomas 5th rd, Shaun Chapas 7th rd, Bill Nagy 7th rd

2012
1st rd: Morris Claiborne - starter(?), injury prone, fans unhappy, needs to stay on field
3rd rd: Tyrone Crawford - role player will challenge to start, rehab is going fine
4th rd: Kyle Wilbur - drafted for 3-4, likely role player, helps on specials
4th rd: Matt Johnson - Injured two years running, it's do or die time
6th rd: James Hanna - underused so far, has potential in passing game, helps on specials
UCFA: Ronald Leary - starter, undrafted due to iffy knee
UCFA: Benn Bass - injury prone, but could challenge to start, likely role player
UCFA: Cole Beasley - nice role player
UCFA: Lance Dunbar - nice change of pace back
UCFA: Darrion Weems - added in December, team likes, kept on 53 as 4th OT

10 players with 2 starters, Claiborne and Crawford need to be hits.

Misses: Danny Coale - 5th rd, Caleb McSurdy - 7th rd

2013
1st rd: Travis Frederick - starter, long term rock in the middle, team was right
2nd rd: Gavin Escobar - role player, future starter (?), fans hated the red shirt year
3rd rd: Terrance Williams - starter, should play with Dez Bryant for years, nice pick
3rd rd: J.J. Wilcox - role player will challenge to start, help on specials
4th rd: B.W. Webb - depth, small schooler over his head as rookie, needs to grow
5th rd: Joseph Randle - role player
6th rd: DeVonte Holloman - role player will challenge to start, has nose for the ball
UCFA: Jeff Heath - role player, may challenge to start, needs to play ball better
UCFA: Jakar Hamilton - depth player, special teamer, fringe prospect
UCFA: Cameron Lawrence - special teamer, fringe prospect

10 players with 2 starters, most productive rookie class since '05, very nice.

Misses: None

That's 27 players with 9 starters and 11 roll players, 6 of whom may challenge to start next season.

The upcoming 2014 draft class will probably end up adding around 10 more players (drafted and undrafted) to the youth movement in Big D.

There are only 8 players under contract for 2014 who are already 30 or older or will turn 30 sometime this year. Tony Romo (33/34), L.P. Ladouceur (32/33), Kyle Orton (31/32), Demarcus Ware (31/32), Jason Witten (31,32), Miles Austin (29/30), Tyler Clutts (29/30) and Doug Free (29/30).

Austin is in danger of being released as a June cut, though I won't rule out keeping him with a dramatic pay decrease akin to Doug Free's last year.

Speaking of Free, his contract will void following the 2014 season and so will Kyle Orton's.

 

[Kaiser]

The team can create plenty of cap room this off-season to do whatever they feel is necessary.

Great post. The other thing that the DMN writer fails to mention is losing 5MM in cap space each of the last two years to the John Mara Vendetta NFL penalty. What would this season have looked like with another Brendon Carr type of FA at FS and a solid FA at DT? It would have been worth 2 more wins.

 

[theSHOW]

Cut Lee, seriously?

Yes cut Lee. He is glass and will continue to be Sean "china" lee. Why do you care? because you will have to change your precious avatar?

 

[waving monkey]

One thing is for sure, the current core and team can't get it done. To expect anything different would he fooling yourself. They should start rebuilding with a young, talented core and do everything possible to change the country club culture. The rebuild should have started before they signed Romo to the fat contract. Currently, Romo and the rest of the core is in a state of decline. Hanging on to them and putting all hopes in them is just delaying the needed rebuilding that should be taking place.

we have been rebuilding since Garrett took over

 

[Zekeats]

Wasn't Brodney Poole the year before? Can't blame the guy for the error......kinda hard to keep track when every year the season ends the same way.

 

[AdamJT13]

Wasn't Brodney Poole the year before?

Yes. He probably meant Will Allen.

 

[casmith07]

Cowboys' offseason: Cap woes make draft, bargain hunting critical
Cowboys must fix foundation, can only afford to patch leaks
bgeorge@***BANNED-URL***

Published: 03 January 2014 08:26 PM

Watch almost any Cowboys game and you find out pretty quickly that they never make it easy for themselves. That also carries over into the off-season.

Poor drafting in recent years and bloated contracts for aging players has kept the Cowboys from building quality depth. That’s been evident with the Cowboys’ inability to overcome injuries the last two seasons.

The Cowboys will be handcuffed this off-season while trying to upgrade their roster because they again have to maneuver through salary cap restraints.

They won’t have much money to work with in free agency, similar to last season when they were only able to add complementary pieces at the right price — like linebacker Justin Durant and safety Brodney Pool.

http://www.***BANNED-URL***/sports/...-woes-make-draft-bargain-hunting-critical.ece

Every year they write about "cap woes."

Every year it's just not true.

 

[tm1119]

I honestly don't see how everybody thinks rebuilding is a good idea at THIS po

 

[tm1119]

I honestly don't see how everybody thinks rebuilding is a good idea at THIS po

Had a long message typed out but my phone deleted it....... Basically my point is, is what's the point of trying t rebuild after you just gave a 33 year old QB $50M guaranteed? The way I see it is that we have minimum 2 years left with romo regardless, so we might as well bite the bullet and do everything possible to win now. If after 2 years the team still hasn't done anything then you blow the whole team and start from scratch.

And for the record, my 1st choice would have been to let Romo play out his contract and lt him walk so the rebuild would already be under way. I'm not delusional that Romo is going to lead us to the promise land or anything.

 

[jobberone]

Every year they write about "cap woes."

Every year it's just not true.

I'm just the messenger. I try to put up a few articles every day in the Fan Zone.

I do believe we are cap 'strung'. You can't keep borrowing from tomorrow to buy a hamburger today.

 

[blackbull]

Mo should be traded but that's not what we do. We could get a second rounder for him I think. What's the point of him being here?

 

[links18]

You mean you aren't standing in reverent awe over insights like this one?
"Starting defensive linemen Anthony Spencer and Jason Hatcher aren’t likely to be re-signed by the Cowboys unless they come at the right price"

Without Brandon George, I would never have known that players won't resign unless the team and the player agree on contract terms.

If you grasped the nuance a little better, you'd get that it isn't about agreeing on a price--its about those FAs agreeing to sign cheap, which probably won't happen. Of course, the author of the article could have been a little more clear about what he meant.

 

[adbutcher]

I'm glad to read that.

me too

 

[jobberone]

me too

We agree although we generally do. Glad to see you around.