News: DMN: Gosselin: Investing too much in Dez, DeMarco could cost Cowboys the prize

[Toruk_Makto]

Yeah I agree. I've done a complete 180 on this. I believe Murray and Bryant are back. McClain very likely will be re-signed. They will look to make 2 or 3 more Mincey/McClain type additions to the DL and continue to use the model of drafting to upgrade the talent level of the team, NOT free agency, probably with more of the focus on defense this year.

It annoys me to read things like this. A if you can't build through the draft and still go grab a high priced Revis.

 

[dfense]

Question: I know the Cowboys seem to always be hitting the ceiling on the cap. So my question: What is it about their accounting/philosophy/whoever writes the contracts that puts them continuously in cap hell?

Gosselin: The Cowboys hand out big deals to their stars, then rework those contracts every year to push money back to create cap space. If you take $10 million off Romo's base and convert it to signing bonus, that would remove the $10 million from the cap — but put $2 million on the books for each of the next five seasons. That $10 million signing bonus becomes prorated over the life of the contact. It doesn't go away. Re-do several contracts, and the proration grows exponentially by the year going forward. Eventually you crash and burn under the weight of those prorated signing bonuses.

Question: Are Jerry Jones’ comments about it being a 'Big Challenge' to bring back both Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray a smokescreen for negotiation purposes? Surely the Cowboys can afford them back, and Tony Romo's window is closing. Thoughts?

Gosselin: The Cowboys have all their money and all their stars on the offensive side of the ball. Signing both Murray and Bryant to contracts at the going rate for an NFL rushing champion and Pro Bowl wide receiver would only deepen the investment on offense. At some point, the Cowboys need to fix the defense. You can't do that on the cheap. Romo is not going to win a Super Bowl with the type of defense the Cowboys played last season. And he's not going to win a Super Bowl if the Cowboys increase their commitment to offense and decrease it to defense in 2016. That's why this is such a tough call for the Cowboys. They know what needs to be done.

Question: What happens to your cap when you trade a player under contract who has still has bonus money due? Is the team on the hook for the remaining bonus against the current cap?

Gosselin: Yes. The money doesn't disappear because you cut or trade a player. You accelerate the proration and take the cap hit of remaining dollars owed that player. When you sign a player to a contract and guarantee the dollars or give him signing bonus, you must live with the consequences.

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Can't wait for the "Should have kept Murray at all costs" story to be released at a later date.

 

[Hostile]

Or, it could hand them the Championship if they draft well and are smart in who they sign and re-sign to stay under the Cap.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

I don't see how any one hear could think that the 'Boys defense could have overcome NE's receiving corps. Gronk and company could half killed our defense.
As to offense, I think the cowboys' was better but on the whole, NE would half been more balanced and Dallas great on offense but terrible on defense.

 

[ftghb]

it's not like the cowboys havent spent any money on the defense. It's just non of their big money players have been producing. Most of the best defensive players on this year's squad were scrap heap or players on the cheap. The guys we have heavily invested serious resources in, claiborne, carr and lee, have all been virtual no shows.

 

[Galian Beast]

it's not like the cowboys havent spent any money on the defense. It's just non of their big money players have been producing. Most of the best defensive players on this year's squad were scrap heap or players on the cheap. The guys we have heavily invested serious resources in, claiborne, carr and lee, have all been virtual no shows.

When Lee plays, he plays well.

This defense has the capability to be great next year with the right investments.

 

[JoeKing]

I'm curious how Gosselin thinks we can even have a chance at winning the prize without Dez or Demarco? Dez is a must and Demarco is a high priority but not mission essential. I just don't agree with his take on the situation. The Cowboys have a small window (2, maybe 3 yrs) to win the prize. It won't be cheap to keep this mass of talent together and build on it. I say spend the money it takes to get this thing done.

 

[tyke1doe]

The Cowboys need significant upgrades on defense, that can't be disputed. But Goose's take that "the Cowboys could not have won a Super Bowl with their defense last year" just isnt true. NE had the 13 rated defense in the league, there wasnt one thing that stood out about their unit. Dallas was ranked 19th. The days of needing a dominant defense to win it all are dead. You have to play decent defense and force turnovers (that's been relevant forever), but needing a top 5 or even a top 10 defense in this day and age of offense is nice, but isnt an end all be all.

Goose writes about the NFL like its 1985.

Actually, it is true. We didn't get pass the Packers. How did we think we'd get pass the Seahawks and then the Patriots.

The fact is we didn't make it to the Super Bowl. Therefore, we didn't have a defense that could win the Super Bowl because if we did, we would have played in the Big Game.

Besides, the Patriots had Brady. Brady is one of the all-time greats. Sometimes, you have a player on your team that balances out your lacking in other areas. Romo is great and all, but Romo aint Tom Brady.

 

[SportsGuru80]

Dez is 26, he can play another 8 or 9 years and dominate...

 

[Nightman]

I'm curious how Gosselin thinks we can even have a chance at winning the prize without Dez or Demarco? Dez is a must and Demarco is a high priority but not mission essential. I just don't agree with his take on the situation. The Cowboys have a small window (2, maybe 3 yrs) to win the prize. It won't be cheap to keep this mass of talent together and build on it. I say spend the money it takes to get this thing done.

I agree. I don't see how signing our 2 best offensive players besides Romo will cause us to miss the SB.

Any problems with the salary cap, if any even arise, will be years down the line when Romo will be gone anyways.

 

[DC Cowboy]

Why can't you fix the defense on the cheap? If you draft well, you certainly can.

And what does "fix" mean anyway? Average? Is that fixed? Because with an average defense this team would have been a nightmare to deal with last season.

This is how I feel as well, use the draft to focus on the D for right now. Find that D lineman that can get some pressure. Ok so we have most of our money spent on Offense, an offense that can control the clock. So let's draft some young and hungry guys on D. Crawford will be better next season, hopefully Lawrence and Coleman make improvements as well. There is also a veteran combine this year as well, see if there anyone there that can help on a situational basis.

 

[Hardline]

If Murray is not on this team next season Romo better be handing the ball to Todd Gurley. If he is on the board at 27

 

[Hoofbite]

Like any other position, it's not so much what you pay but what you get for your dollar. If they're paid big money and produce big, the team won't be any worse off.

Of the two players, Dez is undoubtedly more likely to give you the bang for the buck, IMO.

 

[BlindFaith]

Per NFL.com Dallas had the number 11 defense in football. We might argue stats, as some do here, but the over-all was they were number 11.

Fix in this instance is moving into the top 7 perhaps. If the offense stays static as far as players, which relates to similar success, then moving four slots toward the top may be enough to seal the deal.

Can the team accomplish this with the draft alone? Don't know. But I believe this team can get to where they need to be to keep the offense intact and to add to the defense in both the draft and in FA.

Will that be enough? Stay tuned.

Not sure what stat you're pulling, but Aikman had them at 15 and Football Outsiders had them at 22. Let's compromise and say 19th. Getting to top 12 should be good enough to make the playoffs and do some damage.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Not sure what stat you're pulling, but Aikman had them at 15 and Football Outsiders had them at 22. Let's compromise and say 19th. Getting to top 12 should be good enough to make the playoffs and do some damage.

Not sure why it is people have replied to this but NFL.COM in their team stats page indicated this defense was #11.

This was nothing I did but go to that site.

 

[percyhoward]

Not sure why it is people have replied to this but NFL.COM in their team stats page indicated this defense was #11.

This was nothing I did but go to that site.

I figured out what happened. Their default setting is for the postseason. We ranked 11th in yards allowed per game in the playoffs.