Doug Free refuses pay cut **Unofficial**

[gimmesix]

Well if I was Free, I wouldn't take the pay cut either.

Not sure why he/you wouldn't.

He's made $17 million in guaranteed money from his contract, has to know he hasn't lived up to the deal and probably won't get what he'd make even with a pay cut here.

The only thing I can think of is that he wants to start and he's unsure he'll get to do it here. Although I can't see why he'd believe he'll get a guaranteed starting spot anywhere.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

Not sure why he/you wouldn't.

He's made $17 million in guaranteed money from his contract, has to know he hasn't lived up to the deal and probably won't get what he'd make even with a pay cut here.

The only thing I can think of is that he wants to start and he's unsure he'll get to do it here. Although I can't see why he'd believe he'll get a guaranteed starting spot anywhere.

Sometimes, agents play a role in that sort of thing. An agent never wants you to take a pay cut. That goes against their interests. Not saying this is what is going on with Free but I would not be surprised if it is something like that.

 

[Cowboys22]

Not sure why he/you wouldn't.

He's made $17 million in guaranteed money from his contract, has to know he hasn't lived up to the deal and probably won't get what he'd make even with a pay cut here.

The only thing I can think of is that he wants to start and he's unsure he'll get to do it here. Although I can't see why he'd believe he'll get a guaranteed starting spot anywhere.

He is not going to give the team back the money that they are going to use to replace him. No agent will let him do that because they will look horrible in the eyes of every single player when Free is cut and another RT signed with the money he gave back. If they were only in the market for a DT and asked him to take a paycut but remain the starter, he may do it but he can see the writing on the wall.

 

[LarryCanadian]

Well, if true, I'm happy with that news. Never wanted Free to do poorly here, but you can't pay for that kind of awful performance out there. At that price I'd rather have Parnell any day, every day, because he at least has an upside still and doesn't cost ANYWHERE near the price.

This at least forces the Cowboys' hand to get some sort of help at OT even if Parnell is likely the starter.

I thought it ludicrously stupid for them to risk ANOTHER year with the biggest turnstyle and penalty machine in Free out there. It was dreadful, and you just paid Romo millions again - better keep him alive!

I would have HATED keeping Free at anywhere near his currently salary - that would have been so RISKY and sends wrong message to team/league...

I would have loved to have drafted an OT, but they went so fast the value in picking one up in 2nd etc would have been poor. Better to get best rated Center who is a braniac, that was right thing even if it would have been nice to get player in 2nd. Draft was weird for oline and just didn't fall that way.

I would like insurance in a fairly paid, shorter term contract (2 years maybe) Clabo, etc...

 

[gimmesix]

He is not going to give the team back the money that they are going to use to replace him. No agent will let him do that because they will look horrible in the eyes of every single player when Free is cut and another RT signed with the money he gave back. If they were only in the market for a DT and asked him to take a paycut but remain the starter, he may do it but he can see the writing on the wall.

There is nothing I've read that says Dallas is going to use the money he'd give back to replace him.

It appears more like Dallas is asking him to take a pay cut to remain on the team to compete with Parnell. If he takes the cut, Dallas probably makes no other move at the position.

 

[gimmesix]

Sometimes, agents play a role in that sort of thing. An agent never wants you to take a pay cut. That goes against their interests. Not saying this is what is going on with Free but I would not be surprised if it is something like that.

I think pride's involved. Players see themselves differently than reality a lot of the time, which is necessary from a confidence angle.

And definitely, his agent would be pumping that up.

We see this often with players. They say they are not taking a cut, end up somewhere else for less money in the same role they would have had. They don't see themselves as the guy that's going to happen to, until they make it happen.

I'm OK with it, though. I'd rather Dallas' hand be forced to pay up for Winston or Clabo.

 

[SportsGuru80]

I do not like him at all... I like a big strong RT, he doesn't fit that mold.

 

[Bware_Dware]

If Free had any brains, he would agree to the pay cut with incentives. Get your guaranteed money and work hard to earn the starting job back

Unless.... He knows he can't hack it

 

[gimmesix]

I disagree. He played well in 09 at right tackle, he played very good not below average at left tackle in 2010. 2011 he was garbage at left and 2012 he was hot garbage at right. But based on 09 and 2010 Jerry had evidence that he was the long term answer at left tackle. obviously the contract is awful now that Free has regressed dramatically for whatever reason, but this is not one of the many bad contracts that Jerry hands out based on hopes and wishes IMO.

People get upset for Jerry paying a player when other teams would have done the same. In fact, after 2010, Free was a hot target for free agency. Teams saw what he did in 2009 and 2010 and likely felt his best years as a starter were still ahead of him.

 

[Cowboys22]

There is nothing I've read that says Dallas is going to use the money he'd give back to replace him.

It appears more like Dallas is asking him to take a pay cut to remain on the team to compete with Parnell. If he takes the cut, Dallas probably makes no other move at the position.

Where have you been? They've only been linked to every single free agent RT out there. There has even been talk of moving him inside. Everything coming from the team points to trying to replace him at RT. Asking him to take a paycut is cap related and would allow them to keep him as the swing tackle or experiment with him at guard. I think they'd rather keep him for one more year so they can avoid the big cap hit next year.

 

[gimmesix]

Where have you been? They've only been linked to every single free agent RT out there. There has even been talk of moving him inside. Everything coming from the team points to trying to replace him at RT. Asking him to take a paycut is cap related and would allow them to keep him as the swing tackle or experiment with him at guard. I think they'd rather keep him for one more year so they can avoid the big cap hit next year.

Being linked to the free agents doesn't mean they are trying to replace Free. It simply means they are willing to replace him if he doesn't take a pay cut ... because they like Parnell equally.

They have the money already based on Romo's deal to sign any FA RT they want, so Free's money has absolutely nothing to do with that.

It's simply about getting him down to the proper price. If they were able to do that, their interest in the available OTs would likely disappear (sadly enough), because again, if they wanted to replace Free, they could do so at any time without asking him to take a pay cut.

 

[CaptainMorgan]

 

[jobberone]

I think they want to keep him because they don't have a known player at RT. I like Parnell but you can't predict with a reasonable degree of certainty he will be able to play the position well. In fact none of the tackles played well. Of course neither did the interior so....

 

[CyberB0b]

I think they want to keep him because they don't have a known player at RT. I like Parnell but you can't predict with a reasonable degree of certainty he will be able to play the position well. In fact none of the tackles played well. Of course neither did the interior so....

Jerry the gambler is ready to roll the dice on ole Parnell.

 

[gimmesix]

Jerry the gambler is ready to roll the dice on ole Parnell.

Probably based on what his offensive line coach and head coach have said.

 

[Teague31]

Awesome

 

[Angus]

Free's money is guaranteed whether he stays or not, I understand.

Look at it from his standpoint. He has more than four million dollars coming that he bargained for with his employer. He didn't have to sign with Dallas, but the club wanted him enough to pay him that much. If he agrees to take less now he could still be booted tomorrow.

If you had an employment contract paying you four million would you risk your family losing the benefit of it to please the employer? They could live on that for many years, even if you might not be able to catch on with some other employer in the same profession?

Assuming he has his health (and especially if he doesn't) he would be foolish to take less without iron clad assurances that protect his family's future. There are other ways to make a living but having a four million nest egg is nice while looking for them.

 

[Oh_Canada]

Exactly. So soon people forget. It's lousy that we are in the situation we are in now but at the time everyone was thinking he was our answer at one of the tackle spots for years to come. Let's not push our Jerry suck agenda on this one folks.

Hindsight brings incredible clarity for people apparently.

Anyone who says Jerry was wrong to pay a 26 y.o tackle who appeared to have pro bowl potential leading up to that contract is flat out lying or they are delusional one or the other.

You simply can't lie the blame at Jerry's feet for this one, it's quite obvious Free mailed it in once he moved up to the penthouse.

 

[Hoofbite]

Not sure why he/you wouldn't.

He's made $17 million in guaranteed money from his contract, has to know he hasn't lived up to the deal and probably won't get what he'd make even with a pay cut here.

The only thing I can think of is that he wants to start and he's unsure he'll get to do it here. Although I can't see why he'd believe he'll get a guaranteed starting spot anywhere.

$7M is more than $2M. I think that was rumored cut amount I saw floating around in another thread.

It makes sense because if he is cut right now, even a June 1st designation would mean he has $5M in dead money this year and next.

Knocking off $5M makes his cap number just about the same as the $5M for cutting him.

My guess the holdup is in regards to the remaining years. He has $24M left in base salary after this year. Obviously the team wants him to adjust that and doubtful he's willing.

From his perspective if if he can somehow recapture some of that play from earlier in his career without knocking down his scheduled money for the next 3 seasons he might actually be able to justify his cap hit and earn another season of pay at $8M per year.

If he can't justify it he keeps what's he made in Dallas and gets cut next year. Plus, if he does play a little better next year but not worth his cap hit he can always try to renegotiate again at that time because only $3M comes off the amount of money that has already been guaranteed.

Next year he can leverage $7M in dead money and go with a base salary.

If he's cut this year he has to play at least a solid year next year to get anything after that. Most likely he'd sign into a couple year contract that's low value.

He's got enough money and likely has more to lose in the long run by restructuring. It's a long shot for him but if he can play well this year he'd get to keep his spot safe for next year. Hell, he could probably juice and play well enough to stay on the team next year.

Of course, the team is likely doing everything they can to make sure they don't have to worry about the possibility of him playing well enough to warrant his current scheduled base salary. They probably want to knock a lot of it down and give themselves some flexibility.

How crazy would that be? Lets say they cut his base salaries significantly for the next 4 seasons and magically he comes back and plays at a high level and goes from salary cap burden to salary cap bargain.

Goes from a guy with cap hits of $10M, $11M, $11M, $9M who is terrible to a guy who has cap hits of $5M, $6M, $6M, $4M and is playing at a high level.

 

[Nightman]

Free's money is guaranteed whether he stays or not, I understand.

Look at it from his standpoint. He has more than four million dollars coming that he bargained for with his employer. He didn't have to sign with Dallas, but the club wanted him enough to pay him that much. If he agrees to take less now he could still be booted tomorrow.

If you had an employment contract paying you four million would you risk your family losing the benefit of it to please the employer? They could live on that for many years, even if you might not be able to catch on with some other employer in the same profession?

Assuming he has his health (and especially if he doesn't) he would be foolish to take less without iron clad assurances that protect his family's future. There are other ways to make a living but having a four million nest egg is nice while looking for them.

Free has zero guaranteed money left.