ESPN: Twitter mailbag: If the Cowboys go big in free agency

[waldoputty]

They don't benefit from Dak for another year. Given the total cap hit at QB is going to be high still next season. It's next offseason when we'll see big dollars (largely out of necessity) thrown out there.

space would be opened up by other contract restructures this year that would not have been done without the Romo/Dak situation.

 

[waldoputty]

Cowboys stick with their standard FA plans.

Those won't include any of the above named players.

no top DE and we waste another year of Zeke and Dez.
not many years left for Dez and we have no replacement in place.
rbs dont have many years of prime - say 5 - and this would make it 40% prime wasted...

 

[waldoputty]

19 million for Ingram is hard to believe, but I could see it happening if Oliver is making 17. As much as I like the player, he could wind up being a prime example pf what Stephan wss talking about when he said paying good players elite money

sticker shock happens with high inflation rates due to the cap rises.
another question is who is available in FA in 2018.
i dont see many options.
if we are unable to get a good DE in 2017 and 2018, we have then wasted basically the remaining prime years of dez and 60% of a typical prime for a RB (you know who)...

 

[Toruk_Makto]

space would be opened up by other contract restructures this year that would not have been done without the Romo/Dak situation.

So far we've restructured exactly who we would regardless. But perhaps the team could think that way sure. In any case this is a weak FA class.

 

[waldoputty]

So far we've restructured exactly who we would regardless. But perhaps the team could think that way sure. In any case this is a weak FA class.

i dont know follow other teams' players much.
but it seems 2018 FAs look worse.
furthermore, historically, year 1 DEs do not do great.

inflation rate is very high.
we will probably get a worse player for more money if we wait till next year.
along with that would be wasting 1 year of dez's very last years and another 20% of a reasonable 5-year prime of a rb.

 

[Nightman]

Chandler Jones is the ideal FA here, but he is not leaving ARI. He'll be franchised if not signed.

It has been 10 days and no tag yet

 

[Toruk_Makto]

i dont know follow other teams' players much.
but it seems 2018 FAs look worse.
furthermore, historically, year 1 DEs do not do great.

inflation rate is very high.
we will probably get a worse player for more money if we wait till next year.
along with that would be wasting 1 year of dez's very last years and another 20% of a reasonable 5-year prime of a rb.

Thinking you are a player away is usually the exact best way to make sure you never get where you're going.

Stay the course and continue to build a young team.

 

[waldoputty]

Thinking you are a player away is usually the exact best way to make sure you never get where you're going.

Stay the course and continue to build a young team.

if we do not sign any high-end FAs in the next 3 years, there is no way we would be using up our cap.
i dont know that type of cap rules.
but i think you can only be 10% below - right?
look at the cap space in 2019.
it does not make sense not to spread that cap space from 2017-2019.

furthermore, the longer you wait in an inflationary environment, the higher the price.
it also seems the available FAs get worse, not better.

it is better to take the plunge earlier than later for the team as we know it.
that is because of dez's age and zeke's anticipated prime duration.

furthermore, if we buy the best team money can buy with FA, then pressure is off for getting the D from the draft.
we could go BPA, which i think we all agree is the best way to draft probowlers.
so spending now would actually SAVE US MONEY because it increases our chances of getting the next 3 probowlers.
if we could draft and develop probowlers in WR, DL and RT, we are set for the next 5-7 years.
sometimes spending money is also the way to save money.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

if we do not sign any high-end FAs in the next 3 years, there is no way we would be using up our cap.
i dont know that type of cap rules.
but i think you can only be 10% below - right?
look at the cap space in 2019.
it does not make sense not to spread that cap space from 2017-2019.

furthermore, the longer you wait in an inflationary environment, the higher the price.
it also seems the available FAs get worse, not better.

it is better to take the plunge earlier than later for the team as we know it.
that is because of dez's age and zeke's anticipated prime duration.

furthermore, if we buy the best team money can buy with FA, then pressure is off for getting the D from the draft.
we could go BPA, which i think we all agree is the best way to draft probowlers.
so spending now would actually SAVE US MONEY because it increases our chances of getting the next 3 probowlers.
if we could draft and develop probowlers in WR, DL and RT, we are set for the next 5-7 years.
sometimes spending money is also the way to save money.

I know. It is why I have said we are likely to be big spenders next offseason.

I have been preaching we can do anything we want in free agency. The key being anything we want. And that means we don't want to pay age and we don't want to get in a bidding war. And you don't have to spend cap on just big money FA deals. The Veteran middle market is always ripe for the picking.

And stop with the inflationary environment nonsense. Contracts don't rise nearly as fast as the cap does.

 

[WhizKid]

It has been 10 days and no tag yet

I'm sure they're working out a long-term contract. The tag only comes when they can't come to that agreement. http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...will-tag-chandler-jones-if-no-long-term-deal/

 

[waldoputty]

I know. It is why I have said we are likely to be big spenders next offseason.

I have been preaching we can do anything we want in free agency. The key being anything we want. And that means we don't want to pay age and we don't want to get in a bidding war. And you don't have to spend cap on just big money FA deals. The Veteran middle market is always ripe for the picking.

And stop with the inflationary environment nonsense. Contracts don't rise nearly as fast as the cap does.

we do not need more mediocrity.
we need players that demand double teams on the DL.
unfortunately, that is not cheap.
we dont need more thorntons - we have enough.
mayowa may turn out to be a nice rotation find, but he is not going to demand the double team.

i dont understand how it is not inflationary.
FAs are lower quality and cost more.
if that is not inflationary, i dont know what it is.
simple supply and demand.
that is what happens when cap rises by an unprecedented $10M/year every year

 

[Toruk_Makto]

we do not need more mediocrity.
we need players that demand double teams on the DL.
unfortunately, that is not cheap.
we dont need more thorntons - we have enough.
mayowa may turn out to be a nice rotation find, but he is not going to demand the double team.

i dont understand how it is not inflationary.
FAs are lower quality and cost more.
if that is not inflationary, i dont know what it is.
simple supply and demand.
that is what happens when cap rises by an unprecedented $10M/year every year

I too wish our team could be nothing but stars. Unfortunately that's not how football works.

What do you mean FAs are lower quality and cost more? Are you using your crystal ball again to see into the future?

 

[waldoputty]

I too wish our team could be nothing but stars. Unfortunately that's not how football works.

What do you mean FAs are lower quality and cost more? Are you using your crystal ball again to see into the future?

first, well everyone is saying 2016 top free agents are not good enough to be $15M/yr.
yet people are thinking vernon was worth it last year.

second, took a look at the list of 2018 possible FAs.
2017 looks better to me.

third, you cannot have an entire team of stars, but we can afford at least 2 more.
i already did the little of math and it is in another thread.

 

[Nova]

To be fair in this case the writer was just replying to questions that were sent in to #Cowboysmail. So you can, unsurprisingly, blame the team's fans for this one.


"@toddarcher Is there any chance the Cowboys go after a Melvin Ingram? I know they don't like to spend big in free agency. #Cowboysmail
— Derek Major (@djmajor6) February 23, 2017"

"Will the cowboys target desean Jackson? #cowboysmail
— ‍♂️ (@CHTrey) February 23, 2017"

Ah I see. That's fair.

 

[thisiscowboyscountry]

Campbell and Chandler Jones would be two players I would target to upgrade the dline. They're the only two high end dl free agents that I think will live up to their contracts. Ingram and Pierre Paul both concern me with their injury history.

I don't think we'll see big splashes, but we don't have to for it to be a successful offseason. Retain our own to not create any big holes, potentially add Ware, focus heavy on defense in the draft while also adding a WR and RT.

 

[Verdict]

we do not need more mediocrity.
we need players that demand double teams on the DL.
unfortunately, that is not cheap.
we dont need more thorntons - we have enough.
mayowa may turn out to be a nice rotation find, but he is not going to demand the double team.

i dont understand how it is not inflationary.
FAs are lower quality and cost more.
if that is not inflationary, i dont know what it is.
simple supply and demand.
that is what happens when cap rises by an unprecedented $10M/year every year

If you paid Thornton twice as much would that make him twice as good? No. That's the problem with free agency. You overpay for talent.

You guys *****ed forever about Brandon Carr and now you want the team to make a worse mistake than that? Insane.

 

[waldoputty]

If you paid Thornton twice as much would that make him twice as good? No. That's the problem with free agency. You overpay for talent.

You guys *****ed forever about Brandon Carr and now you want the team to make a worse mistake than that? Insane.

the thornton argument makes no sense.
who in the world would play double for something.
it seems you are saying the FAs out there are no better than what we have.

we have 2-3 years max of dez's remaining good years.
we do not have a wr1 replacement.
zeke may only have 4 good years left or so.
each year is precious.
if you dont risk, you dont gain.
2018 FAs look worse than 2017 FAs.
and it would get even more expensive as teams 'acclimatized' themselves to the new prices.

 

[BigStar]

If you paid Thornton twice as much would that make him twice as good? No. That's the problem with free agency. You overpay for talent.

You guys *****ed forever about Brandon Carr and now you want the team to make a worse mistake than that? Insane.

My gripe with Carr wasn't his initial signing (didn't hurt he made picks then), it was that the team didn't know when to let go while continually restructuring/allowing for paycuts @ 8M (?) instead of moving on and allocating that money elsewhere. Complacency w/the re-signing of average players (Crawford) is the only minor flaw with not spending nearly at all in FA. Our secondary re-signings upcoming are a great example of that in action; they are all jags but will be overpaid if we wish to retain them as it looks like we will be doing with at least two of them.

TJ Ward sounds like a better option then Church/Wilcox and was available bf going to DEN; wasn't even a "big" singing but we were in FA hibernation (complacency). Even NE signs one from time to time. It's not our money; don't get that aspect among fans tbh. Teams can do whatever they want with the cap, we want to allow JJ to be cheap?

 

[Verdict]

the thornton argument makes no sense.
who in the world would play double for something.
it seems you are saying the FAs out there are no better than what we have.

we have 2-3 years max of dez's remaining good years.
we do not have a wr1 replacement.
zeke may only have 4 good years left or so.
each year is precious.
if you dont risk, you dont gain.
2018 FAs look worse than 2017 FAs.
and it would get even more expensive as teams 'acclimatized' themselves to the new prices.

Or you keep your powder dry, build through the draft and when you want to keep a guy on your team who is bad *** you have the money to resign him. Moreover if you are smart with your cap when a bad *** player actually hit free agency you can splurge if you are so inclined.

But if you piss off your cap money on over priced average joes in free agency you have to sit on the sideline and watch.

 

[waldoputty]

Or you keep your powder dry, build through the draft and when you want to keep a guy on your team who is bad *** you have the money to resign him. Moreover if you are smart with your cap when a bad *** player actually hit free agency you can splurge if you are so inclined.

But if you piss off your cap money on over priced average joes in free agency you have to sit on the sideline and watch.

you have to tailor your cap strategy with your team's assets.
if you take a look at our salaries, you will see that we would not be able to spend up the money come 2019 unless we signed FAs.
the point is to spread that money into 2017 and 2018 so that we do not waste away dez's 2 best remaining years and 2 years of zeke's prime of perhaps 5 total years.

take a look at who is available in 2018, i think the 2017 class is actually better.

we are going to be able to extend collins and martin.
that is not the issue.
so the only other player to extend may be b jones in 2019 or 2020.

our draft did not do that great in 2014-2015 - there are not many players to lock up until 2020 when the class 2016 comes up.
and even then the 1st year of their extension is much less due to the way these contracts are structure with year 1 salary being the minimum.
also by then most of the cap structure is free, so that is not going to be the problem.