Evaluating Dallas last four 40+ million contracts

[LatinMind]

The Ratliff deal was actually a smart move by the Front Office. It added 5 more years with only 10m more in guaranteed money and helped the team work around the salary cap when it was an issue. Nobody can claim they saw Ratliff completely quitting on the team.

There were some signs. Players on the team would talk about him be a hot head and hard to talk to sometimes. Ware and Lee both had them interviews. And Mickey talked about it, about him sometimes walking the other way when he saw Ratliff walking his way in the hallway.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

hindsight is 20/20 but dang, who couldn't see this injury coming?

I remember how stupid I thought the ratliff, lee, romo extensions were immediately. Hindsight hasn't changed anything.

The management behind this franchise is beyond terrible.

What was the alternative? Let them walk and be 5-11 so we can draft the great Johnny Football? I mean I just don't understand this criticism. This organization lacks a lot of things. But all 3 players were of Pro Bowl caliber when we re-signed them.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

There were some signs. Players on the team would talk about him be a hot head and hard to talk to sometimes. Ware and Lee both had them interviews. And Mickey talked about it, about him sometimes walking the other way when he saw Ratliff walking his way in the hallway.

There were signs that Ratliff was a bit "loco" but that's what you want from your linemen. There were ZERO signs of a 7th round defensive end fighting his way to become one of the best nose tackles in the game would simply just quit. There were no signs. If there were he would've never made it this far. Its actually still mind boggling to me what exactly went wrong with Ratliff.

 

[Nightman]

hindsight is 20/20 but dang, who couldn't see this injury coming?

I remember how stupid I thought the ratliff, lee, romo extensions were immediately. Hindsight hasn't changed anything.

The management behind this franchise is beyond terrible.

Considering it been 5 years since he had a knee injury, I would say even your hindsight is wrong. What percentage of guys coming back from ACL re-injure the same leg within 5 years? It's pretty low I would imagine.

 

[PA Cowboy Fan]

There were some signs. Players on the team would talk about him be a hot head and hard to talk to sometimes. Ware and Lee both had them interviews. And Mickey talked about it, about him sometimes walking the other way when he saw Ratliff walking his way in the hallway.

Ratliff should have been cut right after that DWI. Stupidest thing I ever seen after what happened to his teammate and that coming after that confrontation he had with Jerry.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

What was the alternative? Let them walk and be 5-11 so we can draft the great Johnny Football? I mean I just don't understand this criticism. This organization lacks a lot of things. But all 3 players were of Pro Bowl caliber when we re-signed them.

5-11 and rebuild or be stuck at mediocrity for 3 straight seasons, probably 4 after this year.

The way this team invests in it's players is ridiculous. Jay ratliff, 31 with a year left on his contract signed to a 5 year deal making him a top paid DT? Tony Romo 33 coming off a major back surgery with a year left and you sign him to a 6 year deal?
Sean Lee can't even stay on the field the last 7 years of his career and you just think it's dumb luck he's already injured?

You have to look at the career outlook for a player, especially when signing them to 5-6 year top dollar deals. Something the FO sucks at.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

Considering it been 5 years since he had a knee injury, I would say even your hindsight is wrong. What percentage of guys coming back from ACL re-injure the same leg within 5 years? It's pretty low I would imagine.

he was injured through out college. injured coming into the NFL. played 11 games in 2012, played 6 games in 2013. now 0 games in 2014...I'm no genius, but the trend doesn't appear promising does it?

 

[Doomsday101]

currently Dallas only has 3 players who rank in the top 10 saleries for their position. Romo, Witten and Carr. Romo is the 7th highest paid I think Dallas is well within reason with what they pay him. Witten is the highest on avg but that still pays under 10 mill and Carr.

 

[Nightman]

he was injured through out college. injured coming into the NFL. played 11 games in 2012, played 6 games in 2013. now 0 games in 2014...I'm no genius, but the trend doesn't appear promising does it?

You win some, you lose some. But with a player that has Lee's instincts and ability you take the chance every time IMO.

 

[SilverStarCowboy]

Good thing Jerral Wayne is the GM or he'd get canned by the Owner for those latest 4 contracts alone. ... much less the last 18 years.

He really must hate himself for doing this. ...$120 Million worth of questionably bad business decisions has got to shock a little .. even if you put your own finger in the light socket.

 

[tideh20heel]

3. Sean Lee - $42 million 6 year contract. Signed 8/22/13. Fan favorite. Is everything you want in player: humble, hard-working, dominate at times. Unfortunately, Lee has missed about 30% of defensive snaps thru his career and now will miss entire 2014 season with ACL tear.
Exactly why his contract is laden with incentives and team friendly.

Was more team friendly before the restructure. It's often not the contract that gets us but us doubling down on them.

 

[basstapp]

Romo is a top 10 quarterback - for the love of god the chiefs are about to give Alex Smith 50 million.... Everybody loved the Brandon Carr signing. Sean Lee deserved the contract he got and team was smart and has triggers for playing time. Ratliff is the only bad contract on that list. Again it is always easy to judge something 2-3 years later.

 

[85Cowboy85]

Only the Carr and Ratliff contracts are terrible there. They admitted to over paying for Carr when they first signed him and Ratliff still had a few years left on his deal.

They made Lee's contract incentive based to account for his injury history. Lets wait and see what his release vs keep numbers are before overreacting.

The team is not functioning without Romo. Odds are if the team does have to eat dead money from the Romo deal the team wasn't going to be very good in those few years anyway.

 

[scottsp]

Dallas is typically a bad judge of the market. Every now and again, bad contracts happen - even to the best of organizations. To happen with this degree of frequency is certainly unsettling. A nice start would be staying away from awarding such Heaven & Earth deals to players on the wrong side of thirty, at least as much as it possibly can be averted.

 

[Wood]

So basically you're saying we should let Tyron Smith and Dez Bryant walk? Is that what i'm getting? You have two options. Let your player walk or re-sign them. Ratliff's contract was a travesty and it was Jerry trying to reward a player who had been severely underpaid. Mistake? I agree.

Brandon Carr was the free agent game I don't like but having the worst secondary in the league and Mike Jenkins being so inconsistent it warranted the signing.

Romo got paid the standard rate. He came back last year with 31 Td's and 10 picks. I'd hardly say we got ripped off there. He ended up getting market value.

or start drafting better so the team isn't forced into these bad contracts. Almost all of these contracts were 'necessary' at the time because Dallas failed to locate a more cap friendly replacement due to poor drafting or simply having no motivation to do so. One thing we can agree on is that Dallas is not very good a projecting star production.

 

[Nightman]

or start drafting better so the team isn't forced into these bad contracts. Almost all of these contracts were 'necessary' at the time because Dallas failed to locate a more cap friendly replacement due to poor drafting or simply having no motivation to do so. One thing we can agree on is that Dallas is not very good a projecting star production.

You only get 4 years on a draft pick, 5 for some 1st rounders, so you inevitably come up with some tough decisions pretty quickly. If a guy shows promise, you have to sign to a new deal or let him walk. If you are counting on re-drafting a new team every 4 years that is pretty tough sledding as well. You need a mix of draft picks, young vets on second contracts and some FAs. There is no secret formula to getting all 3 right.

Dallas has had some pretty bad luck with young guys signed to their second contract not living up to their end of the bargain, but they have also seen guys they let walk continue to have good success for other teams. It's more luck than science. Even the Patriots have failed to capture the magic of the mid 2000s and have missed pretty badly in the draft in the last 5 years.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I have absolutely no issue with the Romo deal. He more than backed up his signing of that deal with his play last year. I am concerned about his back now but I'm not going to lay that concern on the contract they signed him to. I'm hopeful he's going to return healthy and continue to be the playmaking QB he's been for us.

 

[TheMarathonContinues]

or start drafting better so the team isn't forced into these bad contracts. Almost all of these contracts were 'necessary' at the time because Dallas failed to locate a more cap friendly replacement due to poor drafting or simply having no motivation to do so. One thing we can agree on is that Dallas is not very good a projecting star production.

So wait. You draft a player to replace the Pro Bowler you already have? That's ridiculous. You'll never be able to fill any holes that way.

The only position you can say that for IMO is cornerback when it comes to Brandon Carr. Hell Mike Jenkins and Brandon Carr were in the same draft.

But I don't think it has to do with the personnel. I think it has to do with this organization and their player development. Some of these guys coming through here get far too comfortable in part how this organization is ran.

 

[coult44]

Im not a Romo fan but anybody who puts him in a thread that is supposed to be about the problem in any way shape or form in Dallas cant be taken seriously. Romo on a team with better than average coaching and a average defense and his team is a superbowl contender every yr. Dallas were legit Superbowl contenders from 2007-2009.

Carr, in FA you are not going to get a CB for cheap. Especially his size and skills. His first yr in Dallas he was what they wanted him to be. Then they went zone, and thats not his game, and he struggled last yr. What did he do? He recognized that, and lost weight to get quicker. Is it his fault the team went to a def that didnt fit his skills?

Lee, shut up. Dallas could cut Lee in 2017 and would've only paid him 18.8 mil over 3 yrs. Dallas has set up his contract nicely.Dallas had set that contract that 22mil of that would be paid over the final 3 yrs. You people look at numbers and speak without knowing the details of the deal. Its embarrassing.

Ratliff was a cluster **** and i wont even try to defend this. Ill just say he's a thief

How is it that we were Super Bowl contenders, but have yet to make it to a conference championship game? More like wild card contenders.

I think a major point in the thread is Tony signed contract, got hurt. Rat signed contract, got hurt. Lee signed contract, got hurt...another point your forgetting is Lee was paid this money with JJ knowing he would get hurt. So regardless of the amount or how "team friendly" it is, it's a bad contract because it's based on a 5-10 game season...

 

[gimmesix]

They had to let Sean Lee walk or Franchise Tag him. You make the call without hindsight. They signed a Top 5 MLB to a below market deal and he got hurt. He will be back for a combined 5.5m in 2015 and 2016.

Without a salary cap, I think you would see players with injury concerns like Lee receiving the franchise tag. Because of the cap, the next best thing you can do is what Dallas did with his contract.

You can't let players of his caliber just walk or you'll always be looking for replacements and never have the chance to have a solid all-around team. You just protect yourself as best you can and hope and pray. Anyone who would do it any differently, I would not want running the team I follow because it would always be rebuilding.