Galian Beast
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There are some interesting aspects of our roster that jump out when you follow the money.
I was surprised that they didn't re-sign Henry Melton. Even if we gave him the same contract that Tampa gave him which was 1 year 3.75 million dollars. I still think this would have been worth it to see if he could put things together further away from his ACL injury.
Not the same position, but you can see that we don't highly value the one technique. We weren't going to pay Paea 5.25 million per year at the 1 or Nick Fairly 5 million at the 1. I think that should tell people a lot about how this team values that position, and perhaps not freak out as much. They re-signed Nick Hayden, but as much as the Marinelli gushes about him, clearly they don't see him as the long term answer, even though they didn't draft anyone else there. They gave Hayden a one year 825k dolary, and only 280k of it was guaranteed. It wouldn't be stunning if he doesn't make the team this year. I certainly don't think he will be here next year.
Terrell McClain, Ken Bishop, and Davon Coleman are all players that might bump Hayden off the roster entirely. Terrell McClain wasn't healthy last year but we saw a lot of flashes, and I think he might actually be the early favorite to start next to Crawford this year. Both Bishop and Coleman are signed for next year already.
Doug Free is an expensive player, but he has a 3 million dollar cap hit this year on an average 5 million per year contract. This is why with everyone saying that Collins is going to replace Leary, I'm not sure if that is the case. I could see Free ended up as the swing tackle this year with Collins starting over him, especially given his injury that could delay him from starting training camp. His camp hit jumps to 5.5 million next year, but his dead money is only 3 million. Making him a June 1st cut would result in 1.5 million in dead money for 2016, but it would save 4 million dollars against the cap.... That is significant. It saves another 5 million in 2017. It makes a lot of financial sense to start Collins off at Tackle, while Free gets healthier. The more experience he gains playing on the right side in training camp, the better he will be playing that position in the regular season. When Free is healthy he could slide in and play guard, a position he has already played before on the left side, and it gives Leary more time to show his upside. Despite Leary's knee, he might not be out of the picture already. A 3 or 4 year contract might make sense for him going forward if he can take his game up another notch.
We actually have a lot of developmental players on the offensive line that show promise behind the starters. One of the best parts of having starters of this quality, is how much time you can invest on developing raw players behind them.
We made a pretty sizable investment in Jasper Brinkley, but if you look at his contract it is basically a one year deal. He has a base salary of 1 million dollars, which isn't significantly higher than the veteran minimum. He also had a signing bonus of 1.25 million. I think he likely makes the roster this year since we've already paid him, but will he ever make his 2 million base salary in 2016? I seriously doubt it. He is a two down player at best, and a serious liability in coverage. We brought him in here to stop the run on first and second downs, primarily as a backup scenario to not being able to get McClain. He is now McClain's backup. Next year I could easily see us just giving McClain Brinkley's base salary at the minimum, bringing him up to 5 million per year. McClain should be a part of this team going forward. If Sean Lee and Rolando McClain can't stay healthy, we've made draft investments in Wilson and Hitchens.
Jeremy Mincey is making basically no money. Our Selvie from last year his cap hit for the final year of his deal this year is 1.75 million. Depending on how long Hardy actually sees of his suspension, I would keep an eye on Mincey being trade bait. I think he unlike Selvie is really going to improve this year, and I think that will make it much more expensive to retain him. Also an outside chance that we decide to keep him instead of Hardy next year.
Who is the highest paid running back on the team? Darren McFadden? No... It's Lance Dunbar with a 1.542 million dollar contract. All base salary, no guarantees no bonuses. He is in a fight for his life, but I think he offers a dimension no other running back offers on this roster.
I don't think it should be ignored that we signed Williams to a two year deal. Not that that says anything, but he was given 240k signing bonus. We got him for very cheap. None of the running backs on this roster should consider themselves safe or locks to make the team. I think this competition should be pretty fierce. Hopefully it becomes moot because we trade for AP, but I'm not going to get into that here.
Hanna is an UFA in 2016. I think some team will want him as their starter. I could see the Broncos trading for him. He has the tools to be an all round tight end for someone, and I think he should be displayed in the preseason. I don't see anyway we can afford to pay him what some teams will pay him. A trade makes a lot of sense here. Really glad we drafted Swaim. Think he can do a lot of the things Hanna can do, should be a better blocker and just needs to develop his abilities as a receiver, should have plenty of time to develop.
I think Farmer has a really solid chance at making this roster as the 5th receiver. It is his job to lose. They've set up the contract pretty well for him to be an RFA in 2018. If we can develop him, it'll be a boon for us in saving money probably on Terrance Williams. He'll need to beat out Chris Boyd, but I think that shouldn't be a problem. Really might be a great unheralded find here. He probably should have stayed in college his last year, but we have the time and resources to develop him at WR5. Even WR4 doesn't get much playing time. There is no rush here, if he has the makeup, we should hold on to him and see what he can do and if he can stay healthy.
The Cowboys have positioned themselves well not to be held hostage by any single position financially on the roster.
I was surprised that they didn't re-sign Henry Melton. Even if we gave him the same contract that Tampa gave him which was 1 year 3.75 million dollars. I still think this would have been worth it to see if he could put things together further away from his ACL injury.
Not the same position, but you can see that we don't highly value the one technique. We weren't going to pay Paea 5.25 million per year at the 1 or Nick Fairly 5 million at the 1. I think that should tell people a lot about how this team values that position, and perhaps not freak out as much. They re-signed Nick Hayden, but as much as the Marinelli gushes about him, clearly they don't see him as the long term answer, even though they didn't draft anyone else there. They gave Hayden a one year 825k dolary, and only 280k of it was guaranteed. It wouldn't be stunning if he doesn't make the team this year. I certainly don't think he will be here next year.
Terrell McClain, Ken Bishop, and Davon Coleman are all players that might bump Hayden off the roster entirely. Terrell McClain wasn't healthy last year but we saw a lot of flashes, and I think he might actually be the early favorite to start next to Crawford this year. Both Bishop and Coleman are signed for next year already.
Doug Free is an expensive player, but he has a 3 million dollar cap hit this year on an average 5 million per year contract. This is why with everyone saying that Collins is going to replace Leary, I'm not sure if that is the case. I could see Free ended up as the swing tackle this year with Collins starting over him, especially given his injury that could delay him from starting training camp. His camp hit jumps to 5.5 million next year, but his dead money is only 3 million. Making him a June 1st cut would result in 1.5 million in dead money for 2016, but it would save 4 million dollars against the cap.... That is significant. It saves another 5 million in 2017. It makes a lot of financial sense to start Collins off at Tackle, while Free gets healthier. The more experience he gains playing on the right side in training camp, the better he will be playing that position in the regular season. When Free is healthy he could slide in and play guard, a position he has already played before on the left side, and it gives Leary more time to show his upside. Despite Leary's knee, he might not be out of the picture already. A 3 or 4 year contract might make sense for him going forward if he can take his game up another notch.
We actually have a lot of developmental players on the offensive line that show promise behind the starters. One of the best parts of having starters of this quality, is how much time you can invest on developing raw players behind them.
We made a pretty sizable investment in Jasper Brinkley, but if you look at his contract it is basically a one year deal. He has a base salary of 1 million dollars, which isn't significantly higher than the veteran minimum. He also had a signing bonus of 1.25 million. I think he likely makes the roster this year since we've already paid him, but will he ever make his 2 million base salary in 2016? I seriously doubt it. He is a two down player at best, and a serious liability in coverage. We brought him in here to stop the run on first and second downs, primarily as a backup scenario to not being able to get McClain. He is now McClain's backup. Next year I could easily see us just giving McClain Brinkley's base salary at the minimum, bringing him up to 5 million per year. McClain should be a part of this team going forward. If Sean Lee and Rolando McClain can't stay healthy, we've made draft investments in Wilson and Hitchens.
Jeremy Mincey is making basically no money. Our Selvie from last year his cap hit for the final year of his deal this year is 1.75 million. Depending on how long Hardy actually sees of his suspension, I would keep an eye on Mincey being trade bait. I think he unlike Selvie is really going to improve this year, and I think that will make it much more expensive to retain him. Also an outside chance that we decide to keep him instead of Hardy next year.
Who is the highest paid running back on the team? Darren McFadden? No... It's Lance Dunbar with a 1.542 million dollar contract. All base salary, no guarantees no bonuses. He is in a fight for his life, but I think he offers a dimension no other running back offers on this roster.
I don't think it should be ignored that we signed Williams to a two year deal. Not that that says anything, but he was given 240k signing bonus. We got him for very cheap. None of the running backs on this roster should consider themselves safe or locks to make the team. I think this competition should be pretty fierce. Hopefully it becomes moot because we trade for AP, but I'm not going to get into that here.
Hanna is an UFA in 2016. I think some team will want him as their starter. I could see the Broncos trading for him. He has the tools to be an all round tight end for someone, and I think he should be displayed in the preseason. I don't see anyway we can afford to pay him what some teams will pay him. A trade makes a lot of sense here. Really glad we drafted Swaim. Think he can do a lot of the things Hanna can do, should be a better blocker and just needs to develop his abilities as a receiver, should have plenty of time to develop.
I think Farmer has a really solid chance at making this roster as the 5th receiver. It is his job to lose. They've set up the contract pretty well for him to be an RFA in 2018. If we can develop him, it'll be a boon for us in saving money probably on Terrance Williams. He'll need to beat out Chris Boyd, but I think that shouldn't be a problem. Really might be a great unheralded find here. He probably should have stayed in college his last year, but we have the time and resources to develop him at WR5. Even WR4 doesn't get much playing time. There is no rush here, if he has the makeup, we should hold on to him and see what he can do and if he can stay healthy.
The Cowboys have positioned themselves well not to be held hostage by any single position financially on the roster.