Video: Former NFL Executive Breaks Down How Teams Are Beating The Salary Cap

[HanD]

this is what dallas did for years with the same fans complaining. they did this and also converted salaries into signing bonuses. problem was romo got hurt and others weren't worth it.

 

[atlantacowboy]

There is a major difference between the Rams and the Cowboys. The Rams have to win. That is the only way they keep the fans coming.

A lot of teams have to win but don't.

 

[CouchCoach]

A lot of teams have to win but don't.

But only one wins without winning. And they know it.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Actually, listen to what is being said here...this isn't a magic way to completely manipulate the cap however you want type of loophole. This is something the Cowboys have certainly made use of. They paid Dak $75MM last season to take advantage of this very loophole. What that doesn't mean is that there are no consequences, and it's acknowledged in the video. This is the same reason that Dak's cap hit is very low last year as well as this year, but spikes to close to $50mm next season. You do this to the guys you commit long term to. Cooper the Cowboys just kind of dated, and could get out of the deal when they wanted to. Dak they are married to for a little longer, and even if Dak walks after his contract is up the Cowboys are still on the hook for a cap hit once he is gone. Same thing the Cowboys did with Romo, and what ended up happening was after Romo retired that cap hit was still around throughout Daks rookie deal making it tougher to take advantage of Daks cheap cap number.

The video even ends with him saying "we can do anything if all we care about is this year". Now his point was based around a smaller market team like Green Bay who doesn't have as much cash laying around as larger market teams, but it still applies to everyone.

The Rams have worked the cap and trade market beautifully the last couple of years....that still doesn't mean that the bill won't come due at some point, and when it does it will be a long rebuild process. They have structured things in such a way that they still have a couple years though. Kudos to LA, I'm jealous of their franchise right now, but it's easy to overlook the long term bad when a team has just come off a superbowl victory.

 

[Proof]

Think about this

In a sport where cash is king. Having the ability to manipulate the cap - using this cash over cap method. While being the most valuable franchise in the ENTIRE WORLD and these two idiots, dumb and dumber still can’t figure out a way to reach an nfc championship game. The level of their ineptitude knows no bounds.

pretty unreal. especially since they've had such a young roster over the past few years.

 

[Proof]

Actually, listen to what is being said here...this isn't a magic way to completely manipulate the cap however you want type of loophole. This is something the Cowboys have certainly made use of. They paid Dak $75MM last season to take advantage of this very loophole. What that doesn't mean is that there are no consequences, and it's acknowledged in the video. This is the same reason that Dak's cap hit is very low last year as well as this year, but spikes to close to $50mm next season. You do this to the guys you commit long term to. Cooper the Cowboys just kind of dated, and could get out of the deal when they wanted to. Dak they are married to for a little longer, and even if Dak walks after his contract is up the Cowboys are still on the hook for a cap hit once he is gone. Same thing the Cowboys did with Romo, and what ended up happening was after Romo retired that cap hit was still around throughout Daks rookie deal making it tougher to take advantage of Daks cheap cap number.

The video even ends with him saying "we can do anything if all we care about is this year". Now his point was based around a smaller market team like Green Bay who doesn't have as much cash laying around as larger market teams, but it still applies to everyone.

The Rams have worked the cap and trade market beautifully the last couple of years....that still doesn't mean that the bill won't come due at some point, and when it does it will be a long rebuild process. They have structured things in such a way that they still have a couple years though. Kudos to LA, I'm jealous of their franchise right now, but it's easy to overlook the long term bad when a team has just come off a superbowl victory.

yeah we did it with aging / injury prone guys and got bitten. the thing w/ dallas though is that they over correct so often it seems. claiborne doesnt work out? no more aggressive draft moves. carr doesnt work out? well sayanora free agency, randy moss becomes one of the most dominant players in nfl history? guess we should ignore all character concerns moving forward. etc etc

 

[rambo2]

There is a major difference between the Rams and the Cowboys. The Rams have to win. That is the only way they keep the fans coming.

Then the Rams are in deep trouble because the odds are against them winning and then they have a great chance of being bad in the future.

 

[thunderpimp91]

yeah we did it with aging / injury prone guys and got bitten. the thing w/ dallas though is that they over correct so often it seems. claiborne doesnt work out? no more aggressive draft moves. carr doesnt work out? well sayanora free agency, randy moss becomes one of the most dominant players in nfl history? guess we should ignore all character concerns moving forward. etc etc

Agreed. The issues with the Cowboys getting over the hump is bigger than salary cap manipulation. It seems more of a lack of willingness to get outside of their comfort zone.

 

[CouchCoach]

Then the Rams are in deep trouble because the odds are against them winning and then they have a great chance of being bad in the future.

Agree but that market is like no other in the league.

 

[calicowboy54]

You cannot look at the teams cap in any individual season and draw conclusions b/c of the loophole in the salary cap called the signing bonus. Dak is a perfect example. He's not in the top 50 salaries this year b/c he was paid 75M last year. 66M of that 75 is spread out over 5 years. So, it appears he's not making much this year. But, thats an illusion and how the cap game is played. The problem in Dallas is that even if their was no cap at all, Jerry and Stephen do not possess the expertise to build a team even with a blank check.

oh i agree 100% they do not possess the expertise to manage contracts and the cap. they need to hire that guy from LA

 

[john van brocklin]

Why don't the Cowboys operate this way?

Because we have amatuers running our front office and not professionals.
This puts us at a tremendous competitive disadvantage.
Been that way for 27 years and counting.

 

[JBS]

Dumb and Dumber have built a good team and are in good shape for the future at this point. They have a good chance of winning the division this year, that is why they are the favorite to do so. They could very well go to the NFC championship. The real dumb and dumber are the negative fans.

Hahahahaha what a stupid post

 

[JBS]

That's an obtuse argument. You know perfectly well the difference between cash paid out (to the player in Bonus) and the CAP which is just an accounting scheme where teams can proportion the bonus. The issue isnt spending this year, it's that most contracts ( e.g. Gregory and Coop's new contracts) will pay bonus up front, but hit's the CAP in 2023 and 24).

I’m talking purely CASH spent for 2022! Dallas ranks 24..not talking cap

 

[JBS]

How do you get they have the most cash....just because Jerry has cash, doesn't make it so. It does not matter what owner is the richest or team is worth the most.
Every team operates with the same cap space limits.

And now post June1st with he $$$ from Collins they have about $23 million in cap space. That is for next season, as what do you want them to do with it now?
And if they did use it, fans would whine for using it. Fans want cap space but whine when they don't have any saying they spend it on players. But also whine when they have it but don't spend it.

the guy in the video said it himself. I’m not sure what you think but Dallas is the biggest franchise in the world. They have cash to spend. They don’t spend it. I mean, let’s not play stupid here.

 

[jazzcat22]

the guy in the video said it himself. I’m not sure what you think but Dallas is the biggest franchise in the world. They have cash to spend. They don’t spend it. I mean, let’s not play stupid here.

What part about the same cap for every team did you not understand?
They did not have a lot of cap room to get the big players until after June 1st. By then obviously they were all gone.

So…
One guy has $1000 and another guy has $250
But yet you are only aloud to spend $250 on beer.

One will have $750 left, one will have $0 left…one still has more money than the other. He is not allowed to spend it all on the beer just because he has more.

so what if one spends his full $250 on all the beer he can and the other only spends $200, so now he has an extra $50 for future beer, as he may not have liked the beer from this year, it may be better next year.

 

[Jimbo123]

Dumb and Dumber have built a good team and are in good shape for the future at this point. They have a good chance of winning the division this year, that is why they are the favorite to do so. They could very well go to the NFC championship. The real dumb and dumber are the negative fans.

No, the real dumb and dumber are the fans that believe Jerry's hype year after year after year after year after year.

 

[Jimbo123]

What part about the same cap for every team did you not understand?
They did not have a lot of cap room to get the big players until after June 1st. By then obviously they were all gone.

So…
One guy has $1000 and another guy has $250
But yet you are only aloud to spend $250 on beer.

One will have $750 left, one will have $0 left…one still has more money than the other. He is not allowed to spend it all on the beer just because he has more.

so what if one spends his full $250 on all the beer he can and the other only spends $200, so now he has an extra $50 for future beer, as he may not have liked the beer from this year, it may be better next year.

You should've watched the video before commenting.

 

[JBS]

What part about the same cap for every team did you not understand?
They did not have a lot of cap room to get the big players until after June 1st. By then obviously they were all gone.

So…
One guy has $1000 and another guy has $250
But yet you are only aloud to spend $250 on beer.

One will have $750 left, one will have $0 left…one still has more money than the other. He is not allowed to spend it all on the beer just because he has more.

so what if one spends his full $250 on all the beer he can and the other only spends $200, so now he has an extra $50 for future beer, as he may not have liked the beer from this year, it may be better next year.

you understand why they don’t have cap room right? Bc they don’t manipulate the cap w cash spending..WHICH IS THE POINT OF THE ENTIRE THREAD!!!!

not to mention, you don’t need a ton of cap anyways. He laid out clearly how you can pay a 60 million and have a cap hit of 12.. you are being willfully ignorant here - bye

 

[rambo2]

No, the real dumb and dumber are the fans that believe Jerry's hype year after year after year after year after year.

Lol, they went 12 and 5 just last year and idiots act like that isn't good. They are also the division favorite this year and idiots think they aren't good.

 

[DFWJC]

Damn I wish our FO was this fricken smart. We have all the money in the world. And we can do what the Rams do. Why don't we?

Our front office is plenty smart.
It's more of a choice.
The Rams are a huge outlier compared to how most people do things.

Normally, their approach would be very risky. Some would say careless even.
However, Look at the players the Rams are paying. They lower the risk

• Donald...maybe the best player in the league
• Stafford...uber-talented QB who took you to a SB and you plan to keep for several years
• Kupp...one of the best seasons of all time and will still (along with Stafford) show up at 5am every day and outwork everyone.

Dallas DOES spend money. But I think the choices on who they spend it on is off at times.

32 teams in the league.
Not many (or any) doing what Rams are doing.
Btw, Stephen is the conservative one. Jerry probably would do the Rams thing if it was 100% on him. But Will Clay & Stephen are mostly the GM now.