Recommended Free Agent DLinemen

[Nightman]

Great post, but isn't the number from those 6 a lot higher? If Romo's salary is 13.5MM and the cap hit for his bonuses are 8.5MM, would converting salary to a bonus create 10MM all by itself?

I think he means that it gets them to PLUS 9.9m in cap space from a 23m deficit. That would be a total of 33m in space created.

 

[Nightman]

Lol to save yourself the headache and thats exactly what it is a headache. Just get ready for a boring FA period.

Nah, I'll believe the simple math and expect to be active in Free Agency

 

[Kaiser]

I think he means that it gets them to PLUS 9.9m in cap space from a 23m deficit. That would be a total of 33m in space created.

My bad, I was reading it literally.

 

[LatinMind]

I think he means that it gets them to PLUS 9.9m in cap space from a 23m deficit. That would be a total of 33m in space created.

lol really 33 mil in cap space? so Dallas is restructuring 64 mil in cap?

 

[gmoney112]

lol really 33 mil in cap space? so Dallas is restructuring 64 mil in cap?

He said 9.9m in cap space.

 

[LatinMind]

He said 9.9m in cap space.

read the end he said 33 mil in cap space created lol.

 

[gmoney112]

read the end he said 33 mil in cap space created lol.

?? There's 33 mil in cap space created. From -23 to +9.9.

33mil difference or "created", 9.9 of usable cap.

I think you know what he meant, LatinMind!

 

[LatinMind]

?? There's 33 mil in cap space created. From -23 to +9.9.

33mil difference or "created", 9.9 of usable cap.

I think you know what he meant, LatinMind!

With restructures and possible cuts you can expect dallas to be anywhere between 6mil to 8mil in cap space before FA. 5.5 mil Dallas will get after june1 if the use Austin as a june cut. And that will be used to sign draft picks. Thats what will happen like it or not. If they had real cap money they would resign Hatcher. His salary first yr of a new contract wouldnt be big, but it would be big if they were expecting to be penny pinching this yr. In actuality Dallas would have more money, BUT they will most liely tender Bailey as a RD2 tender which is slghtly over 2 mil. and give punter jones a tender. This will probably be the biggest signings they announce. The impact we see this yr will have to come from the draft.

 

[BigStar]

XW has made that case 3 straight off-seasons and it has yet to come true.
Much wiser to look at what we've done and likely moves not dream scenarios.

We did have room this year, we didn't even use all of the cap available (had enough for Waters)? I think it is more of JJ bargain hunting...I ALREADY spent on (Rat, Spencer, Ware)...all that wasted money probably stopped any older FA 1 year deals being justified from his perspective.

 

[jterrell]

So we didn't sign Waters and Durant and franchise Spencer last season? And Brandon Carr the year before that? Doing that in the middle of the 10MM in cap penalties, along with doing internal moves like signing Sean Lee and Romo to extensions, prove his point.

No, they do not.
Waters and Durant were cheap signing.
Romo extension LOWERED his hit creating more money, not less.
Lee's money is large going forward but his base didn't change last year.

In fact that shows we likely handle Tyron Smith and Dez before looking outside at big money.

Also would seem we seriously consider resigning Spencer who we felt was a franchise caliber player 2 seasons in a row.

The main issue I have with XW is people are largely not smart enough to take what he says and process it.
They read it as OMG we are signing 2 new Pro Bowl DL under 30!!! We will win the Super Bowl!!!!

 

[jterrell]

MartyB has 3 years remaining on his contract in Chicago.

Michael has a chance to get a starting job somewhere but not in Seattle.

Is there a link to him making these remarks?

Bennett will likely be a starter in Seattle but it really doesn't matter.
He loves it there and took less money to leave a spot where he was a starter.
You have a link to him saying he wants to go somewhere as a starter?

Seattle can free up 7.5m by releasing Chris Clemons.
Bennett led the team with 8.5 sacks this year and played plenty snaps.

Seattle has cap space ALREADY for next season and can easily tag Bennett if they desired.

Bottom line Bennett is a terrible target for Dallas for many reasons.
It is a pipe dream and just terrible football logic to see him here.

 

[jterrell]

We did have room this year, we didn't even use all of the cap available (had enough for Waters)? I think it is more of JJ bargain hunting...I ALREADY spent on (Rat, Spencer, Ware)...all that wasted money probably stopped any older FA 1 year deals being justified from his perspective.

Please try to follow and understand here.
Every team in the league has to get under the cap.
It's hardly a shock we did so.
No one sane is claiming we will not do so in 2014.
OF COURSE we will do what the league rules mandates.

But getting under and having "SOME" space is hardly freeing up money to go sign coveted players.

Waters was a minimal cap hit. We paid a pro-rated portion of his salary and he was given no guaranteed money.
His cap number was 1.5 million. About 400k of that was house money anyways as one of 51 bodies already counting.
Not only that but we didn't have to pay him until late.
So about 100000% different from any scenario XW is talking about.

Signing Bern and Livings are the kinds of moves we can and likely WILL make.
Those were lower end deals with little cap hits in year 1 and minimal effect going forward.

Can we resign Waters next year?
YES!!
Even if he wants 3m he is likely not going to play elsewhere and likely wants to sign after Training Camp.
So we can sign him AFTER we June 1st release Miles Austin. And he isn't likely to affect future caps or cost a lot of money.

Can we sign Michael Bennett? NO! Even if he was tuly available we'd have to pay him a fortune to leave a proven winner to come here where have missed the playoffs 4 straight years. And we do not have that kind of money.

But, but, but, Brandon Carr. Yes, we desperately signed Carr to a crazy deal to get him here.
He cost us a very reasonable 3.2m in 2012 but he was given a "forced" restructure in 2013.
He cost us over 5m and was our 4th highest cap hit in 2013. That is only sad because he still has about 17m in dead money if we cut him today.
Ultimately we can't cut him if we want to. Not unless we are bottoming out and just playing draftees or in Heath's case, undrafted FA.

If you want to predict what we will do or talk reasonable about 2014 Free Agency then the past two years are likely guides.
We will get under the cap and we will have some cap cash.
Likely we will sign a couple players.
It is very unlikely that these are highly coveted guys however.
We arent winning bidding wars without making desperation moves and the 2015 cap is just as bad as 2014 already so any more Carr type deals are VERY unlikely.

Most likely types we can sign:
Vets over 30 released June 1st. Guys who have had success but are on the down side and have been overpaid previously.
Our own guys like Spencer who can return for far less than last seasons cap hit and remain in his home.
Guys like Bern or Livings that were considered adequate NFL guys but not coming off great seasons.
Guys like Hatcher pre 2013 that have fallen through cracks. Not coveted because he hadnt been put in best case to succeed.

But whatever we do we will keep a few million dollars emergency money.
We will also get 7-8m under the cap again nee dot be there to sign draftees.
We will hold a couple million in case we need to sign veterans off the street.
Every guy we sign with a few years NFL service eats some cap space.
And Dallas is very aware with needing to sign those guys.

 

[BigStar]

Please try to follow and understand here.
Every team in the league has to get under the cap.
It's hardly a shock we did so.
No one sane is claiming we will not do so in 2014.
OF COURSE we will do what the league rules mandates.

But getting under and having "SOME" space is hardly freeing up money to go sign coveted players.

Waters was a minimal cap hit. We paid a pro-rated portion of his salary and he was given no guaranteed money.
His cap number was 1.5 million. About 400k of that was house money anyways as one of 51 bodies already counting.
Not only that but we didn't have to pay him until late.
So about 100000% different from any scenario XW is talking about.

Signing Bern and Livings are the kinds of moves we can and likely WILL make.
Those were lower end deals with little cap hits in year 1 and minimal effect going forward.

Can we resign Waters next year?
YES!!
Even if he wants 3m he is likely not going to play elsewhere and likely wants to sign after Training Camp.
So we can sign him AFTER we June 1st release Miles Austin. And he isn't likely to affect future caps or cost a lot of money.

Can we sign Michael Bennett? NO! Even if he was tuly available we'd have to pay him a fortune to leave a proven winner to come here where have missed the playoffs 4 straight years. And we do not have that kind of money.

But, but, but, Brandon Carr. Yes, we desperately signed Carr to a crazy deal to get him here.
He cost us a very reasonable 3.2m in 2012 but he was given a "forced" restructure in 2013.
He cost us over 5m and was our 4th highest cap hit in 2013. That is only sad because he still has about 17m in dead money if we cut him today.
Ultimately we can't cut him if we want to. Not unless we are bottoming out and just playing draftees or in Heath's case, undrafted FA.

If you want to predict what we will do or talk reasonable about 2014 Free Agency then the past two years are likely guides.
We will get under the cap and we will have some cap cash.
Likely we will sign a couple players.
It is very unlikely that these are highly coveted guys however.
We arent winning bidding wars without making desperation moves and the 2015 cap is just as bad as 2014 already so any more Carr type deals are VERY unlikely.

Most likely types we can sign:
Vets over 30 released June 1st. Guys who have had success but are on the down side and have been overpaid previously.
Our own guys like Spencer who can return for far less than last seasons cap hit and remain in his home.
Guys like Bern or Livings that were considered adequate NFL guys but not coming off great seasons.
Guys like Hatcher pre 2013 that have fallen through cracks. Not coveted because he hadnt been put in best case to succeed.

But whatever we do we will keep a few million dollars emergency money.
We will also get 7-8m under the cap again nee dot be there to sign draftees.
We will hold a couple million in case we need to sign veterans off the street.
Every guy we sign with a few years NFL service eats some cap space.
And Dallas is very aware with needing to sign those guys.

Great post. The effort and information provided was insightful without being demeaning. I am by no means an expert on FAs and the cap. Appreciate the "schooling" TBH I just have confidence in Walker and Adam and will admit I wait for their projections before considering names, types of talent, etc. Walker was proven right last year and has all of this information validated with his own research, spreadsheets, etc. He seems to be pretty dang close if not on the money. I guess what you're saying is we need to stop putting it on the credit card or the debt collectors will eventually say enough is enough and we can longer creatively "put off" the payments. Our just more logical FA choices, never mind, just re-read it. My b

 

[Doc50]

Amount Available $13,726,693

Wrong.

I use a spreadsheet to calculate the numbers. I have the dead-money at 11.8M.

Total Active Contracts $102,379,487
Dead Money $11,809,439
Total Cap Hits $114,188,926
Salary Cap with 2013 rollover $127,915,619
Amount Available $13,726,693

Contract # Player Cap Hit
1 Tony Romo $11,737,000
2 DeMarcus Ware $8,571,500
3 Brandon Carr $7,139,500
4 Jason Witten $5,378,250
5 Miles Austin $2,749,400
6 Sean Lee $3,684,000
7 Orlando Scandrick $6,601,250
8 Doug Free $6,520,000
9 Morris Claiborne $4,435,773
10 Kyle Orton $4,377,500
11 Mackenzy Bernadeau $4,074,166
12 Tyron Smith $3,976,031
13 Dez Bryant $3,148,500
14 Jermey Parnell $1,833,334
15 Phil Costa $1,725,000
16 Travis Frederick $1,561,370
17 Bruce Carter $1,544,645
18 Barry Church $1,500,000
19 Justin Durant $1,450,000
20 LP Ladouceur $1,005,000
21 Gavin Escobar $956,931
22 DeMarco Murray $946,094
23 Tyrone Crawford $733,813
24 Everette Brown $730,000
25 Nick Hayden $730,000
26 Corvey Irvin $730,000
27 George Selvie $730,000
28 Terrance Williams $684,868
29 Dwayne Harris $682,515
30 Kyle Wilber $679,805
31 JJ Wilcox $661,517
32 Matt Johnson $645,146
33 Martez Wilson $645,000
34 Frank Kearse $645,000
35 Sterling Moore $645,000
36 Tyler Clutts $645,000
37 B.W. Webb $605,845
38 James Hanna $596,213
39 Cole Beasley $570,500
40 Orie Lemon $570,000
41 Lance Dunbar $570,000
42 Darrion Weems $570,000
43 Joseph Randle $542,220
44 DeVonte Holloman $521,055
45 Jakar Hamilton $504,333
46 Ben Bass $500,747
47 Jeff Heath $495,666
48 Cameron Lawrence $495,000
49 Ronald Leary $495,000
50 Player #50 $420,000
51 Player #51 $420,000

Interested in a GM job with a local team? Good benefits, seat in the owner's suite, exciting travel opportunities.

Must be willing to eat a steady diet of poop sandwiches -- but, the more bread there is, the less you can taste the poop.

 

[jterrell]

Great post. The effort and information provided was insightful without being demeaning. I am by no means an expert on FAs and the cap. Appreciate the "schooling" TBH I just have confidence in XWalker and Adam and will admit I wait for their projections before considering names, types of talent, etc.

In all honesty I am a homer if there ever was a homer.
But expecting us to shoot the moon in FA is only setting us up for the inevitable heartbreak.
Almost every team in football has a better cap situation than us.
And we may be somewhat appealing as a marquee franchise but are hardly seen as a walk in and win spot.

XW is saying there is a "chance". And he's right. There's always a minute possibility; but it amounts to predicting the Cowboys are going 12-4 next year.
What I am suggesting is expect 8-8 and hope for 9-7 except in terms of players in Free Agency.
Because of Dallas' cap situation they need a stellar draft class. That's where our real hope has to lie.

Jerry isn't bargain shopping because he likes cheap players.
He is the originator of the "star" player love affair.
He just doesn't have a very big wallet to head to the mall with.
So like most people(read most houswewives, lol) who like to shop he's going to head to a Wal-Mart instead.

 

[BigStar]

In all honesty I am a homer if there ever was a homer.
But expecting us to shoot the moon in FA is only setting us up for the inevitable heartbreak.
Almost every team in football has a better cap situation than us.
And we may be somewhat appealing as a marquee franchise but are hardly seen as a walk in and win spot.

XW is saying there is a "chance". And he's right. There's always a minute possibility; but it amounts to predicting the Cowboys are going 12-4 next year.
What I am suggesting is expect 8-8 and hope for 9-7 except in terms of players in Free Agency.
Because of Dallas' cap situation they need a stellar draft class. That's where our real hope has to lie.

Jerry isn't bargain shopping because he likes cheap players.
He is the originator of the "star" player love affair.
He just doesn't have a very big wallet to head to the mall with.
So like most people(read most houswewives, lol) who like to shop he's going to head to a Wal-Mart instead.

Yeah I totally mistook your position and apologize for not reading your post thoroughly before feeling the need to reply (hate when I do that personally).

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Because of Dallas' cap situation they need a stellar draft class. That's where our real hope has to lie.

This is the key. I mentioned it in another thread last week but Dallas needs at least three (3) day-one starters to come out of this April's draft. It may not be likely, especially if Dallas decides to take a QB in the top three rounds, but it would go a long way in helping them be competitive next season.

 

[Doc50]

In my 2014 salary cap top 51 spreadsheet, I included RFA K Dan Bailey with a second round tender, estimated at $2.124M (5% increase from 2013) and exclusive rights free agent P Chris Jones at $570K.

I also changed the numbers for a few players.

Jakar Hamilton is $495K, not $504,333 as shown on overthecap. Hamilton was released before the start of the season, so he can't have signing bonus in 2014 as overthecap shows. That bonus money is actually part of the dead money total for 2014.

I have Darrion Weems at $495K, he did not accrue a season of service as a rookie, so the $570K on overthecap is a mistake.

I have Frank Kearse at $570K, I don't believe he's accrued enough seasons to be $645K as shown on overthecap.

I have Nick Hayden and Corvey Irvin both at $645K apiece instead of $730K apiece based on searching their accrued seasons of service.

DeMarco Murray will see his cap number increase due to a clause in the new CBA (Article 7, Section 4) called the Proven Performance Escalator that will be used for the first time in 2014.

Every draft pick in rounds 3-7 is eligible for this clause in their fourth season, it rewards players who outperform their draft slot by playing 35% of their eligible snaps in two of their first three seasons or that average 35% or more cumulatively over all three seasons. The PPE will increase a player's base salary from the minimum to the right of first refusal amount for that season.

The right of first refusal should be $1.389M for 2014,that's the minimum 5% increase from last year.

It will increase Murray's cap number to $1.554625M, a difference of $0.608531K versus overthecap's number.

The only thing I can't show is any players who have incentives that aren't on the record.

I show Dallas with a 2014 top 51 cap commitment of $139.333185M.

2014 dead money is currently $11.821439M.

That equals $151.154624M.

My estimate for the Cowboys 2014 adjusted team cap number is $127.555047M.

That puts Dallas in the red to the tune of $23.599577M.

The team can create $9.925923M by restructuring 6 contracts, those being Tony Romo, Demarcus Ware, Brandon Carr, Jason Witten, Sean Lee and Orlando Scandrick.

Miles Austin will either take a drastic pay cut, probably around $4M, of be designated as a June release, which would create over $5M in cap room at that time after accounting for a new salary under the top 51. I'd rather keep him as depth instead of dead money.

Other options to create cap space include altering Mackenzy Bernadeau's contract by adding 3 years and restructuring this year to create $1.616M.

Doug Free and Kyle Orton's contracts are set to void following 2014, so I don't believe either are candidates for restructures.

Releasing Phil Costa and Justin Durant would net $1.76M after two first year salary players take their spot under the top 51.

Getting under the cap is not a problem.

Love these comprehensive caponomics posts from you and XW. The devil is in the details, and we don't get to analyze that often enough.

 

[BigStar]

This is the key. I mentioned it in another thread last week but Dallas needs at least three (3) day-one starters to come out of this April's draft. It may not be likely, especially if Dallas decides to take a QB in the top three rounds, but it would go a long way in helping them be competitive next season.

Early contributors: complimentary 3rd down scat back (Dunbar with more talent) would add another element and could be found in later rounds. A starter @ DL and Safety early would do wonders for rebuilding this D. Sprinkle the draft with big uglies on both lines and hit TC. Go cheap on LB; it is a 4-3...

 

[Zimmy Lives]

Early contributors: complimentary 3rd down scat back (Dunbar with more talent) would add another element and could be found in later rounds. A starter @ DL and Safety early would do wonders for rebuilding this D. Sprinkle the draft with big uglies on both lines and hit TC. Go cheap on LB; it is a 4-3...

Starters at DL, LB, or safety would definitely help the defense right away. A stud guard or tackle on the o-line would also improve the offense.