Austin IMO probably wants out of Dallas just as much as fans want him out. He is a non factor.
If Miles Austin wants out, he'll get his wish.
Austin is a major factor in the 2014 salary cap.
He will either take a drastic pay cut to remain with the team, $4M in my example, or he will be released as a June cut, which would open up over $5M in cap space.
If Austin takes a pay cut, the team would add $4M or whatever the amount is immediately to their cap. The June release would bring the $5M plus in cap space in that month, which should cover the rookie class' cap hit and Dez Bryant's new cap number if he gets extended around training camp.
Dallas isnt going to have any real significant money.
Austin taking a pay cut along with the restructures and the 2 cuts I proposed would create over $17.3M in cap room.
Releasing Austin as a June designee would create over $13.3M in immediate room with the wideout's $5.5M getting added in June.
How is $13 to $17M (and change) not significant?
Dallas can create even more room than I'm showing if they want to add a 5th year to Ware, Witten and Carr's contracts to enable maximum proration.
The team wouldn't be pushing any more guaranteed money into future years, it would simply count less on a yearly basis.
If they did they would Resign hatcher.
The Cowboys can create enough room to use the Franchise tag on Jason Hatcher if they have the mind to.
No, I'm not saying they plan to or that I support such a move.
Hatcher will be allowed to test the open market and see what kind of nibbles he gets. If Hatch lands a nice contract, he's gone. If he doesn't, Dallas will remain in play.
But they know they wont have the money to do that and sign cheaper FAs to fill out the roster and the money to sign its draft picks.
I don't expect the team to go looking for a big fish in free agency, but they have the cap flexibility to afford most anyone they desire if such a situation presents itself.
Cheap tier two free agents are exactly that, cheap.
The draft class is a non-issue, all of them won't even qualify for the top 51 during the off-season through pre-season. Just the picks in rounds 1-6 and the signing bonus money from any rookies on the roster outside of the top 51 will count against the cap.
Dallas will use less than $2M in cap space on their upcoming rookie class during the off-season while the rule of 51 is in play.
Remember, anytime a player with a qualifying contract is added, you must also subtract the contract of the player getting replaced.
But if Ware and Austin are released Dallas will be out of cap hell in 2015.
The team isn't in cap hell.
If Ware gets restructured, he can still be released for huge savings in 2015, if needed.
If Austin takes a pay cut and remains, he'll have to do the same in 2015 to stick again. There's no difference to the 2015 cap if Austin is a June release in 2014 or a regular release in 2015.
If they restructure Ware the same problems will keep going.
The team would still be able to release Ware, if needed, in 2015 while saving over $6M against the cap.
If the team restructures in 2014 and Ware's game doesn't return, the team will be in position to talk about a Doug Free pay cut in 2015 or getting released. The difference between then and now is we don't have an alternative residing on the roster at this moment.
Maybe we will next year.
Dallas has big contracts to Tyron and Dez in 2015 coming up so i think they better handle this cap situation this yr.
Dallas typically structures their big contracts to be restructured in years two and three, thus allowing for small cap hits in the early years of the deal.
These extensions shouldn't start eating significant cap space until around 2017.
Most of the current big money deals (Ware, Witten, Austin) will be gone by that time.
It's a non-issue.
The salary cap will continue to increase, the team will rid itself of a big contract or two every year and extend the young players they feel are deserving.
