FTF: Eric Mangini: What do the Cowboys have to do to take the next step

[conner01]

Does the lack of state income tax really end up being a significant amount of money? I know players have to pay state income tax in every state where they play, which seems very odd to me. At any rate, players who play in states with no state tax save that money for 8 games but how much does that really come out to be?

Could be 10%
But the problem is it doesn’t have anything to do with agents pay
Agents want every Penney to help recruit more clients and the state tax is based on where they office not the player
Agents care about themselves, not what’s best for player

 

[Jake]

All star players due up for new contracts (Dak, Zeke, Amari, D-Law, etc) will have to give Jerry some discounts and accept a little less than some other team would offer them. That's the only way this team will be able to afford to keep or build on this playoff team.

If those key players get greedy and start asking for top pay, this franchise is going to struggle.

Unless you've played forever, won championships, and you're married to rich super model, you should absolutely ask for top pay.

It's not "greedy" given the shortness of careers, as long as someone is willing to pay it.

 

[CATCH17]

Dak is more than good enough. He proved it many times this season alone, including playoffs. There are bigger needs on this team to keep it playoff competitive and even take it a step further. Dak will very likely get paid between $20 - $23 million per year. That will leave the team some money to address several other positions of need. Sure as heck beats having to pay any QB $35 mil/year, while not having any money to afford a competitive playoff team.

The problem is the coach and Dak rely on elite talent surrounding them because both guys don't offer an edge with their coaching ability or QB talent.

We haven't reached the promise land with Dak on his rookie contract so when we stop paying him 700k a season and bump it to 25 million then other units are going to take a hit and he's not the type of QB that can carry us week to week and win a title without the supporting cast.

The simple answer is try something new in the coaching department or try to draft another young QB in the first round next year and let Dak walk.

Mahomes and Goff are both on rookie deals and Brady and Brees took a paycut.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

What is so hilarious about this post is that some of you really don’t understand the salary cap AT ALL!!!!! The ‘Boys have almost $55M in cap space next year - this figure ALREADY INCLUDES Cooper’s $13+M option and doesn’t even figure if Lee is returning or not. If he retires, that ADDS $7M to the cap ($62M). Now, with $62M in cap room, you can extend Cooper and actually LOWER his cap hit anywhere from $3-5M. Then, even if Dak gets a deal averaging $20M, THAT DOES NOT mean his cap hit next year is $20M.

In other words, no one on that set really knew what the heel they were talking about......especially when Dallas has $120+M in 2020. THEY CAN DO PRETTY MUCH WHATEVER THEY WANT!!!!!

^^this......couple others have said the same thing. What's interesting how fans want greatness from players but when comes to paying them fair market value, they pull out the team discount card. They seem to forget in many cases, players have played for pennies under the new CBA rookie wage scale.

 

[dallas72]

I would say that you can't pay Dak and keep all the great players around him that he needs to be successful. In order to win a championship with Dak you need an Elite OL and Elite RB an Elite Receiver and an Elite Defense. That's a lot of Elites folks. You just cannot pay Dak and everyone else. I would make Dak play out his contract then franchise tag him and draft a guy like Herbert or Tua but that's just me.

Dallas hasnt had a losing season under Garrett..so the chances of having a top 5 pick are 0....so drafting a Top QB isnt a option

 

[HanD]

Bingo! I wouldnt pay Dak because of the reasons you stated and I wouldnt pay Zeke because he has a 5 th year option and the dude is going to worn out. Just not worth being saddled to a worn out RB for 4-5 years.

I understand your reasoning. My question is what do you propose going forward to replace them as you don't resign them. How do you stay competitive and keeping your same philosophy without a gaurantee that your replacements will be as good. I think continuity and team chemistry could be effected. Beyond that, if it takes your new qb and rb to get up to speed, what are your other stars like amari, an aging ol, jaylon, lve and tank playing for during that time?

 

[Hawkeye0202]

Zeke is a unique situation
You have the 5th year option but you could sign him now and be out of the contract by the time he’s 28

This is exactly what I would do but make no mistake, you pay him IMO. He's the centerpiece to everything we do as a run-first team. It's no coincidence we hear time and time that every team has one goal in stopping our offense...... contain or stop Zeke.

 

[lostar2009]

All star players due up for new contracts (Dak, Zeke, Amari, D-Law, etc) will have to give Jerry some discounts and accept a little less than some other team would offer them. That's the only way this team will be able to afford to keep or build on this playoff team.

If those key players get greedy and start asking for top pay, this franchise is going to struggle.

Can't blame the players for getting whats due to them. The FO had a 4 year window and failed.

 

[Flamma]

If it were me, I would make Dak play another year on his rookie contract and look for another cheap QB, saves 20 million dollars.

Our offense is terrible anyway

I'll get to Dak at the end. The Cowboys do not have to worry about Zeke until the 2021 season. 2019 is his 4th year, and Dallas should pick up the 5th year option. So that's one place where I disagree with the OP's video. Zeke shouldn't be a problem yet.

Give Tank a long term contract. That has to be less of a cap hit than the ridiculous franchise tag. Because I think the second time around would be over 20 Mil. So far we should see a net gain in cap space.

Give Cooper a contract. Now we're biting into the cap space, but not a hell of a lot.

Restructure Dak's 4th year. Whatever you want to say about Dak, 800k is an embarrassment. Restructure his final year to around 5-8 Mil, and if Dallas wants to keep him, pay him the money after next year. But I would not go over 20M a year.

Keep Crawford next year but release him in 2020. A 9 Mil cap gain. I don't want to release him, but somethings got to give. Same with Lee either this year or next.

Dallas should have too much of a cap problem next season. Dallas should have the room to sign an FA or two. It is the few years after that they'll run into problems.

 

[mrmojo]

Dallas hasnt had a losing season under Garrett..so the chances of having a top 5 pick are 0....so drafting a Top QB isnt a option

I guess you missed 2015 .

 

[cowboyec]

keep our best...as best we can.
draft a fat-belly run stuffer who eats people.
up-grades at S.
please and thank you.

 

[America's Cowboy]

This has nothing to do with Dak

Go back and read your post and mine in response

Esp at the QB position you want the best player you can get even if you have to pay top dollar . It is never 'better' to have a worse QB just because you can pay him less. NEVER

Earth calling @visionary ... Come in @visionary . Let's get back to reality, ok?

 

[Verdict]

ManginI always cones off as professorIal to me.

I've been saying all along that while we are not in cap hell that the big four deals (Tank, Dak, Zeke and Amari) are going to pretty much eliminate all of the available cap.

While we don't HAVE to extend Zeke, Dak or Amari this year it's likely for multiple reasons. Tank either gets tagged, traded or walks. There's no getting around that one.

I would like to see Tank remain a Cowboys, but not at Mack or Von Miller numbers, because he's not Mack nor Von Miller.

Many of us have been clammoring for a run stuffing DT that can collapse the pocket for years. Everyone can see the need for it except Marinelli.

 

[Flamma]

That is exactly what I would do. Draft a guy every 3-4 years UNTIL you find a true franchise QB. You stay consistently good by having a top run game and defense until you find a true Franchise QB. If you don't think Herbert or Tua after sitting a year could not out perform Dak then that's your opinion. My opinion is that Herbert or Tua after sitting a year will out perform Dak. In my opinion both Herbert and Tua have a much higher ceiling than Dak.

You have a working theory that sounds good when you put it the way you do. But I think you're assuming too much. That is, that we consistently stay good. We have a late round 2nd pick, do you want to use that on a QB? Or pick one later on and cross our fingers? I'm going to have to agree with Godzilla here. You can't just input any Lizard and expect the same results you get with Godzilla, why assume that with any QB? Dak has his flaws, but he has a lot of talent too.

 

[CPanther95]

I guess you missed 2015 .

At least half of those 12 losses were actually moral victories.

 

[LeonDixson]

That cap analysis was simplistic and misleading. You can’t just subtract the AAV of a player’s contract from available cap space. Most of these contracts will be structured so that the upfront cap hit will be significantly less than the AAV (with much of the cap hit, and additional dead money if the player is cut before the end of the contract, pushed to the future).

If the Cowboys want to add pieces in FA they can do so. It’s a question of whether they think the immediate benefit to the team of doing so is worth mortgaging a bit of the future.

This is what I was going to post after reading through to see if it had already been posted. The hosts were confusing AAV with cap hit.

 

[Verdict]

Do you realize that Dak is going to want 25 mil a year. The difference between Dak and Mahomes is being able to pay a top safety. I would rather have mahomes and go cheap at safety than Dak and that star safety for the Chargers.

Dak would make more money, long term by signing a reasonable deal ($17 m per year for 5 years) than getting paid $25m to $30m per year. That's true because he is the most visible member of the most visible team in football and the endorsements would more than make up the difference.

If he is a winner the endorsements will flow like a waterfall. If he loses he is probably out of the league. He needs a winning team assembled around him.

 

[Whyjerry]

I would say that you can't pay Dak and keep all the great players around him that he needs to be successful. In order to win a championship with Dak you need an Elite OL and Elite RB an Elite Receiver and an Elite Defense. That's a lot of Elites folks. You just cannot pay Dak and everyone else. I would make Dak play out his contract then franchise tag him and draft a guy like Herbert or Tua but that's just me.

Dallas fans need to think they are elite at every position. They need that to overcome the coaching that NEVER delivers. Draft Herbert or Tua??? How are you going to do that? Planning on Dallas winning 2 or 3 games?

 

[Verdict]

What is so hilarious about this post is that some of you really don’t understand the salary cap AT ALL!!!!! The ‘Boys have almost $55M in cap space next year - this figure ALREADY INCLUDES Cooper’s $13+M option and doesn’t even figure if Lee is returning or not. If he retires, that ADDS $7M to the cap ($62M). Now, with $62M in cap room, you can extend Cooper and actually LOWER his cap hit anywhere from $3-5M. Then, even if Dak gets a deal averaging $20M, THAT DOES NOT mean his cap hit next year is $20M.

In other words, no one on that set really knew what the heel they were talking about......especially when Dallas has $120+M in 2020. THEY CAN DO PRETTY MUCH WHATEVER THEY WANT!!!!!

You can't just view the cap in a one year vacuum. What you say is accurate, but most likely Dak is going to end up getting $25 M per year average. No one wants to think about that (including me-lol) but that's reality.

Dak's scheduled cap his next year is around $800,000.00. While you can stretch Dak out and back load his contract, I'm not sure you would want to do that and be forced to hang on to Dak because of his cap hit to cut him. I would want to keep the cap hit even so you could move on from him with zero dead money.

For instance I would rather see them pay Dak 3 years guaranteed at $25m per year with no bonus (as part of a 5 year deal) than $25 m as a signing bonus, and 25 m for the following two years (as part of a 5 year deal) and have to eat dead money if we move on from him.

 

[jazzcat22]

And I knew this day would come when you haters start complaining, HE.

I was really hoping for an enjoyable offseason on CZ. Too good to be true.

It will be this way all off season. I been sifting through everything trying to find some decent threads to post in. Without the constant negativity.
I get the frustration. But it seems it has become worse, but worse because of the same old crap every day.
I don't mind the constructive criticism we have to have that. But the same old stuff has already got old.
Stick with the humor shots though, we need that.

I feel I may just come on here for the News, Draft and roster Zones for news and info. And not even read anything else.

It is either I stop wasting my time or start putting many more on ignore until the season starts, then remove them all and see how it has changed.