Going for the kill shot while you are in the window

[waldoputty]

A lot of us were raised to be thrifty.
As we enter our beautiful contending window, the Cowboys of 2016, 2017 should not adhere to that old adage.
Our cap is in great shape, the anticipated 7M shortfall next season is tiny and is almost cancelled out by the savings this year.

We are now entering our window because the offense is literally explosive.
We have the best OL, a top young cheap QB who will stay cheap for 4 total years, the top RB, a top 5 WR, an ageless TE who can move the sticks, a slot WR who is the leading receiver and great at moving the sticks.
We only have 1 huge hole in the team - a RDE edge rusher that will get the opposing QB off his rocking chair.

Many has opined on what to spend the money on.
There is the DE need and we should spend multiple resources on it - FA DE, and probably multiple high draft picks.
A year in the window is a precious thing to waste.
The current window is 3-5 years long in Prescott's anticipated 10-15 year career.
There will be multiple windows with a lean year(s) between them because of the limited life of certain players e.g. Zeke, Dez, and even longevity OL can get injured.

Most of us are aware the team has many FA next year, including WR2, WR4, CB1, CB2, leading DT, starting LG (cheap replacement in Collins).
HOWEVER, these needs can easily be addressed by our cap structure.

How can we have the cake and eat it too?
@bkight13 talked about this - we can easily open up $30M in cap space by restructuring top 5 contracts.
In fact $50M can be made available, though not needed.
With this much money, we can resign whoever we want AND add a FA DE if one is to be had.

As many of you are well aware, it is because of the salary structure of long term contracts.
For example, TSmith's contract is built for annual restructuring for creating cap space.

Here is a simple example for player X with a 50M 5 year contract and $9M signing bonus:
Year -----Year 1-------------Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4-----------Year 5
Base -----$1M -----------------$10M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -----------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M------------$2M
Cap hit----$3M-----------------$12M------------$12M-----------$12M------------$12M

In year 2, to open up cap space, you restructure the contract with a $8M restructure bonus and while reducing year 2 salary to $2M:
Year -----Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4---------Year 5
Base -----$2M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M
Restru---$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M--------------$2M
Cap hit----$6M------------$14M------------$14M-----------$14M

You can say $6M is pretty big for a restructured contract.
The reason it is $6M is that I did not cut the base salary to $1M because the math is more cumbersome.
It could easily be $5M.
Cap experts can probably do better also, but this is my little attempt.
@bkight13 please chime in if I did something wrong.

Built-in Escape Hatch
You can also argue that as you keep restructuring, the $ keep rising and sooner or later it will blow up.
That is true, but we have a built in escape hatch because Romo/Witten/Dez will retire within a couple years.
That would be the down year(s) between the contending window.
That would get us the higher draft pick(s) and reset the salary cap escalation.
With Romo/Witten retirement, it needs to happen one year before Dak's first big contract which is due in 2020.
I think most of us would agree Witten and Romo will be gone by 2019.

 

[LandryFan]

A lot of us were raised to be thrifty.
As we enter our beautiful contending window, the Cowboys of 2016, 2017 should not adhere to that old adage.
Our cap is in great shape, the anticipated 7M shortfall next season is tiny and is almost cancelled out by the savings this year.

We are now entering our window because the offense is literally explosive.
We have the best OL, a top young cheap QB who will stay cheap for 4 total years, the top RB, a top 5 WR, an ageless TE who can move the sticks, a slot WR who is the leading receiver and great at moving the sticks.
We only have 1 huge hole in the team - a RDE edge rusher that will get the opposing QB off his rocking chair.

Many has opined on what to spend the money on.
There is the DE need and we should spend multiple resources on it - FA DE, and probably multiple high draft picks.
A year in the window is a precious thing to waste.
The current window is 3-5 years long in Prescott's anticipated 10-15 year career.
There will be multiple windows with a lean year(s) between them because of the limited life of certain players e.g. Zeke, Dez, and even longevity OL can get injured.

Most of us are aware the team has many FA next year, including WR2, WR4, CB1, CB2, leading DT, starting LG (cheap replacement in Collins).
HOWEVER, these needs can easily be addressed by our cap structure.

How can we have the cake and eat it too?
@bkight13 talked about this - we can easily open up $30M in cap space by restructuring top 5 contracts.
In fact $50M can be made available, though not needed.
With this much money, we can resign whoever we want AND add a FA DE if one is to be had.

As many of you are well aware, it is because of the salary structure of long term contracts.
For example, TSmith's contract is built for annual restructuring for creating cap space.

Here is a simple example for player X with a 50M 5 year contract and $9M signing bonus:
Year -----Year 1-------------Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4-----------Year 5
Base -----$1M -----------------$10M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -----------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M------------$2M
Cap hit----$3M-----------------$12M------------$12M-----------$12M------------$12M

In year 2, to open up cap space, you restructure the contract with a $8M restructure bonus and while reducing year 2 salary to $2M:
Year -----Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4---------Year 5
Base -----$2M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M
Restru---$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M--------------$2M
Cap hit----$6M------------$14M------------$14M-----------$14M

You can say $6M is pretty big for a restructured contract.
The reason it is $6M is that I did not cut the base salary to $1M because the math is more cumbersome.
It could easily be $5M.
Cap experts can probably do better also, but this is my little attempt.
@bkight13 please chime in if I did something wrong.

Built-in Escape Hatch
You can also argue that as you keep restructuring, the $ keep rising and sooner or later it will blow up.
That is true, but we have a built in escape hatch because Romo/Witten/Dez will retire within a couple years.
That would be the down year(s) between the contending window.
That would get us the higher draft pick(s) and reset the salary cap escalation.
With Romo/Witten retirement, it needs to happen one year before Dak's first big contract which is due in 2020.
I think most of us would agree Witten and Romo will be gone by 2019.

I think that Romo will be gone before 2017, but I do feel strongly that Wit will be here two years beyond this one.

 

[waldoputty]

I think that Romo will be gone before 2017, but I do feel strongly that Wit will be here two years beyond this one.

Romo may or may not be gone in 2017.
But we certainly have the money to keep him.
One way to reduce his cap hit is to do a June 1 release.
But if you want the QB depth and Romo is willing, we can double down and resign him to a 5 year contract knowing he will retire probably before that.

 

[Doomsday101]

Players clearly have a window an organization if they make good moves and use their cap wisely do not have a window.

 

[LandryFan]

Romo may or may not be gone in 2017.
But we certainly have the money to keep him.
One way to reduce his cap hit is to do a June 1 release.
But if you want the QB depth and Romo is willing, we can double down and resign him to a 5 year contract knowing he will retire probably before that.

You're correct, I just cannot see any way that Tony is on this team next year. He will want to start and that ain't happening in Big D. JJ will accommodate him and either cut him (June 1, like you said), or trade him. If Tony were willing to stay as backup, I'd be ecstatic. I just don't think he will. His opportunity for a ring (as a starter) is quickly fading and he deserves the opportunity, IMO.

 

[waldoputty]

You're correct, I just cannot see any way that Tony is on this team next year. He will want to start and that ain't happening in Big D. JJ will accommodate him and either cut him (June 1, like you said), or trade him. If Tony were willing to stay as backup, I'd be ecstatic. I just don't think he will. His opportunity for a ring (as a starter) is quickly fading and he deserves the opportunity, IMO.

Right, that is why I am hoping for an open competition.
If Dak wins, Romo may be satisfied if competition was fair.
If Romo wins and stays healthy despite odds, Romo offers a better chance to win if the competition was fair.
If Romo wins and cannot get up after being hit, Romo goes back to back up because even he knows he cannot survive the season.
If Romo wins and is IR'ed, then we lost out on compensation.
My preference is superior QB depth > a high pick
That is because we have enough salary cap $ to get that from the FA.

If you are in the window, QB depth is very critical.
See Bridgewater and Jimmy Johnson's backup QBs - Buerlein and Kosar...

 

[Nightman]

A lot of us were raised to be thrifty.
As we enter our beautiful contending window, the Cowboys of 2016, 2017 should not adhere to that old adage.
Our cap is in great shape, the anticipated 7M shortfall next season is tiny and is almost cancelled out by the savings this year.

We are now entering our window because the offense is literally explosive.
We have the best OL, a top young cheap QB who will stay cheap for 4 total years, the top RB, a top 5 WR, an ageless TE who can move the sticks, a slot WR who is the leading receiver and great at moving the sticks.
We only have 1 huge hole in the team - a RDE edge rusher that will get the opposing QB off his rocking chair.

Many has opined on what to spend the money on.
There is the DE need and we should spend multiple resources on it - FA DE, and probably multiple high draft picks.
A year in the window is a precious thing to waste.
The current window is 3-5 years long in Prescott's anticipated 10-15 year career.
There will be multiple windows with a lean year(s) between them because of the limited life of certain players e.g. Zeke, Dez, and even longevity OL can get injured.

Most of us are aware the team has many FA next year, including WR2, WR4, CB1, CB2, leading DT, starting LG (cheap replacement in Collins).
HOWEVER, these needs can easily be addressed by our cap structure.

How can we have the cake and eat it too?
@bkight13 talked about this - we can easily open up $30M in cap space by restructuring top 5 contracts.
In fact $50M can be made available, though not needed.
With this much money, we can resign whoever we want AND add a FA DE if one is to be had.

As many of you are well aware, it is because of the salary structure of long term contracts.
For example, TSmith's contract is built for annual restructuring for creating cap space.

Here is a simple example for player X with a 50M 5 year contract and $9M signing bonus:
Year -----Year 1-------------Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4-----------Year 5
Base -----$1M -----------------$10M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -----------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M------------$2M
Cap hit----$3M-----------------$12M------------$12M-----------$12M------------$12M

In year 2, to open up cap space, you restructure the contract with a $8M restructure bonus and while reducing year 2 salary to $2M:
Year -----Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4---------Year 5
Base -----$2M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M
Restru---$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M--------------$2M
Cap hit----$6M------------$14M------------$14M-----------$14M

You can say $6M is pretty big for a restructured contract.
The reason it is $6M is that I did not cut the base salary to $1M because the math is more cumbersome.
It could easily be $5M.
Cap experts can probably do better also, but this is my little attempt.
@bkight13 please chime in if I did something wrong.

Built-in Escape Hatch
You can also argue that as you keep restructuring, the $ keep rising and sooner or later it will blow up.
That is true, but we have a built in escape hatch because Romo/Witten/Dez will retire within a couple years.
That would be the down year(s) between the contending window.
That would get us the higher draft pick(s) and reset the salary cap escalation.
With Romo/Witten retirement, it needs to happen one year before Dak's first big contract which is due in 2020.
I think most of us would agree Witten and Romo will be gone by 2019.

Looks like you have done your homework

• You will get a lot if push back against restructuring but it is a solid philosophy ESPECIALLY with a rising cap.........it has gone up 46m in 5 years
• DAL hasn't changed anything......the cap just has grown as expected with the TV deals signed thru 2021
• DAL doesn't like signing big time FAs....never have.....it is one of the big misnomers about Jerry
• Carr, Deion, RW11, Leonard Davis and a handful of OL are some of the biggies in the last 20 years
  
• DAL prefers building thru the draft, getting comp draft picks and re-signing our young guys to second and third deals.........problem is lately guys haven't lived up to the deal
• MAustin, MBIII, Hamlin, Ratliff, Spencer, RW31, RW11, Free all underperformed in an era when the cap was stagnant
  
• Romo, DWare, Witten, Lee, TSmith have been big wins

I think they should Draft a DE next year early and not sign a big one....they have to sign Mo and Church for the secondary and hopefully JSmith is back to solve the MIKE....I might spend to get a real weapon on the outside but nothing crazy....keep drafting well and this team is built for the long and short term

 

[waldoputty]

Looks like you have done your homework

• You will get a lot if push back against restructuring but it is a solid philosophy ESPECIALLY with a rising cap.........it has gone up 46m in 5 years
• DAL hasn't changed anything......the cap just has grown as expected with the TV deals signed thru 2021
• DAL doesn't like signing big time FAs....never have.....it is one of the big misnomers about Jerry
• Carr, Deion, RW11, Leonard Davis and a handful of OL are some of the biggies in the last 20 years
  
• DAL prefers building thru the draft, getting comp draft picks and re-signing our young guys to second and third deals.........problem is lately guys haven't lived up to the deal
• MAustin, MBIII, Hamlin, Ratliff, Spencer, RW31, RW11, Free all underperformed in an era when the cap was stagnant
  
• Romo, DWare, Witten, Lee, TSmith have been big wins

I think they should Draft a DE next year early and not sign a big one....they have to sign Mo and Church for the secondary and hopefully JSmith is back to solve the MIKE....I might spend to get a real weapon on the outside but nothing crazy....keep drafting well and this team is built for the long and short term

Absolutely agree this 1st window may have an unique salary cap environment to it - due to the $10M rise per year from TV contract.
So lets take advantage of it.

I know the FO has not been spending in FA, but we were not in the window.
They committed a lot of $ to Hardy.
For those who said it was only 1 year, I think we should remember they were talking long term extension with Hardy in the beginning of 2015 when he was looking dominant.
You can say a lot about Jerry Jones - remember when he was lamenting missing out on the Denver pick? He said my big successes came when I had to pay a lot for them.

So in terms of DE, draft early and often.
In terms of FA DE and drafting DE, the answer should be BOTH

 

[xwalker]

A lot of us were raised to be thrifty.
As we enter our beautiful contending window, the Cowboys of 2016, 2017 should not adhere to that old adage.
Our cap is in great shape, the anticipated 7M shortfall next season is tiny and is almost cancelled out by the savings this year.

We are now entering our window because the offense is literally explosive.
We have the best OL, a top young cheap QB who will stay cheap for 4 total years, the top RB, a top 5 WR, an ageless TE who can move the sticks, a slot WR who is the leading receiver and great at moving the sticks.
We only have 1 huge hole in the team - a RDE edge rusher that will get the opposing QB off his rocking chair.

Many has opined on what to spend the money on.
There is the DE need and we should spend multiple resources on it - FA DE, and probably multiple high draft picks.
A year in the window is a precious thing to waste.
The current window is 3-5 years long in Prescott's anticipated 10-15 year career.
There will be multiple windows with a lean year(s) between them because of the limited life of certain players e.g. Zeke, Dez, and even longevity OL can get injured.

Most of us are aware the team has many FA next year, including WR2, WR4, CB1, CB2, leading DT, starting LG (cheap replacement in Collins).
HOWEVER, these needs can easily be addressed by our cap structure.

How can we have the cake and eat it too?
@bkight13 talked about this - we can easily open up $30M in cap space by restructuring top 5 contracts.
In fact $50M can be made available, though not needed.
With this much money, we can resign whoever we want AND add a FA DE if one is to be had.

As many of you are well aware, it is because of the salary structure of long term contracts.
For example, TSmith's contract is built for annual restructuring for creating cap space.

Here is a simple example for player X with a 50M 5 year contract and $9M signing bonus:
Year -----Year 1-------------Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4-----------Year 5
Base -----$1M -----------------$10M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -----------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M------------$2M
Cap hit----$3M-----------------$12M------------$12M-----------$12M------------$12M

In year 2, to open up cap space, you restructure the contract with a $8M restructure bonus and while reducing year 2 salary to $2M:
Year -----Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4---------Year 5
Base -----$2M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M
Restru---$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M--------------$2M
Cap hit----$6M------------$14M------------$14M-----------$14M

You can say $6M is pretty big for a restructured contract.
The reason it is $6M is that I did not cut the base salary to $1M because the math is more cumbersome.
It could easily be $5M.
Cap experts can probably do better also, but this is my little attempt.
@bkight13 please chime in if I did something wrong.

Built-in Escape Hatch
You can also argue that as you keep restructuring, the $ keep rising and sooner or later it will blow up.
That is true, but we have a built in escape hatch because Romo/Witten/Dez will retire within a couple years.
That would be the down year(s) between the contending window.
That would get us the higher draft pick(s) and reset the salary cap escalation.
With Romo/Witten retirement, it needs to happen one year before Dak's first big contract which is due in 2020.
I think most of us would agree Witten and Romo will be gone by 2019.

Restructuring does not catch up to teams the way most people think it would. Teams can push a certain percentage of money forward indefinitely.

If you could get a zero interest 1-year loan every year to pay off the previous loan, then you would never actually have to pay the money back. In the real world, interest would prevent you from doing it but there is no interest on the salary cap.

 

[waldoputty]

Restructuring does not catch up to teams the way most people think it would. Teams can push a certain percentage of money forward indefinitely.

If you could get a zero interest 1-year loan every year to pay off the previous loan, then you would never actually have to pay the money back. In the real world, interest would prevent you from doing it but there is no interest on the salary cap.

Yes, it is our time.
Lets make the Cowboys the dynasty for the decade of 2010's.

 

[LandryFan]

Right, that is why I am hoping for an open competition.
If Dak wins, Romo may be satisfied if competition was fair.
If Romo wins and stays healthy despite odds, Romo offers a better chance to win if the competition was fair.
If Romo wins and cannot get up after being hit, Romo goes back to back up because even he knows he cannot survive the season.
If Romo wins and is IR'ed, then we lost out on compensation.
My preference is superior QB depth > a high pick
That is because we have enough salary cap $ to get that from the FA.

If you are in the window, QB depth is very critical.
See Bridgewater and Jimmy Johnson's backup QBs - Buerlein and Kosar...

Waldo, I just don't see any way that Dak goes into next season having to compete for the starting job. He has it now and it's staying that way. I still believe that Romo is the better QB in the short term, but Tony's only shot at starting is with some other team (outside of an injury to Dak, God forbid, or Dak completely crapping the bed for multiple consecutive games...which ain't happening, IMO).

 

[waldoputty]

Waldo, I just don't see any way that Dak goes into next season having to compete for the starting job. He has it now and it's staying that way. I still believe that Romo is the better QB in the short term, but Tony's only shot at starting is with some other team (outside of an injury to Dak, God forbid, or Dak completely crapping the bed for multiple consecutive games...which ain't happening, IMO).

I just believe in an event driven solution.
May the best man win.
Both wear big boy pants so they can handle it.
Romo has already shown class that Montana and others did not.
Now if Dak gets to the Superbowl, yes that would be hard to imagine

 

[Nightman]

So in terms of DE, draft early and often.
In terms of FA DE and drafting DE, the answer should be BOTH

I like Tank and TCrawford a lot.......add a 1st round DE and we are pretty set with middle guys like RDavis, Mayowa, Tapper and JCrawford to round out the rotation

Inside MCollins, Thornton, Irving and maybe TMcClain is pretty solid

The secondary needs some help......I would re-sign Mo, probably Church for SS but nothing big....Carr and Wilcox could come back but only for real cheap.....draft another CB and/or SS early

LB could be OK with Lee, JSmith, Hitchens, Wilson and a rookie or two

Basically go heavy D in the early draft.......draft skill projects late

 

[LandryFan]

I just believe in an event driven solution.
May the best man win.
Both wear big boy pants so they can handle it.
Romo has already shown class that Montana and others did not.
Now if Dak gets to the Superbowl, yes that would be hard to imagine

I'm not in disagreement with you at all. I just don't think it will happen, though.

 

[Nightman]

I just believe in an event driven solution.
May the best man win.
Both wear big boy pants so they can handle it.
Romo has already shown class that Montana and others did not.
Now if Dak gets to the Superbowl, yes that would be hard to imagine

The QB competition is over........Tony won't start here again unless Dak gets hurt

I would love to see a huge paycut and have him stay as a backup but I see a trade and a couple years on the road before he comes back to DAL in some fashion

 

[CATCH17]

You're correct, I just cannot see any way that Tony is on this team next year. He will want to start and that ain't happening in Big D. JJ will accommodate him and either cut him (June 1, like you said), or trade him. If Tony were willing to stay as backup, I'd be ecstatic. I just don't think he will. His opportunity for a ring (as a starter) is quickly fading and he deserves the opportunity, IMO.

Tony has no say. He's under contract.

Dallas may let him pick his destination if they do indeed decide to trade him but that is as far as it will go.

 

[waldoputty]

I like Tank and TCrawford a lot.......add a 1st round DE and we are pretty set with middle guys like RDavis, Mayowa, Tapper and JCrawford to round out the rotation

Inside MCollins, Thornton, Irving and maybe TMcClain is pretty solid

The secondary needs some help......I would re-sign Mo, probably Church for SS but nothing big....Carr and Wilcox could come back but only for real cheap.....draft another CB and/or SS early

LB could be OK with Lee, JSmith, Hitchens, Wilson and a rookie or two

Basically go heavy D in the early draft.......draft skill projects late

I would actually blow the wad.
Sign a good DE from FA if possible.
Resign Carr and either Mo or another decent CB.
Resign TWill or Butler or both.
Serious consider resigning Leary.
Resign Church and/or Wilcox.
Draft 3-4 DEs in the draft - preferably 1st and 2nd.

Resign Martin during the 2017 season.

 

[waldoputty]

The QB competition is over........Tony won't start here again unless Dak gets hurt

I would love to see a huge paycut and have him stay as a backup but I see a trade and a couple years on the road before he comes back to DAL in some fashion

May be, but I really like the QB depth.

 

[xwalker]

A lot of us were raised to be thrifty.
As we enter our beautiful contending window, the Cowboys of 2016, 2017 should not adhere to that old adage.
Our cap is in great shape, the anticipated 7M shortfall next season is tiny and is almost cancelled out by the savings this year.

We are now entering our window because the offense is literally explosive.
We have the best OL, a top young cheap QB who will stay cheap for 4 total years, the top RB, a top 5 WR, an ageless TE who can move the sticks, a slot WR who is the leading receiver and great at moving the sticks.
We only have 1 huge hole in the team - a RDE edge rusher that will get the opposing QB off his rocking chair.

Many has opined on what to spend the money on.
There is the DE need and we should spend multiple resources on it - FA DE, and probably multiple high draft picks.
A year in the window is a precious thing to waste.
The current window is 3-5 years long in Prescott's anticipated 10-15 year career.
There will be multiple windows with a lean year(s) between them because of the limited life of certain players e.g. Zeke, Dez, and even longevity OL can get injured.

Most of us are aware the team has many FA next year, including WR2, WR4, CB1, CB2, leading DT, starting LG (cheap replacement in Collins).
HOWEVER, these needs can easily be addressed by our cap structure.

How can we have the cake and eat it too?
@bkight13 talked about this - we can easily open up $30M in cap space by restructuring top 5 contracts.
In fact $50M can be made available, though not needed.
With this much money, we can resign whoever we want AND add a FA DE if one is to be had.

As many of you are well aware, it is because of the salary structure of long term contracts.
For example, TSmith's contract is built for annual restructuring for creating cap space.

Here is a simple example for player X with a 50M 5 year contract and $9M signing bonus:
Year -----Year 1-------------Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4-----------Year 5
Base -----$1M -----------------$10M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -----------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M------------$2M
Cap hit----$3M-----------------$12M------------$12M-----------$12M------------$12M

In year 2, to open up cap space, you restructure the contract with a $8M restructure bonus and while reducing year 2 salary to $2M:
Year -----Year 2---------------Year 3--------Year 4---------Year 5
Base -----$2M------------$10M-----------$10M-----------$10M
Bonus----$2M -------------$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M
Restru---$2M--------------$2M-------------$2M--------------$2M
Cap hit----$6M------------$14M------------$14M-----------$14M

You can say $6M is pretty big for a restructured contract.
The reason it is $6M is that I did not cut the base salary to $1M because the math is more cumbersome.
It could easily be $5M.
Cap experts can probably do better also, but this is my little attempt.
@bkight13 please chime in if I did something wrong.

Built-in Escape Hatch
You can also argue that as you keep restructuring, the $ keep rising and sooner or later it will blow up.
That is true, but we have a built in escape hatch because Romo/Witten/Dez will retire within a couple years.
That would be the down year(s) between the contending window.
That would get us the higher draft pick(s) and reset the salary cap escalation.
With Romo/Witten retirement, it needs to happen one year before Dak's first big contract which is due in 2020.
I think most of us would agree Witten and Romo will be gone by 2019.

The best way to manage the cap in the NFL is to have a starting QB on his rookie contract every so often. The more years that QB is a starter during his 4 or 5 years on his rookie contract the better.

Keeping Romo as a 14M backup next year would be a detriment to that concept.

If Romo is gone next year, then you can add his dead money to Daks cost and average it out over the remaining three years of Dak"s contract. That will put your QB cost at about 8M per over 3 years which is well under the league average for QBs. Then when Dak gets a new contract and that money starts getting pushed forward then eventually when he is gone you can catch up by having the next QB on a rookie contract for 3 to 5 years.

If you replace a veteran QB with another veteran QB then you never get to catch up pn the dead money
The same is true if you don't start the young QB until his 3rd or 4th season and then he has to be signed to a new contract.

 

[waldoputty]

The best way to manage the cap in the NFL is to have a starting QB on his rookie contract every so often. The more years that QB is a starter during his 4 or 5 years on his rookie contract the better.

Keeping Romo as a 14M backup next year would be a detriment to that concept.

If Romo is gone next year, then you can add his dead money to Daks cost and average it out over the remaining three years of Dak"s contract. That will put your QB cost at about 8M per over 3 years which is well under the league average for QBs. Then when Dak gets a new contract and that money starts getting pushed forward then eventually when he is gone you can catch up by having the next QB on a rookie contract for 3 to 5 years.

If you replace a veteran QB with another veteran QB then you never get to catch up pn the dead money
The same is true if you don't start the young QB until his 3rd or 4th season and then he has to be signed to a new contract.

My primary point was to throw caution to the wind and dispose of our innate belief in saving.

This current window has an unique twist to it - as the cap is expanding at $10mil/year for 5 years or so.
There is all the money in the word so lets use the seeming infinite $ to insure the next dynasty.