History repeating itself?

[xwalker]

Getting the cap back in order not just this year, but the last few years?

Please explain these moves that occurred about 16 months ago:

In February 2013, this team was 20 million over the cap. To to create space they restructured five players, including DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin, Jay Ratliff, and Nate Livings.

If it were true that the Cowboys have consciously been trying to get the cap back in order the last few years, then these players would have simply been cut, not restructured. However, that they have done so this offseason is a step in the right direction and a sign that the FO has finally seen the writing on the wall--that constantly restructuring contracts is a horrible way to manage the cap.

They have dumped a lot a veterans since Garrett became the Head Coach.

Marion Barber
Roy Williams
Bigg
Gurode
Columbo
Sensabaugh
.
.
.

It's my opinion that Garrett and Stephen Jones have wanted to move on from the big contracts while Jerry wanted to keep giving them out. I think the Garrett/Stephen side finally won this past off-season. Jerry basically said as much in an interview that he did a few months ago. He said that his wildcatting approach to building a team in the salary cap world was not working.

I've heard that Garrett/Stephen were against the new contract that Ratliff got back around 2012. I've also heard that Garrett/Stephen were not in favor of giving Spencer a big contract and that the Franchise tag(s) were a compromise between a new contract and letting him move on.

As far as the 2013 restructures, that was all a domino effect of giving Spencer the tag. Once he received the tag, they had no other options but to restructure everybody else. They couldn't absorb the cap hit for cutting them at that point.

Giving Spencer the tag and giving Ratliff the 3rd contract were primarily the 2 bad contract decisions that they've made in the Garrett era.

The Bernadeau signing turned out to be a good one once he got healthy. I think the Livings contract would have turned out good also if he could have stayed healthy.

What matters now is that they seem to be doing things the right way in 2014. They have not spent much in free agency. They have acquired many young players with very good physical ability and are giving them an opportunity to win jobs instead of being blocked out by stopgap veterans. They've been putting a priority on the OLine which should be the number one area to focus on when building a team, IMO. I really felt that cutting Ware was a strong indicator that they have changed their methods. They could easily have restructured other contracts to keep Ware which I believe that Jerry would have done if not for a lot a prodding by Garrett/Stephen. The cap will be in better shape in 2015 than it has been in a long time.

I don't know if the 2014 win/loss record will indicate progress or not; however, the roster could be in much better shape going into the 2015 off-season that it was going into the 2014 off-season. They will have cap space and another draft to finish up the roster building.

They need about 5 guys to step up and become quality starters on defense in order to be legit contenders by 2015. I think the 5 come from the following list:
Melton
McClain
Lawrence
Wilcox
Holloman and/or Durant
Claiborne
Crawford

 

[daveferr33]

They have dumped a lot a veterans since Garrett became the Head Coach.

Marion Barber
Roy Williams
Bigg
Gurode
Columbo
Sensabaugh
.
.
.

It's my opinion that Garrett and Stephen Jones have wanted to move on from the big contracts while Jerry wanted to keep giving them out. I think the Garrett/Stephen side finally won this past off-season. Jerry basically said as much in an interview that he did a few months ago. He said that his wildcatting approach to building a team in the salary cap world was not working.

I've heard that Garrett/Stephen were against the new contract that Ratliff got back around 2012. I've also heard that Garrett/Stephen were not in favor of giving Spencer a big contract and that the Franchise tag(s) were a compromise between a new contract and letting him move on.

As far as the 2013 restructures, that was all a domino effect of giving Spencer the tag. Once he received the tag, they had no other options but to restructure everybody else. They couldn't absorb the cap hit for cutting them at that point.

Giving Spencer the tag and giving Ratliff the 3rd contract were primarily the 2 bad contract decisions that they've made in the Garrett era.

The Bernadeau signing turned out to be a good one once he got healthy. I think the Livings contract would have turned out good also if he could have stayed healthy.

What matters now is that they seem to be doing things the right way in 2014. They have not spent much in free agency. They have acquired many young players with very good physical ability and are giving them an opportunity to win jobs instead of being blocked out by stopgap veterans. They've been putting a priority on the OLine which should be the number one area to focus on when building a team, IMO. I really felt that cutting Ware was a strong indicator that they have changed their methods. They could easily have restructured other contracts to keep Ware which I believe that Jerry would have done if not for a lot a prodding by Garrett/Stephen. The cap will be in better shape in 2015 than it has been in a long time.

I don't know if the 2014 win/loss record will indicate progress or not; however, the roster could be in much better shape going into the 2015 off-season that it was going into the 2014 off-season. They will have cap space and another draft to finish up the roster building.

They need about 5 guys to step up and become quality starters on defense in order to be legit contenders by 2015. I think the 5 come from the following list:
Melton
McClain
Lawrence
Wilcox
Holloman and/or Durant
Claiborne
Crawford

That is a plausible explanation and one I have entertained from time to time. It certainly explains what appears to be inconsistent approaches--that there is simply no single, overall vision on how to run the club, but instead competing visions (one offered by the Garrett/Stephen and one offered by Jerry). This also explains why Garrett's "rebuild" is taking so long (by NFL standards)--there is someone in the organization who is actively working against his rebuild (i.e., Jerry).

 

[Fredd]

They have dumped a lot a veterans since Garrett became the Head Coach.

Marion Barber
Roy Williams
Bigg
Gurode
Columbo
Sensabaugh
.
.
.

It's my opinion that Garrett and Stephen Jones have wanted to move on from the big contracts while Jerry wanted to keep giving them out. I think the Garrett/Stephen side finally won this past off-season. Jerry basically said as much in an interview that he did a few months ago. He said that his wildcatting approach to building a team in the salary cap world was not working.

I've heard that Garrett/Stephen were against the new contract that Ratliff got back around 2012. I've also heard that Garrett/Stephen were not in favor of giving Spencer a big contract and that the Franchise tag(s) were a compromise between a new contract and letting him move on.

As far as the 2013 restructures, that was all a domino effect of giving Spencer the tag. Once he received the tag, they had no other options but to restructure everybody else. They couldn't absorb the cap hit for cutting them at that point.

Giving Spencer the tag and giving Ratliff the 3rd contract were primarily the 2 bad contract decisions that they've made in the Garrett era.

The Bernadeau signing turned out to be a good one once he got healthy. I think the Livings contract would have turned out good also if he could have stayed healthy.

What matters now is that they seem to be doing things the right way in 2014. They have not spent much in free agency. They have acquired many young players with very good physical ability and are giving them an opportunity to win jobs instead of being blocked out by stopgap veterans. They've been putting a priority on the OLine which should be the number one area to focus on when building a team, IMO. I really felt that cutting Ware was a strong indicator that they have changed their methods. They could easily have restructured other contracts to keep Ware which I believe that Jerry would have done if not for a lot a prodding by Garrett/Stephen. The cap will be in better shape in 2015 than it has been in a long time.

I don't know if the 2014 win/loss record will indicate progress or not; however, the roster could be in much better shape going into the 2015 off-season that it was going into the 2014 off-season. They will have cap space and another draft to finish up the roster building.

They need about 5 guys to step up and become quality starters on defense in order to be legit contenders by 2015. I think the 5 come from the following list:
Melton
McClain
Lawrence
Wilcox
Holloman and/or Durant
Claiborne
Crawford

exactly...our first jettisoned player was not ware in the garrett "era"

 

[xwalker]

That is a plausible explanation and one I have entertained from time to time. It certainly explains what appears to be inconsistent approaches--that there is simply no single, overall vision on how to run the club, but instead competing visions (one offered by the Garrett/Stephen and one offered by Jerry). This also explains why Garrett's "rebuild" is taking so long (by NFL standards)--there is someone in the organization who is actively working against his rebuild (i.e., Jerry).

Yes, even if they were all working together, it would be slow. Garrett started with an old, expensive roster and large amounts of dead money. It would probably be faster to build a team that started with Zero talent but that had Zero cap issues and Zero big contracts.