This is to all the posters who want players to take a pay cut.
If your boss came up to you and said would you take a $4 an hour pay cut so he can hire a couple extra employees so that more work could get done more efficiently. But if you don't take a pay cut they will have to lay off a few employees. So who's taking that pay cut?
Your example is not analogous to what's going on with the Cowboys & its players
Having said that, if working for a company afforded me more opportunities to make tons of money now and long after I worked at said company from other sources that wanted to be associated with my companies #1 brand, then I would understand taking a lower salary is justified because of those other income sources wouldn't be nearly as good anywhere else. Additionally, because the nature of my work requires a strong team of talented individuals around me for any of us to succeed, then by not taking all the oxygen out of the room with my bloated salary, I am able to have a longer career, as well as my peers and we all make more money in the process.
Plus because said company is in a state without income taxes and the cost of living is lower in the town the company resides means I'd actually take home less, spend more after and end up with less for savings etc. if I worked elsewhere and made the same salary.
David Schwimmer was smart enough to realize that although his agent was pushing for him to get the highest salary possible, David refused and went to his cast mates and convinced them that they all should be paid the same and as a result they negotiated their salary as an ensemble all making the same money per episode. Their bond grew stronger in the process and Friends went on for years, perhaps longer than they would have had they not taken equal salaries. Additionally, he'll make more money in residuals than he'll likely ever be able to spend. Had he not been so unselfish, he likely would have made less money in the long run and perhaps damaged relationships with his cast-mates and cut the show's life span in the process.
The Cowboys are the best brand on the planet with an owner who will make his players part of his family forever where they can benefit from the brand, being associated with jeri & co and play with Jeri's toys (yacht, helicopter, private jet), etc, etc.. There's plenty of reasons to shave some $$ off the salary to benefit the team for salary cap reasons. Despite my disdain for jeri & spawn, I don't believe they are trying to whittle down the players salaries so they can put money in their pockets and seem to understand the cap is real and it takes a team to win these days. This isn't basketball where 1 or 2 superstars can drag their entire team across the championship goal line.
Sometimes thinking outside the box and sacrificing a little in one or more areas can allow you to make far more than trying squeeze every possible penny into your paycheck.
Every player on the Cowboys should happily play for less given the host of auxiliary benefits that come with playing for Americas Team
And if the miracle of miracles were to occur where the Cowboys actually won another Super Bowl, the residual benefits from that victory would pay off for decades
**Injury risk could be mitigated by decent guarantees plus a supplement insurance policy that would kick in if a catastrophic injury occurred
