It's a Let's trade Dez Thread

[conner01]

I don't really think it's collusion. There's not really a concerted and unified effort to make WR contracts come down, there's just absolutely zero interest from anyone in paying such a high rate. The WR market has already come down, IMO. Calvin and Fitzgerald are the only two players who have ever received such a crazy amount. I think Calvin is going to be let go next year if he doesn't take a pay cut, and Fitzgerald just took a pay cut. Fitz was averaging $16M/year, and under his old contract it looks like he would have made $19M this year and $15M next year. After re-working his deal he will make $22M over the next 2 years, and then his contract voids.

Over 2015 and 2016 he lost $12M, and the 7th and final year of his original contract will not be paid. That's another $15M. Out of that 7-year deal that was worth $113M, Larry will actually get about $86M. He does get out a year sooner but he'll be 34-years-old when the season starts in 2017. Larry will actually earn $14M/year, and then he'll either retire or play for some other team for a much lesser amount than that average.

If Calvin is cut he'd lose $49M, which would make his average earnings $14M/year as well.

None of these WRs are ever going to get a "true" $16M/year contract. When I say "true", I mean a contract that they have a high probability of playing out. The problem with such contracts is that the salary cap charges in the later years are far higher than an aged player can justify.

The answer to the Dez issue seems pretty obvious, IMO. Dez wants guarantees, and Dallas wants an out just in case. So put a large option bonus in year 3.

7 years, $94M. ($13.4M/year) $5M SB, and a $15M option bonus in year 3.

2015: $12M Base (100% Guaranteed) + $1M SB = $13M Cap Charge
2016: $12M Base (100% Guaranteed) + $1M SB = $13M Cap Charge​

($15M Option Bonus Prorated Over 5 Years)​

2017: $8M Base + $1M SB + $3M OB = $12M Cap Charge
2018: $9M Base + $1M SB + $3M OB = $13M Cap Charge [DEAD: $14M]
2019: $10M Base (50% Guaranteed if on Roster on Day 1 of 2018 League Year) + $1M SB + $3M OB = $14M Cap Charge [DEAD: $15M]
2020: $11M Base (50% Guaranteed if on Roster on Day 1 of 2019 League Year) + $3M OB = $14M Cap Charge [DEAD: $11.5M]
2021: $12M Base + $3M OB = $15M Cap Charge [DEAD: $3M]​

Seems like a win for both sides.

• Cap charges for 2015 & 2016 are lower than franchise tagging him for 2 years ($26M vs $28M)
• Dez earns more for 2015 & 2016 than he would by playing under the franchise tag ($29M vs $28M)
• Dallas has an out after year 2 if they need it.
• If Dallas doesn't need that out, Dez earns $52M in the first 3 seasons. I'm pretty sure this is very close to what Calvin earned in his 1st three seasons.
• If Dez makes it to year 4, he guarantees another $5M in the form of his 5th year base salary.
• If Dez makes it to year 5, he guarantees another $5.5M in the form of his 6th year base salary.
• His amount of dead money if cut prior to each season yields little-to-no cap relief until the final year, which increases the likelihood of retaining his roster spot.
• His cap charge is never significantly higher than what it currently is. Fitzgerald's cap charge for this year would have been $23M had he not restructured. Calvin's cap charge for next year will be $24M and I doubt the Lions are going sit back and go with it. If that team wasn't so stupid to begin with I would say it's guaranteed he restructures like Larry did and loses money in the process, or he's flat out cut and has to try to get a new contract at the age of 30.

He's not going to get $17M/year and actually earn all that money, and that's assuming he could even get that sort of contract in the first place. Calvin and Larry got the $16M/year deals but they're not going to play out that initial deal. Larry's is already gone. Calvin's is almost assuredly next.

Interesting idea
Numbers aside it gives him security that he wants yet doesn't lock the team into huge money when he gets to the age he isn't worth the money
Not only that this spreads out his pay which is better for the players future but still gives him the security he wants
You can play the numbers different ways but the concept is better for the player because it spreads out his payday which makes it more likely they don't blow it all and gives the team some protection later in the deal when a player gets to where he is not worth what he costs
However you structure a deal with dez you have to be able to financially walk away in 3 or 4 years if the back becomes an issue or the production drops with age and wear

 

[conner01]

Say what? I'm not saying you are wrong but has that ever happened before? I actually do appreciate you answering my questions that must seem dumb to those already in the know about such things. Thanks.

Any team can negotiate with him
But no team will pay him even what the Cowboys would pay him and throw in the picks on top of that
So it's possible some team could but it's extremely improbable one will

 

[AbeBeta]

It's a bit more complicated than just 3 mil a year
If he would sign right now for 17 mil a year they might just sign him
But he wouldn't
It's about the bonus money and the time it impacts your cap
Signing him to a crazy deal just means in 3 years or so you have to cut him and then that 3 mil a year turns into several million hitting your cap all at once
If dez wants to be the highest paid WR on the nfl he is not going to get signed
He will either play under the tag or not play
If he wants a long term deal with security he is going to have to get more realistic
There is a reason several top wr's have been tagged
Teams see that paying a WR, any WR a contract close to QB money hurts your team more than it helps them
Look at the lions, they just let one of the best DT walk and I bet if they were not so indedted with CJ they would have kept him
I want to keep dez, I want to pay him good money but I'm not willing to let a guy like Martin walk in a few years because we signed dez

So you are saying it is complicated because he wants a guarantee... Like every player in every other sport and every elite player in the NFL signing a new deal.

There is nothing complicated about this. All big UDFA deals require what amounts to at least three years of money guaranteed.

There is risk on both sides. The team takes the risk that Dez plays up to the deal. Dez takes the risk that market value doesn't inctease .

This is not complicated

 

[dallasdave]

No Superbowl if you trade Dez. Dude is clutch.

That's the fact Jack !!!

 

[cowboyblue22]

like his clutch in green bay huh

 

[Hoofbite]

2019..............10m..............7m.........................17m
2020..............13m...............3m........................16m
2021..............16m...............3m........................19m

(Fixed the last 2 years for ya)

Well sure, they could write a contract any way that they want. My post was about a give-take situation where the Cowboys have a cheap out after 2 years if they want it, while Dez makes as much as any WR has over the first 3 seasons.

The whole point being.....if you are going to franchise tag him and take those giant cap charges, you could easily structure a contract that is:

1. Slightly better for the team as far as the cap is concerned.
2. Slightly better for Dez as far as earnings are concerned.
3. On par with the earnings Calvin had in his first 3 years. I actually think it would be slightly more as it looks like Calvin received $51.75M.
4. Far more likely to be played-out than either Calvin's or Fitzgerald's contracts were.

A $20M SB would leave $12M in dead money after 2 years, which is far from an easy out for Dallas. More importantly for Dez, $52M over 4 years leaves him well behind Calvin's 4-year total of $63M.

 

[Frosty]

Trade 88...I love him...my fav since Irvin....but 17mm is ridiculous. Trade his butt to the Saints for Mark Ingram and next year's 2nd, then go out and sign Da'rick Rogers who just got cut by the Chiefs. Dooley knows him from his Tenn days...Mark Ingram and Rogers, Williams, and Beasley as your top 3....I could live with that...

I say TRADE IS BUTT to the Cleveland Browns or Jacksonville ...he will get his money but won't SNIFF a SuperBowl Ring the rest of his career....

 

[Hoofbite]

But as we know, the back end of any big deal is bogus anyway. We can easily move the cap space around with various extensions or simple conversion of salary to bonus. Yes, you end up with a cap hit after the player is gone. But that's well worth the added space you get when you do have the player. Plus you are pushing money forward to years when there will be a larger cap, proportionally you end up burning a smaller bit of the cap by pushing it to the later years.

The back end of any deal is bogus because players have been stupid enough to allow money they'll never see inflate the average salary to a level that satisfies their ego. It is only this way if players allow it. Some do, but most have seen that outcome.

As for the proportional aspect, I think it's inconsequential.

I mean, what dollar (if any at all) amount is gained? Anyone even know? Would swindling the cap out of $500K or even a couple of million over a 4-5 year period make any bit of difference at all?

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I was talking about from a cap perspective over just the next 2 years. Dez's cap charge is $12.8M this year and would increase to like $15.3M (120% of this years number, IIRC) next year. That's a total of $28M in cap charges. Two years at $13M in charges would save you about $2M in cap space over those 2 years, which isn't a lot but it's something. The money Dez will actually earn would include his base salaries and signing bonus. So he earns a little more than he currently would if he were to refuse to sign a contract and just take the Franchise Tag for 2 years. Only $1M, but that's real money, not just imaginary cap dollars.

The simple answer to your first question is that Franchise Tagging him for 2 years means you only get 2 years of Dez Bryant. I was under the impression he was good enough to keep around for many more than that.

Why a team would want to structure a contract like this? I dunno. I haven't really thought about it from whether or not teams may or may not like it. Nor have I thought about it in terms of whether or not players may or may not like it. I was just looking for a middle ground in terms of guarantees and outs.

I think there are pro and cons for each side, but that's the definition of a compromise.

Does it have to be 120% or is it a 20% bump on what the average of the top 5 are? In the first two years, I see where that's a cost savings. However, in the third year, it seems like that kinda goes out the window. Still, it's an option and that's better then sitting in a bunker, tweeting stupid stuff to one another.