Locking this OL up long term

[sureletsrace]

How feasible/practical is it to lock up our starting OL?

OL are beginning to command a lot of money in FA. We already have Tyron Smith on a "Cowboy for life" type contract; is it even realistic to attempt to get Frederick, Martin, and possibly Collins on deals like that too?

If we did get them all on long contracts, how would that negatively affect the rest of the roster with all of that salary locked up among those 3-4 guys?

 

[CCBoy]

This is a very good question. The long term benefits of this offensive line, provides a lot of promise. That large a group of quality players, is a big part of a budget in today's NFL. The investments have been in first contracts and talent. Now keeping that ability and skill level in tact with the other annual changes becomes difficult at best. First contracts are such a boost...but offensive lines are even better when aged together.

Keeping this group together is very important within the NFC East.

 

[Galian Beast]

Will definitely be a challenge. This might not become the best offensive line in NFL history, but it almost certainly will be the most expensive in NFL history.

Count on Martin and Frederick becoming the best paid players in NFL history at their respective positions, as Smith was. If Collins joins them.... your only potential savings would be at Right Tackle.

Fortunately we have Collins on a song. I think the Cowboys recognize this though, and that is why they aren't looking to pay any running backs.

You pay Dez and let Romo's contract run its course. Outside of that, you don't want to commit much money to offensive skill players. You draft a quarterback when the time is right, and you get huge savings on that player.

 

[Jenky]

Realistically, I don't think you can lock them all up. Unless someone starts to regress, doesn't play up to expectations, or takes a hometown discount (don't expect Collins to), it's too hard to sign all of them.

 

[Longboysfan]

You only have so much CAP room - who you going to sign long term and who will go for the big $$$$ and end their career in Philadelphia.

 

[Garrettop]

Given the nature of the Smith's contract, and the increasing cap, and the locked in low pay for draftees, I could potentially see the Beard and Martin here for a long time. Depends on how much they really enjoy playing together.

 

[rockj7]

I say we lock up Frederick, Martin. Collins hasn't proven Jack so scratch his name off the list

 

[CF74]

We may have to just draft a few replacements down the line...

 

[CrazyCowboy]

How feasible/practical is it to lock up our starting OL?

OL are beginning to command a lot of money in FA. We already have Tyron Smith on a "Cowboy for life" type contract; is it even realistic to attempt to get Frederick, Martin, and possibly Collins on deals like that too?

If we did get them all on long contracts, how would that negatively affect the rest of the roster with all of that salary locked up among those 3-4 guys?

This is the reason why our FO did not pay big money on Murray. I believe the FO loves the OL potential and will keep them in tact, however, Young cheap running backs are in our future.

 

[robjay04]

When Jerry told Collins "we are trying to build the best OL in NFL history"...he wasn't talking about a few years. Jerry will get them locked up without a doubt and OL is a good position to invest big dollars in.

 

[dbonham]

Frederick will cost between 9-10 mil if we lock him up in a year or two. Martin will be anywhere from 8 to 10, and it will only go up towards the end of his rookie deal.

 

[MonsterD]

When Jerry told Collins "we are trying to build the best OL in NFL history"...he wasn't talking about a few years. Jerry will get them locked up without a doubt and OL is a good position to invest big dollars in.

Possibly but I think that really hangs on if Romo is still here 3 years from now. If Romo isn't here then there is a chance there would be enough cap space to sign them all.

 

[AbeBeta]

I say we lock up Frederick, Martin. Collins hasn't proven Jack so scratch his name off the list

Why are folks even discussing Collins? We can't touch his deal for two years. At that point, Jerry will set up and give him a new contract. Kid lost a ton of money over a crazy situation, we'll make the money he lost up to him. He had faith in signing with us and we need to make that right

 

[robjay04]

Possibly but I think that really hangs on if Romo is still here 3 years from now. If Romo isn't here then there is a chance there would be enough cap space to sign them all.

Even if Romo is here in 3 years, we can still sign them both. Most contracts are backloaded, the first year will typically have the lowest hit so by the time we will have high cap hits, Romo and his contract will be long gone.

 

[Galian Beast]

The team is going to have to focus on keeping the defense very cheap through the draft.

 

[tyke1doe]

I think it's going to be hard to lock up Martin and the Beard. Unfortunately, as good as they are, they're not franchise-defining players, and they don't play left tackle. And that's where depth and astute drafting comes into play. We simply can't sign all our good players. But if we have a philosophy in place and can identify talented players who fit our scheme, we'll be okay. We may want first-rounders down the line, but that's a luxury that we won't be able to afford. That's why we have to have philosophy and strategy in place to replace good players.

 

[Garrettop]

As defense is significantly handicapped in the current meta, it makes sense to go cheap on defense relative to offense. Spend your money where it will have the greatest effect.

 

[speedkilz88]

Fred is the only one you could/would extend now and he has 3 years left counting his 5th year option. So no need for now. Crawford would make more sense this year.

 

[Galian Beast]

I think the idea is to get them all for 10 year contracts.

If you look at Tyron Smith's contract he actually gets cheaper as his contract goes on. You'll see that they will continue to restructure it until the contract reaches its peak.

 

[guag]

Fred is the only one you could/would extend now and he has 3 years left counting his 5th year option. So no need for now. Crawford would make more sense this year.

This is a good point. We have to remember that rookie contracts have the 5th year option now, so we don't even have to think about signing Fred long term for another few years. And Martin a year after that. And so on. We'll be fine. Obviously this doesn't apply to Collins, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Let's see him play first.