Galian Beast
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I really want to see how we might go about keeping both of these guys on this team. The Cowboys offered Murray 4 years 16 million dollars, this might have been a huge mistake. Offering a little more might have gotten a deal done, whereas now... He is definitely looking for top 3 running back money.
I maintain the best option for Murray is to franchise him two years in a row.
But to see how the Cowboys are looking at contracts, I think it is important to look at the biggest contracts we've given out recently (to what I would call future players).
1. Tyron Smith
2. Sean Lee
3. Dan Bailey
It's worth noting that Tyron Smith's contract is not at all backloaded. It rises from 10 million a year to 13 million a year in the last two years of the contract, but when you consider the salary cap by then, it would obviously be a smaller percentage of the pie.
With that being said, they signed him to an 8 year deal. This is significant because you can only prorate signing bonus over 5 years. What this means is that the Cowboys plan to restructure Smith's contract for a few years. This is even more obvious when you see that 2015 has 11 million in the base salary, compared to 10 million every other year. The Cowboys can restructure Smith's contract probably five times. I think that is significant when you realize that Tony Romo is signed until 2019.
The Cowboys will do the same with Dez Bryant, probably not with DeMarco Murray. WRs aren't the same as RBs. WRs have a much longer shelf life.
Sean Lee's contract shows us the Cowboys aren't throwing money out there willy nilly though. They are being careful about not paying age/injury.
Sean Lee's cap hit stays pretty small until 2017, where cutting him (assuming no more restructures) would only result in 4 million in dead money, which can be spread over the course of two years if need be. There is no need to restructure Lee's 2015 base salary, as he is only making 2.5 million. Lee is cheap until he becomes worth it, and if he doesn't he is cheap to cut.
Dan Bailey's contract is a basic contract that increases in small increments over time to go with the increase of the salary cap, but whenever you hear me say we should sign this player early, this is a prime example. Dan Bailey is currently the 4th highest paid kicker in the nfl (average salary). He is arguably the best kicker in the NFL. If the rates for kickers climb at all, it'll show that we on average have saved appropriately by signing him early.
We're looking at having to pay Dez Bryant 15-16 million per year. This is really going to hurt us. At running back if you argue that AP's contract is an aberration, you're still looking at 9 million a year based on what Jamaal Charles got paid.
Jamaal Charles will be the standard for any DeMarco Murray contract going forward. The Chiefs though paying through the teeth for Charles, gave themselves plenty of outs.
Almost half of his contract is roster bonuses and other various forms of bonuses. If we keep Murray, they'll have to structure his contract similarly. The Eagles didn't do this, and now they're paying the price with McCoy, who they're probably going to have to cut at this rate. At least they were smart to limit the signing bonus and haven't been restructuring his money. They paid him about 6 million per year, and they'll probably cut him next year with little dead money to deal with.
I maintain the best option for Murray is to franchise him two years in a row.
But to see how the Cowboys are looking at contracts, I think it is important to look at the biggest contracts we've given out recently (to what I would call future players).
1. Tyron Smith
2. Sean Lee
3. Dan Bailey
It's worth noting that Tyron Smith's contract is not at all backloaded. It rises from 10 million a year to 13 million a year in the last two years of the contract, but when you consider the salary cap by then, it would obviously be a smaller percentage of the pie.
With that being said, they signed him to an 8 year deal. This is significant because you can only prorate signing bonus over 5 years. What this means is that the Cowboys plan to restructure Smith's contract for a few years. This is even more obvious when you see that 2015 has 11 million in the base salary, compared to 10 million every other year. The Cowboys can restructure Smith's contract probably five times. I think that is significant when you realize that Tony Romo is signed until 2019.
The Cowboys will do the same with Dez Bryant, probably not with DeMarco Murray. WRs aren't the same as RBs. WRs have a much longer shelf life.
Sean Lee's contract shows us the Cowboys aren't throwing money out there willy nilly though. They are being careful about not paying age/injury.
Sean Lee's cap hit stays pretty small until 2017, where cutting him (assuming no more restructures) would only result in 4 million in dead money, which can be spread over the course of two years if need be. There is no need to restructure Lee's 2015 base salary, as he is only making 2.5 million. Lee is cheap until he becomes worth it, and if he doesn't he is cheap to cut.
Dan Bailey's contract is a basic contract that increases in small increments over time to go with the increase of the salary cap, but whenever you hear me say we should sign this player early, this is a prime example. Dan Bailey is currently the 4th highest paid kicker in the nfl (average salary). He is arguably the best kicker in the NFL. If the rates for kickers climb at all, it'll show that we on average have saved appropriately by signing him early.
We're looking at having to pay Dez Bryant 15-16 million per year. This is really going to hurt us. At running back if you argue that AP's contract is an aberration, you're still looking at 9 million a year based on what Jamaal Charles got paid.
Jamaal Charles will be the standard for any DeMarco Murray contract going forward. The Chiefs though paying through the teeth for Charles, gave themselves plenty of outs.
Almost half of his contract is roster bonuses and other various forms of bonuses. If we keep Murray, they'll have to structure his contract similarly. The Eagles didn't do this, and now they're paying the price with McCoy, who they're probably going to have to cut at this rate. At least they were smart to limit the signing bonus and haven't been restructuring his money. They paid him about 6 million per year, and they'll probably cut him next year with little dead money to deal with.
