Question about Ronald Leary and possible franchise tag

[manster4ever]

this may be WAY off and if so, then set me straight. Seems to me like he's been playing at a high level for a few years now and has a nasty streak. He's been vastly underpaid and is a key part of the O. Lots of guys are enamored with L.Collins but he's young and been hurt.

So...what about tagging him for a year? I can't think of anyone else on the team we'd want to use it on. I'm sure Ron wants a long term deal but business is business. He'd virtually be set for life if we tagged him and he's good with his money.

Pretty sure it would be around 13 mil which is darn high but it would allow us to keep the best Oline in football in tact for another year AND it would potentially allow us to move L. Collins to Right Tackle and replace Free. It doesn't look like Green will pan out because he's a china doll.

 

[PJTHEDOORS]

Depends on how they view Collins for next years team. Maybe they trade him, who knows. Dbout they want to put Collins at RT, when they drafted Green and know the potential he has. Free pretty sure will still be the starter next year.

 

[CCBoy]

It will be hard to retain both Leary and Collins at a high contract level...and Collins belongs in the interior, unless no other alternative is available.

 

[darthseinfeld]

13 million is way to rich for Leary IMO

 

[Proof]

this may be WAY off and if so, then set me straight. Seems to me like he's been playing at a high level for a few years now and has a nasty streak. He's been vastly underpaid and is a key part of the O. Lots of guys are enamored with L.Collins but he's young and been hurt.

So...what about tagging him for a year? I can't think of anyone else on the team we'd want to use it on. I'm sure Ron wants a long term deal but business is business. He'd virtually be set for life if we tagged him and he's good with his money.

Pretty sure it would be around 13 mil which is darn high but it would allow us to keep the best Oline in football in tact for another year AND it would potentially allow us to move L. Collins to Right Tackle and replace Free. It doesn't look like Green will pan out because he's a china doll.

it's the average of the top five players at the position right? by my brief googling it's 11.7 mil, 10, 10, 8 and 8 which = about 9.6 mil.

am I doing that correctly?

 

[Tabascocat]

Quite a bit of coin for him but if Collins stays injured and Free is gone, I can see it for one season. You are correct though, not really anyone else to use it on except maybe Claiborne. Mo may not garner a multi-year contract since he can't seem to play a full season.

 

[Reality]

*IF* at the end of the year, the Cowboys staff grade out Leary really high, the smart play might be to try to resign Leary, and if they do, then trade Collins for a really good draft pick. *IF* they do not grade Leary high enough or they feel Collins is around or above Leary's level, then the smart play would be to not resign Leary and just go with Collins as the future.

The problem with Leary is that he will benefit from being part of the Cowboys offensive line. Any player from the Cowboys OL would likely be heavily valued in free agency, maybe even over-valued due to supply-and-demand of good OL players. Parnell benefited from this. It will probably come down to how bad Leary wants the money versus how much he likes being part of one of the best, if not the best, OL in the NFL. Given he was benched, not for his play, but because they though another player *could* be better than him, and he wasn't happy about it, I suspect he will take the money and go elsewhere.

That said, I really like Leary though and wish we could keep him, but I won't blame him if he does not return.

 

[darthseinfeld]

it's the average of the top five players at the position right? by my brief googling it's 11.7 mil, 10, 10, 8 and 8 which = about 9.6 mil.

am I doing that correctly?

Still way too much IMO

 

[xwalker]

this may be WAY off and if so, then set me straight. Seems to me like he's been playing at a high level for a few years now and has a nasty streak. He's been vastly underpaid and is a key part of the O. Lots of guys are enamored with L.Collins but he's young and been hurt.

So...what about tagging him for a year? I can't think of anyone else on the team we'd want to use it on. I'm sure Ron wants a long term deal but business is business. He'd virtually be set for life if we tagged him and he's good with his money.

Pretty sure it would be around 13 mil which is darn high but it would allow us to keep the best Oline in football in tact for another year AND it would potentially allow us to move L. Collins to Right Tackle and replace Free. It doesn't look like Green will pan out because he's a china doll.

OGs are rarely if ever tagged. The Franchise Tag is for all OLinemen and OTs drive up the price of the tag.

The tag for OL was 13.7M in 2016 and will likely be more for 2017.

The highest paid OG in the league averages 11.7M but he was signed to play OT originally.

Travis Frederick averages 9.4M on this new contract.

Marshal Yanda, one of the top Guards in the league averages 8M.

I think they could sign Leary right now for about 6M average on a 3 or 4 year deal. Teams still have the reports on him from the draft that showed the problem with his knee. His knee could still pop at some point and there's a good chance that he could not play again if it did.

If La'el Collins could play RT, they could cut Free and save 5M. That would offset most of what they would have to pay Leary per season.

 

[robjay04]

13 million is way to rich for Leary IMO

It is for sure but if you can manage it within the cap without limiting what you can do in free agency significantly then it's an option.

Good thing about the tag is that there is no long term guarantee. Sure he will be vastly overpaid but it's not my money and we won't be on the hook with dead money in the future if that knee acts up.

Regardless I don't see it an option. We don't have as much of the huge contracts we had in the past with ways to move around money and our cap situation still isn't ideal assuming we don't work out a way to limit Romo's hit.

 

[conner01]

I believe the tag is around 13.7 mil
Leary is a very good player but Collins is going to be the guard next year. It's just not smart cap management to have a center, guard, and tackle getting paid top money and not go with rookie contract players at the other spots
We also need to draft a another OT to me
Like what I've seen from green but talent only helps you if it's on the field

 

[fishspill]

I want to keep Leary but suspect the team will probably get a guy in the draft and run a few cheap FAs through to compete with Collins.

 

[AzorAhai]

If La'el Collins could play RT, they could cut Free and save 5M. That would offset most of what they would have to pay Leary per season.

just couldn't resist could you?

 

[xwalker]

just couldn't resist could you?

Never.

 

[NorthTexan95]

Depends on how they view Collins for next years team. Maybe they trade him, who knows. Dbout they want to put Collins at RT, when they drafted Green and know the potential he has. Free pretty sure will still be the starter next year.

I think it's more likely they resign Doug Free to a friendly 1 or 2 year deal rather than resigning Leary for the price it will cost. Slide Collins back in at guard next year and your set with your starters.

 

[robbieruff]

OGs are rarely if ever tagged. The Franchise Tag is for all OLinemen and OTs drive up the price of the tag.

The tag for OL was 13.7M in 2016 and will likely be more for 2017.

The highest paid OG in the league averages 11.7M but he was signed to play OT originally.

Travis Frederick averages 9.4M on this new contract.

Marshal Yanda, one of the top Guards in the league averages 8M.

I think they could sign Leary right now for about 6M average on a 3 or 4 year deal. Teams still have the reports on him from the draft that showed the problem with his knee. His knee could still pop at some point and there's a good chance that he could not play again if it did.

If La'el Collins could play RT, they could cut Free and save 5M. That would offset most of what they would have to pay Leary per season.

I agree. I think best possible outcome is for Collins to switch to RT and book the savings from releasing Free. Even if Collins has to go through an adjustment period we have a hedge with Green and it can't be any worse than Free in the long run.

 

[Nightman]

this may be WAY off and if so, then set me straight. Seems to me like he's been playing at a high level for a few years now and has a nasty streak. He's been vastly underpaid and is a key part of the O. Lots of guys are enamored with L.Collins but he's young and been hurt.

So...what about tagging him for a year? I can't think of anyone else on the team we'd want to use it on. I'm sure Ron wants a long term deal but business is business. He'd virtually be set for life if we tagged him and he's good with his money.

Pretty sure it would be around 13 mil which is darn high but it would allow us to keep the best Oline in football in tact for another year AND it would potentially allow us to move L. Collins to Right Tackle and replace Free. It doesn't look like Green will pan out because he's a china doll.

Not being mean but it is a terrible idea

13.7m for one year and a 13.7m cap hit is WAAAAAYY too much for a guy who got beat out by Collins to start the year

IF they did want to keep him 13.7m could cover 2+ years worth of guaranteed money

But Leary is gone.....he is being overvalued compared to what Collins brings.....5/35m is probably what he gets as a FA

Next year I see CGreen beating out Free for RT who takes a huge paycut to come back as Swing OT and Collins thrives at LG.......they draft an OG/C and keep spare parts like Looney and Cleary around

 

[LocimusPrime]

Hope Leary doesn't goto the Giants, Eagles, or Commanders

 

[Silver Surfer]

Green has to get on the field before he can beat out anyone.


I also think the value of continuity is being overlooked. They've got one of the top two/three lines in the league and they need to keep it intact.

I remember a time when Jerry thought he could just plug in any 'ol coach and be successful. Watch the Aikman special on ESPN to see how that worked out.

If you need more evidence, ask Mavericks fans what they learned when Cuban let center Tyson Chandler go in free agency after they won the championship.

 

[ghst187]

13 million is way to rich for Leary IMO

Can't pay 13 million a piece for our guards as Martin is getting a fat contract soon too
But I'm with ya, I want Leary back.