xwalker
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I see a lot of posts regarding the salary cap. There appears to be a of misconceptions about the cap or people just make it more complicated than needed.
The point of this post is that you just need to look at the 2017 base salary of players when considering what the Cowboys should do with them. Trade/Cut/June-1st does not really matter.
Note: One exception is that Dez has a guaranteed salary for 2017 but that would not impact a trade, only a cut.
I'll use Romo as an example. Under his current contract, his salary for next season is 14M. This is the only number that really matters to the Cowboys. If they keep him, then it adds 14M to their overall cap when you consider all years.
There are basically 5 things that can occur with Romo at this point.
Trade
Cut Before June 1st
June 1st cut: (A designated June 1st cut is the same cap wise, but allows the player to move on earlier)
Keep
Retire
The first 3 options all "save" 14M on the cap when all years are considered. The difference between the 3 is when the "savings" are realized, but the total adds up to 14M regardless.
"Savings" from each option:
Trade: 5M in 2017, 9M in 2018
Cut Before June 1st: 5M in 2017, 9M in 2018
June 1st cut: 14M in 2017, zero in 2018
If the Cowboys were super tight against the cap like they were in the years when they Franchised Anthony Spencer, then the June 1st cut option would be important; however, as of right now (Jan 2017) they have multiple contracts that can be restructured in order to create cap space in 2017.
Example 1:
Trade/Cut Romo: Save 5M in 2017
Restructure Frederick: Save 9M in 2017
Total Cap Space generated for 2017: 14M
Example 2:
June 1st Cut Romo: Save 14M in 2017
Don't restructure Frederick: Save zero in 2017
Total Cap Space generated for 2017: 14M
As you can see the cap space is the same either way in the above examples. There is no reason that the Cowboys should base any decisions regarding Romo on the differences between trading or cutting him. The key number is his 14M base salary. They either pay it or they don't.
Note: If Romo retires, they still "save" 14M on the overall cap when all years are considered as compared to him being on the team in 2017. Technically, if he retires against the wishes of the team, he would owe them 12.5M on the unrealized portion of this signing bonus; however, Jerry would have to request that Romo pay it back and that is unlikely to happen.
I used Romo as an example, but it's the same for other players like Tyrone Crawford. Crawford's 2017 base salary of 7.5M would be the number that mattered.
Dead-Money
In regards to dead-money, that is money that has already been paid to the player. It will hit the cap regardless of whether the player is on the roster or not. If the player is on the roster it's called prorated signing bonus and if he is off the roster it's called dead-money. Either way it's money that is already gone and should not impact any decisions.
Cap Hit vs Base Salary
When you see a players total cap hit it includes prorated money. Just like the note about dead-money, the prorated money has already been paid to the player and should not impact any decisions regarding the player. For example Witten is scheduled to make 7.4M but his cap hit is 12.3M. In regards to keeping him or needing him to take a pay cut, the 7.4M number is all that matters. People will exclaim that his 12.3M cap hit is extreme and therefore they must cut him; however, the difference between 7.4M and 12.3M is prorated money that has already been paid. It makes no difference in the decision. Only the 7.4M base salary is important and even that might be a big high for Witten at this point but it's not the 12.3M number that people will keep referencing.
Final Note
The Cowboys can create plenty of cap space in 2017 to add or re-sign free agents. The issue is that they have to plan for future years. (When you get your paycheck, you could spend all of it, but you likely want to save some for future years). It is almost impossible for fans/media to determine how much the Cowboys can afford to spend on Free Agents because estimating several years into the future would be very difficult. In general, if the player signed or re-signed is worth the money he gets, then the cap situation tends to work out in the future. When players are not as good as their contract like Brandon Carr, then it means that the team spent less money on better players than they could have if they didn't overpay for the inferior player.
The point of this post is that you just need to look at the 2017 base salary of players when considering what the Cowboys should do with them. Trade/Cut/June-1st does not really matter.
Note: One exception is that Dez has a guaranteed salary for 2017 but that would not impact a trade, only a cut.
I'll use Romo as an example. Under his current contract, his salary for next season is 14M. This is the only number that really matters to the Cowboys. If they keep him, then it adds 14M to their overall cap when you consider all years.
There are basically 5 things that can occur with Romo at this point.
Trade
Cut Before June 1st
June 1st cut: (A designated June 1st cut is the same cap wise, but allows the player to move on earlier)
Keep
Retire
The first 3 options all "save" 14M on the cap when all years are considered. The difference between the 3 is when the "savings" are realized, but the total adds up to 14M regardless.
"Savings" from each option:
Trade: 5M in 2017, 9M in 2018
Cut Before June 1st: 5M in 2017, 9M in 2018
June 1st cut: 14M in 2017, zero in 2018
If the Cowboys were super tight against the cap like they were in the years when they Franchised Anthony Spencer, then the June 1st cut option would be important; however, as of right now (Jan 2017) they have multiple contracts that can be restructured in order to create cap space in 2017.
Example 1:
Trade/Cut Romo: Save 5M in 2017
Restructure Frederick: Save 9M in 2017
Total Cap Space generated for 2017: 14M
Example 2:
June 1st Cut Romo: Save 14M in 2017
Don't restructure Frederick: Save zero in 2017
Total Cap Space generated for 2017: 14M
As you can see the cap space is the same either way in the above examples. There is no reason that the Cowboys should base any decisions regarding Romo on the differences between trading or cutting him. The key number is his 14M base salary. They either pay it or they don't.
Note: If Romo retires, they still "save" 14M on the overall cap when all years are considered as compared to him being on the team in 2017. Technically, if he retires against the wishes of the team, he would owe them 12.5M on the unrealized portion of this signing bonus; however, Jerry would have to request that Romo pay it back and that is unlikely to happen.
I used Romo as an example, but it's the same for other players like Tyrone Crawford. Crawford's 2017 base salary of 7.5M would be the number that mattered.
Dead-Money
In regards to dead-money, that is money that has already been paid to the player. It will hit the cap regardless of whether the player is on the roster or not. If the player is on the roster it's called prorated signing bonus and if he is off the roster it's called dead-money. Either way it's money that is already gone and should not impact any decisions.
Cap Hit vs Base Salary
When you see a players total cap hit it includes prorated money. Just like the note about dead-money, the prorated money has already been paid to the player and should not impact any decisions regarding the player. For example Witten is scheduled to make 7.4M but his cap hit is 12.3M. In regards to keeping him or needing him to take a pay cut, the 7.4M number is all that matters. People will exclaim that his 12.3M cap hit is extreme and therefore they must cut him; however, the difference between 7.4M and 12.3M is prorated money that has already been paid. It makes no difference in the decision. Only the 7.4M base salary is important and even that might be a big high for Witten at this point but it's not the 12.3M number that people will keep referencing.
Final Note
The Cowboys can create plenty of cap space in 2017 to add or re-sign free agents. The issue is that they have to plan for future years. (When you get your paycheck, you could spend all of it, but you likely want to save some for future years). It is almost impossible for fans/media to determine how much the Cowboys can afford to spend on Free Agents because estimating several years into the future would be very difficult. In general, if the player signed or re-signed is worth the money he gets, then the cap situation tends to work out in the future. When players are not as good as their contract like Brandon Carr, then it means that the team spent less money on better players than they could have if they didn't overpay for the inferior player.
