Spencer Most Likely Gone Next Year

[khiladi]

MVP performance? In what fantasy land do you live in that he came even close to that level?

Looking back at my post, it's clear I should have qualified it. Yeah, he was the MVP of the defense last year... If you think Ware, even prior to injury, or anybody else, I'd only laugh. The only solid competitor for that position was Sean Lee pre-injury, but even that is a stretch. History can't cloud that performance last year.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

I agree, Spencer most likely gone next year ...

1) especially if his play is anything but stellar,
2) especially if Kyle Wilbur plays well
3) especially if he gets seriously injured or has nagging injuries through the year
4) especially if he wants more than market value
5) especially if the Cowboys make signing long term Dez, Lee, Carter, and Murray priorities

A lot of ifs. We shall see.

 

[khiladi]

I love stories like this. If Spencer has another year like 2012, we aren't just going to let him walk. Duh.

Exactly... If Spencer played like he did last year, that's beast mode.. You pay players that can play at the moment, not what can potentially happen in the future. Of course you weigh the risks and include that in the contract, but when you find somebody, you stick with him. You don't release him at his prime, hoping your next player will pan out. That's just stupid...

Plus, with Marinelli I think he'll surprise the doubters even more with the emphasis for him to rush the passer, especially for people that like only sack statistics... But you can be pretty sure our run defense will most likely decline dramatically.

 

[Ultimategamer5567]

Spencer would have to play as well as last year and Crawford and Wilber have to bust for me to see re-signing him as the right move. And I truly, really like Spencer. I do. But he's going to have one hell of a price tag.

 

[xwalker]

I agree, Spencer most likely gone next year ...

1) especially if his play is anything but stellar,
2) especially if Kyle Wilbur plays well
3) especially if he gets seriously injured or has nagging injuries through the year
4) especially if he wants more than market value
5) especially if the Cowboys make signing long term Dez, Lee, Carter, and Murray priorities

A lot of ifs. We shall see.

Crawford is the backup to Spencer on the strong side. It's doubtful that Wilber will play the strong side.

 

[burmafrd]

Exactly... If Spencer played like he did last year, that's beast mode.. You pay players that can play at the moment, not what can potentially happen in the future. Of course you weigh the risks and include that in the contract, but when you find somebody, you stick with him. You don't release him at his prime, hoping your next player will pan out. That's just stupid...

Plus, with Marinelli I think he'll surprise the doubters even more with the emphasis for him to rush the passer, especially for people that like only sack statistics... But you can be pretty sure our run defense will most likely decline dramatically.

Beast Mode? wow can you slobber over him anymore than you are right now?

 

[Future]

Crawford is the backup to Spencer on the strong side. It's doubtful that Wilber will play the strong side.

Yea but if Wilbur can rush the passer, its one less guy we need to do that. No reason that you couldn't have Ware and Crawford start, and then bring in Wilbur on third downs when the other team has to pass.

I think Wilbur's progress could have a significant impact on what happens with Spencer.

 

[Verdict]

Well he hasn't had a single MVP season yet so I doubt he will have another one - maybe his first one but not another one. I'd put the odds very low that he is league MVP.

If he has a great season he will price himself out of our range. We'll have to let him go due to cap constraints. If he has a good season we might try to bring him back at $5-6M/yr. If he has a poor season we probably let him go and start over with youth.

Quite honestly, if he has a good year he still won't command anything like what he is asking for. We should have allowed him to hit the open market this year and then told him to give us the opportunity to match the deal he was offered.

 

[Verdict]

I wonder what the difference would have been playing Wilbur in place of Spencer?

 

[Teague31]

I like Spence but no way should they give him a big new deal at age 30. Use the money for lee, carter, Dez and Tyron

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I wonder what the difference would have been playing Wilbur in place of Spencer?

Probably gargantuan. Wilber has done absolutely nothing other than have a couple of offseason puff pieces written about him.

 

[Eskimo]

Exactly... If Spencer played like he did last year, that's beast mode.. You pay players that can play at the moment, not what can potentially happen in the future. Of course you weigh the risks and include that in the contract, but when you find somebody, you stick with him. You don't release him at his prime, hoping your next player will pan out. That's just stupid...

Plus, with Marinelli I think he'll surprise the doubters even more with the emphasis for him to rush the passer, especially for people that like only sack statistics... But you can be pretty sure our run defense will most likely decline dramatically.

I'd normally agree with you but we are uber-tight to the cap next year. We have bigger priorities with Dez, Lee and Tyron possibly upcoming. We already have massive dollars tied up in Ware with tons of dead money if we release him and we likely have a huge chunk of dead money to eat up with Rat's extension. I just don't see how we can make them all fit under the cap. Our DL this year is costing us $32M which is about 1/4th of our cap. That is just not sustainable, IMO. We have other areas of the team we need to address. If Jerry hadn't been paying mega-salaries to good players it may have been possible to do Spencer's deal. I just really believe there isn't money to give him even a premium salary let alone an elite one.

Our best bet is that Ware has recovered from his injury and spend a 1st rounder next year on the DL (DE or DT - both will be needed) and hope a few of the young guys show they belong. I do think the group we have has some potential, especially Crawford. I think Wilber, Lissemore and Bass can be good rotational players.

Rather than re-signing Spencer I'd actually rather concentrate on Hatcher who will also be a FA and is a couple of years older. If he looks good in the new defense I'd like to get a moderate type deal done with him because he has really outplayed his contract the last two years and could be dynamite in the new scheme. He is so underrated it is almost beyond belief. I'd love to get him inked for $4-5M/yr even though he is older because he seems to be healthier than he has ever been and has very little NFL wear and tear on his body relatively speaking.

 

[Eskimo]

Probably gargantuan. Wilber has done absolutely nothing other than have a couple of offseason puff pieces written about him.

We don't really know what we have in Wilber.

The one thing I will say is Marinelli has quite a track record of success. If he thinks he has a rusher in Wilber I'd tend to believe him.

Wilber is actually a pretty explosive athlete so if he can absorb the teachings he may be a productive player here.

I still think we are going to draft DL in the first round next year. We need to bring in some more premium bodies upfront in the new scheme. We do have quality players but they are all old now. Spencer is the most junior of them all and he is 29 and going into his 7th season. That is not really young in NFL terms - that is where players peak and start to decline, some very rapidly.

 

[Echo9]

Actually, I think he'll be back.

Veteran defensive lineman got very little in free agency this offseason (some are still waiting), and I expect it to be much the same next year. He'll probably wish he took what Dallas offered, and end up signing here for less.

Exactly. McMahon is taking one piece of info and speculating from there. We have decided not to extend Spencer this year and let him play out his contract because what Spencer is asking for is too much. After the season he will be free to test the market. If the going rate for DE's at age 30 is anything like it was in 2013, I think Spencer will be disappointed. Letting someone test the market and letting them go are two different actions. A lot will depend on how he plays this year of course, but even if he plays lights out, the payday may not be a large as his agent believes.

Right now it makes sense for both sides. Spencer will get a big chunk of change this season, so even if he signs for less next year, he'll have the 10M from this year plus whatever big signing bonus he gets next year. The only risk Spencer is taking right now is the injury one.

To sum up, if someone said, 'Hey we'll give you 40 mil over 4 years and 7 of that up front NOW, or we'll give you 40 and 7 up front NEXT year, but in the meantime here's 10 mil" what would you do? (I made up the 40/7 as random #'s just to have #'s.)

 

[Idgit]

We don't really know what we have in Wilber.

The one thing I will say is Marinelli has quite a track record of success. If he thinks he has a rusher in Wilber I'd tend to believe him.

Wilber is actually a pretty explosive athlete so if he can absorb the teachings he may be a productive player here.

I still think we are going to draft DL in the first round next year. We need to bring in some more premium bodies upfront in the new scheme. We do have quality players but they are all old now. Spencer is the most junior of them all and he is 29 and going into his 7th season. That is not really young in NFL terms - that is where players peak and start to decline, some very rapidly.

We have to draft someone. And, if Spencer walks, we probably have to add someone in VFA, too. With Rat, Spencer, and Hatcher all up in the air for next season, we're going to be doing some retooling.

A lot depends on how Lissemore, Crawford and Wilber perform this season, too. One or more of those guys stepping up big-time would be a huge plus. Throw Bass in that group, too, though he's obviously a long, long shot.

 

[Eskimo]

We may need to sign a vet FA but I'd rather just bring back Hatcher. Ideally Crawford shows he can play LDE or 3-tech and takes another spot.

That leaves one more spot to fill and a vet FA might be needed as a stop gap unless we have a miracle and another one of the backups show they are starter quality. We may actually be so tight up against the cap that we have to go with the 1st rounder. I do know the FO here wants 1st rounders to start right away so that is pretty much well the expectation anyway.

What a coup it would be if Wilber, Bass or Lissemore shows they can be a full-time productive starter. It would propel us forward as legitimate contenders for the next 3 years.

 

[Idgit]

We may need to sign a vet FA but I'd rather just bring back Hatcher. Ideally Crawford shows he can play LDE or 3-tech and takes another spot.

That leaves one more spot to fill and a vet FA might be needed as a stop gap unless we have a miracle and another one of the backups show they are starter quality. We may actually be so tight up against the cap that we have to go with the 1st rounder. I do know the FO here wants 1st rounders to start right away so that is pretty much well the expectation anyway.

What a coup it would be if Wilber, Bass or Lissemore shows they can be a full-time productive starter. It would propel us forward as legitimate contenders for the next 3 years.

I'd like Hatcher back, too. I have it in my head that he's going to be too expensive, but he is older, and you're right that he didn't have a great experience in FA the last time around. Maybe we keep him.

I think our 1 next year is definitely going to be DL, and he'll obviously be penciled in as a starter. There'll always be an Amobi-Okoye grade FA out there to soak up some snaps if we have to go that route.

 

[xwalker]

Yea but if Wilbur can rush the passer, its one less guy we need to do that. No reason that you couldn't have Ware and Crawford start, and then bring in Wilbur on third downs when the other team has to pass.

I think Wilbur's progress could have a significant impact on what happens with Spencer.

If Wilber is great and Crawford is terrible, then they still have to find a Strong Side DE.

FYI:

Wilbur:

Wilber:

Not to be confused with Arnold Ziffel:

 

[Nightman]

It doesn't make any sense to sign Spencer next offseason after paying him 10.6m this year. A new five year deal for 35m would be the highest I would go. That would cut his cap number in half for this year and the savings could be rolled over to basically eliminate it for next year. You would also have one more year of his signing bonus accounted for by doing it this year. Obviously Spencer thinks he can get more by playing out this year and hitting FA next year. It is a shame because he is only 29 and not over hill player like he is portrayed here and would be a key part of the defense for at least the next 3, maybe 4 seasons. He will be missed.

 

[crazyfool]

I like Spence, but this is the right thing to do.