Team positioned to be aggressive next year

[Galian Beast]

If anything this year has proven that this team can definitely contend next year, especially if it improves the defense.

Assuming that the Salary Cap next year is 140 million, we would only have 1.7 million in cap space, clearly not enough to sign anyone.

That doesn't mean the team can't become aggressive in improving the team.

Here are some steps that I will highlight.

#1 Romo restructure or pay cut, saves as much as 12.8 million against the cap in 2015
#2 Smith restructure, saves about 8.2 million against the cap in 2015
#3 Carr pay cut or june 1st cut saves 8 million (june 1st cut) against the cap in 2015.
#4 Melton cut saves 8.5 million against the cap in 2015.
#5 Witten restructure saves 3 million against the cap in 2015.
#6 Dekoda Watson cut saves 1.5 million against the cap in 2015.
#7 Terrell McClain cut saves 900k against the cap in 2015
(#8 I simulated cutting Doug Free which saves 7 million, but I think slightly less savings could be had by reworking his contract). I'm not sure what measures we have for reducing a club option, but if we have to cut him to re-sign him, then I'm not sure if we will do that given the dead money involved in cutting him, and future potential dead money.

These moves would bring us 51 million dollars under the cap in 2015 (again assuming that the cap was 140 million).

51 million could definitely allow us to re-sign Dez and McClain and give us latitude to see what we want to do with Murray or Peterson. I would also allow us to reinvest in the defense.

I would suggest we could still be prudent shoppers though and get guys like Charles Tillman on low end deals. Those combined with a nice defensive draft (save for a WR and maybe a RT).

These aggressive moves would have to show a lot of faith in Romo and Crawford especially. Cutting Melton may turn out to be a mistake, but at this point I think going with Crawford and Okoye may be the more prudent measure and focusing resources elsewhere and getting the best 11 out there.

I think getting McClain and Hitchens this year puts us in a very strong position next year. Once we re-sign McClain, we're probably set at linebacker, especially if we bring Durant back, which shouldn't prove difficult.

We can bring Tillman in as a stopgap to replace Carr, and we can draft a rookie cornerback that fits the system, rather than necessarily drafting one high.

We can focus the draft on getting another pass rusher, but with the money in free agency we can get the best options available there as well. The problem here is that there aren't that many options out there in free agency scheduled for 2015, so unless someone gets cut, I'm not sure what we're going to do here. I definitely don't want Greg Hardy.

I infamously made a topic about blowing the defense up, but I think some of the moves made in this offseason can belay that a bit. Replace Carr, upgrade the defensive line, get Sean Lee back and move him to the less injury susceptible weak side, and this could be a really good defense next year, at the very least good enough to be a super bowl contender.

I think we'll also have the ability to get that speed WR for Romo, though the front office might be reluctant to give up on Williams, which the move would clearly suggest.

 

[Toruk_Makto]

I know it's not popular....but I want them to bring in Suh. We can easily do it. And with Suh saying his agent will choose a destination...well...we are in play.

 

[Idgit]

Good news is we'll have draft and some cap resources next year to address defense. Bad news is, we're mediocre everywhere. It's not that we've got too many obvious weak links to replace. What we need to do is bring in real impact players. Especially on the DL. Those guys you can't draft all that readily. They're hard to find in the back of the first--where we're picking. And then they take a year or two to develop out of college, usually.

And the trouble with getting them in VFA is they're hellaciously expensive, and it's hard to project who's going to translate elite ability between schemes. Also, they just aren't often available. So, you either overpay for a vet the way teams did for Peppers and Ware last season, or you try to get lucky the way we did with McClain on a troubled player with real ability. That means a Hardy or a MacDonald, or somebody else's high-pick bust who's coming off of a rookie deal. Tough to upgrade that way. I think I'd rather get Lee back, sign McClain, and then spend money on one quality free agent and hope the risk pays off. Then draft at least two DLs in the first two rounds--somehow getting in position where need meets value. Then we gotta hope Lawrence continues to develop.

Otherwise, we'll get better gradually, the way we did with the OL. And by the time the DL problem is addressed, we need a new QB. Not saying that's a bad thing, but it's got its own risks.

 

[Idgit]

I know it's not popular....but I want them to bring in Suh. We can easily do it. And with Suh saying his agent will choose a destination...well...we are in play.

Don't want him, and he's a giant risk to underperform his contract in my book, but he's definitely the kind of impact player you'd be looking at if you wanted to make a splash.

 

[Szczepanik]

Jerry will get whomever he wants to get. He can restructure contracts all he wants , and if he wants to keep or sign someone.. he will.

 

[waving monkey]

I like their philosophy of cleaning up the books and dead money.
Keep drafting smart and paying the guys we're drafting.
We've got a real good thing going.
These big money FA's so many times under whelm. Some don't.
Of course the other side is our drafting department appears good at
sniffing out the character issues and I'm sure they'll do their due diligence.

 

[cej757]

I'm hoping Jerry can sign JPP in the offseason. This team desperately needs at least one stud pass rusher from the end.

 

[ChooChoo73]

The most aggressive offseason approach for me is to draft DE, DT, OT with their premium draft picks. Improve the foundations and the success of peripheral positions will follow. We can't spend our way into improving the defense enough to make a dent.

 

[Cebrin]

The most aggressive offseason approach for me is to draft DE, DT, OT with their premium draft picks. Improve the foundations and the success of peripheral positions will follow. We can't spend our way into improving the defense enough to make a dent.

 

[poost]

I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the next couple of weeks. There will be plenty of time to discuss the offseason when it arrives.

 

[NoLuv4Jerry]

We need to improve the overall team speed. You don't need blue chippers to fill every hole. One or 2 blue chippers to make others around them better would do the trick. You need a consistent pass rusher. This will alleviate the need for several blue chip CBs. This team is taking the right approach with rotating DL...so a blue chip free agent and a 1st day draft pick would fix the DL. You need a rangy safety. I like Church and Wilcox....but they are the same player to me. You need someone on offense to take the top off a defense. The windows Romo throws into are way too tight. It makes his life hard....it exposes our WRs to taking a physical beating. You need to move Terrance Williams to a 3rd WR. With all the attention Dez gets....your #2 should be having a field day...the guy is simple NOT a #2. You need to get a home run threat that can pick up the blitz on 3rd down...catch out the backfield....take a screen pass to the house....and allow us to "pace" Murray. Murray has to do TOO MANY of the RB responsibilities. Hopefully this same person can return kicks and punts. Been wanting Darren Sproles for years....and we could have gotten him every time he was available...but we did not "need" him. But I would love a Darren Sproles type.

In terms of the draft...your 1st round pick could be at ANY position except RB. Heck....if someone we deemed as the QB of the future was available...this would be the perfect time to start GROOMING that guy!

 

[DogFace]

I'm just going to sit back and enjoy the next couple of weeks. There will be plenty of time to discuss the offseason when it arrives.

This is the only correct thing in this thread.

 

[Fredd]

Not bad ideas, but I will start thinking about 2015 once the Cowboys have played their last game in february

 

[MichaelWinicki]

I have my doubts about the team redoing Romo's contract once again.

 

[rags747]

Romo will not be taking a Pay Cut nor is he deserving a Pay Cut. Restructure sure, but Pay Cut will never happen and it should not happen. Lets all watch what Eli resigns for this offseason and his #'s are far far less than Romo's throughout his career on pure qb play...Not team play.

If anything this year has proven that this team can definitely contend next year, especially if it improves the defense.

Assuming that the Salary Cap next year is 140 million, we would only have 1.7 million in cap space, clearly not enough to sign anyone.

That doesn't mean the team can't become aggressive in improving the team.

Here are some steps that I will highlight.

#1 Romo restructure or pay cut, saves as much as 12.8 million against the cap in 2015
#2 Smith restructure, saves about 8.2 million against the cap in 2015
#3 Carr pay cut or june 1st cut saves 8 million (june 1st cut) against the cap in 2015.
#4 Melton cut saves 8.5 million against the cap in 2015.
#5 Witten restructure saves 3 million against the cap in 2015.
#6 Dekoda Watson cut saves 1.5 million against the cap in 2015.
#7 Terrell McClain cut saves 900k against the cap in 2015
(#8 I simulated cutting Doug Free which saves 7 million, but I think slightly less savings could be had by reworking his contract). I'm not sure what measures we have for reducing a club option, but if we have to cut him to re-sign him, then I'm not sure if we will do that given the dead money involved in cutting him, and future potential dead money.

These moves would bring us 51 million dollars under the cap in 2015 (again assuming that the cap was 140 million).

51 million could definitely allow us to re-sign Dez and McClain and give us latitude to see what we want to do with Murray or Peterson. I would also allow us to reinvest in the defense.

I would suggest we could still be prudent shoppers though and get guys like Charles Tillman on low end deals. Those combined with a nice defensive draft (save for a WR and maybe a RT).

These aggressive moves would have to show a lot of faith in Romo and Crawford especially. Cutting Melton may turn out to be a mistake, but at this point I think going with Crawford and Okoye may be the more prudent measure and focusing resources elsewhere and getting the best 11 out there.

I think getting McClain and Hitchens this year puts us in a very strong position next year. Once we re-sign McClain, we're probably set at linebacker, especially if we bring Durant back, which shouldn't prove difficult.

We can bring Tillman in as a stopgap to replace Carr, and we can draft a rookie cornerback that fits the system, rather than necessarily drafting one high.

We can focus the draft on getting another pass rusher, but with the money in free agency we can get the best options available there as well. The problem here is that there aren't that many options out there in free agency scheduled for 2015, so unless someone gets cut, I'm not sure what we're going to do here. I definitely don't want Greg Hardy.

I infamously made a topic about blowing the defense up, but I think some of the moves made in this offseason can belay that a bit. Replace Carr, upgrade the defensive line, get Sean Lee back and move him to the less injury susceptible weak side, and this could be a really good defense next year, at the very least good enough to be a super bowl contender.

I think we'll also have the ability to get that speed WR for Romo, though the front office might be reluctant to give up on Williams, which the move would clearly suggest.

 

[CyberB0b]

Not wanting to restructure Witten or Romo.

 

[Plankton]

I have my doubts about the team redoing Romo's contract once again.

If they do, then they are inviting the same dead money problems that have plagued them the past two off seasons. If there was a contract on the team that I would leave alone, it's Tony Romo's.

 

[Plankton]

I know it's not popular....but I want them to bring in Suh. We can easily do it. And with Suh saying his agent will choose a destination...well...we are in play.

Considering that Suh has already had knee surgery for cartilage issues, as well as having needed shoulder surgery, I would be concerned about long term durability with him on a long term contract. He has been OK so far, but that sort of thing accumulates with time, especially for an interior lineman dealing with cut blocks and constant double teams.

 

[LandryFan]

I know it's not popular....but I want them to bring in Suh. We can easily do it. And with Suh saying his agent will choose a destination...well...we are in play.

Yes to Suh's playing skills, no to Suh's likely cost. He will break the bank (can you say at least $50 million guaranteed?). Now if you're going to break the bank for one player, then he would be a good one to do it with. I'd love to have that beast on our defense, just not at the price he's going to command.

 

[LandryFan]

Don't want him, and he's a giant risk to underperform his contract in my book, but he's definitely the kind of impact player you'd be looking at if you wanted to make a splash.

I agree with you that I don't want him, but I don't want him because of what he'll cost. I disagree on him being a giant risk to underperform, though. He doesn't seem to be the type of player whose intensity drops for any reason.