Team positioned to be aggressive next year

[MichaelWinicki]

JPP has not been productive enough to warrant a big contract. Suh has been, but I worry about him physically breaking down, and being stuck with a bad contract.

The free agent list for the DL is not great. Suh and Fairley are big names inside, but both would come with concerns. An intriguing name would be Tyson Alualu. The Cowboys had some interest in him when he was draft eligible, and they ran a 3-4 defense. He would be able to provide some depth inside.

Alualu is a good target.

Jabaal Sheard, is miscast as a 3-4 OLB for Cleveland and would be an interesting prospect for weakside DE... And he wouldn't command a mint.

 

[Seven]

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

They'll do it john Elway style.

It was a salary pay cut but he got his contract money in the end.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

They'll do it john Elway style.

It was a salary pay cut but he got his contract money in the end.

I don't care who's style they use– just so they don't push back more salary cap obligation.

 

[TwoDeep3]

Address D-line and the rest of the Defense will come along. Get to the passer should be the focal point of acquisitions.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I don't care who's style they use– just so they don't push back more salary cap obligation.

Exactly right. Dez and Murray aren't the last contracts we are going to need to address in the next few years. Invest in the lines and in a young QB. Extending and pushing cap into the future is how we got in this position in the first place. I hope we don't do that again.

 

[LandryFan]

Suh's "intensity " has already dropped...he hasn't stepped on anyones head for a couple of years now....he used to do even with fines and warnings from the league

Apparently you didn't see the forearm shiver he gave to Josh McCown a couple of weeks ago.
In all seriousness, that's a part of his game that would worry me a little bit. He's just a hair away from being suspended for some of the shots he's know for. Again, I wouldn't pay him anywhere near what he will get from somebody.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

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.

I am in for Suh!

But, I would like to do what giants did years back.

Draft a bunch of defensive ends.... Through them up against the wall and see which ones stick!!

A couple of DB's.

All defense this draft!

 

[xwalker]

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.

The need 2 free agents. A CB and dynamic DL. I would prefer DE, but a Wow type DT would also make the DEs better.

The CB is paid for with the 8M saved from cutting Carr.

The DL is partially paid for with the 8.5M from not pickup up Melton's option. With a long term contract for a 12.5M per year average, the 2015 cap hit would likely be less then the 8.5M.

IMO, the best DE available is Greg Hardy and it's not really that close for #2.

A guy like Suh can play the 1-tech with Crawford at the 3-tech. Suh often plays at the 1-tech in Detroit.

The other option is to get a couple of mid-tier DL like Brandon Graham and Jabaal Sheard. Neither is a true starter with there current teams which should keep their price down in free agency.

I wouldn't mind having Charles Tillman around, but I wouldn't want to count on him as the replacement for Carr. He's missed the past 2 seasons and is about 33 years old.

Summary:
Cut Carr.
Decline Melton's option.
Sign Greg Hardy or Brandon Graham + Jabaal Sheard
Sign a FA CB.

Increase in 2015 cap hit over keeping Carr and Melton: Zero

Anybody have any thoughts on these CBs:
Chris Culliver
Brandon Flowers
Buster Skrine
Byron Maxwell
Perrish Cox
Shareece Wright
Patrick Robinson
Antonio Cromartie
Tramon Williams
Darrelle Revis

 

[Nirvana]

Tony Romo cap number in 2015 is 27.7 million dollars.

If he is restructured, as usual, that figure drops about 16 million dollars.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

I would love to see Suh in a Cowboy uniform as well but I'm no longer sure DT is the way we need to spend cap. I like what we have at DT right now, with some of the younger guys and I think we might be able to strengthen that position in the next few drafts. I think we need to get a decent CB and the biggest need on Defense, IMO, is a pass rushing DE. We need a guy who commands double teams. If we can get that guy, production for all other DL positions immediately improves IMO. That's where I think we should spend money this year.

 

[SDCowboy]

No to restructure on Tony and Wit. Tony's is getting towards the end. I don't want to be paying money for years he isn't playing. Wit is getting close to the end as well.

It's gonna be a sad day when those two aren't on the team anymore.

 

[ABQCOWBOY]

It's gonna be a sad day when those two aren't on the team anymore.

Yeah, it will.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

... Bad news is, we're mediocre everywhere...

Everywhere? Mediocre at QB, WR, OL, TE, RB, LB (McClain, Lee, Hitchens), and K? I don't think so. But, hey, if that's mediocre then I'll drink to that. Especially at 10 wins 4 losses.

Some positions we are mediocre. Just like every other team out there.

 

[Bowdown27]

I'd rather draft d line or corner w our first few picks. I don't want to sign any other free agents. It has proven to not work and rather build team through draft. If jpp or Suh is available there is a reason why. I don't want anymore cast offs

 

[CF74]

in what galaxy could ANYONE think Brent is close to Suh?

Well let's break it down:
Suh has what 4 sacks? I know last year he made the Pro Bowl with just 4 whopping sacks. How many tackles did he have? Shoot Hatcher out played him that last year he played for us but Suh is that household name, kinda overrated.

What has Brent done with limited opportunities? I believe he had 2 sacks his first season, 2 tackles in this last game, and he pretty much shuts down the middle.

You don't need Mr Overrated, you just need a guy big and strong enough to occupy 2 blockers and Brent does that just as well as Suh does and with more time he might just get those 2 extra whopping sacks..

Next!!!

 

[xwalker]

I don't care who's style they use– just so they don't push back more salary cap obligation.

It would actually be better to push money from Romo's contract forward if it meant that they could give a free agent less upfront money. In other words, if you have the option to push Romo's money forward or push money forward from a free agent, it's better to push Romo's money forward. Romo is getting the money either way, but it you have a problem with a free agent not panning out, then less money pushed forward is less money committed to that player.

 

[MichaelWinicki]

It would actually be better to push money from Romo's contract forward if it meant that they could give a free agent less upfront money. In other words, if you have the option to push Romo's money forward or push money forward from a free agent, it's better to push Romo's money forward. Romo is getting the money either way, but it you have a problem with a free agent not panning out, then less money pushed forward is less money committed to that player.

Agreed, if they were playing in the deep-end of the free agency pool.

I'm hoping they don't do that. Instead target guys like Sheard from Cleveland who's done some good things in the league and could probably be gotten for $2.5 mil per season.

 

[cowboys1981]

The need 2 free agents. A CB and dynamic DL. I would prefer DE, but a Wow type DT would also make the DEs better.

The CB is paid for with the 8M saved from cutting Carr.

The DL is partially paid for with the 8.5M from not pickup up Melton's option. With a long term contract for a 12.5M per year average, the 2015 cap hit would likely be less then the 8.5M.

IMO, the best DE available is Greg Hardy and it's not really that close for #2.

A guy like Suh can play the 1-tech with Crawford at the 3-tech. Suh often plays at the 1-tech in Detroit.

The other option is to get a couple of mid-tier DL like Brandon Graham and Jabaal Sheard. Neither is a true starter with there current teams which should keep their price down in free agency.

I wouldn't mind having Charles Tillman around, but I wouldn't want to count on him as the replacement for Carr. He's missed the past 2 seasons and is about 33 years old.

Summary:
Cut Carr.
Decline Melton's option.
Sign Greg Hardy or Brandon Graham + Jabaal Sheard
Sign a FA CB.

Increase in 2015 cap hit over keeping Carr and Melton: Zero

Anybody have any thoughts on these CBs:
Chris Culliver
Brandon Flowers
Buster Skrine
Byron Maxwell
Perrish Cox
Shareece Wright
Patrick Robinson
Antonio Cromartie
Tramon Williams
Darrelle Revis

Suh and Crawford would make a good tag team. It would free up our DE's. My guess is his agent takes the top dollar offer leaving us out of play.

As much as I would want a JPP or Hardy type of FA name, SDE Graham and WDE Hughes would be good pickups. That gives us 3 quality ends at our disposal. This could also prevent us from having to do any type of desperation moves to draft a need vs BPA.

As far as your CB's listed I would look at Tramon Williams. He'd be an upgrade over Carr and it leaves us with 4 quality corners in Scan, Moore, Patmon and Williams.

You replace Carr with a better CB, get Lee back, Resign McClain, add the two pass rushers I listed and this defense is much improved.

 

[xwalker]

Agreed, if they were playing in the deep-end of the free agency pool.

I'm hoping they don't do that. Instead target guys like Sheard from Cleveland who's done some good things in the league and could probably be gotten for $2.5 mil per season.

I'm not concerned about restructuring Romo's contract because they are just restructuring his 2015 salary. That money is guaranteed once the season starts regardless of whether it is base salary or a restructure.

The other issue is that if they make Carr a June 1st cut, they don't get that money until June 1st. They might only need the money from Romo's restructure from March to June. They can then carry over any unused cap space.

 

[visionary]

Bottom line needs on defense in order of priority

Starting DE
Starting DT
Starting FS
CB

FA and/or draft