The case for Restructuring Romo

[Nightman]

Next 3 years with and without restructuring Romo's deal

Cap hit without a restructure if he retires before 2016
.....2015.........2016........2017.....
......28m..........9m............10m.....

Cap hit with a full restructure and he retires before 2016
.....2015.........2016........2017.....
.......15m..........12m........19m.....

Cap hit with restructure and he plays 3 more seasons
.....2015.......2016.......2017.....2018......2019.....
......15m........21m.......24.7m.....5.7m......3.2m....

Salary cap nest 3 years
.....2015........2016........2017.....
.....148m.......150m.......158m...

Romo's 28m cap hit represents 19% of the cap this year
Romo's 19m cap hit represents 12% of the cap in 2017

They need almost 15m in cap space for the rest of the season. They need 8m for Hardy's per game bonuses. They need almost 2m for draft picks, 2m for the full 53 man roster, practice squad and IR. The rest is a cushion for the season for replacements, trades and emergencies.

Best options for creating cap space
Romo restructure.......13m
Witten restructure...... 3m
Carr 50% pay cut....... 4m
Carr June 1st cut....... .8m
Sign Dez longterm......6m
Cut Dunbar/CJones....3m

 

[CF74]

Wait for the deadline, might not need it...

 

[rpntex]

Next 3 years with and without restructuring Romo's deal

Cap hit without if retires before 2016
.....2015.........2016........2017.....
......28m..........9m............10m.....

Cap hit with and he retires before 2016
.....2015.........2016........2017.....
.......15m..........12m........19m.....

Cap hit with restructure and he plays 3 more seasons
.....2015.......2016.......2017.....2018......2019.....
......15m........21m.......24.7m.....5.7m......3.2m....

Salary cap nest 3 years
.....2015........2016........2017.....
.....148m.......150m.......158m...

Romo's 28m cap hit represents 19% of the cap this year
Romo's 19m cap hit represents 12% of the cap in 2017

They need almost 15m in cap space for the rest of the season. They need 8m for Hardy's per game bonuses. They need almost 2m for draft picks, 2m for the full 53 man roster, practice squad and IR. The rest is a cushion for the season for replacements, trades and emergencies.

Romo restructure.......13m
Witten restructure...... 3m
Carr 50% pay cut....... 4m
Carr June 1st cut....... .8m
Sign Dez longterm......6m
Cut Dunbar/CJones....3m

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't count the full 53 and practice squad toward the cap. Only the top 51 salaries countb toward the cap.

 

[Nightman]

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but you don't count the full 53 and practice squad toward the cap. Only the top 51 salaries count toward the cap.

That is only for the offseason. Once the season officially starts you have to count the full 53 man roster, all the IR guys and practice squad.

 

[DFWJC]

What are using all this cap space for now...vs saving it in future years?
Is there an expensive FA out there that we're going for?

 

[Hoofbite]

The team has clearly changed their position on restructuring. Might be best to just accept it.

 

[Nightman]

The team has clearly changed their position on restructuring. Might be best to just accept it.

It's not really a philosophical question at this point. We are going to need another 15m this year.

But there aren't many benefits to taking a 19% cap hit this year on purpose.

 

[jrumann59]

Do they have restructure all can they structure an amount? Make 50% of his base a SB instead of 100%

 

[RS12]

The case for Restructuring Romo

No

 

[Nightman]

Do they have restructure all can they structure an amount? Make 50% of his base a SB instead of 100%

They don't have to do the full 16m, but 15m of his base salary is already guaranteed so there is no risk.

Plus they can always roll-over any unused amount to 2016.

It is better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

 

[Hoofbite]

It's not really a philosophical question at this point. We are going to need another 15m this year.

But there aren't many benefits to taking a 19% cap hit this year on purpose.

The team doesn't "need" any amount more than to sign rookies.

What FAs are waiting for Dallas to make cap space?

 

[big dog cowboy]

The team has clearly changed their position on restructuring. Might be best to just accept it.

That is correct.

 

[Nightman]

The team doesn't "need" any amount more than to sign rookies.

What FAs are waiting for Dallas to make cap space?

They need 8m for Hardy

They need 2m for Draft Picks

They need 2m for the full 53 man roster and IR guys

They need a 4-5m cushion for replacements and emergencies or is this the roster we go the full season with

Could we use a McClain or a Peterson if the price is right?

Why are people so afraid of restructures? Taking a massive Romo hit this accomplishes very little, if anything. There is still a lot of dead money either way and if Romo retires the hit can be spread over two years when the cap will be much higher.

 

[Nightman]

That is correct.

I think paying 13m for Hardy changed some things and the roster isn't nearly complete

 

[big dog cowboy]

I think paying 13m for Hardy changed some things and the roster isn't nearly complete

I won't completely dismiss that this is accurite also. There is still much left to happen. No one knows what plans are being made behind the doors at VR.

 

[Wolfpack]

they are trying to clear up years and years worth of bad contracts that they used Romo as a credit card for. While they CAN do it, they seem to want to clear this bad hit and get it back to manageable for next year. Clearly, Johnny Walker Blue isn't the drink of choice any more.

 

[AzorAhai]

I'm actually against a full restructure at this point in the off season. Mainly to conserve as much room the next two years for Dez long term, and whatever Hardy will be paid, if they choose to keep him. If they had another FA target i could get behind it, but now the good ones are all gone. They may not have a choice depending on Carr and Dez, but they could hold off for now and restructure whatever is needed, when they need it. Usually I'm in the restructure crew, but i don't think it's needed at this moment.

 

[Nightman]

they are trying to clear up years and years worth of bad contracts that they used Romo as a credit card for. While they CAN do it, they seem to want to clear this bad hit and get it back to manageable for next year. Clearly, Johnny Walker Blue isn't the drink of choice any more.

There isn't any mess to clear up. Enough space was created by the cap increasing 20m the last 2 years, not some new strategy.

The cap will keep going up in the next few years, so now is not the time to be frugal.

We could still add RMcClain, maybe Peterson, a KR/WR5, a swing OT, another CB, a DT besides Hayden

Add in another stellar Draft class and we could poised for a Super Bowl run without sacrificing the future

 

[Hoofbite]

They need 8m for Hardy

They need 2m for Draft Picks

They need 2m for the full 53 man roster and IR guys

They need a 4-5m cushion for replacements and emergencies or is this the roster we go the full season with

Could we use a McClain or a Peterson if the price is right?

Why are people so afraid of restructures? Taking a massive Romo hit this accomplishes very little, if anything. There is still a lot of dead money either way and if Romo retires the hit can be spread over two years when the cap will be much higher.

Nobody is afraid of restructuring. It's just a poor route to go which is why no other team ever invested in it the way Dallas did, and why Dallas is moving away from it. After a year or two, you're simply restructuring to get back the space you're using from the previous restructures. How else does a guy have a cap charge that is $10M above his annual average? Take small base salaries up front and restructure as much as possible.

Had Dallas not restructured every year in the past, they'd have a ton of cap space right now. $4M of Romo's cap charge is from previous restructures. Same for 2014. They took $8M in charges last year for Ware, and $2.7M in charges for Austin. This year they take another $5M in cap charges for Austin, and between last year and this year they'll take $5.4M in cap charges for Brandon Carr's previous restructures. That's $30M in cap charges between last year and this year that the team has taken for 4 players, and at least 2 of them won't even be on the team for either season.

If you count just this year with Lee, Witten, and Scandrick added to the mix the team almost has more cap space used by previous restructures than they could free up by restructuring Romo. All of Miles' dead money, Romo's $4M, Carr's $2M, Scandrick's $2M, and the others. In total it's $16M in cap charges.

Given that you can roll unused space over, the fact that Dallas hasn't restructured as much as they could over the last 2 offseasons pretty much states how they fell about it. It's a waste of time because you get to a point where you're restructuring so you actually have as much usable cap space as everyone else. There is no excess cap space advantage every year. You get that for a year or two, but then you're just moving money to get back to even.

It's a short-term perspective in an environment where almost everyone agrees that building over time is the best option. Dallas is moving away from it. They're only going to do it as much as they have to. I know it sucks for those who have strongly supported what a great idea it is over the years, but the reality is it's a poor route to go which is why pretty much no team restructured as much as Dallas has, and now even Dallas is trying to avoid it.

 

[AmericanCowboy]

Doesnt Hardy count against next years cap?

Edit- I mean his incentives.