The problem with bloated contracts

[robjay04]

Every contract counts. Every cap dollar counts. It's not just about Romo, but his contract, like every other contract on this team counts against the cap.

You can't ignore all of the other contracts and focus only on Romo because it makes you feel better.

Romo is making about a fifth of our cap room.

About 80 percent of players in the NFL are probably underperforming on their second contract, luckily most players don't demand such a large portion of the salary cap. You can't just go around cutting everyone you signed that isn't performing or you will not be able to field a roster. Does Dez Bryant and Jason Witten make us a better team? Absolutely! Who cares about the money? It's not my money and you aren't guaranteed to take that money and put it to better use by any means. Actually, players on the open market have a much higher likelihood to not live up to their contract. You cut Dez (you can't) and use the money to sign JPP then two years from now people will start complaining he is overpaid because he gets injured and misses 4 games.

You ask Dez Bryant to take a pay cut and he says no and that is the end of it, if we don't pay him....I'm sure someone else will. The guy earned that contract with his play and yes due to injuries and a revolving door at QB, he hasn't lived up to his deal. You can say the same thing about Demaryius Thomas, who was signed at the same time.

As far as Witten? Well if we didn't restructure his contract so many times, it wouldn't be half as bad. This is likely his last year anyways and we have to pay him 4.8 million regardless.

 

[Verdict]

What about his cap hit of 5.8m in 2016? or 6.1m in 2015 or 4.8m in 2013?

Those were the good old days which are now gone. Tony Dorset and Roger Staubach were stud players for us at one time but that time has come and gone.

It would help us a lot if Witten, Dez, et. al. we're either consistently playing up to their top 10 contracts or have it reduced to the point that the contracts match production.

 

[robjay04]

What about his cap hit of 5.8m in 2016? or 6.1m in 2015 or 4.8m in 2013?

Yep...can't just push a players money down the road and then try to get out of it when it's time to pay him the contract that he earned. It's not his fault that we had to restructure him to pay for players no longer on the team like Jay Ratliff and Marion Barber.

 

[robjay04]

Those were the good old days which are now gone. Tony Dorset and Roger Staubach were stud players for us at one time but that time has come and gone.

It would help us a lot if Witten, Dez, et. al. we're either consistently playing up to their top 10 contracts or have it reduced to the point that the contracts match production.

I'm sure every CEO in the world wishes that but the world doesn't work like that. You pay a player what they earn. You pay him their market value. If we cut Dez tomorrow, the Eagles will probably make him the highest paid receiver in the league and I'm sure his agent knows that.

And those were only the good days regarding Witten because he restructured his deal numerous time and now, it's time to pay up for the years his cap hit was below market value.

 

[Nightman]

I'm not sure where in the hell you came up with the dramatic comment.

Every contract counts. Every cap dollar counts

It's not Schindler's List....it is moving dollars around

we left over 25m on the table this year so every dollar doesn't count

 

[Nightman]

Yep...can't just push a players money down the road and then try to get out of it when it's time to pay him the contract that he earned. It's not his fault that we had to restructure him to pay for players no longer on the team like Jay Ratliff and Marion Barber.

You don't understand the cap

 

[Stash]

Crawford is probably another one. It's not an exhaustive list, it is for illustration purposes.

Dez is drawing top 5 money and he may only be a top 25 receiver.

He sure wasn't for the majority of this year. But hopefully, the guy we saw late in the season, and the chemistry he started to develop with Prescott, is the guy we'll get at the start of next season.

Otherwise, I'm in complete agreement with you.

But Crawford is costing $9 million a year for a player with no position that you're essentially forcing onto the field.

 

[Nightman]

Those were the good old days which are now gone. Tony Dorset and Roger Staubach were stud players for us at one time but that time has come and gone.

It would help us a lot if Witten, Dez, et. al. we're either consistently playing up to their top 10 contracts or have it reduced to the point that the contracts match production.

2016 is this year bro, not 40 years ago......more dramatics

 

[Nightman]

He sure wasn't for the majority of this year. But hopefully, the guy we saw late in the season, and the chemistry he started to develop with Prescott, is the guy we'll get at the start of next season.

Otherwise, I'm in complete agreement with you.

But Crawford is costing $9 million a year for a player with no position that you're essentially forcing onto the field.

Crawford's cap hit was 4.3m this year and 2.8m last year....big difference from 9m

 

[robjay04]

You don't understand the cap

So we didn't restructure Witten in the past to lower his cap hit so we can get under the cap because we were still paying players like Marion Barber, Ratliff, Ware, Orton, Terence Newman etc.? I know dead money alone wasn't the only reason but through restructuring his contract, we pushed the biggest cap hits until the end of his contract.

This is the sole reason why his cap figure is so high this season. The original contract we agreed to with Witten would have no dead money right now if we decided to release him.

 

[Nightman]

So we didn't restructure Witten in the past to lower his cap hit so we can get under the cap because we were still paying players like Marion Barber, Ratliff, Ware, Orton, Terence Newman etc.? I know dead money alone wasn't the only reason but through restructuring his contract, we pushed the biggest cap hits until the end of his contract.

This is the sole reason why his cap figure is so high this season. The original contract we agreed to with Witten would have no dead money right now if we decided to release him.

No....he has been paid every dollar owed to him....his cap hit was just lowered to add to the general fund......we were 8m under this year and his cap hit was 5.8m........I don't see any of those players you mentioned in the 3m in Dead Money this year

 

[Stash]

Crawford's cap hit was 4.3m this year and 2.8m last year....big difference from 9m

And what is it going forward?

We can argue past or present math or we can admit a failed contract and awful return on investment. And I have little use for the past math. The actual point is what he's going to cost this team going forward and what can be done to change that.

 

[Nightman]

And what is it going forward?

We can argue past or present math or we can admit a failed contract and awful return on investment. And I have little use for the past math. The actual point is what he's going to cost this team going forward and what can be done to change that.

The point is everyone is whining about his cap number but they use the future placeholder number and ignore the actual number of this year and the last 3 years.....be truthful

 

[Sydla]

I saw a lot of pressures from TCrawford myself

Note, I am not making any comment on Crawford.

But sporting charts is notoriously inaccurate.

 

[Sydla]

What about his cap hit of 5.8m in 2016? or 6.1m in 2015 or 4.8m in 2013?

What does his cap hit this past year have to do with future cap flexibility, etc?

Next year he will be a 12MM cap hit and he is not that type of player anymore. This isn't a criticism of Witten, so relax. It's just the reality of the cap going forward. Witten will account for $12MM of cap space next year and is not really a $12MM type player at this point in his career.

 

[AdamJT13]

Well if you look just at the 2017 cap hit of $12MM, I'd say Witten certainly no longer plays at that level.

The number to look at is the amount that he'll be paid next year, not his cap number. Is he worth paying $7.4 million next year? That's the question, not whether he's worth a $12.262 million cap number.

 

[Nightman]

What does his cap hit this past year have to do with future cap flexibility, etc?

Next year he will be a 12MM cap hit and he is not that type of player anymore. This isn't a criticism of Witten, so relax. It's just the reality of the cap going forward. Witten will account for $12MM of cap space next year and is not really a $12MM type player at this point in his career.

That is a placeholder....... it will be negotiated if they feel he isn't worth it.......they have done that with Free, Carr, Scandrick and others

 

[robjay04]

No....he has been paid every dollar owed to him....his cap hit was just lowered to add to the general fund......we were 8m under this year and his cap hit was 5.8m........I don't see any of those players you mentioned in the 3m in Dead Money this year

I am talking about the pat. His cap hit was lowered to compensate for the poor cap situations of the past when we were paying out so much dead money.

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Guys like Witten and Dez Bryant come to mind when I think of bloated contracts. Both are valuable players but are significantly underperforming their contracts. Doug Free is another in that same category.

Those 3 guys are likely all top 10 in terms of our cap hit which prevents us from going out and paying a top flight pass rusher, dominant DT or dominant linebacker on defense.

The salary cap makes you make choices. The sentimentality of this team is really handicapping us in terms of cap allocation. I would love to see all of the above (not Free) stay with the Cowboys as long as possible, but not at all costs.

Some tough decisions need to be made here. Hopefully Witten decides to take a pay cut and stay with the team, but if not the team should really look at moving on from players like him and Dez.

The argument can certainly be made that Dez is a very expensive decoy that we cannot afford.
Dez largely played a good game Sunday but remains inconsistent, doesn't run the best routes and rarely gets separation and doesn't have good hands.

Written can play for 2 more years and help us BIG TIME!!

BTW: WE NEED A DEVIN HESTER-TYPE PLAYER. ENOUGH WITH THE CLOWN LUCKY. BEASELEY IS PREFERABLE BUT WE DONT NEED HIM INJURED ON A RETURN!

 

[Nightman]

I am talking about the pat. His cap hit was lowered to compensate for the poor cap situations of the past when we were paying out so much dead money.

That is ancient history.......the problem was the cap stayed at 123m from 2009 to 123m in 2013, not restructures

The cap has gone up from 123m in 2013 to 166m+ in 2017