The "Russell Wilson" window

[Trouty]

Totally agree.

We need a quick fix on defense and I think it's possible.

There is a lot of DBs in this free agency that would fit nicely into our defense.

Then you get Jaylon Smith hopefully. He's an impact player if healthy.

Charles Tapper... Who knows what we get from that guy.. I almost wonder if he retires...



It's going to be hard to get a legit edge guy.. Even in the draft.

It's going to be hard to get an immediate impact edge rusher in the draft, even if we hit it out of the park on the pick.

We need an immediate contributor with this awesome window we have open. That's where a smart free agent signing comes in. Wholeheartedly agree, brudda.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

My question is how much cap space do we actually get for trading Romo?

Is it the same if we cut him or if he retires?




If we only get 5 million of extra cap space I would rather keep Romo.

Whether he retires, is traded or is cut (prior to june 1st) we only gain $5 million in cap space in 2017, waiting till June 1st gains us $14 million in 2017 and $16 million in 2018. However, we also gain $25 million in 2018. If we keep him in 2017, and then cut/trade him we gain $16 million.

The smart play by far is to move on after this offseason. Part of the fielding a team good enough to win a SB is the cost of veteran QBs, so after this year, we get 2 more season of Dak on his rookie deal (almost certainly would be smarter to resign him after 3 years, as opposed to waiting till year 4), so we need to clear as much cap space as possible for any potential moves for defensive players, and structure the contracts in a way that a lot of money is paid in 2018, as opposed to the later years of the deal. If we get a pick, by all means deal Romo asap, but if not, we should move on after June 1st.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

If Dak gets us #6 and #7 under his rookie contract. Then give him

10 years = 200million

 

[darthseinfeld]

Do tell, how is our edge rushing? As "it stands now"

Are you sitting here and telling me that a splash edge rusher wouldn't be of value to our team and our chances next season?

Im not saying it wouldnt. Ive said Id love to see it.

Im saying thats not how they operate. They aren't going to abandon the belief of building through the draft and avoiding high priced Free Agents, when they are going to credit said belief in building a contending team. Its not about what we want. I guarentee you wont find a poster here who doesn't want to go after a big ticket edge rusher. Even overpay for one. It's that we know they won't

 

[Zman5]

Jerry will not let Tony go to a NFC team unless they offer something ridiculous. I'm confident about that.


So it doesn't leave him many options. The Jets would want him but there is no guarantee the Broncos would go after him.

Not sure which team he'll end up with but I doubt Romo would want to stay here as a backup. I feel bad for him but I'm sure it's killing him right now having to be on the sideline and just watch.

 

[BigStar]

My question is how much cap space do we actually get for trading Romo?

Is it the same if we cut him or if he retires?




If we only get 5 million of extra cap space I would rather keep Romo.

Think JJ's loyalty comes into play here; probably cut him so Romo can choose or trade him to the Jets/X team for a 2nd or 3rd he chooses; hopefully not DEN. Hard to fault him as Romo has given his heart to this team and deserves to go out on his own terms so do agree with JJ here.

 

[Trouty]

Im not saying it wouldnt. Ive said Id love to see it.

Im saying thats not how they operate. They aren't going to abandon the belief of building through the draft and avoiding high priced Free Agents, when they are going to credit said belief in building a contending team. Its not about what we want. I guarentee you wont find a poster here who doesn't want to go after a big ticket edge rusher. Even overpay for one. It's that we know they won't

We don't know how they operate, now. Have you noticed that this team is now vastly different, a little feller named Romo being forced to sit. Is that how they operated in the past? Nope, but circumstances arose, that no one could have ever predicted in their furthest recesses in their imaginations, and have created a whole new dynamic. It will trickle down all the way to player-personal. Count on it. Whether that means they pull the trigger, we shall see. But they need to.

Everything is different. And I never said you wanted this or that.

We don't know anything, yet, going forward. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

 

[CATCH17]

It's going to be hard to get an immediate impact edge rusher in the draft, even if we hit it out of the park on the pick.

We need an immediate contributor with this awesome window we have open. That's where a smart free agent signing comes in. Wholeheartedly agree, brudda.

Yeah I don't know where the edge guy will come from unless we bring back D. Ware and use him in a rotation.

I don't know if trading is an option and who would even be available.

 

[BigStar]

They dont see it that way. They see top FA's as poor value. Good players getting paid like great players as Stephan put it.

It would be nice if they made a splash. I seriously doubt they do much of anything

True, think it will go to Frederick (down the line), Martin, maybe both Collins' down the road, etc. I hope they do a "shot" though bc as they know, bargain feeding results are minimal to none (Mayowa). Mo's value may be lower due to the injury and would see if he's open to a short term deal. Sometimes you have to be wrong and overpay a little bit for slightly less value, otherwise, you would have to wait 2-3 years for that position to develop in the draft outside of gems that produce out of the gate.

 

[xwalker]

My question is how much cap space do we actually get for trading Romo?

Is it the same if we cut him or if he retires?




If we only get 5 million of extra cap space I would rather keep Romo.

They gain 14M in cap space. 5M in 2017 and 9M in 2018.

 

[Trouty]

Yeah I don't know where the edge guy will come from unless we bring back D. Ware and use him in a rotation.

I don't know if trading is an option and who would even be available.

Now, a trade would be bad, under most circumstances. We need to keep our glorious picks, unless it's some weird NE Collins-type trade. But that doesn't happen very often.

I have been lazy on the upcoming DE and MLB FA class. I'll check it out one of these days and post, what I think, are viable options. I'm sure McClay and Vital are already all over it.

 

[xwalker]

you're pretty close.....Romo would cost us $24.7M if we kept him next year. If we trade him, dead cap space would be a whopping $19.6M meaning we'd save $5.1M. After paying another backup, we'd have a few mil left

You're missing the 9M they save in 2018.

 

[Bluefin]

Much of the FA off season moves will be highly dependent on how we fare throughout the playoffs.

IF we lose in the playoffs in the same way we lost to Green Bay...super close game but lost due to lack of pass rush then I think the FO will go all out and signs a FA pass rusher even if it meant over paying. FO will see that this window is here and present so it better take advantage of it.

IF we win the SB then I expect the FO to handle FA the same as it has.....value signing.

None of us are under the delusion that the pass rush is working.

I don't need to see what happens in the playoffs, upgrading RDE in the off-season is the top priority.

For me, that means signing a veteran free agent and using a draft pick.

Fortunately, the 2017 roster is largely set.

The defensive backfield needs attention with Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox all set for free agency. I want to work something out with Mo' and keep one of the safeties. Romo will likely leave, Doug Free might need to take a pay cut to come back and Kyle Wilber might get pink slipped.

The team will exercise the 5th year option on Zack Marin in the Spring and look to get an extension done before or during training camp.

 

[reddyuta]

Everybody is thinking about the Defense next year but we have major decision on the offense too.I really dont think Romo is fine with playing backup here,he will want to be released or traded and i am in favor of that.I also want to sign resign Leary because without our 6 olinemen this offense will not work.I really dont want to use the draft on the offense but we need to replace Twill and somebody is going to overbid on him this off season.

 

[Bluefin]

I have been lazy on the upcoming DE and MLB FA class.

Jaylon Smith will be playing MLB next year.

Sean Lee at WILL and Damien Wilson at SAM.

Anthony Hitchens and Mark Nzeocha will be reserves.

Kyle Wilber likely gets released.

Look to add another draft pick and have Justin Durant (if he doesn't retire) on speed dial in case of a training camp/pre-season injury.

 

[AsthmaField]

We don't know how they operate, now. Have you noticed that this team is now vastly different, a little feller named Romo being forced to sit. Is that how they operated in the past? Nope, but circumstances arose, that no one could have ever predicted in their furthest recesses in their imaginations, and have created a whole new dynamic. It will trickle down all the way to player-personal. Count on it. Whether that means they pull the trigger, we shall see. But they need to.

Everything is different. And I never said you wanted this or that.

We don't know anything, yet, going forward. Sit back and enjoy the ride.

Like you, I wouldn't mind seeing a big pass rusher signed in FA. However, @darthseinfeld is right that it isn't the way the Cowboys do things these days. Maybe getting Dak and letting Romo goes changes that for the team... but I don't think it will.

Stephen has said that you pay good talent like it is great. That is an organizational philosophy that it pretty entrenched IMO. It has developed over the course of several seasons and I think that Dallas has that view not because they couldn't afford anyone - but because they think it is the right way to build a team in the salary cap era.

Having said all of that, I do feel like if the right guy is available they just might make a splash signing. He'd have to be young and able to play out his whole contract at a high level, and he'd have to be a real positive in the locker room. Those are two things that might sway Dallas enough to make a big signing. The player would have to be both young and have good character though. Having just one of either of those traits wouldn't be enough.

So, while I'd love to add a catalytic player in free agency to the pass rush, I view it as somewhat of a longshot because I don't think the Dallas philosophy on FA is going to change, and I doubt strongly that a young, dominant, high-character pass rusher who is pristine enough to make Dallas go against its own grain will even be available in the first place.

I do hope they manage to sign one though.

 

[waldoputty]

We have four years of Dak on a rookie 4th round contract, much like Seattle did with Russell Wilson on a 3rd round contract. In this salary cap era, there is no bigger gift than a franchise QB that doesn't cost like one. This offseason, the FO needs to go "all in." Meaning, trade or release Romo and other players with big contracts. Then, with that cap room, sign big name players at DE, CB, S to front-loaded, essentially three year contracts. And remake the defense, much like the Giants did. And maybe get a new RT. After those three years, things will change. We will have to pay Dak. And the next year, Zeke. We have an amazing opportunity to make multiple Super Bowl runs in the short term if the FO handles this offseason like Seattle did.

Totally agree with spending NOW.
Not only do you have Dak's low salaries, you have pending retirement of Romo/Witten and other contracts.
Not only do you have retirements of major contracts, you have a $10M/yr annual rise in salary cap until 2021 - an unprecedented occurrence in the history of the salary cap.

BK said that we can easily open up $30M and up to $50M - this does not require even releasing Romo.
We need to spend to bring in 1 or 2 major FA for the defense - preferably edge rushers.
That is after resigning all of our FAs we want to keep, and that includes Leary.

 

[JDSmith]

Do tell, how is our edge rushing? As "it stands now"

Are you sitting here and telling me that a splash edge rusher wouldn't be of value to our team and our chances next season?

The problem is that you are not offering up an actual person to make the splash. Yes, I'd love to get someone terrific, now who is he? I don't know who's expected to be out there, and you don't throw money at guys hoping to make a splash - you need a specific target who you believe is guaranteed to make that splash for us. Vernon is costing the Giants 13, 16, 17, 19.5, 19.5 against the cap over the next 5 years. So far this season he's got 4 sacks. Is that a splash? It sure is a big splash in terms of his cap number, but it's not much in terms of actual on the field production.

Sign a couple of those and you will eat up all of the value you gained by having a young franchise QB, and you won't be much better as a team.

 

[Trouty]

Like you, I wouldn't mind seeing a big pass rusher signed in FA. However, @darthseinfeld is right that it isn't the way the Cowboys do things these days. Maybe getting Dak and letting Romo goes changes that for the team... but I don't think it will.

Stephen has said that you pay good talent like it is great. That is an organizational philosophy that it pretty entrenched IMO. It has developed over the course of several seasons and I think that Dallas has that view not because they couldn't afford anyone - but because they think it is the right way to build a team in the salary cap era.

Having said all of that, I do feel like if the right guy is available they just might make a splash signing. He'd have to be young and able to play out his whole contract at a high level, and he'd have to be a real positive in the locker room. Those are two things that might sway Dallas enough to make a big signing. The player would have to be both young and have good character though. Having just one of either of those traits wouldn't be enough.

So, while I'd love to add a catalytic player in free agency to the pass rush, I view it as somewhat of a longshot because I don't think the Dallas philosophy on FA is going to change, and I doubt strongly that a young, dominant, high-character pass rusher who is pristine enough to make Dallas go against its own grain will even be available in the first place.

I do hope they manage to sign one though.

My whole point is that the dynamic is different, now. Stephen was operating his "philosophy" on the pretext of a different team, a different makeup, and the heels of 8-8 redundancy. To argue this with me will be futile.

With respect to you Asthma (and you know how much I admire you), we don't know the future direction of this team.

But I gave you a "like" because your post was amazing, as always

 

[BigStar]

None of us are under the delusion that the pass rush is working.

I don't need to see what happens in the playoffs, upgrading RDE in the off-season is the top priority.

For me, that means signing a veteran free agent and using a draft pick.

Fortunately, the 2017 roster is largely set.

The defensive backfield needs attention with Morris Claiborne, Brandon Carr, Barry Church and J.J. Wilcox all set for free agency. I want to work something out with Mo' and keep one of the safeties. Romo will likely leave, Doug Free might need to take a pay cut to come back and Kyle Wilber might get pink slipped.

The team will exercise the 5th year option on Zack Marin in the Spring and look to get an extension done before or during training camp.

I'd let Church/Carr walk and see where Mo/Wilcox are in price range/length of contract. The first just seem like liabilities in pass coverage bc of a lack of NFL speed and would go with the yungins if possible. Wilcox is showing strides this season especially in landing some clean shots in the secondary to set "some" tone. Look to FA for the other corner and draft one in the top 3 rounds and we aren't looking as ugly as it was. Agree 100% on RE in FA, or even top LE and moving Lawrence if the pickings are that slim. Heck, even NE will take a shot from time to time; trade/FA.