There is no Salary Cap Hell for Cowboys

[CowboyoWales]

I posted this in another thread, but I’ll reiterate

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...016-why-cash-trumps-cap-new-cba-and-more/amp/
“So, take a minute and hazard a guess as to which owners you believe have spent the least on actual payroll the past four seasons. Forget about the cap and funny money and focus on base salaries and signing bonuses and roster bonuses and make a list of who you figure are the six lowest-spending teams in the NFL from 2016-19.

OK, are you ready? Here are the actual bottom spenders, culled from NFLPA salary numbers, over that span (rounded to the nearest thousand).

Cowboys: $634,379,000
Texans: $646,479,000
Bills: $648,442,000
Colts: $654,999,000
Chargers: $658,299,000
Ravens: $678,220,000
Browns: $687,708,000

That is your bottom 20 percent in spending in the league in that time frame. The average NFL team spent $703 million on payroll in that span“

It’s a matter of desire and the Jones’ desires lie in the $ being made, and games won is a distant 2nd.

Slightly misleading as what matters is the CAP Number and our achilles heel is the Dead Money which isnt included in the above. We dont spend the money are we're continually paying players that have long departed..... like Romo being one of our top 5 players two years after he retired.

 

[CowboyoWales]

One thing that’s been made crystal clear for many years- the best GMs in this league somehow find a way to build a good roster with the same cap rules as the Cowboys.

Les Snead of the rams, Brett Veach of the chiefs, Jason Licht of TB, and GBs Brian Gutekunst all “miraculously” find ways to sign good FAs, and still pay top dollar for big time QBs like Rodgers, Mahomes and Stafford. It’s a myth that having “cap issues” prevent teams from building a good roster. Snead has taken two teams to a SB with two different QBs and a cap strapped roster every year.

Here’s the hard truth: Our GM and his “capologist” son aren’t very good outside of their “business wheelhouse”. They’re geniuses at making money. They are complete doofuses at team building in the off-season. We have 26 years of receipts.

No.....there is a CAP issue and it's due to giving contracts that cripple us and we don't accept the mistake and move on. Would the Jones' have traded Dak as Snead did with Goff?

We play by a model that's always factored into playing off the Dead money in the short term and then being on the hook when the player ages and becomes a financial liability (Jaylon, Zeke, DLaw, Tyron, LVE....arguably Dak) all given contracts that appeared ok(ish) at the time of signing only for them to become a milestone in later years.

We could replicate the Rams IF we were one player away, or we could replicate the mid-season trades they made....however ignoring the CAP issue is just denial especially as in hindsight everyone loves to complain about those bloated contracts....eg the Romo Dead Money which fans accused was the killer of Dak's first contract years.

 

[Zekeats]

Lol of course we are in salary cap hell. We need to cut/lose 4 starters and will lose over 25% of our team because of the salary cap hell

 

[JoeKing]

How cheap can you get? I've posted this before too but they're cheap with coaches, our college football head coach makes 50% more than MM.

We are talking about the salary cap. Coaches don't count toward the cap so it seems you are getting lost in the weeds.

 

[JoeKing]

Isnt that true of most college coaches though, especially D1 power 5 schools? Honest question as I dont have any data in front of me. I would think that with the recruiting schedule, managing player eligibility, etc college coaching is probably the bigger job and more directly tied to revenue brought in.

You too are getting lost in the weeds. The salary cap has nothing to do with the coach's salaries.

 

[thunderpimp91]

You too are getting lost in the weeds. The salary cap has nothing to do with the coach's salaries.

I get that, I just don’t get the argument. If we are arguing that MM is overpaid I can’t really get behind that. He seems to be a middle of the road HC and paid as such.

 

[morasp]

We are talking about the salary cap. Coaches don't count toward the cap so it seems you are getting lost in the weeds.

Anyone that knows anything about salary cap knows you spend as much as you want on the coaches. I'm responding to somebodies post about how cheap the Cowboys are.

 

[Doomsday101]

I would not say the Cowboys are in a salary cap hell but there are clear ramification for teams that do not keep their cap under control.

 

[Miller]

It’s constant salary cap hell if they keep restructuring. Yesterday I had no clue on numbers but let’s say they restructure Dak, these numbers look hideous even if the cap goes up.

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/cowboys-may-restructuring-dak-prescott-164601100.html

Of course, that will serve only to kick the cap can down the road. This year, he has a cap number of $34.45 million. Next year, it’s $45.45 million. In 2024, the last year of the deal, it’s $48.45 million.

A restructuring would drive up the numbers in 2023 and 2024, and it would add to the dead money due to hit the books in 2025, of $14.45 million.

 

[blueblood70]

From what I understood of this post I don’t think you understand what the term cherry picking means…would you have liked me to use #’s from the 90’s?

But ok, here’s the chart for 2016-2020 updated for you. Let me know if you find 2021 included
https://d1dglpr230r57l.cloudfront.net/images/original/nfl1.png

Highest grossing sports franchise on planet earth…still bottom 1/2 of the league in spending and 1 playoff win in a 5 year span.

And I don’t even understand what you are trying to defend. When we had Dak on a rookie contract is when we SHOULD have spent $ on free agents. That’s the most damning part. Look at the list of guys the front office acquired in that time frame to improve the team. It was borderline criminal what Jerry did as a GM after the 2016 season after the team made the playoffs with a promising QB on a dirt cheap contract.

nope this year not 16-19 live in the now these cuts and moves are for 2022 not 4 years ago shoulda woulda coulda go BUY YOUR OWN TEAM OK Internet expert questioning ownership is just a whinefest..go own team than judge. if not move on from the whining and using old outdated numbers that are now long gone ,this years cap and moves are all that matter.

BTW you cant be 75mil over the cap ie theres a hard cap and be in the bottom of spending..last i checked that top in the league in spending but again you cherry picked years they may have held back a little knowing they needed reserves for this moment. Got it..

you are not a better numbers guy then the Jones family who are worth like 20billion and have actual financial professionals handling all this but nice you cvan go for few clicks on the internet to find breadcrumbs of info and now you are the experts, get the nonsense out of here..

the jones family are not cheap never have been, are they perfect nope they made many mistakes but they cant be both cheap and also around here fans claim of all the above market bud against themselves contracts doled out.they may have made mistakes on how to spend the money but in no way are they cheap, once again you cant be 75mil over the cap and be at the bottom in spending, that why you use 2022 and 2022 only as an example as this is the current year we are in and deals gave out back in 19 have come to mature. they know this each year and can use some overflow cap pushed into the next yera to help with future moneys owed..but hey have fun being "that guy" who questions moves by professionals because you are in the Internet forum.. you must be all knowing you have a keyboard that says so..

ill take the word of an institution whose worth billions on the cap and spending over a little blip on the internet of sports forum full of arm chair keyboard hero's..

lmao...

but hey if it gets you through your day, KUDOS....

 

[Captain-Crash]

oh my. "how about dem dumb cowboys!"

 

[terra]

ITs not the quantity of the money that is the problem; its how its been spent. The Jones boys keep screwing up there. Overpaying our own too often and refusing to get quality FA
s from elsewhere. You look at every SB winning team of the last ten years and every single one of them had at least ONE major FA that came from outside that team not in a trade.

 

[Bobhaze]

I would not say the Cowboys are in a salary cap hell but there are clear ramification for teams that do not keep their cap under control.

I think it’s more accurate to say “Cowboys FANS have been in salary cap hell with this stupid front office and their unsuccessful work for over a quarter century.”

 

[Jake]

Fish is Fish, but we've seen enough cap creativity from other teams to know he's probably right here.

 

[JoeKing]

I get that, I just don’t get the argument. If we are arguing that MM is overpaid I can’t really get behind that. He seems to be a middle of the road HC and paid as such.

On that, we agree.

 

[JoeKing]

Anyone that knows anything about salary cap knows you spend as much as you want on the coaches. I'm responding to somebodies post about how cheap the Cowboys are.

Yes, I see you are getting sucked into a discussion other than the main thread topic. Meanwhile, the salary cap is what it is and the Cowboys always end up at that threshold, disproving the theory of the Cowboys being cheap. They spend as much as anyone.

 

[OmerV]

I just don't get fans upset about the Cap. There is no reason to cut any player we have unless Dallas wants to get rid of them either because they don't believe they are really helping win or they don't fit what they want or the coaching staff wants to move on from them.

Sure we are over the cap by $21 million. IT IS NO BIG DEAL. The Saints on Friday were $76 million over and by Sunday they are $50 million over and will be under the cap by next week. Guess what, they haven't cut a single guy yet. The cap is fluid and rising. The NFL and NFLPA Look Forward to the Future Salary Cap ; 2023 will be $231,200,000 to $248,200,000 ; 2024 will be $249,200,000 to $268,200,000; 2025 will be $272,200,000 to $288,000,000.

If Dallas wants to get rid of Cooper and/or Lawrence or any other player it is not because of the cap. In fact over the last 4 years, Dallas has spent less on players than 26 other clubs and spent $134 million less in marketing and salaries than the small market of Jacksonville. Less spending means more money for the Jones.

Dallas can restructure both Lawrence and Cooper along with Dak and Martin and Smith thus giving them plenty of money to resign Gallup, Wilson, Schultz, Kearse and Gregory along with a few other free agents like say Justin Reid S and/or Will Hernandez LG and/or Josey Jewell LB and/or fill in the blank plus money for the draft picks.

If Dallas wants to jettison Cooper and Lawrence, it won't be because they have to, it will be because they want to but if they do they should at least get a 3rd round choice or more for either. If they don't then the FO of Stephen and Jerry have done an extremely bad job again.

Now I expect Dallas to either cut Jarwin or he agrees to a massive pay cut and in fact wouldn't surprise me if he retires due to the injury he has. Won't be surprised to see Anthony Brown and/or Jordan Lewis traded as their value will never be higher than after last year especially with this so-so draft of players (don't let the hype get you). This draft class would mostly be third day picks in the 2022 draft.

What will Dallas do? I am sure we will see it play out starting this week.

What you aren't considering is that signing all the same players would leave the team no better off than before. The idea is to improve, not stagnate, and they need cap space to do that. Accordingly, they aren't letting Cooper go because they simply can't pay him, they are letting him go to make space to improve the overall team.

Not that I'm necessarily optimistic the Cowboys will make the best use of the money, but they have to try.

As for the Saints, so what if they have cap space and got more with the new cap structure? They are a declining team that missed the playoffs and don't have a QB. It would behoove them to spend up some of that cap space.

 

[morasp]

Yes, I see you are getting sucked into a discussion other than the main thread topic. Meanwhile, the salary cap is what it is and the Cowboys always end up at that threshold, disproving the theory of the Cowboys being cheap. They spend as much as anyone.

I see your point, they probably spend way more than anyone else. In factt they might have even figured out ways to get around the salary cap and pay players more under the table.

 

[eromeopolk]

I just don't get fans upset about the Cap. There is no reason to cut any player we have unless Dallas wants to get rid of them either because they don't believe they are really helping win or they don't fit what they want or the coaching staff wants to move on from them.

Sure we are over the cap by $21 million. IT IS NO BIG DEAL. The Saints on Friday were $76 million over and by Sunday they are $50 million over and will be under the cap by next week. Guess what, they haven't cut a single guy yet. The cap is fluid and rising. The NFL and NFLPA Look Forward to the Future Salary Cap ; 2023 will be $231,200,000 to $248,200,000 ; 2024 will be $249,200,000 to $268,200,000; 2025 will be $272,200,000 to $288,000,000.

If Dallas wants to get rid of Cooper and/or Lawrence or any other player it is not because of the cap. In fact over the last 4 years, Dallas has spent less on players than 26 other clubs and spent $134 million less in marketing and salaries than the small market of Jacksonville. Less spending means more money for the Jones.

Dallas can restructure both Lawrence and Cooper along with Dak and Martin and Smith thus giving them plenty of money to resign Gallup, Wilson, Schultz, Kearse and Gregory along with a few other free agents like say Justin Reid S and/or Will Hernandez LG and/or Josey Jewell LB and/or fill in the blank plus money for the draft picks.

If Dallas wants to jettison Cooper and Lawrence, it won't be because they have to, it will be because they want to but if they do they should at least get a 3rd round choice or more for either. If they don't then the FO of Stephen and Jerry have done an extremely bad job again.

Now I expect Dallas to either cut Jarwin or he agrees to a massive pay cut and in fact wouldn't surprise me if he retires due to the injury he has. Won't be surprised to see Anthony Brown and/or Jordan Lewis traded as their value will never be higher than after last year especially with this so-so draft of players (don't let the hype get you). This draft class would mostly be third day picks in the 2022 draft.

What will Dallas do? I am sure we will see it play out starting this week.

Arlington Jonesboys have been below average to Dallas Cowboys standards and being cheap is why Jonesboys fans have gotten the same results the last 26 years...https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/...ce-2016-why-cash-trumps-cap-new-cba-and-more/

 

[LittleD]

I just don't get fans upset about the Cap. There is no reason to cut any player we have unless Dallas wants to get rid of them either because they don't believe they are really helping win or they don't fit what they want or the coaching staff wants to move on from them.

Sure we are over the cap by $21 million. IT IS NO BIG DEAL. The Saints on Friday were $76 million over and by Sunday they are $50 million over and will be under the cap by next week. Guess what, they haven't cut a single guy yet. The cap is fluid and rising. The NFL and NFLPA Look Forward to the Future Salary Cap ; 2023 will be $231,200,000 to $248,200,000 ; 2024 will be $249,200,000 to $268,200,000; 2025 will be $272,200,000 to $288,000,000.

If Dallas wants to get rid of Cooper and/or Lawrence or any other player it is not because of the cap. In fact over the last 4 years, Dallas has spent less on players than 26 other clubs and spent $134 million less in marketing and salaries than the small market of Jacksonville. Less spending means more money for the Jones.

Dallas can restructure both Lawrence and Cooper along with Dak and Martin and Smith thus giving them plenty of money to resign Gallup, Wilson, Schultz, Kearse and Gregory along with a few other free agents like say Justin Reid S and/or Will Hernandez LG and/or Josey Jewell LB and/or fill in the blank plus money for the draft picks.

If Dallas wants to jettison Cooper and Lawrence, it won't be because they have to, it will be because they want to but if they do they should at least get a 3rd round choice or more for either. If they don't then the FO of Stephen and Jerry have done an extremely bad job again.

Now I expect Dallas to either cut Jarwin or he agrees to a massive pay cut and in fact wouldn't surprise me if he retires due to the injury he has. Won't be surprised to see Anthony Brown and/or Jordan Lewis traded as their value will never be higher than after last year especially with this so-so draft of players (don't let the hype get you). This draft class would mostly be third day picks in the 2022 draft.

What will Dallas do? I am sure we will see it play out starting this week.

You must be joking... Only way we stay out of HELL is to not mortgage the future by using the credit card and having to dump most of the team after next season. We may not even win the division next season after
the Eagles plunder the draft.