What is Earl Thomas Now Really?

[Verdict]

I don't see how you could "jack up our cap for the next five years over him".

Worst case? Two years, if he completely falls off a cliff physically. Worst case.

It depends on how much they pay him, but two years is two years too many. I'm all for bring him into the fold in a fiscally responsible manner. Those of you wanting to resign Lawrence better root against an ET trade. I'm just sayin.

 

[kevm3]

Earl Thomas is easily better than what we have back there playing safety right now. I think Xavier Woods will be solid, but he's no Earl. Neither are Heath and Frazier. Earl could be the difference between Aaron Rodgers marching down the field with ease with a minute left and in us moving on to the next round of the playoffs.

 

[Verdict]

I agree. As long as the "stealing" doesn't include him demanding $13 million a year.

Yeah. Two years of guaranteed money at a reasonable rate would probably be ok.

 

[atlantacowboy]

That secondary (where Thomas will play) is.

The secondary is still playing within the framework of Marinelli's defensive schemes. There's learning to do.

 

[Verdict]

Earl Thomas is easily better than what we have back there playing safety right now. I think Xavier Woods will be solid, but he's no Earl. Neither are Heath and Frazier. Earl could be the difference between Aaron Rodgers marching down the field with ease with a minute left and in us moving on to the next round of the playoffs.

Yes. That's quite true. On the other hand he might be the difference in us losing out on someone we want in the future. It's a fluid situation.

You have to play the odds in these situations. You must be right more often than wrong or it hurts your cap and the bigger the contract the worse it hurts.

 

[Stash]

It depends on how much they pay him, but two years is two years too many. I'm all for bring him into the fold in a fiscally responsible manner. Those of you wanting to resign Lawrence better root against an ET trade. I'm just sayin.

I think you need to take a close look at this team's future cap projections.

https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/cap/2019/

We're looking at $39 million in 2019 and almost $100 million in 2020. Even if $30 million of that goes to Dak's deal in 2020, that's $70 million left.

Our cap space isn't just good, it's great.

 

[Stash]

Yeah. Two years of guaranteed money at a reasonable rate would probably be ok.

Even some dead money in year three if it bombs would be OK. This team has been themselves in position to not only lock up their best young talent, but to take a risk or two as well. We're in excellent cap shape.

 

[Stash]

The secondary is still playing within the framework of Marinelli's defensive schemes. There's learning to do.

I recommend taking a closer look. There's a torch being passed.

 

[Doomsday101]

Cowboys have something now they have not really had for a long time: Plenty of cap space.

Of course, this probably isn’t news to most of you if you have been reading BTB for a while. I covered this back in April. There have been some changes, most importantly the contract extension for Zack Martin. That has eaten into the projected cap space for 2019 - but it still sits at over $50 million, based upon all current contracts. (All figures from Over the Cap.) And Martin’s new contract boosted the space for this year, which currently sits at over $14.8 million. Dallas has space to do just about whatever it wants this season without having to do any more “kicking the can down the road”, and that would include working out a trade for Seattle Seahawks safety Earl Thomas. Any unused space from this year will roll over into the next, so that $50 million for next year could well increase.

And the primary impact of a Prescott extension would come in 2020 and after. At the moment, the current contracts the Cowboys have that extend that far (including Martin’s) leave them with a projected space that year of nearly $105 million.

That’s a lot of room to work out new deals for Prescott as well at DeMarcus Lawrence, who is playing this year on the franchise tag unless and until the Cowboys negotiate an extension with him. Most of the other players the team will eventually have to pay or part ways with don’t come into play until after 2020.

https://www.bloggingtheboys.com/201...em-zack-martin-dak-prescott-demarcus-lawrence

 

[JoeKing]

Progress stopper.

 

[atlantacowboy]

I recommend taking a closer look. There's a torch being passed.

I'm not on the sidelines. I haven't read anything about Marinelli stepping aside or the cowboys changing up their defense. So, at the moment, I think my opinion is reasonable.

 

[BigD_95]

Personally, I wouldn't give anything for him...simply because he possibly will be a free agent next year...and I don't think he is the missing link to the Superbowl. He is a talent no doubt but no way would I give up a premium pick.

I kinda like the secondary we have now and would like to see what they will do.

Go Cowboys!

I agree with not a premium pick but I would give up a 4th round pick for him. or a 4th and another late pick. But I would absolutely not give up a 2nd round pick for him. Maybe if he had 3 years left on his contract. A 3rd would be a little hard to swallow.

 

[Stash]

I'm not on the sidelines. I haven't read anything about Marinelli stepping aside or the cowboys changing up their defense. So, at the moment, I think my opinion is reasonable.

Fair enough.

Some food for thought then.

 

[Proof]

He would have been Sean Lee in the secondary over the past 5 years. There is no guarantee he will be that over the next few years.

Sean Lee has been all that and a bag of chips, but we know Sean Lee, while still good, has a short time left. Could Sean Lee perform at a high level for four or five more years? Yeah. But it's not likely. The smart money is betting against that.

So if you were bringing in Sean Lee you better not pay out the *** for him and then complain when his dead money eats up a huge portion of your cap on down the road.

All of this Earl Thomas nonsense reminds me eerily of the idiotic "pay the man" posts over Dez when he signed his contract. The same people who were saying that later complained because we didn't have the money to do more productive things. People who do that are simpletons. It's not that hard to realize that every player is and has an opportunity cost.

You talk as if you’re the smartest man in the room, make points everyone understands inherently, and rail against straw man arguments no one made.

I don’t think anyone wants to bring Earl in at all costs, but again there is a middle ground between spending irresponsibly and only shopping in thrift stores and yard sales. Sometimes tho you find yourself staring at a classic car sitting under a tarp.

And we found ourselves in our current situation not only by spending on Dez, but also restructuring too often. Safeties don’t cost as much as wrs and the good ones don’t become available all that often

 

[T-RO]

His prime years may be coming to an end but Earl Thomas out of his prime is still a top guy and the state of NFL safeties is nothing special.

The smart money has got us nowhere BTW.. Signing another teams guy for big money is OK to do.

I know it's frowned upon in Dallas and we love our smart deals but Denver, Philadelphia, and New England have shown that it's ok to open up the wallet.

Philly and NE might sign an older player...but almost always those are short term contracts (low risk). Earl wants a longer one.

 

[T-RO]

Why not sign him and Bowman and Maybe a TE and make a run now.

Bowman!?! That ship has sailed. Athletically he’s done. And what tight end is out there to sign?

 

[JustChip]

It would be a bad risk to pay him top 5 money for the next 4 or 5 years. Every year he plays the probability that he falls off a cliff goes up.

I would not sign him to a 5 year contract expecting him to see the end of that contract. Three years is a reasonable time for him to perform at a high level. Anything after that is dicey.

Bill Polian was on the radio yesterday or the day before and he made a very interesting comment. He said that GMs today model the guaranteed portions of contracts and terms based on at least 1 year of dead money, that some GMs will use a 2 year dead money model, but none will do a deal on a 3-year dead money model. In other words, if ET gets a 5 year deal, the expectation is that the final 1 or 2 years will be a dead-money cap hit. Doesn't mean it will be for sure, just what they're basing a reasonable contact on.

 

[JoeKing]

honestly..YOUR WRONG. We are in purgatory no more btw. Right now what we are is green. VERY YOUNG. In this case signing Earl Thomas would basically give is a coach on the field on the back end. Are you convinced Woods and or Heath are going to play at a high level? Me thinks not. Woods isn't ready for prime time just yet. He's too green. ET would be able to mentor him..not too mention he would be our best safety we have had since Woody was here. If we can get him for a conditional 3rd,I'm for that.

I'll be so happy when Woods game performance makes us forget we all had this discussion.

 

[Stash]

I'll be so happy when Woods game performance makes us forget we all had this discussion.

And for the record, I hope you're right about that.

I'd like nothing more than for Woods to make any Earl Thomas talk completely unnecessary.

Save a 3rd round draft pick and $40 million? Yeah, sign me up for that!

 

[CATCH17]

Philly and NE might sign an older player...but almost always those are short term contracts (low risk). Earl wants a longer one.

You can make deals that the team can get out of quick.