Who do we keep, cut and sign

[haleyrules]

As far as starting positions are concerned, our offense needs very little change. Upgrade RT, look at backup O lineman, figure out the Ronald Leary situation. Upgrade receiver position if possible, but I like where we are to be honest. Probably need to get a pulse on how much longer Witten plans on playing.

Defense- obviously a top tier edge rusher would do wonders. LB is already going to get a boost with Jaylon playing next year, and Lee is still balling out. Secondary played well this season and will play better if we get that edge rusher on the field. I'm guessing they let Mo walk, unless he stays for cheap, and as is always the case we'll probably see a surprise player or two come into the lineup as a starter or regular contributor.

Oh, and just to be clear I'm not suggesting we pencil a bunch of guys in as starters right now. As always, guys will need to battle it out during camp, etc. Just saying that I do like our roster overall.

I know everyone is pissy today but the organization deserves credit for fielding a contender this year. And they established a foundation for the future during the process.

Good and logical post.

 

[Nightman]

I'm a Giants fan, yes, but you can't reasonably call me a troll. My wife and stepson are HUGE Dallas fans, and I (often to my chagrin) necessarily am very up on all things Cowboys.

You may not agree with my analysis, but I am offering it ONLY from the perspective of what is best for Dallas in my opinion from a football and cap perspective. I think it is an interesting game, this front office stuff.

If I REALLY were looking only through Giants-colored glasses, I'd be all for Dallas spending like a drunken sailor in FA, restructuring everyone to create every last immediate penny, and watch it all come crashing down when Dak and Zeke come off their rookie deals.

But I truly think that would be idiotic from the Dallas point of view. There are no guarantees. Luck and injuries play a large role in who ultimately wins year to year -- see the 18-0 Patriots or 15-1 Packers as two recent examples. So if I'm Dallas I'd rather have a real chance for a longer period with Dak/Zeke, than put all my chips on just 3-4 seasons of the 8-10 years they are likely to be around and flourishing, barring the unexpected.

As for the Giants, on the other hand, I think they can rationally defend doing whatever it takes cap wise to rebuild the offensive line even if it means wrecking the cap in a few years. Unlike Dallas, the Giants have no heir apparent at QB, and are almost certainly going to have some dark years after Eli goes. I think Eli's window as an adequate QB (at least -- see Peyton of last year) is 2-3 more years, especially with that defense. So they should go all in, and suck it up. The sun sets on this era in the next few years no matter what, and their window is nothing like Dallas'.

DAL can easily create over 50m in cap space with a few restructures and a couple cuts

Plus the cap is going to be at least 166m+ and add in 6m roll over and up to 14m in relief from Romo's deal

Trade/cut Romo saves 10-14m
Cut Free saves 5m
Cut Wilber, Morris, Hanna 5m
Restructure TSmith, Dez, TFred, TCrawford creates 30m
Extend Witten or pay cut 5m

DAL can sign their own FA's.....Claiborne/Carr, Church/Wilcox, TWill/Butler, TMcClain/Irving, Leary
DAL can sign a few top FA's........DE, WR2/KR, CB, QB2
DAL can sign all their Draft picks with ease drafting 28th
Make a trade or 2

 

[beacamdim]

Those are the Vegas odds for the Cowboys and Patriots going into the playoffs.
I did not make them up.
Patriots may be superior over the Cowboys by only 1-2 playmakers.
We get those players and we have our opportunity for our 3rd dynasty, especially with Brady's age.
Lower odds belong to has-been teams like the Giants with their QB in rapid decline.
We almost feel though less fortunate since we were facing that with Romo.

You were talking about the likelihood of winning over six seasons. Playoff odds are irrelevant to that. Denver had a 41% chance of winning the SB at the start of last year's playoffs. That number is irrelevant to their chances of winning this year, or next, or the year after.

The Cowboys had a 5% chance of winning the SB at the start of the 2014 playoffs. That had no bearing on their likelihood of winning last year or this year, though.

The relevant number for your suggested analysis is the likelihood of winning at the beginning of the season. Which is why the numbers you used don't make sense.

 

[Nightman]

Does it financially make sense to cut T. Crawford this off season? I know he had a large contract but not a whole lot guaranteed. I like him, but he's always playing hurt which severely limits what he can do.

Not this year,.....it would be cap neutral.......10m dead money= 10m cap hit

TCrawford is not a problem......he was miscast at SDE but still got a ton of pressures

 

[haleyrules]

The packs Dline : Balchtiari ( 4th rd pick), Lane Taylor ( undrafted free agent), Lindsley ( 5th rd), Lang ( 4th rd), and Bulaga (1st rd).

Is that line better than our first rd infested o line? They made magic happen protecting Rogers and running the ball with a wide receiver.

Our Dlinemen couldn't beat that group of low level draft picks and undrafted free agents?

Hmmmmm I need help making sense of this. My inclination is to say that veteran qbs like Brady and Rodgers make magic happen regardless of who is blocking

The Packers have an outstanding OL! The last great Dallas Club...had the Great Wall making that offense work!! There wasn't a man on that line taken before the 3rd round. It may have been the best OL of all time. My bother, never under value the trench players...they win the big games!

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Garrett - cannot fire while in contention - get him help - just like playcalling was taken away from Garrett, we need to hire 1 (or more) coaches that will gameplan against the cowboys so we stop getting outsmarted. No more stupid Marinelli substitutions when the other QB takes advantage of that. Stop repeating formations that are too predictable (not enough options) that led to the INT.

McClay - raise his salary as much as you need to keep him

TCrawford - June 1 cut unless he cuts his salary a lot
Butler - bye - dumb player who is not focused on football
TWill - probably resign since much less dumb mistakes, though his body catching attempt did cost us.
WR2 - if we can sign a better one than TWill, then let TWill go.
Church - let him go unless real cheap
Wilcox - resign, starting to make plays and hits hard
RT - free must becomes a backup. green is useless as he cannot stay health.
Rico - consider Rico a RT unless he will clearly be star TE.
RDE - must sign a top FA RDE if available and draft at least 2-3 DEs
CB1 - if we can sign a top CB1, then let Clairborne go.
Carr - he is considering retiring- may be cheap 1 year deal?
Tsmith - situation needs watching as his injuries are concerning
Leary - consider resigning him as starter
Collins - consider moving him to RT
Cleary - is he an option at RT?
JCrawford - bye
Jaylon - please be healthy
Escobar - bye
Lawrence - bye
Romo - does he want to renegotiate as backup?
Sanchez - bye
Dunbar - bye
McFadden - consider resigning if he is reasonable for 2 years
Cooper - pending evaluations
Irving - cheap resign

You're gonna cut the entire D-line? And why cut a guy like Lawrence? He's going into the final year of his rookie deal. Let's get something out of him even if we don't plan on resigning him.

 

[beacamdim]

DAL can easily create over 50m in cap space with a few restructures and a couple cuts

Plus the cap is going to be at least 166m+ and add in 6m roll over and up to 14m in relief from Romo's deal

Trade/cut Romo saves 10-14m
Cut Free saves 5m
Cut Wilber, Morris, Hanna 5m
Restructure TSmith, Dez, TFred, TCrawford creates 30m
Extend Witten or pay cut 5m

DAL can sign their own FA's.....Claiborne/Carr, Church/Wilcox, TWill/Butler, TMcClain/Irving, Leary
DAL can sign a few top FA's........DE, WR2/KR, CB, QB2
DAL can sign all their Draft picks with ease drafting 28th
Make a trade or 2

The question isn't whether it CAN be done, it is whether it SHOULD be done. If you did all that you suggest, what would the Cowboys cap look like in 4 years when Zeke and Dak are up for real money?

If you can't answer that question, you can't intelligently conclude that what you propose makes any sense.

 

[Doc50]

Cleary is Tyron's back up. He played a little this year. When he lines up its Cleary next to Leary

And he can line up with Looney against Clowney.

 

[LocimusPrime]

And he can line up with Looney against Clowney.

Good one doc

 

[Nightman]

The question isn't whether it CAN be done, it is whether it SHOULD be done. If you did all that you suggest, what would the Cowboys cap look like in 4 years when Zeke and Dak are up for real money?

If you can't answer that question, you can't intelligently conclude that what you propose makes any sense.

It will look absolutely fine.....Witten, Lee, Dez will be gone by then......and Zeke and Dak and Jaylon will be the ones having their deals restructured ....the cap is assured of going up for several more seasons as well

If you are against restructuring deals in principle then you are the one that can't speak intelligently about the cap .....anyone that you are going to keep that year should have their deal restructured, especially since you can roll-over any unused space

 

[Nightman]

 

[waldoputty]

You're gonna cut the entire D-line? And why cut a guy like Lawrence? He's going into the final year of his rookie deal. Let's get something out of him even if we don't plan on resigning him.

I guess he can be a backup.
The back issues seems to have affected his effectiveness.

 

[beacamdim]

As I said before, the question isn't whether it CAN be done, it is whether it SHOULD be done. EVERY team in the league could create tons of room immediately if they take the credit card approach, too. If you did all that you suggest, what would the Cowboys cap look like in 4 years when Zeke and Dak are up for real money?

If you can't answer that question, you can't intelligently conclude that what you propose makes any sense. I don't see those answers here.

Proof will be in what the front office actually does. I wouldn't hold my breath for anything close to this.

 

[Alexander]

Ok. Go on overthecap.com and have at it. While technically possible, you would unwittingly slam the Dak/Zeke "window" shut years early, since when they came up for vet contracts you take care of them and then could not even pay the water boy. It would waste the prime of their careers.

There's a reason why I believe Stephen Jones when he says not to expect any big FA splash this spring.

Exactly. The whole benefit of having Prescott as a cheap starting QB is to use those seasons to have the room to sign other core players.

But we do have a very distinct advantage. About the only player on this roster I believe that needs to be locked up immediately is Zack Martin.

I guess the benefit of having a relatively lousy defense without many good players is that there is not going to be much long term spending on it.

There will be a bunch of dreaming this offseason by people saying "we can do whatever we want in free agency" again and then some sour reactions when we do not. The key is just to not expect it. This team is not going to free up $50M dollars to spend in free agency.

 

[beacamdim]

Exactly. The whole benefit of having Prescott as a cheap starting QB is to use those seasons to have the room to sign other core players.

But we do have a very distinct advantage. About the only player on this roster I believe that needs to be locked up immediately is Zack Martin.

I guess the benefit of having a relatively lousy defense without many good players is that there is not going to me much long term spending on it.

There will be a bunch of dreaming this offseason by people saying "we can do whatever we want in free agency" again and then some sour reactions when we do not. The key is just to not expect it. This team is not going to free up $50M dollars to spend in free agency.

Bingo.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

Just looking at the D-line:

DT:

What I'd like for us to do:
Get another big DT, preferably in free agency, who is big enough to stuff the run but quick and athletic enough to rush the passer. Pair him with Maliek Collins and you have a nasty starting DT duo that can open up opportunities for the DEs. Guys in mind that will be available are Sheldon Richardson and Dontari Poe.

What I could see us doing:
We could stick with what we had this year and hope Collins naturally improves in his second year. That means keeping Collins at 3DT and either resigning McClain for 1DT or going with our biggest free agency acquisition from last year in Thornton. We could also slide Tyrone Crawford back into his 3DT position and slide Collins over to 1DT. In this case, we'd probably let McClain go and use Thornton in obvious run plays.

DE:

What I'd like for us to do and what I could see us doing:
Get the best available RDE in the draft that we can without mortgaging too many, or any, extra picks. Preferably we'd package Romo in some way if we needed to move up. A rookie probably won't be our starting RDE, but he could at least be used in a rotation until he takes over the starting role his sophomore year. The key is that Benson Mayowa is not the starter for money coveted defensive position on our team. It would be nice if we could get something out of Tapper. Likeliest scenario Lawrence slides over to starting RDE. He's in a contract year so maybe he'll have a career year.

Hopefully we can trust David Irving to take over the starting LDE position. He's also a guy you can move around and play inside on Nickel downs. I just hope he can start to consistently produce and not just show up 2-3 times a year. They key is getting Jack Crawford off this team. He plays hard but you're in trouble if he's one of your top DLmen. I'd also look for a mid-priced free agent who can rotate with Irving. I want Tyrone Crawford splitting snaps at his natural positions, 3DT, not LDE.

In summary:

What I'd like to see:

RDE - Lawrence, 1st round rookie, Mayowa
3DT - Collins, T. Crawford
1DT - high-priced FA, Thornton
LDE - Irving, mid-priced FA, Tapper

What I could see us doing:

RDE - Lawrence, 1st round rookie, Mayowa
3DT - T. Crawford, cheap FA/rookie
1DT - Collins, Thornton
LDE - Irving, Tapper

 

[waldoputty]

As I said before, the question isn't whether it CAN be done, it is whether it SHOULD be done. EVERY team in the league could create tons of room immediately if they take the credit car approach, too. If you did all that you suggest, what would the Cowboys cap look like in 4 years when Zeke and Dak are up for real money?

If you can't answer that question, you can't intelligently conclude that what you propose makes any sense. I don't see those answers here.

Your first question was can it be done and you wanted to talk to the salary cap expert.
Well, he has spoken.

Should it be done.
Well, this is the Cowboys, one of the top 4 prestige teams along with PA, SF and NE.
So we are only interested in winning the Superbowl.
Not some also ran team that would rejoice in the playoffs.
Being mediocre is worst than being horrible.
It is for the Cleveland Browns.
The Giants will be there real soon.
I will almost enjoy the decline of crybaby Manning to the point of watching them to see if he will cry, but NNNAAAAA

If cap goes to hell in 4 years, then GOOD.
Because we now have our young franchise QB and a young dominant OL signed for almost a decade, we only need a 1-2 good drafts to reload at RB, WR and a couple other positions.
It is 'acceptable' to be the top team in the league for 6 out of 10 years, even for Cowboys fans.

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I guess he can be a backup.
The back issues seems to have affected his effectiveness.

Maybe. Either way, he's still on a rookie deal and is a cheaper option than some overpaid free agent as long as he stays healthy. I'd still draft to replace Lawrence. I don't see him getting a second contract unless he has an All Pro year.

 

[LocimusPrime]

The salary cap is phony Bologna

 

[beacamdim]

Your first question was can it be done and you wanted to talk to the salary cap expert.
Well, he has spoken.

Should it be done.
Well, this is the Cowboys, one of the top 4 prestige teams along with PA, SF and NE.
So we are only interested in winning the Superbowl.
Not some also ran team that would rejoice in the playoffs.
Being mediocre is worst than being horrible.
It is for the Cleveland Browns.
The Giants will be there real soon.
I will almost enjoy the decline of crybaby Manning to the point of watching them to see if he will cry, but NNNAAAAA

If cap goes to hell in 4 years, then GOOD.
Because we now have our young franchise QB and a young dominant OL signed for almost a decade, we only need a 1-2 good drafts to reload at RB, WR and a couple other positions.
It is 'acceptable' to be the top team in the league for 6 out of 10 years, even for Cowboys fans.

I'm glad for the sake of your Cowboys brethren that Stephen and Jerry will prove to disagree with you entirely. Check back in with me after FA -- you will see.

And as for your unprovoked and unnecessary smack-talking, get back to me when Dak has two rings, too.