Who stays/who goes?

[Idgit]

Its also going to be a DeMarcus Ware situation where Free has more value to another team than he does to the Cowboys. It will be the last chance for Free to get a big FA contract and he is going to want more than his current 3.5 million.

I can see that happening. I can also see it being the case that he's an older player and considered to be the weak link on that offensive line. It might be that a player like Parnell gets more play in FA than Free would at this point.

I bet it's a situation where we let him test his value, and then see if it makes sense to reach it. I really don't know how much someone might offer him, but he's never been athletically all that impressive, and he does have age and a history of playing spotty in new systems. I can see him being around and staying affordable enough that we're willing to match for the sake of continuity.

 

[Kaiser]

I can see him being around and staying affordable enough that we're willing to match for the sake of continuity.

I think he is just good enough that some team will give him a contract like 12MM over 3 years, partly because there are so few decent OTs available and because he looks better than he is when playing next to Martin and Fred.

Dallas will offer him a contract for sure but his agent will want to test the waters given the market and his current salary of 3.5MM. And his current salary is only that high because his cap hit would have been 7MM to cut him and the team renegotiated his deal down to the exact amount of his cap hit (Free's agent did his job well).

 

[gmoney112]

Doug Free is a toss up at this point. I think they'll want to renegotiate, but I really have no idea if he'll be back. Optimally, I'd bring back Free and Parnell but that's a luxury. Obviously Free won't be here with his current contract numbers.

Why are people saying Wilber is going to be gone? Isn't he going to be on the last deal of his rookie contract? If that's right, he'll be here, you don't cut depth that knows your system and could possibly step in like yesterday against Jax and help win a ballgame.

There's absolutely no way we franchise Murray. I would put a 100$ donation to the Zone on that. Unless he takes a team friendly deal, he's gone.

Stay:
Durant
Rolando
Melton
Dez

Gone:
Carr
Carter
Selvie
Spencer

I think Melton's option will be picked up, and if he plays well I can see us adding on 2 years to the deal, lowering the cap hit, and allowing us some flexibility post 30, like Gerald McCoy's deal was structured recently.

 

[xwalker]

Its also going to be a DeMarcus Ware situation where Free has more value to another team than he does to the Cowboys. It will be the last chance for Free to get a big FA contract and he is going to want more than his current 3.5 million.

They should just sign Parnell and be done with it. The only advantage I can see with Free is that maybe Martin plays better when Free is playing. Martin will be a seasoned veteran by next season and that shouldn't be an issue anymore.

 

[xwalker]

I think he is just good enough that some team will give him a contract like 12MM over 3 years, partly because there are so few decent OTs available and because he looks better than he is when playing next to Martin and Fred.

Dallas will offer him a contract for sure but his agent will want to test the waters given the market and his current salary of 3.5MM. And his current salary is only that high because his cap hit would have been 7MM to cut him and the team renegotiated his deal down to the exact amount of his cap hit (Free's agent did his job well).

The Skins will sign either Free or Parnell. They love ex Cowboys players.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

To me, it's all dollars related. Carr isn't a bad corner, just not what worth what the organization is paying him. Free is a pretty solid RT, but may or may not be worth what he wants. Selvie isn't that productive, but his contract is minimal, so I don't see any reason to cut him until we get better personnel.

Personally, I think Carr is the one clear cut casualty in all of this. Free should be a wait-and-see, the same with Murray and to a lesser extent...Dez. I don't know what Lee's cap hit would be if we release him, but we need to start thinking about it since McClain is more than a suitable replacement and Hitchens may be as well and they are far more affordable than the oft-injured Lee.





YR

 

[JoeyBoy718]

I think you have to try and resign Free and hope another team doesn't throw stupid money at him. He has proven to be a solid team guy in more ways than one. His veteran leadership is needed on the line and he is much better than Parnell. I also think Carter can be had for cheap. So, keep him. He's played in 4 different defensive schemes in 4 years.

I agree about Free but I don't see us keeping Carter. We only play two LBers on 65% of snaps. Those two will be Lee and McClain. Then the SLB will be Durant. And Hitchens will back up all three positions. We have too many LBers. No way we pay a 5th LBer more than the rookie minimum.

 

[Yakuza Rich]

The Skins will sign either Free or Parnell. They love ex Cowboys players.

Yup. They'll sign either of them for 2-3 times their value on the open market and their fans will come in here bragging about the deal and suddenly claim that either of them is the greatest RT in the game, but when they were with Dallas they were crap.

Happens every March.





YR

 

[atlantacowboy]

I agree about Free but I don't see us keeping Carter. We only play two LBers on 65% of snaps. Those two will be Lee and McClain. Then the SLB will be Durant. And Hitchens will back up all three positions. We have too many LBers. No way we pay a 5th LBer more than the rookie minimum.

Well, I just don't think we can count on Sean Lee to stay healthy for any length of time and Ro hasn't been a model of durability either in his short stint. Carter is perfect for these zone defenses if we can get get him cheap and if he can stay healthy. He was playing at a high level prior to his quad injury.

 

[DOUBLE WING]

STAY:
Dez
Leary
Parnell
Durant
McClain

Everyone else can go.

 

[anava]

Agree.. We could draft Melvin Gordon and be fine at the position and still have a quality RB on the cheap.

I'd like to keep Murray but he is expendable.

Murray would be a go. He is a good back far from elite. Lacks the burst and his legs seem to be quitting on him already, thank god the bye is this week he needs it.

 

[JohnsKey19]

The Skins will sign either Free or Parnell. They love ex Cowboys players.

You're probably right. They have a lot of holes along their OL, biggest at RT.

 

[Gameover]

Stay: Murray. Never seen a 2,000 yard back get so little respect. Murray's production is the reason were 7-3. Murray has produced while that other guy has been on milk cartons too many times the last two seasons.

Go: the overrated dude.

 

[waving monkey]

I was very pro Garrett. Changed my screen name because he became head coach.

He has to show me, well doesn't have to, but for the purpose of this post he does.

Show me, show us, show the world that he can outcoach when it comes down to it. That game, you know that game that is for all the marbles. Don't give advantage to other side.

then your post is a little premature
we're 7/3 and winning so getting rid of Garrett is not show me

 

[waving monkey]

Maybe Murray's first injury ridden years caused some lack of certain

 

[joseephuss]

Maybe it was just my perception, but I thought Garrett and crew out coached both the Saints staff and the Seahawks staff this season.

 

[Pessimist_cowboy]

Keep Free , McClaine, Dez , Murray .

Leary is restricted so he's not going anywhere .
50/50 on Durant if he's a bargain you keep him .

Gone: Carr , spencer , selvie , Hayden , weeden, carter

 

[Derinyar]

Carr is either a designated June 1 cut, or we keep him because cutting him only saves about 600k this year and we can't get a better CB for 600k. Two years and you can cut him for 6 million savings, and that makes more sense. Its just like people who want to cut Claiborne this off season.

 

[BIGDen]

Why would they franchise Murray for 9 mil when they wont even offer him 5mil a yr?

Exactly! There is ZERO CHANCE they franchise Murray. I will gladly bet anything that Murray is not franchised. Franchising Dez is a much stronger possibility although I think we extend him before the season is over.

 

[Bluefin]

Keep

Dez Bryant - Team will use Franchise tag if unable to agree to long term deal. I expect a deal will be done. Reports have Dallas currently offering an extension with $20M guaranteed, per OTC, the top five WR contracts for guaranteed money average $29.85M. That's including Calvin Johnson, who has a whopping $48.75M guaranteed. If we remove Johnson's deal, the next top five wideouts only average $24.1M in guaranteed money.

Rolando McClain - Leave Ro' in the middle, slide Sean Lee to the weakside and have a competition on the strongside.

Let the market decide their price

Dwayne Harris - I'd like to keep him, but if he gets overpaid on the open market, so be it. We can't overpay for a niche player.

Jermey Parnell - I'd like to keep him, too, but another team might take a chance of him if he gets on the open market. The Cowboys might opt to keep Doug Free instead or they might want to move Zach Martin out to RT (Jeff Sullivan said that's the plan).

Possible renegotiations

Henry Melton - Dallas holds a three year option that can be activated, but Melton gets $9M in base salary next year as things stand. Would they talk about lowering that amount to something more realistic? Is Melton in the plans next year?

Doug Free - Current deal will void following the season, has made $3.5M each of the last two seasons, how much would it take to keep him another two seasons? $4.5M per year would tie Free for top ten RT money. If the team wants to keep Free, it needs to renegotiate his current contract and avoid free agency all together. I have zero interest in giving Free a new signing bonus on a multi-year deal. Let him go if that's what he wants.

Brandon Carr - The Cowboys may not want to pay Carr his $8M base salary next year and they will have the option of releasing him as a June designee. They could approach him about taking a pay cut in order to stay as they did with Free last year. I'd want to drop Carr's 2015 and 2016 base salaries to $4M and I would guarantee them if he's on the roster at the start of each off-season. The team doesn't need to go after Carr's salary from a cap perspective but he is very overpaid.

Let go

DeMarco Murray, Bruce Carter, Anthony Spencer, Justin Durant, Nick Hayden, George Selvie and Tyler Clutts.

Other players

Ronald Leary - He should be playing in the final season of his three year undrafted rookie contract next year. He wasn't on the roster long enough (2 games) as a rookie for that year to count (need minimum of 6 games/weeks at full pay) . He will be a restricted free agent in 2016 and scheduled for unrestricted free agency in 2017.

Cole Beasley, Lance Dunbar, Sterling Moore and Chris Jones - All should be restricted free agents and easy to keep, if wanted. I know sites show Moore as unrestricted, but he didn't accrue a season in 2013, he was only on the roster for the final five games (players need a minimum of six).