Why are the Cowboys being so conservative with the Cap?

[NoLuv4Jerry]

Yes. But the Patriots won 4 Super Bowls and the Steelers won 2 Super Bowls using a philosophy more in line with what the Cowboys are trying today. Build through the draft and fill holes using inexpensive free agents. In Pittsburgh case, they almost never isgn any FA's.

There is more than one way to skin a cat.

The Patriots did this? Really? I recall them adding Corey Dillion. I recall them adding Randy Moss. I recall them adding Chad Johnson. I recall them adding Danny Amendola. I recall them adding Darell Revis. I recall them adding Browner. I recall them adding LeGarett Blount. I recall them adding Adalius Thomas. I recall them adding Junior Seau. I recall them adding Kellen Winslow. I recall them adding Aqib Talib. I could go on and on...but the Pats have always brought in players...often guys that the media would crush other organizations for bringing in.

 

[skinsscalper]

Why and how?

If they DON'T restructure Tony this year (thus pushing way more money way farther down the line) then the cost of cutting Romo (not likely) or him retiring or having a career ending injury (much more likely) the cap hit is MUCH less cost and prohibitive to the franchise as a whole. Romo's cap hit this year is close to $27.7 million (17 million in base salary + guaranteed portion of signing bonus). Next year his base salary is 8.5 million but he signing bonus portion of his contract has been fulfilled, IIRC. Which means that if he retires we actually save money on his contract. If we restructure Romo it pushes guaranteed money all the way to the end of his deal which expires in 2019. If Romo is no longer on the team at any point between now and 2019 we end up paying out the *** for the remainder of the amount that we just restructured him for the minute he retires or ends up being forced out of the game due to injury.

Tony Romo's contract is the LAST contract that this team wants to restructure.

 

[skinsscalper]

The Patriots did this? Really? I recall them adding Corey Dillion. I recall them adding Randy Moss. I recall them adding Chad Johnson. I recall them adding Danny Amendola. I recall them adding Darell Revis. I recall them adding Browner. I recall them adding LeGarett Blount. I recall them adding Adalius Thomas. I recall them adding Junior Seau. I recall them adding Kellen Winslow. I recall them adding Aqib Talib. I could go on and on...but the Pats have always brought in players...often guys that the media would crush other organizations for bringing in.

And they didn't pay a premium price (draft picks or salary) for a single one of those players.

 

[Bullet22]

The Boys should have been in the Super Bowl...They don't need alot of new guys....they are there not rebuilding...

 

[Nightman]

Why and how?

That's what doesn't make any sense. People are praising the team for not restructuring Romo's deal because it could lead to a huge cap hit if he gets hurt. So instead they are intentionally taking a 27m cap hit this year. Worst case scenario with Romo's restructured contract would be next year at 31m if he retires and that could still get spread over 2 years.

With unused space being rolled over, there is NO HARM in creating space to maintain flexibility. Leaving 10-20m on the shelf does not make the team better. The Super Bowl isn't won in Free Agency, but it isn't decided by being the most frugal either.

 

[LandryFan]

And Dallas will have played the whole thing out perfectly. Meanwhile, the Summer's Eve crew will change their diapers and move on to the next whinefest.

 

[DFWJC]

Why and how?

Oh, I wasn't clear...I didn't mean out of it entirely and for good. I just meant that they would like to come clean and get it back to where it is supposed to be given his salary. The cap hit should probably be about half of what it is. If they eat it this year, the hit will be far more reasonable (for a QB) going forward. If they restructure, they just push the huge hit out further, plus they add to by an amount tied to how much is converted to bonus in the restructure.
Kicking the can down the road, as they say.

Still, I'm not saying they won't do it...just saying it is not preferred.

 

[Doomsday101]

The Patriots did this? Really? I recall them adding Corey Dillion. I recall them adding Randy Moss. I recall them adding Chad Johnson. I recall them adding Danny Amendola. I recall them adding Darell Revis. I recall them adding Browner. I recall them adding LeGarett Blount. I recall them adding Adalius Thomas. I recall them adding Junior Seau. I recall them adding Kellen Winslow. I recall them adding Aqib Talib. I could go on and on...but the Pats have always brought in players...often guys that the media would crush other organizations for bringing in.

many of those guys were not getting top pay. Moss had issues in Oakland and was traded but Pats did not pay him as some top 5 WR and the same for most of the others you named. Jr Seau was at the end of his career and did not come at a high cost

 

[coult44]

Current cap space:
2015
8M nowMore if Carr takes a pay cut or is restructured, 8M more if Carr is June 1st cut
More is Dez signs a contract
More if Romo restructured.
About 30M if Romo, Lee, Witten and Carr restructured.
About 8M more is Dez signs a contract.

2016
54M without Carr, down to 39M if Dez franchised again
Only 41 under contract, but bottom 12 of 53 and practice squad about 10M
That's 29M with Dez franchised, 53 on roster and practice squad
The 29M does not including any restructures.
Crawford is the only significant FA
One thing that is interesting is that Romo's base salaries have averaged about 17M but in 2016 his base is only 8.5M.

2017
77M without Carr
Not many players under contract, but not much committed.
109M if Witten and Free are gone and Romo, Tyron and Lee restructured.

Without restructures, it would be a 2.5M cap hit in 2018 if Romo was cut before that season.

Summary: There seems to be plenty of room in future years that would allow money from 2015 to be restructured and pushed forward.

Because we have a good defensive coach and they think we can continue to work miracles doing it that way. One good season and all of a sudden everyone is content.

 

[kiheikiwi]

My concern is not that they need to jump into the 1st day crazy money deals. But that they DO need to do something ! I applaud the recent trend in the way we are doing business, and love the restraint jerry is showing draft wise. It bodes well for the future drafts etc.
But, I remember saying last year, we did not have enough draft picks to fix the defense, and I still feel the same way this year.
It would seem that a medium priced DE now, plus maybe a corner, would really free up our draft. And would still take either a DE - OO, or DT - brown, Goldman in the first. We need a corner or two in this draft, and not 5th, 6th rounders. We need at least one LBer, think safety will have to wait one more year.
But my point is, we as a team are trending up, but the draft this year alone will not be enough to get over the hump. Free agency is a tool to be used - use it as a such.
I will be patiently waiting, but a little nervously .....

 

[GimmeTheBall!]

Current cap space:
2015
8M nowMore if Carr takes a pay cut or is restructured, 8M more if Carr is June 1st cut
More is Dez signs a contract
More if Romo restructured.
About 30M if Romo, Lee, Witten and Carr restructured.
About 8M more is Dez signs a contract.

2016
54M without Carr, down to 39M if Dez franchised again
Only 41 under contract, but bottom 12 of 53 and practice squad about 10M
That's 29M with Dez franchised, 53 on roster and practice squad
The 29M does not including any restructures.
Crawford is the only significant FA
One thing that is interesting is that Romo's base salaries have averaged about 17M but in 2016 his base is only 8.5M.

2017
77M without Carr
Not many players under contract, but not much committed.
109M if Witten and Free are gone and Romo, Tyron and Lee restructured.

Without restructures, it would be a 2.5M cap hit in 2018 if Romo was cut before that season.

Summary: There seems to be plenty of room in future years that would allow money from 2015 to be restructured and pushed forward.

why so conservative and be answered in four letters: R-O-M-O

yeah it sound simpalistic but it is true.

 

[coult44]

The Boys should have been in the Super Bowl...They don't need alot of new guys....they are there not rebuilding...

You are smoking of you think our defense will have a repeat of this year. Not will all the guys leaving and the injury prone players they are going to try to depend on. If we go into the season without adding a CB, LB, DE, and DE, it will be right back to 8-8

 

[jreed600]

Maybe they're saving the money for Lebron James....imo...TE for when Jason retires.

 

[dallasfan4lizife]

many of those guys were not getting top pay. Moss had issues in Oakland and was traded but Pats did not pay him as some top 5 WR and the same for most of the others you named. Jr Seau was at the end of his career and did not come at a high cost

Yepp. I think Moss signed for 9 mil/yr after his record setting 23 TD season. That's a bargain.

The Cowboys FO, will mcclay in particularly, believe they can continue to replicate their excellent success in the draft. If that holds to be true, they will need to manage the cap wisely in order to resign all these draft picks in the future.

I still think they should get Hardy though.

 

[tm1119]

The "patient" people are cracking me up...we are being patient for who again??? I have still yet to see an answer to this. Who are these magical value players we are that are still available?

And if the answer isn't Greg Hardy I don't want to hear it

 

[Nightman]

why so conservative and be answered in four letters: R-O-M-O

yeah it sound simpalistic but it is true.

So take a 27m hit this year to avoid a 10m in 2018 when the cap will be 25m larger.

If for some reason Romo is gone in the next 3 years, his base salary will be gone as well.

 

[skinsscalper]

You are smoking of you think our defense will have a repeat of this year. Not will all the guys leaving and the injury prone players they are going to try to depend on. If we go into the season without adding a CB, LB, DE, and DE, it will be right back to 8-8

You didn't think the team would be worth anything last year, either. Translation: you don't know **** but you continue to act like you know what's best for the Cowboys.

 

[Doomsday101]

Yepp. I think Moss signed for 9 mil/yr after his record setting 23 TD season. That's a bargain.

The Cowboys FO, will mcclay in particularly, believe they can continue to replicate their excellent success in the draft. If that holds to be true, they will need to manage the cap wisely in order to resign all these draft picks in the future.

I still think they should get Hardy though.

I have no issue with Cowboys signing Hardy but as I would say with any player price matters. Especially with a guy who has some off the field issues, tying up big money on a guy who can screw things up in a hurry off the field will leave a team in a big bind. Saying what a guy does on his time should not matter but fact is it does matter and teams who invest highly in them are put in a bad spot when they screw up. I think there are guys at better cost who can help Dallas improve the pass rush, they may not make us a top 5 pass rush team but they can come in and help improve this unit and along with draft selection help build a overall solid defense.

 

[Nightman]

The "patient" people are cracking me up...we are being patient for who again??? I have still yet to see an answer to this. Who are these magical value players we are that are still available?

And if the answer isn't Greg Hardy I don't want to hear it

They wanted Odrick or Paea or McPhee or Hughes or Sheard or Orakpo or some other player that will come here for cheap with no question marks and perform like a star

They read a scouting report, fell in love and expect that no other teams have heard of them

 

[big dog cowboy]

If we go into the season without adding a CB, LB, DE, and DE, it will be right back to 8-8

Just checking..........yep I was right. My calender reads March 11 meaning game one is still almost 6 months away.