Why are we still in salary cap hell?

[Floatyworm]

They aren't. They are a team who does restructures every year. That's the method they use so whatever number you see right now is irrelevant.

Don't kid yourself...the day Romo signed that 100 million dollar deal...for winning nothing....we were screwed.

Look around the league...If you got a 100 mil QB on your roster....the bottom 1/3 of your roster is junk.

 

[xwalker]

I think you are missing the point. I don't think Stash is arguing about how, or why, or the merits of restructuring. He is saying don't say we have a plethora, bevy, abundance or overwhelming cap room when we have a top flight guy walking out the door specifically because of the cap implications of resigning him. Because without the cap, we would resign Leary in a heartbeat.

Leary is leaving because they have Collins.

If Leary was leaving and they had nothing to replace him, then you could say the cap is a problem, but the basic method that teams manage the cap is by replacing veterans with players on their rookie contracts. That's applicable to all teams. No team can sign or re-sign everybody they want indefinitely. You can't operate like the New York Yankees when there is a salary cap.

 

[Alexander]

These all just sound like attempted excuses in an effort to minimize the fact that they can't afford to keep Leary.

It pretty much is. But at the same time, there is not a team in the NFL that could pay top money to all five starters on the OL without robbing the team of resources elsewhere. We will have to back up a Brinks truck for Martin soon. It is just simple but unfortunate reality that comes with having bloated contracts like Romo and Witten around for the next few years.

 

[Stash]

Leary is not a pro bowler. Sheard and JPP are similar DE talents to Leary. You could just as easily say that OG has to come through the draft. The thing about OG is that you can find them much easier in the draft than you can CB or DE

Leary's closer to a Pro Bowl player than Crawford is. An argument could be made that he was deserving of a nomination this year. I think the myth of OG's being easy to find has been greatly diminished, especially as of late. Most of the Pro Bowl guys were higher draft picks and it's not uncommon enough for them to be drafted in round one. And I'm not at all suggesting this team drafting a guard high in the draft so I'm not sure why we're discussing it.

If anything that Leary did just as well against the common opponent, the Giants, after Zeke improved as well. That would tend towards Collins favor.

Only if one was trying to make the argument that one player made all the difference in the two games. I'm sure not.

Ultimately it is hard to gauge where Collins is at. What we do know is that the staff chose Collins over Leary each of the last two years.

Yeah, but they also chose some other players that I'd disagree with too. I think it was an obvious advantage to the team and its cap to go with Collins. And when they made that call, it's very likely that that version of Leary wasn't better. But, in fact, the guy worked his tail off, reinvented himself, and came back a better player in his contract year. And a guy who gave a better performance than he had before and better than the guy he replaced.

 

[Stash]

That's a pretty inappropriate reply. If you don't think that if we did all the restructures you refer to, and resigned everyone doing whatever we want then you obviously don't understand the theory of the salary cap. The salary cap makes you make difficult decisions about who to pay and who to keep. That is why Leary is likely out the door. Not because of performance.

You act as if the cap is irrelevant. That is obviously wrong.

And acts like a petulant child when called on it, resorting to lies and name-calling. Also obviously wrong.

 

[AdamJT13]

But it is wise to grossly overpay a guy like Crawford, who isn't even a true starter?

Nope. It's not. I never said it was.

Being "fourth" behind three Pro Bowlers ranked as the best at their positions is no slight against Leary.

You are correct.

And anyone - coach or fan - who thinks Free is a better player needs their head examined.

I said "might," but coaches and scouts think a lot more highly of Free than most fans do. They obviously love his leadership and demeanor.

These all just sound like attempted excuses in an effort to minimize the fact that they can't afford to keep Leary.

That's not a fact. Simple math proves that we can afford to keep Leary, if that was a priority.

 

[Nightman]

Don't kid yourself...the day Romo signed that 100 million dollar deal...for winning nothing....we were screwed.

Look around the league...If you got a 100 mil QB on your roster....the bottom 1/3 of your roster is.... junk.

100% wrong ......don't even start trolling Romo here

 

[Stash]

Overpaying Crawford does not make it a good idea to overpay Leary.

Nobody's suggesting it does. But paying Leary what he deserves based on his level of play isn't overpaying.

But overpaying Crawford helps to make it even less possible to pay Leary.

 

[Verdict]

Overpaying Crawford does not make it a good idea to overpay Leary.

What is overpaying, specifically? I'll tell you what overpaying really IS. It is paying the player more than he is worth relative to the salary cap. Otherwise no one would care how much Jerry pays anyone.

 

[Stash]

I said "might," but coaches and scouts think a lot more highly of Free than most fans do. They obviously love his leadership and demeanor.

I question any "leader" who is most often the guy being penalized when it counts or picking up the quarterback after blowing his block. And, again, any coach or scout who says differently is part of the proble, not the solution and I'd place zero value in anything they said or thought on the subject.

That's not a fact. Simple math proves that we can afford to keep Leary, if that was a priority.

And actions will ultimately prove otherwise. Talk is cheap, actions aren't.

 

[AdamJT13]

If your 4th best offensive lineman is one of your top 10 players, then that is a remarkably short sighted viewpoint. You could say that, of course, it would just be totally silly.

Few teams, if any, would want to pay every one of their offensive linemen a lot of money. It's usually better to spread the wealth and strengthen other parts of the team that need more help -- especially when you have his replacement already on the team.

 

[Stash]

They took a risk on signing him early and hoped he would develop more.

He didn't. Whether it's due to his shoulder injuries or just a one year wonder, who knows and it's too late to change the past.

It's not "too late" to do something about it. That's defeatist talk. Acknowledge it, and change what you can. But don't pretend it didn't happen and isn't still happening.

At the time Crawford was our starting 3-tech and came off a 2014 season where he showed promise(pressures). The same offseason guys like Dareus signed a 6 year 96 mil extension.

Doesn't change the fact that Dallas made a mistake.

Even if we didn't re-sign Crawford I would still let Leary walk. He wants top dollar and well we have a decent replacement in Collins.

Maybe not, but you'd undoubtedly be in better position to afford to. Now you sit back and hope that Collins (or Cooper) can give you the same level of play.

 

[Stash]

Few teams, if any, would want to pay every one of their offensive linemen a lot of money. It's usually better to spread the wealth and strengthen other parts of the team that need more help -- especially when you have his replacement already on the team.

Most teams don't have the option, do they? We're in a unique situation here, one that many teams wish they had.

 

[Nightman]

What is overpaying, specifically? I'll tell you what overpaying really IS. It is paying the player more than he is worth relative to the salary cap. Otherwise no one would care how much Jerry pays anyone.

Considering he is the 16th highest paid DL and makes 1/2 the money of the top guys but has similar numbers you can argue he is underpaid.......and I have and will continue to

 

[AdamJT13]

I question any "leader" who is most often the guy being penalized when it counts or picking up the quarterback after blowing his block. And, again, any coach or scout who says differently is part of the proble, not the solution and I'd place zero value in anything they said or thought on the subject.

So, you place zero value on the opinion of actual NFL coaches and scouts. Makes sense.

And actions will ultimately prove otherwise. Talk is cheap, actions aren't.

Not doing something that we said we would not do is not proof that we couldn't do it if we wanted to do it, when it can be easily proved that we could do it if we wanted to do it.

 

[John813]

It's not "too late" to do something about it. That's defeatist talk. Acknowledge it, and change what you can. But don't pretend it didn't happen and isn't still happening.



Doesn't change the fact that Dallas made a mistake.



Maybe not, but you'd undoubtedly be in better position to afford to. Now you sit back and hope that Collins (or Cooper) can give you the same level of play.

Hey, I'm not against cutting him. At the same time though, I don't see a huge need to cut him ASAP. His dead cap is higher than his cap hit and at the moment our d-line needs all the help it can get. If we can get some quality in the draft/FA, then maybe designate him as a June 1st cut if Collins and others keep on improving. Even then, they still might keep him around for a rotation.

They did make a mistake. No team is perfect.

Well, Collins had a promising 2015 campaign. Now two or 3 highlight blocks doesn't make him a legit starter, but he has the athletic ability and talent level to be just as good.

Teams all over have to let decent to good players go. Whether it's too much resources to a position, suitable backup shows signs of doing the same job for cheaper, or just not being able to afford said player due to other deals to more important players.
Hopefully we continue to draft well so we can continue to find starters on rookie salaries/quality depth so we can let UFA go without worrying too much about a dropoff in production.

 

[Stash]

So, you place zero value on the opinion of actual NFL coaches and scouts. Makes sense.

On anyone who would value Free over Leary, yes, I certainly would. Just because someone gets paid to do something, just mean that they're absolutely right about everything. Is that what you're actually claiming?

Not doing something that we said we would not do is not proof that we couldn't do it if we wanted to do it, when it can be easily proved that we could do it if we wanted to do it.

Whoever "said we would not do it"? Nobody but fans. Nobody from the organization ever did. And this team has never chosen to become less talented and deep when they had the option not to.

And conversely, just because some fans want to claim the team can "do anything" is in no way proof of it being true either.

Show me one fan who ever got it right and they'd be the first.

 

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Nobody's suggesting it does. But paying Leary what he deserves based on his level of play isn't overpaying.

But overpaying Crawford helps to make it even less possible to pay Leary.

It is possible to sign Leary to $10m AAV if we wanted to.

 

[Stash]

Hey, I'm not against cutting him. At the same time though, I don't see a huge need to cut him ASAP. His dead cap is higher than his cap hit and at the moment our d-line needs all the help it can get. If we can get some quality in the draft/FA, then maybe designate him as a June 1st cut if Collins and others keep on improving. Even then, they still might keep him around for a rotation.

They need to get out of an obvious, unquestionable bad deal. And the sooner they do that, the sooner they can put it behind them. But think about what you're saying, a $10 million total cap hit for a "rotation" guy, while your starting left guard leaves for less money. Not good.

They did make a mistake. No team is perfect.

I don't just shrug my shoulders about it or point to even worse mistakes. The Cowboys are my team. I care about them.

[quite]Well, Collins had a promising 2015 campaign. Now two or 3 highlight blocks doesn't make him a legit starter, but he has the athletic ability and talent level to be just as good.[/quote]

I'm still optimistic and I'm rooting for him, wherever they line him up. Good player, good person. I have a #71 jersey hanging in the closet too.

Teams all over have to let decent to good players go. Whether it's too much resources to a position, suitable backup shows signs of doing the same job for cheaper, or just not being able to afford said player due to other deals to more important players.

Again, I'm more concerned with this one team. And if not for some bad deals, they might be able to pay more truly deserving players.

Hopefully we continue to draft well so we can continue to find starters on rookie salaries/quality depth so we can let UFA go without worrying too much about a dropoff in production.

Agreed. And I won't deny that they've done an good job lately and been on a roll. We need that to continue.

 

[Stash]

It is possible to sign Leary to $10m AAV if we wanted to.

Only in theory.