Why do the Cowboys wait so long to sign players?

[Creeper]

This was discussed in some detail yesterday on Hangin with the Boys. “I’m all about me Holley” said he was told by Jeff Cavanaugh that the reason they wait so long is due to the fact that they want to keep that money in the bank as long as possible to earn as much interest as possible. When you have almost 18 billion green backs you have a lot of power with banks negotiating and interest earned is in the millions. Jerry has spoken directly to Parson’s earlier this year and Jones has even said that Parson’s has a contract. He just hasn’t signed it yet. So maybe there’s something to this speculation.

I have no idea why they wait but I am finding this reasoning to be a bit petty, not that it is beyond Jerry. But 90 days of interest on let's say an $80 million signing bonus, like Dak got, is less than $900,000 at current T-Bill rates. That's a lot of money to us ordinary folks but for someone like Jerry and the Dallas Cowboys money making machine it is chump change. This assumes if the deal is signed in June, the player gets the bonus right away at not at some future date.

And the question I would ask is why don't other teams wait for the same reason?

 

[thunderpimp91]

I have no idea why they wait but I am finding this reasoning to be a bit petty, not that it is beyond Jerry. But 90 days of interest on let's say an $80 million signing bonus, like Dak got, is less than $900,000 at current T-Bill rates. That's a lot of money to us ordinary folks but for someone like Jerry and the Dallas Cowboys money making machine it is chump change. This assumes if the deal is signed in June, the player gets the bonus right away at not at some future date.

And the question I would ask is why don't other teams wait for the same reason?

I think it has less to do with interest on that money and more with it being outside money such as revenue sharing from TV money hitting teams accounts. Other teams do this all the time, though its typically just not consistently good teams that do it. The Bengals are another team that has a history of delaying extensions with players and signing guys later in the offseason. This year they did extend Higgins and Chase early, but then they also only spent about $9M in guaranteed money in free agency. They also have pushed off the extension talks for Trey Hendrickson. When they extended Burrow it was in September. All of these owners have money....but don't necessarily have cash 365 days per year. For a guy like Jerry to go get $100-$200M in cash he may have to take that out of one of his other businesses or stocks which is likely to have a significant impact.

On the flip side the bigger spenders in the league have been selling to minority owners in recent years to increase cash on hand. Teams being sold in recent years (Denver, Washington) have been sold to groups over individual owners with the exception being Carolina but David Tepper also has a lot more money than Jerry does.

I'm not crying poor owners at all, but it is certainly getting tougher and tougher for one person to be able to bankroll an NFL franchise.

 

[Syron]

I have no idea why they wait but I am finding this reasoning to be a bit petty, not that it is beyond Jerry. But 90 days of interest on let's say an $80 million signing bonus, like Dak got, is less than $900,000 at current T-Bill rates. That's a lot of money to us ordinary folks but for someone like Jerry and the Dallas Cowboys money making machine it is chump change. This assumes if the deal is signed in June, the player gets the bonus right away at not at some future date.

And the question I would ask is why don't other teams wait for the same reason?

Agreed. This is why I don't believe it is a cash flow issue. No amount of "waiting on interest or league money" would ever offset the increase in costs in "next man up" money. Look at Parsons. He may well go into the high 30s or 40s once signed. Probably could have been had for low 30s in the off season.

As dumb as it is, I think the reason for the delays is because the players in question aren't taking team friendly deals. Cowboys have an open door policy. Jerry has said this before. Meaning, you want a deal, you come talk to the big boss. That's the reason why Osa gets done under market price. Tyron Smith... etc. But CD, Dak, Parsons...their agents aren't playing that game. Jerry wants to make "good ole boys" handshake deals with the players directly. And some are willing to play ball. But its becoming clear that even though Jerry and Micah have talked about their contract, its David Mulugheta that's running the show in terms of negotiations.

 

[Rockport]

I have no idea why they wait but I am finding this reasoning to be a bit petty, not that it is beyond Jerry. But 90 days of interest on let's say an $80 million signing bonus, like Dak got, is less than $900,000 at current T-Bill rates. That's a lot of money to us ordinary folks but for someone like Jerry and the Dallas Cowboys money making machine it is chump change. This assumes if the deal is signed in June, the player gets the bonus right away at not at some future date.

And the question I would ask is why don't other teams wait for the same reason?

You think a multi-billionaire get T-Bill rates? When you have that much money, you don’t play in that arena, you play an entirely different financial ball game.

 

[Zekeats]

Not Jaylon Smith, Terrance Steele or Osa. Gotta lock up that talent early.

 

[Whyjerry]

Hubris>Intelligence
Boat>Fans
Marketing Merch>Super Bowls
Dodging Paternity>Fatherhood

 

[thunderpimp91]

Not Jaylon Smith, Terrance Steele or Osa. Gotta lock up that talent early.

Smith/Steele both signed late summer deals. OSA they waited the last second before he hit FA.