Why does Dallas not have a lot of cap space?

[AbeBeta]

With declining viewership, I wouldn’t count on the cap to continue to grow like it has the last several years.

People been saying the cap would stop rising for years now.

We saw some decline in viewing last year. Yet still the cap rose 10 million.

We saw some decline in viewing last year. Yet Fox bought TNF at an increase of $200 million per year for a whopping 3.3 billion dollar deal on games that are often terrible.

Yeah. Don't count on the cap rising.

 

[big dog cowboy]

Why would we give the guys responsible for 22 years of failure credit for some imaginary cap space you think they'll have next year? Was that the pay out for all the losing?

Considering the bashing the Jones have taken with the salary cap the last few years, they deserve credit with the Cowboys having actual real salary cap space. That isn't some pie in the sky beach front property in Kansas after all.

Given your history, I'm sure it will be business as usual with something new to complain about.

 

[OmerV]

We basically agree. McClain was a reclamation project ala Greg Hardy.........pacman jones ect. Jerry is always looking for that diamond in the rough.

Every team has to confront the cap and make a judgement on who to pay and when to pay them..........and when to get rid of them. Dallas lags behind in the area of evaluating free agents, determining where value resides, and when to say goodbye. Alexander posted an interesting article about all these young GM's wheeling and dealing by sending out group texts with who might be available for trade. Nobody gets on the phone anymore and I just wonder if free agency alludes Dallas b/c its out of the information loop.

It's weird to me that so much would be done over texts because that puts everything in print such that teams can't be sure private discussions will remain private. It's like they say about e-mails ... it's not just mail, it's evidence.

 

[TheCount]

Earned his money? He got a $9 million dollar a year contract, with over $24 million guaranteed in 2015. Since that contract he's averaged 25.66 TOTAL tackles and 4 sacks a year,

That's not $9 million worth of production.

He's a pretty good player, stats alone don't tell the story, but he hasn't earned his salary...

I don't know what $9m of production looks like, but my point was that the team has flipped him all over the place to plug holes in dam and he's done a good job. That's worth some cash too, even if it doesn't show up on the stat sheet.

 

[Risen Star]

Considering the bashing the Jones have taken with the salary cap the last few years, they deserve credit with the Cowboys having actual real salary cap space. That isn't some pie in the sky beach front property in Kansas after all.

Given your history, I'm sure it will be business as usual with something new to complain about.

So let's say they actually have cap space next year. You think we should praise a front office for that after 20 plus years of failure and no cap room?

Given THEIR history, no. They don't deserve anything but ridicule for what they've done to this franchise. Cap space every time a comet whizzes by doesn't change anything.

 

[xwalker]

So much misinformation in this thread it's hard to read.

On the other hand there is some serious knowledge.

What are y'all going to complain about 1 year from today?

At the least, you are going to give Jerry and Stephen credit right?

It's funny because there are active threads complaining about the Cowboys being too conservative and not spending on free agents now that Stephen Jones is leading the way.

At the same time there are active threads complaining that the Cowboys are out of cap space.

I think some of the same posters are complaining both ways.

Either they need to use the Patriots method and continue to be conservative, especially while they're transitioning away from their big spending days and bad contracts like Dez (Which I think SJones was against) OR they could go all-in like the Broncos did a few years ago and the Eagles have done the past couple of years.

They can't do both.

 

[BlindFaith]

When a team is challenged evaluating talent, they are prone to overpay for just good talent. While they have improved, and I assume McClay is the reason for that because I don't think anyone in the family is anything but mediocre at it, they have not improved enough to be in the top echelon of the NFL.

The other issue is "good enough". Do you see anyone in that organization that is driven to excel on the field? Those that are driven are examining and evaluating their roster continuously to make improvement anywhere and everywhere they can with the only loyalty shown to a contract they cannot escape. However, as we saw with the HOU and Osweiler, there is always a way out if they seek it.

Look no further than how uncomfortable those in management and coaching might be for how motivated they are for improvement. Being comfortable in the NFL is the path to complacency. And that is the problem as I see it. There is no penalty to the Cowboys for cap mismanagement so it becomes a little too casual of a thought process. And the price to pay for success is one that the Jones family is unwilling to make.......stepping aside.

This is spot on. And I also think they hang their hats on the star players that they do hit on. And why they keep them around longer than they should. So they can point at them and say hey, look at so and so. We nailed it with him.

If they consistently get better at drafting, maybe they will feel it easier to move on from players.

 

[big dog cowboy]

So let's say they actually have cap space next year. You think we should praise a front office for that after 20 plus years of failure and no cap room?

Yes. It very clearly shows they do know how to manage the cap and have learned from past mistakes.

The deal is, it would kill your very soul to give one ounce of parise to Jerry and Stephen. Me and everyone else know that. This thread is about cap space not what you or anyone else thinks about the way the Cowboys have been run for 20+ years. Besides, shouldn't you be checking on Wentz and his rehab?

 

[Jinxx13x]

If i am not mistaken i do believe Jumbo from the old forums posted a nice thread about how Romo's Contract was a good contract because he would be released when he was and his dead money would be null by whoever his replacement was and Bingo that is what happened. Not so sure it was all that bad in hindsight

 

[Risen Star]

Yes. It very clearly shows they do know how to manage the cap and have learned from past mistakes.

The deal is, it would kill your very soul to give one ounce of parise to Jerry and Stephen. Me and everyone else know that. Besides, shouldn't you be checking on Wentz and his rehab?

LOL. Having cap space once in a couple of decades of losing would show they know how to manage the cap?

Or would it show their last QB is finally off the books and they haven't paid their new one yet to quickly go right back into watching FA for the next 10 years?

I don't praise failure. The jury's been in a long time on these two. They have destroyed the Dallas Cowboys with their incompetence. This has, like, actually happened. Look around. There isn't a scenario you can imagine that would cause me to reap any praise on either of them. You don't praise a hitter for finally getting a single after 20 strikeouts. He still sucks.

I'm sorry I was right on Wentz. Is that better? I wish I could say the worst is over but it's not. A real franchise QB. Unlike the scrub we're trying to build around. We will have to deal with that for many more years to come.

 

[lostar2009]

Actually, the FO should have known that a player who has had an Achilles tear and sustained a lower bad ankle injury last year is not going to
be a big play star. His film at Idaho was marginal at best. He's been an adequate backup player but, never a first string guy. The FO continues
to miss evaluate players and overpay them too!!!

I like the Crawford pick. I like Billy Wynn better coming out but I Crawford pan out better.

 

[CouchCoach]

People been saying the cap would stop rising for years now.

We saw some decline in viewing last year. Yet still the cap rose 10 million.

We saw some decline in viewing last year. Yet Fox bought TNF at an increase of $200 million per year for a whopping 3.3 billion dollar deal on games that are often terrible.

Yeah. Don't count on the cap rising.

The drop in viewing hasn't affected the cap because of the contracts in place. What would affect the cap would be the contracts going forward with whoever the entities are that will carry the games. But does anyone think there is no ceiling for a sport that has possibly peaked in viewers?

The problem for the NFL is the escalating QB salaries with Brees and Cousins slated to hit that 30M mark. It was very long ago that the QB ceiling was in the low 20's. That is a huge jump and now we're seeing WR's and DE's want those kinds of % jumps as well.

I asked this question and don't think I received an answer. In a sport where viewers are dropping off, do these ridiculous salaries make the fans happier? Or do they create a disconnect between the fans and players?

 

[TwentyOne]

What are some of the reasons Dallas doesn't have a lot of cap space?

It feels that Dallas has had salary cap issues for many years and would have finally solved the issue by now. Most other teams seem to be well off.

because the FO sucks. Especially the no clue Stephen Jones.

 

[cern]

The drop in viewing hasn't affected the cap because of the contracts in place. What would affect the cap would be the contracts going forward with whoever the entities are that will carry the games. But does anyone think there is no ceiling for a sport that has possibly peaked in viewers?

The problem for the NFL is the escalating QB salaries with Brees and Cousins slated to hit that 30M mark. It was very long ago that the QB ceiling was in the low 20's. That is a huge jump and now we're seeing WR's and DE's want those kinds of % jumps as well.

I asked this question and don't think I received an answer. In a sport where viewers are dropping off, do these ridiculous salaries make the fans happier? Or do they create a disconnect between the fans and players?

Viewers determine advertising revenues. Viewers go down, revenue goes down.

 

[ksg811]

Viewers determine advertising revenues. Viewers go down, revenue goes down.

But the contracts are already in place. The money isn’t changing year to year. The NFL also just signed a new TV for TNF with FOX for $550 million a year, replacing CBS’s $300 million per year deal. I think viewership and TV revenue is just fine.

 

[LittleD]

I like the Crawford pick. I like Billy Wynn better coming out but I Crawford pan out better.

If you had studied his college tapes, he just was not dynamic enough. He beat guys clearly that were not very good players. He didn't show that much skill
at rushing though he was a pretty good tackler.

 

[northerncowboynation]

In the next couple of days DAL will restructure TSmith and TFred freeing up 15m

They will offer D Irving a tender......1st for 4.3m or 2nd for 3m

They will make a final offer to Hitchens after he gets a big offer from IND and lose him

They may sign ERFA QB Zac Dysert to a 630k deal like BPrice-DT if Coach KMoore likes him

I do not see them making an offer to any UFAs right away

This place will go bananas as other teams spend big bucks

Trading for EThomas is the one splash move they might make

Agree with this. Our big FA's will be our own. Not even upset about it. I think your last line is like throwing a lamb to the ravenous pack. It will mollify until ET signs somewhere else if not with Seattle

 

[Nightman]

But the contracts are already in place. The money isn’t changing year to year. The NFL also just signed a new TV for TNF with FOX for $550 million a year, replacing CBS’s $300 million per year deal. I think viewership and TV revenue is just fine.

But the rate of growth is already slowing..... the cap only went up 6% this year......it's smallest rise since 2013

 

[Verdict]

Crawford was another big mistake by the FO. He was never a dynamic, big play pro.
They tend to overpay their drafted players who just aren't that good when compared to
other similar players in the NFL. I agree that they are drafting better, though not perfect.
The team has a short window where they have to sign Martin, Dak, and Zeke to their
next big contracts. Over 2 decades of mistakes and poor management have lowered the
Cowboys to middle of the pack and they are likely to stay there.

The Crawford contract looks like a Herschel Walker trade compared to the Dez contract.

 

[Verdict]

Agreed and it's easy to get upset about the big deals that we got screwed on but it's also the smaller ones. Guys like TWill and Wilber and others don't deserve second contracts. They are decent players but they don't deserve the second contract and could have easily been replaced. TWills production this year was 3 catches for 35 yards per game and 0 tds on the season

We should have moved on from both of these guys too.