Will Re-Signing The Cowboys Offensive Line Be An Issue?

[waving monkey]

Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
Much has been made about whether the Cowboys will be able to afford to re-sign their stud interior offensive linemen at at market value. Will it be an issue, or will the team be able to structure the contracts to minimize the combined cap impact and continue to carry on business as usual? Let's take a look at the likelihoods.

Travis Frederick, Zack Martin, and La'el Collins; together they represent perhaps the most promising young interior trio of offensive lineman in the entire NFL. However, for many Cowboy fans and media members, they represent three very large contracts that the Cowboys will need to put in place in a short amount of time. As such many have pointed to these contracts as the reason why the Cowboys have not been players in the early parts of free agency over the last week.

To get an idea of the impact of the three players contract situations, lets look at a possible scenario for how to stagger and structure the potential contracts to keep the players in Dallas for the foreseeable future.


A few assumptions to keep in mind as we walk through the scenario:

To get an idea of the impact of the three players contract situations, lets look at a possible scenario for how to stagger and structure the potential contracts to keep the players in Dallas for the foreseeable future.


A few assumptions to keep in mind as we walk through the scenario:

A) Each player will match or exceed the largest current contract for a player at their position (excluding the contract recently given to Kelechi Osemeli who has been a guard and a tackle through his career, and could play either in Oakland).

B) I've assumed a restructure in the second year of each "New" contract to more accurately reflect the way the Cowboys are likely to manage the contracts.

Now lets look at the players, in order of when they were acquired.

link/http://www.bloggingtheboys.com/2016...igning-the-cowboys-offensive-line-be-an-issue

 

[Shinaoi]

I don't think it will be. I look at the cap space and players on percentages. Say you're paying a player x amount, and that amount makes up a so much of your cap space. Paying an offensive in total will count for so much guaranteed money at a certain percentage of your overall cap space. Now we have a good one, so maybe they make 5% more cap wise than average. It's a good position to be in when you're paying slightly above the norm on oline, because these guys are worth it. It's less about the money than it is finding guys who are worth it to pay at that percentage.

That's part of the reason I've been happy they haven't spent like crazy on average players in free agency. Not because we can pay them, but because we can, but still be in good cap space.

 

[Qbert]

That's the main reason they aren't ever gonna go crazy on paying a running back, no matter how good they are, just plug and play and use that money on the o-line

 

[Shinaoi]

We need a good rb back. With this line in its prime it would be a shame not to have one. Just because a player was okay behind it doesn't mean we shouldn't upgrade. Never understood that line of thought. We need to maximize our strength which is online, and to do that we need good running backs. Zach Martin has looked as good as I've ever seen at guard. You don't just say, well we're okay because the rb did decent. You look at Zach Martin and say, this dude is a monster at creating holes, it's time to use this strength to win ball games.

 

[noshame]

I'm sure they can keep this group together they need to draft a great young quarterback use running back by committee. Not sure will be able to keep Dez beyond the next couple years but if we find another solid tight end we should be ok

 

[waving monkey]

We need a good rb back. With this line in its prime it would be a shame not to have one. Just because a player was okay behind it doesn't mean we shouldn't upgrade. Never understood that line of thought. We need to maximize our strength which is online, and to do that we need good running backs. Zach Martin has looked as good as I've ever seen at guard. You don't just say, well we're okay because the rb did decent. You look at Zach Martin and say, this dude is a monster at creating holes, it's time to use this strength to win ball games.

Makes sense to me. You have a great line and a great RB creates on his on after the trash.

 

[iceberg]

I don't think it will be. I look at the cap space and players on percentages. Say you're paying a player x amount, and that amount makes up a so much of your cap space. Paying an offensive in total will count for so much guaranteed money at a certain percentage of your overall cap space. Now we have a good one, so maybe they make 5% more cap wise than average. It's a good position to be in when you're paying slightly above the norm on oline, because these guys are worth it. It's less about the money than it is finding guys who are worth it to pay at that percentage.

That's part of the reason I've been happy they haven't spent like crazy on average players in free agency. Not because we can pay them, but because we can, but still be in good cap space.

well i think it can and will be. smith has already gotten his payday and congrats. he's earned it. the rest? i think this line is doing damn well and while everyone wants to bring in a new name, i'm so in the school of "let this line come together...even free..." and letting it continue to build. can we do better than free? sure. but again, $$$ to go around. we need depth, we need to keep our own, and sorry. despite the number of times anyone has played madden, you simply can't have a pro bowl player at each position.

i'd rather see us not spend crazy $ and keep our OL intact.

 

[Daillest88]

well i think it can and will be. smith has already gotten his payday and congrats. he's earned it. the rest? i think this line is doing damn well and while everyone wants to bring in a new name, i'm so in the school of "let this line come together...even free..." and letting it continue to build. can we do better than free? sure. but again, $$$ to go around. we need depth, we need to keep our own, and sorry. despite the number of times anyone has played madden, you simply can't have a pro bowl player at each position.

i'd rather see us not spend crazy $ and keep our OL intact.

True. I believe it will be easy to keep together. That's why we aren't signing anyone.. Probably going to continue to push our remaining cap into next year's. Which will give us even more cap space.

 

[Rockport]

We need a good rb back. With this line in its prime it would be a shame not to have one. Just because a player was okay behind it doesn't mean we shouldn't upgrade. Never understood that line of thought. We need to maximize our strength which is online, and to do that we need good running backs. Zach Martin has looked as good as I've ever seen at guard. You don't just say, well we're okay because the rb did decent. You look at Zach Martin and say, this dude is a monster at creating holes, it's time to use this strength to win ball games.

We have a good RB in McFadden.

 

[Shinaoi]

We have a good RB in McFadden.

But is McFadden maximizing the strength of the team? We have spend on a lot of clout in the oline, and it was the right move. Yes you may get production out of a McFadden, but if a washed up dude is getting production, what could a true feature back get? I'm talking winning ball games with our oline and a running back. The core of the team. Maximize what you have, and not settle for decent. We have spent a lot on oline I want to cash in on it to the best of its ability. It would be a shame to do anything but that.

 

[Risen Star]

He conveniently ignores Chaz Green.

 

[noshame]

It's not all about the RB, it's about having a OC who takes advantage of the tools he has. If Linehan stuck with the run more last season, not only would we have won more games, but we could have easily been a top five rushing team. How many times were we running the ball well last year and our genius OC decided to pass, or worse decided to pass on first downs. We should have been mauling teams in the forth quarter and keeping our defense fresh when needed. I really hate these guys who think the dink and dunk passing game is as good as the run, can you tell?

 

[jterrell]

Dallas recognizes their value and thus has been planning ahead.
They are working for early extensions to keep the cost down.

They are also factoring them into future salary structures as they make decisions about RB and other positions now.

So, no, I do not think keeping them will be a problem.
Not on their next contracts anyways.
The 3rd contracts are always a different story.
You're asking guys with more experience, high performance and less future earning potential to walk away from money and accept they will decline in play.
Few want to accept that.

 

[conner01]

At this point you have Martin and Fred to deal with next and they will get done. But I think the jury is still out on Collins myself and he is the one of them I think is going to be the hardest to sign and he is at a position that is the easiest on the oline to replace. Center is very important and Fred will get done, Martin is an elite guard and will get done. Collins is a good guard who may develope into elite status but he never got that big rookie deal most good players get and he will want to get paid, if any of them end up walking I suspect it will be Collins

 

[AbeBeta]

Fred will get done this year. Martin next. La'el will next year get next year, at minimum a two year deal that makes up the difference for losing out on first round status. Ideally, he agrees to an extra year or two for a bit more cash. That deal won't be gigantic unless we lock him in for 4+ years

 

[AbeBeta]

At this point you have Martin and Fred to deal with next and they will get done. But I think the jury is still out on Collins myself and he is the one of them I think is going to be the hardest to sign and he is at a position that is the easiest on the oline to replace. Center is very important and Fred will get done, Martin is an elite guard and will get done. Collins is a good guard who may develope into elite status but he never got that big rookie deal most good players get and he will want to get paid, if any of them end up walking I suspect it will be Collins

I have no doubt the second we can, we give La'el that rookie money back. Regardless if his play.

 

[EPL0c0]

That's the main reason they aren't ever gonna go crazy on paying a running back, no matter how good they are, just plug and play and use that money on the o-line

This is a very big point. Unless you have an absolute out-of-the-park stud RB, I don't see a need to really pay big money for a RB. There is 1 or 2 maaaybe 3 of those kinds of RBs in the league right now. Adrian Peterson and Gurley looks like he could maybe develop into one (can't really think of a 3rd).

Even Murray after 2014 wasn't worth the big money. He'd essentially had 1 great year out of 4 otherwise average/mediocre years.

It's a simple matter of putting all your eggs in one basket at RB. With solid coaching, a stable of 2-3 RBs can do as good a job as 1 stud RB, suffer less wear & tear, and likely still cost less.

At WR, teams do need at least 1 big/stud WR and a reliable #2 or possession WR that can get at least 4-5 rec/game and pick up 1st downs (the sure hands guy).

The trenches is where money is best spent.

 

[casmith07]

At this point you have Martin and Fred to deal with next and they will get done. But I think the jury is still out on Collins myself and he is the one of them I think is going to be the hardest to sign and he is at a position that is the easiest on the oline to replace. Center is very important and Fred will get done, Martin is an elite guard and will get done. Collins is a good guard who may develope into elite status but he never got that big rookie deal most good players get and he will want to get paid, if any of them end up walking I suspect it will be Collins

Collins will get the money he deserved. Jerry Jones is not going to let La'El Collins' All Pro, potential HOF career happen somewhere else after that story.

 

[TellerMorrow34]

I don't think it's going to be an issue. Since they're not going to be over paying for any Running backs, thankfully. They'll keep their O-Line together.

 

[Rockport]

But is McFadden maximizing the strength of the team? We have spend on a lot of clout in the oline, and it was the right move. Yes you may get production out of a McFadden, but if a washed up dude is getting production, what could a true feature back get? I'm talking winning ball games with our oline and a running back. The core of the team. Maximize what you have, and not settle for decent. We have spent a lot on oline I want to cash in on it to the best of its ability. It would be a shame to do anything but that.

He's not a washed up veteran. He is a former 1st round draft pick with little mileage.