Witten contract is in: 1 yr, $3.5mn

[kskboys]

I agree. I don't get all the crying and gnashing of teeth. He's absolutely worth $3.5M dollars - and that's less than 2% of this year's cap figure. He's not Sean Lee, who will count north of $10M against the cap to be a backup.

Way too many agenda driven posts on this topic.

I would say offhand that many teams in the NFL would've gladly given Witten that contract. Players such as him often get a bit more, around 5-6 mil. Witten gave a hometown discount. Once again, a great team player.

 

[Corso]

Must be nice to be getting inside information from Garrett and Moore.

To be fair... it's been reported on several tweets that have shown up on this site that he agreed to about 25 reps a game so it's not like that statement just came from thin air.
Or thick air, for that matter.

 

[jsb357]

There are only 21 TEs in the league with an AAV of greater than $3.5M. So that’s basically starter money. He’s supposed to get roughly 25 snaps per game, so roughly 40% of the snaps on offence. How is that a great deal?

if his bonuses kick in it would more that 9 grand per snap

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Must be nice to be getting inside information from Garrett and Moore.

Seriously dude? Like are you even trying? It’s a matter of public record.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Technically all 32 teams have a starting TE but we'll go with 11 don't. That means there are 21 starting TEs in the NFL. Witten is the 22nd highest paid TE.

What does this even mean?

He’s getting paid more than the starting TE for at least 11 teams notwithstanding that he’s a part-time player that is supposed to get roughly 40% of the snaps (25 per game according to public reports).

No amount of spin makes that a ‘great’, or even a reasonable, deal.

 

[Little Jr]

What does this even mean?

He’s getting paid more than the starting TE for at least 11 teams notwithstanding that he’s a part-time player that is supposed to get roughly 40% of the snaps (25 per game according to public reports).

No amount of spin makes that a ‘great’, or even a reasonable, deal.

So your upset that he's making more than 11 starting TEs and making less than 21 starting TEs?

Some of the guys taking 25 snaps a game make between 1.4-1.9m. So I guess we over paid about 1.5m. Add to that, I think he'll get more than that. I don't think he'll get 65 like he did in 2016-17 but I think he'll avg closer to 35 than 25.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

So your upset that he's making more than 11 starting TEs and making less than 21 starting TEs?

Some of the guys taking 25 snaps a game make between 1.4-1.9m. So I guess we over paid about 1.5m. Add to that, I think he'll get more than that. I don't think he'll get 65 like he did in 2016-17 but I think he'll avg closer to 35 than 25.

$1.6-$2.1M of wasted cap space is significant in my view.

Are people so lax about their household budgets? Who cares if I spend an additional $300/mth on my car lease than was budgeted, right? Except that the overspend has to be made up somewhere else. There's only so much money (or in this case, cap space) to go around.

You may be right that he'll get more than 25 snaps per game. But I think there's a good chance his price tag will go up if he does. We don't know what the incentives in his contract are but it's reasonable to suppose that they include escalators based on playing time (snap counts).

Anyway, I understand that there are a lot of Cowboys fans that are just excited to get one of our legends back. But I don't think that's a good reason to overlook overspending on him.

 

[Angus12]

On that alone, if he never ever played a down this season but was a healthy locker room & practice guy / pseudo-coach, this is a bargain at $3.5mn

Good Lord.

 

[Fletch]

I will remember every penny of it, my homie. We shall discuss over extremely strong beers and come to blows with strangers who aren't even in our conversation.
But only when the music calls for it...

Yeah!! I’ll punch somebody in the face for the cause.

 

[Little Jr]

$1.6-$2.1M of wasted cap space is significant in my view.

Are people so lax about their household budgets? Who cares if I spend an additional $300/mth on my car lease than was budgeted, right? Except that the overspend has to be made up somewhere else. There's only so much money (or in this case, cap space) to go around.

You may be right that he'll get more than 25 snaps per game. But I think there's a good chance his price tag will go up if he does. We don't know what the incentives in his contract are but it's reasonable to suppose that they include escalators based on playing time (snap counts).

Anyway, I understand that there are a lot of Cowboys fans that are just excited to get one of our legends back. But I don't think that's a good reason to overlook overspending on him.

Let's not get confused that I'm excited like others to have him back. I'm just not as disappointed as some like yourself. My first comment on the thread was, meh. That's how I feel about it, meh.

I just don't see the issue with the money. If you feel like we over paid that's fair, I just don't have a issue with over paying 1.5m or 2m. It doesn't affect us signing ANYONE.

As far as the extra $300 a month on a car lease, if you think we overpaid him 2m that would be like someone making 50000K a year adding $43 a montht to there budget . $75 if you think the whole 3.5m is a waste. I spend that in McDonald's every month and I make less than 50000K a year. Lol so we just wasited some money on a big mac or qt ponder depending on your preference.

 

[Corso]

Yeah!! I’ll punch somebody in the face for the cause.

I will ride with this man.

 

[TexasHillbilly]

Yep

Heck, we're paying Hurns $6mn this season.

No rational reason people should be upset by this. Lets Jarwin and Schultz learn from Witten for a year, if neither emerges, address TE in the 2020 draft. Immediately an upgrade in blocking and receiving. All around A+++ move at $3.5mn

They are paying for a coach. Someone may have said this but I am saying it again.

 

[TexasHillbilly]

Waste of money. Remember that money vs the cap when we lose a key player in free agency.

This was just a different type of FA. It was the FA game coming from the booth players in stead of from other teams. It may trigger a whole new set of FA players, who knows.

 

[Outlaw Heroes]

Let's not get confused that I'm excited like others to have him back. I'm just not as disappointed as some like yourself. My first comment on the thread was, meh. That's how I feel about it, meh.

I just don't see the issue with the money. If you feel like we over paid that's fair, I just don't have a issue with over paying 1.5m or 2m. It doesn't affect us signing ANYONE.

As far as the extra $300 a month on a car lease, if you think we overpaid him 2m that would be like someone making 50000K a year adding $43 a montht to there budget . $75 if you think the whole 3.5m is a waste. I spend that in McDonald's every month and I make less than 50000K a year. Lol so we just wasited some money on a big mac or qt ponder depending on your preference.

As a matter of general principle, we don't want to be wasting cap space. It's true that we may be able to get away with it here and there, just as you may be able to get away with blowing your fast-food budget by spending an additional $43 at McDonald's each month. But just as you can't be making a practice of overspending by $43/mth on all your budgetary items, wasting $2M in cap space is not something the Cowboys want to get in the practice of doing. Because then it certainly DOES start impacting who you can sign and who you can keep.

At any rate, my bigger point (at least for purposes of this thread) is that it's not a 'great' (or even reasonable) deal, as the OP and others have asserted, and I don't see any way to paint it as such. It's a bad deal that many seem to want to defend because we're talking about one of our legends.

 

[Angus12]

They are paying for a coach. Someone may have said this but I am saying it again.

Then they should have hired him as a coach and not tied up the roster spot while possibly/likely blowing off drafting a TE in a draft that has a lot of very good prospects.

Jason Witten is one of my all time favorite Cowboys. But his time is past. An already slow and declining player doesn't get better two seasons after his decline was already obvious.

 

[glimmerman]

Who else that is good that retired last year can we hire back at a discounted price.

 

[tunahelper]

I loved this signing on the surface - early reports cited $5mn, but per Adam Schefter it is $3.5mn. Love it even more.

5 yards and a cloud of dust.

 

[Little Jr]

As a matter of general principle, we don't want to be wasting cap space. It's true that we may be able to get away with it here and there, just as you may be able to get away with blowing your fast-food budget by spending an additional $43 at McDonald's each month. But just as you can't be making a practice of overspending by $43/mth on all your budgetary items, wasting $2M in cap space is not something the Cowboys want to get in the practice of doing. Because then it certainly DOES start impacting who you can sign and who you can keep.

At any rate, my bigger point (at least for purposes of this thread) is that it's not a 'great' (or even reasonable) deal, as the OP and others have asserted, and I don't see any way to paint it as such. It's a bad deal that many seem to want to defend because we're talking about one of our legends.

We totally agree on wasting cap space. I understand that at times all teams have to overpay but you have to keep it at a minimum. I think, imo, that 1.5m is a minimum or even the full 3.5m is a minimum. If it was a 3 year deal for 10.5m all guaranteed, that would be dumb .

Overall , I'm with you. We just look at this situation different.

 

[gmoney112]

Speaking of cap space and old dudes,

Cameron Wake shares the same old folks' home as Witten, and was still was one of the most productive pass rushers in pressures per snap last year.

54 pressures in 289 snaps last year, which is pretty insane.

I actually think Wake is probably better comparatively in skillset compared to peers, but for productivity and ~300 snaps he'd probably be pretty damn efficient. If you approve of the Witten signing, you can't say no to a cheap Wake deal as a bridge player for a year. You can't. Don't even try.

Him and Witten can drag race their scooters after beating up on some young whippersnappers.

 

[BillyBates]

I hope he is paying the team 3.5.m.. he should be a coach not a player.