Cap Hell?

[PDay8810]

As we enter a dead period of the offseason, we present some financial numbers that might interest you before training camp.

• The Cowboys have roughly $8.5 million in salary-cap space. That's enough money to fit in a new contract for a free-agent linebacker, if the team deems one necessary to fill Sean Lee's spot at middle linebacker. Currently Justin Durant is No. 1 on the depth chart at middle linebacker. The Cowboys are open to leaving Durant there, but want to see more work once training camp starts and most likely one or two preseason games before looking at the free-agent market.
• When it comes to the NFC East, Washington has just $2.5 million left in cap space. The Philadelphia Eagles have the most within the division at $19.3 million with the New York Giants coming in third at $6.9 million.
• Cornerback Brandon Carr has the highest salary-cap number on the team at $12.2 million. Tony Romo ($11.7 million), Jason Witten ($8.4 million), Doug Free ($6.5 million)and Morris Claiborne ($4.43 million) are in the top 5. Backup quarterback Kyle Orton, if he plays in 2014, will have the sixth highest cap number on the team at $4.43 million. With Orton and Romo taking up so much cap space, the Cowboys average $17.7 million in space devoted to the quarterback position, far higher than the league average of $12.3 million. Pittsburgh has $21.7 million in cap space to the quarterback position, which leads the NFL.
• The Cowboys lead the NFL in salary-cap space devoted to cornerbacks at $22.7 million. The NFL average for that position is $13.06 million with Carr leading the NFL with his cap number. Orlando Scandrick has a cap number of just $3.6 million and he's a projected starter over Claiborne.
• Last year, the Cowboys had $48.6 million in cap space taken up by defensive players. So far that number has decreased to $42.2 million for the 2014 season. On offense, the Cowboys numbers have gone up. Last year, the Cowboys cap number for the offense was $49.4 million and this season it's $55.2 million.

 

[R.J. MacReady]

Yikes ... 19 million for the Eagles? Lets hope they don't spend it wisely.

 

[jarntt]

We converted $12.5M of Romo's salary into a bonus to free up room this year which skews things until we spend it, like we will on Smith or Dez. If the Giants played that game with Eli they'd be at $20M. And the $49M in dead money that his restructures have created is not a sign of cap health either. Imagine if our mid 30's QB coming off two back surgeries gets a 3rd that ends his career and leaves us with no QB and a $49M cap hit spread out over the next two years? The $37M it would leave in dead money on next years books would pretty much say goodbye to Dez, Smith or gulp...both...

 

[jarntt]

note: when fact checking please realize spotrac has been off on Romo all along. Add in the $7.5M in 2015 salary that became guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2014 league year.

 

[PDay8810]

any player is just one play away from it being over, and the team exposure for such a thing is all part of the salary cap era. It's a money shell game and Dallas doesn't beat this drum alone. Not everyone can be the patriots. I still don't see lack of money as the issue in Dallas.

Dez and Smith are signed for 2014. There is no need to spend any of that 8M in this season's cap, and there sure isn't any reason to play this year with 2016, 2017 cap numbers in mind. The Dallas Cowboys made their statement with the last signing of Romo. They are all in towards fielding the best team possible and competing for playoff berths. I continue to not have issues with future extensions. Those things will work themselves out. This business isn't the business to be in IF you assume career ending injury. That factors in with every player....it's all part of it.

 

[PDay8810]

note: when fact checking please realize spotrac has been off on Romo all along. Add in the $7.5M in 2015 salary that became guaranteed on the 3rd day of the 2014 league year.

you and twist continue to worry for me about future years. That isn't this fans concern. I remain much more concerned about talent evaluations, player development and game strategies.

 

[jarntt]

any player is just one play away from it being over, and the team exposure for such a thing is all part of the salary cap era. It's a money shell game and Dallas doesn't beat this drum alone. Not everyone can be the patriots. I still don't see lack of money as the issue in Dallas.

Dez and Smith are signed for 2014. There is no need to spend any of that 8M in this season's cap, and there sure isn't any reason to play this year with 2016, 2017 cap numbers in mind. The Dallas Cowboys made their statement with the last signing of Romo. They are all in towards fielding the best team possible and competing for playoff berths. I continue to not have issues with future extensions. Those things will work themselves out. This business isn't the business to be in IF you assume career ending injury. That factors in with every player....it's all part of it.

While I agree with that. Then why restructure $12.5M instead of just $6M like the Bears did with Cutler?

 

[jarntt]

you and twist continue to worry for me about future years. That isn't this fans concern. I remain much more concerned about talent evaluations, player development and game strategies.

It goes hand in hand. If you draft well you can replace the aging expensive guys with cheap guys. If you can't you go to the FA market and to do so with an already troublesome cap situation is a double whammy...

 

[PDay8810]

While I agree with that. Then why restructure $12.5M instead of just $6M like the Bears did with Cutler?

pretty simple....to strengthen the team as they compete this season. Maybe for what was stated in the article I copied

"That's enough money to fit in a new contract for a free-agent linebacker, if the team deems one necessary to fill Sean Lee's spot at middle linebacker. Currently Justin Durant is No. 1 on the depth chart at middle linebacker. The Cowboys are open to leaving Durant there, but want to see more work once training camp starts and most likely one or two preseason games before looking at the free-agent market"

 

[PDay8810]

It goes hand in hand. If you draft well you can replace the aging expensive guys with cheap guys. If you can't you go to the FA market and to do so with an already troublesome cap situation is a double whammy...

which is why I said..."I remain much more concerned about talent evaluations, player development and game strategies". Real good teams have several players out performing contacts. That's the name of the game and why I continue to bring evaluations and development into the equation much more so than cap hell because of signing your proven NFL QB

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

I do think we are thin at LB. Eventhough the guy is banged up right now, I thought the Giants basically stoled Beason last yr and he had a great yr for them. If there is a Beason type out there- Im all in. For some reason, Im hearing Vilma is not a good option for this team. Not sure I understand that one, but the personal people know more than me. I would love a leader type guy on this defense . Im hearing Church is taking over the role. I love Church, but Im still wondering if he is even good enough to start. Carter, Durant, Wilbur doesnt sound that imposing IMO.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

No matter what- I think our roster as a whole will be improved from last yr. There is no replacing Lee or Ware to a certain extent, but we have to believe the DLine will be in better shape with a full TC instead of 2 days of practice and then play. I think we have to think Wilcox will improve as well. Claiborne has to be hungry. Offensively, I will miss Austin regardless of the injuries. I thought he was a Romo safety blanket. I do think Witten will decline some but Williams , Beasley , Murray, Dunbar, and Escobar will surpass their recieving totals lasts season. The RB position is better with a healthy Dunbar and whoever wins the battle as 3 RB has to be better than Tanner. Im hoping for Williams. The Wild Card to me is Romo. Will he be able to do what he has done in the past???

 

[jarntt]

Barring another injury I don't see us signing anything at LB other than possibly a journeyman borderline starter type which won't cost much this in late Summer. I think the plan is to use all or most of that cap space on resigning guys. No reason we couldn't have waited to do that other than the fact that we can't really afford to tag them because of...yes, back to the cap problem we keep pushing forward. Even if the cap went up $20M other teams would be able to spend that whole amount while all we would do is pay for the sins of the past. The cap is just math. It's easy to make any year look good for a while if you ignore the future which is what we do best...the cap hits don't go away...

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Barring another injury I don't see us signing anything at LB other than possibly a journeyman borderline starter type which won't cost much this in late Summer. I think the plan is to use all or most of that cap space on resigning guys. No reason we couldn't have waited to do that other than the fact that we can't really afford to tag them because of...yes, back to the cap problem we keep pushing forward. Even if the cap went up $20M other teams would be able to spend that whole amount while all we would do is pay for the sins of the past. The cap is just math. It's easy to make any year look good for a while if you ignore the future which is what we do best...the cap hits don't go away...

Its like this to me- we played Seattle the second game of the 2012 season at Seattle. It was a pretty good game until the 4rth quarter. If you asked me who had a better chance of winning a championship in the near future between the Cubs and Seahawks- I would have chosen Cubs at that time. Obviously the Cubs are one of the worst teams in baseball and Seattle is now the defending champ. This shows things can change very quick

 

[jarntt]

No matter what- I think our roster as a whole will be improved from last yr. There is no replacing Lee or Ware to a certain extent, but we have to believe the DLine will be in better shape with a full TC instead of 2 days of practice and then play. I think we have to think Wilcox will improve as well. Claiborne has to be hungry. Offensively, I will miss Austin regardless of the injuries. I thought he was a Romo safety blanket. I do think Witten will decline some but Williams , Beasley , Murray, Dunbar, and Escobar will surpass their recieving totals lasts season. The RB position is better with a healthy Dunbar and whoever wins the battle as 3 RB has to be better than Tanner. Im hoping for Williams. The Wild Card to me is Romo. Will he be able to do what he has done in the past???

Totally agree that we will be better. Don't forget we didn't have Ware or Lee for a good chunk of the year so when comparing to last year it's a wash with regards to those two. Secondary should be better, DL should be better even without Hatch because we will be playing less guys off the street and LBs will likely be better since Lee isn't in either equation and the other guys have another year in the league and in this system. That's why I keep saying our defense will be better than last year. How much better is of course the key as better than shit can still be shit...

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

So who are your LBs- Carter, Durant ,Wilber/ Holleman. I still think we could use a veteran presence there.

 

[tw1st3d]

you and twist continue to worry for me about future years. That isn't this fans concern. I remain much more concerned about talent evaluations, player development and game strategies.

I dont try to worry anyone with the cap situation........ I simply do my best to keep people informed so we dont get the stupid ass let's go sign every high dollar free agent post.

Last year the Cowboys spent 7.5 million on players we picked up AFTER the start of the season due to injuries.
Jarntt is right ... that money came from restructuring Romo

True ... any player is a step away from career ending injury ............ but not to the tune of 40+ million which is a team KILLER if it was to happen. And the more you restructure a player over that 30 year old mark ..... The more risk you are taking.

and if you want to know where that money is going ..... It's going into resigning Dez .... Cheaper to sign him while he is under contract than after the season when he is a free agent and a bidding war can begin. That's basic football 101
In other words ... he wont be playing for 2 million this year .... He is going to get a hefty raise .....

and if Jerry stays true to form ... Dez will get that nice paycheck this year .... and restructure next .... To resign Smith

 

[jarntt]

So who are your LBs- Carter, Durant ,Wilber/ Holleman. I still think we could use a veteran presence there.

I'm not saying I wouldn't want to see a veteran thrown in the mix. What I'm saying is that if it happens it won't be an expensive guy, it will be a Simms/Durant type of move. I'm all for competition.

Honestly it's an open competition completely if you leave it up to me. My guess is Carter and Holloman win jobs because I think Holloman may be the best of all of them. i dont know what is going to happen, but if Carter ever lives up to his potential it would be the best for this team to have him win a job. I would put Holloman in the middle, but they didn't when he came back from what I read. Also, I read they were playing Carter on the strong side which was a little surprising, but it's the simplest of the LB spots in this D, so maybe they think he needs that, or maybe they are just seeing how everyone looks at different spots.

If I had to guess what i think the team does it is those two and Durant in the middle, but I see guys rotating more this year than in the past disregarding injuries.

 

[ROMOTOOWENS]

Can Wilber still play some DE or was that just in a 3-4

 

[snookdad]

you and twist continue to worry for me about future years. That isn't this fans concern. I remain much more concerned about talent evaluations, player development and game strategies.

All teams will or have already had cap concerns and while some teams tend to manage their cap space better than others... the NFL is more about drafting well and keeping your core intact with the occasional signing of a key piece here or there.