Salary Cap and Player Priority

[The_Slamman]

2019 is an extremely important year for several reasons.  First, there is a lot of talent on the team but many of the best players are in contract years.  It’s a good problem to have but a major competition will be brewing regarding which players are MOST deserving of the big payday ahead.  We will not have the cap space to re-sign everyone or if we do re-sign everyone, it would mean crazy contracts where we continually pay each player’s year salary as a signing bonus to push off money into the future.  In 2020, the cowboys will be about $75 million under the projected cap.  Here are the players to consider and likely contract ranges:

 

OFFENSE

1.  Dak Prescott-  we all agree that QB is the most important position on the team.  But, there is a lot of discussion about how good Dak really is.  Dak has accuracy issues, struggles reading defenses, and struggles with pocket presence.  However, he excels at leadership, he stays healthy, and plays remarkably clutch given his aforementioned struggles.  In terms of cap space, Dak will likely get a contract comparable to Carson wentz which was 4 years $128M, $108M of which is guaranteed.  We would have to pencil Dak in for over $30M per year.  That contract alone would eat up 40% of the cap space.

2.  Amari Cooper-  where would the cowboys have been last year without Cooper?  For 1, not in the playoffs.  Cowboys were 3-5 before Cooper impacted the offense and 7-1 with Cooper.  There were games he literally dominated.  It would be hard argue against Cooper being the most valuable player in 2018.  Cooper will definitely be paid like a top end WR.  For comparisons, Antonio Brown signed a 4 year, $68M contract.  OBJ signed a 5 year, $95M with $65M guaranteed.  Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, and DeAndre Hopkins are all in the 5 year, $81m range.  It’s safe to put Cooper in the $17m per year range.  We likely didn’t trade a first round pick to not keep him for more than 2 years and he’s younger than all the other aforementioned WRs.

3.  Zeke-  I’m including zeke on this list even though cowboys have a 5th year option.  Why?  Because his 5th year option is not included in the salary cap for 2020.  The 5th year option will cost cowboys $9.1M.  Rumblings are Zeke wants a long term deal.  Zeke is an elite nfl RB and the clear workhorse on the Cowboys.  The cowboys went 3 and 3 without zeke and averaged 4 less PPG.  In 2021, 

4.  La’el Collins-  La’el is kinda an enigma.  He can be truly dominant at times especially in the run game, but we’ve also seen him struggle in pass pro.  La’el 2019 cap number is just under $10m.  If you look at the contracts of Ju’juan James and Lane Johnson, it would put La’el in the 11-12M per year range.  

DEFENSE

Here it’s important to point out that while most of the $ is going to pay the cowboys offensive players, the cowboys defense and run game was the only thing elite about the cowboys playoff run in 2018.  In 2019, the offense accounts for $114M while the defense only accounts for $78M.  The cowboys defense ranked 6th in ppg, 7th in ypg.  By contrast, the cowboys offense ranked 22nd in ppg and 23 in ypg.  

1.  Byron Jones- last year Byron made second team all pro going back to play CB.  The top CBs are all paid in the $14-15 per year range.  

2.  Jaylon Smith- Jaylon started to become the player we all hoped he would be after his injury.  He’s a great leader and a true team guy.  CJ Mosley just set the market for LBs with his $17M per contract.  Then we look at guys like Deion Jones and Keon Alexander who are in the $14M per year range.

NOT ON THE LIST

1.  Jason Witten

2. Sean Lee

3.  Robert Quinn

4.  Randall Cobb

5.  Maliek Collins

6.  Jeff Heath

7. Antwaun Woods

These are all starters/contributors who have value who will be FAs for 2020.  

 

So, right now, how would you prioritize these players?  And, Lets use this thread to monitor these players in 2020 for contract purposes and salary cap discussions. 

 

[Tony7188]

2 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

So, right now, how would you prioritize these players?  And, Lets use this thread to monitor these players in 2020 for contract purposes and salary cap discussions. 

 

 

Edited July 19, 2019 by Tony7188

[Matts4313]

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

1.  Dak Prescott-  we all agree that QB is the most important position on the team.  But, there is a lot of discussion about how good Dak really is.  Dak has accuracy issues, struggles reading defenses, and struggles with pocket presence.  However, he excels at leadership, he stays healthy, and plays remarkably clutch given his aforementioned struggles.  In terms of cap space, Dak will likely get a contract comparable to Carson wentz which was 4 years $128M, $108M of which is guaranteed.  We would have to pencil Dak in for over $30M per year.  That contract alone would eat up 40% of the cap space.

Priority one. Arguably the top young QB in the NFL behind Mahommes. Proven winner, shown that when he is not surrounded by total trash he can produce at top 5-10 QB levels in the NFL. 

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

2.  Amari Cooper-  where would the cowboys have been last year without Cooper?  For 1, not in the playoffs.  Cowboys were 3-5 before Cooper impacted the offense and 7-1 with Cooper.  There were games he literally dominated.  It would be hard argue against Cooper being the most valuable player in 2018.  Cooper will definitely be paid like a top end WR.  For comparisons, Antonio Brown signed a 4 year, $68M contract.  OBJ signed a 5 year, $95M with $65M guaranteed.  Mike Evans, Brandin Cooks, and DeAndre Hopkins are all in the 5 year, $81m range.  It’s safe to put Cooper in the $17m per year range.  We likely didn’t trade a first round pick to not keep him for more than 2 years and he’s younger than all the other aforementioned WRs.

$17m is high. We really need to resign him before the next wave of WR contracts. He is pretty crucial to our offense.

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

3.  Zeke-  I’m including zeke on this list even though cowboys have a 5th year option.  Why?  Because his 5th year option is not included in the salary cap for 2020.  The 5th year option will cost cowboys $9.1M.  Rumblings are Zeke wants a long term deal.  Zeke is an elite nfl RB and the clear workhorse on the Cowboys.  The cowboys went 3 and 3 without zeke and averaged 4 less PPG.  In 2021, 

Most used, with least longevity and lowest effect on winning out of the skill positions on offense. If we have to let one the 3 go, he is the odd man out. 

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

4.  La’el Collins-  La’el is kinda an enigma.  He can be truly dominant at times especially in the run game, but we’ve also seen him struggle in pass pro.  La’el 2019 cap number is just under $10m.  If you look at the contracts of Ju’juan James and Lane Johnson, it would put La’el in the 11-12M per year range.  

He gone unless he wants to play for cheap.

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

DEFENSE

Here it’s important to point out that while most of the $ is going to pay the cowboys offensive players, the cowboys defense and run game was the only thing elite about the cowboys playoff run in 2018.

Lol, the irony. They happened to be the only things that stopped our playoff run.

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

 In 2019, the offense accounts for $114M while the defense only accounts for $78M.  The cowboys defense ranked 6th in ppg, 7th in ypg.  By contrast, the cowboys offense ranked 22nd in ppg and 23 in ypg.  

1.  Byron Jones- last year Byron made second team all pro going back to play CB.  The top CBs are all paid in the $14-15 per year range.  

He played the #2 CB spot well and should be commended, but CBs are expensive and I am not sure he will be worth the contract.

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

2.  Jaylon Smith- Jaylon started to become the player we all hoped he would be after his injury.  He’s a great leader and a true team guy.  CJ Mosley just set the market for LBs with his $17M per contract.  Then we look at guys like Deion Jones and Keon Alexander who are in the $14M per year range.

Biggest need to resign on defense currently. He and LVE are going to be the key's to our defense for the next decade.

4 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

NOT ON THE LIST

1.  Jason Witten

2. Sean Lee

3.  Robert Quinn

4.  Randall Cobb

5.  Maliek Collins

6.  Jeff Heath

7. Antwaun Woods

These are all starters/contributors who have value who will be FAs for 2020.  

 

So, right now, how would you prioritize these players?  And, Lets use this thread to monitor these players in 2020 for contract purposes and salary cap discussions. 

 

No one on that list is priority. A few of them will be cheap enough that resigning should be easy enough (like woods).

[WizardHawk]

5 hours ago, The_Slamman said:

3.  Zeke-  I’m including zeke on this list even though cowboys have a 5th year option.  Why?  Because his 5th year option is not included in the salary cap for 2020.  The 5th year option will cost cowboys $9.1M.  Rumblings are Zeke wants a long term deal.  Zeke is an elite nfl RB and the clear workhorse on the Cowboys.  The cowboys went 3 and 3 without zeke and averaged 4 less PPG. 

I don't think it's as simple as Dallas went 3-3 without Zeke. Dallas was also without Tyron Smith the first 2 games of his susp. One of which was the Chaz Green game right out of the gates.

Dallas was 0-2 / 8 ppg with both out, 3-1 / 23.5 ppg when Smith took over LT again. 

All of this is moot though, cause if it's me, I'm never paying Zeke what he's going to want regardless. 

Edited July 19, 2019 by WizardHawk

[Matts4313]

7 minutes ago, WizardHawk said:

I don't think it's as simple as Dallas went 3-3 without Zeke. Dallas was also without Tyron Smith the first 2 games of his susp. One of which was the Chaz Green game right out of the gates.

Dallas was 0-2/8 ppg with both out, 3-1 / 23.5 ppg when Smith came took over LT again. 

All of this is moot though, cause if it's me, I'm never paying Zeke what he's going to want regardless. 

The thing people refuse to mention is that we went 3-1 in games without Zeke but with Tyron. *

We lost the games Zeke and without Tyron. *

Its clear who is the more important player.

 

*(read on another forum, not fact checked)

Edited July 19, 2019 by Matts4313

[Danger]

In the case of Dak the way things are right now. I say you guys wait until the end of the season. At this point I don't think he has much to gain. It won't cost you much more to wait until the end of the season to confirm whether or not he is worth the money.

[The_Slamman]

So, Stephen Jones just made a powerful comment about Zeke, Dak and Amari...

 

"We've got three really good football players that we're dealing with here and that have very good representation. And they want to see the market," Jones said, via The Athletic. "We can't push the issue unless we want to be a market-setter. And we're damn sure not going to be a market-setter, because of all the things that go with being a Dallas Cowboy."

 

This is getting interesting.  The market for cooper just got set.  He may not get $20M a year but it going to be in the $18-20 neighborhood.  Dak will be $30M+.  And Zeke is holding out to become highest paid RB in NFL.  

 

With Jones saying we can’t sign all of them to market setting contracts and that the players seem content to test the market... there are some really tough decisions to be made.

Edited August 1, 2019 by The_Slamman

[matt79511]

The Thomas contract is apparently just a 3 year/$45M deal with options, basically the Dez contract with window dressing. It didn't really reset the market as much as the originally reported $20M/yr sticker price suggested.

[quiller]

Well I see getting Cooper signed to a 16-17 mil deal with some incentives no 1.  Doing that and waiting tell end of year to sign Dak allows us the freedom to figure something out in Zeke.  Personally while I don’t think we need Zeke we do need to be better prepared to be with out him.   So if I am in charge and he doesn’t show up by the 6th that tells me he’s willing to sit out a year.   We really are in a bad way this season without Zeke as we have few options getting a good enough replacement In place with this short notice.  Morris not good enough for the whole year.  So instead of worrying about Zeke  I would do what I could to make it known I am looking to upgrade Morris and am not going to let Zeke blackmail me into signing him to the deal he wants rather then the deal that makes sense for Dallas and Zeke

Edited August 1, 2019 by quiller

[SweetFancyMoses]

17 hours ago, matt79511 said:

The Thomas contract is apparently just a 3 year/$45M deal with options, basically the Dez contract with window dressing. It didn't really reset the market as much as the originally reported $20M/yr sticker price suggested.

Per Spotrac,   the incentives are only on the last 2 years of his contract when he will be 31 and 32. 

[The_Slamman]

So the first big signing goes through with Jaylon Smith.  Jaylon signed for a team friendly deal.  He’s coming in under Deion Jones and Keon Alexander.  You can really see SJ’s MO is to give a competitive contract without breaking the bank which is a win/win when the players get it.

[sparky151]

Smith only got a $5 mil signing bonus so his 2019 cap number only increased by 1 mil. He gets big salaries plus another bonus starting next year with a lot of injury guarantees. It's win-win since it doesn't prevent extending the others this year. 

[resilient part 2]

Of the BIG 3, DAK ZEKE COOP, who is the first domino to fall?

[WizardHawk]

Dak, then Coop.

I'm probably way off base, but my feeling is Zeke isn't going to sign. 

[matt79511]

4 minutes ago, resilient part 2 said:

Of the BIG 3, DAK ZEKE COOP, who is the first domino to fall?

Dak, I imagine. He’s probably most amenable to this sort of deal where the full guarantees are paid out over 4 years as that’s what Wentz signed. Cooper and Zeke want closer to 1st than 6th in guarantees at signing for their positions, they’re taking their equivalent offers as insults.