@Spurt
Yeah, the Cowboys have backed themselves into a corner with their contracts. Jerry's "different people" wording had me wondering if they are planning to flush some players. They spent a fourth-round pick on Trey Lance and have had him for almost a year now. Do they think he'd be as good or better than Dak?
If they keep Dak and give CeeDee and Micah Parsons the new deals both guys will want (Parsons $35-$40 million per year and Lamb $30+ million per year) they'll have even less flexibility than they have now. That's about $130 million on just three guys.
Do they try to trade CeeDee and hope they can draft a kid in a WR-heavy draft to replace him? CeeDee is almost an $18 million cap hit this year. They gave away Amari Cooper a few years ago and drafted CeeDee to replace him. Is JJ planning a repeat? It is a wide receiver-heavy draft. They could get a first-round pick and more for CeeDee.
Zack Martin has a $28+ million cap hit. Do they let him go? Demarcus Lawrence is $20+ million. Flush him? They've got to find cap space somewhere. You can push a cap hit further down the road, but then you end up with a ton of dead money just lurking there in the future ready to derail you for a few years.
CeeDee is already playing on his fifth-year option in 2024. Micah will be on his fifth-year option in 2025 if they don't make a new deal with him before then. If they don't extend Dak or CeeDee they can't tag both and one will be able to freely test free agency at the end of the 2024 season. You generally don't let players of that caliber test free agency.
They've got fourteen free agents including their starting center and left tackle. You generally don't let those guys wander off. And eight guys who started various games on defense for them are free agents.
Historically, the Cowboys just sit back and watch free agency. They wave goodbye to their former guys who get deals elsewhere and then wait until the market dies down and pick up whoever's left. Whoever's left is typically damaged goods in some manner. Guys coming off of injuries. Guys on the backend of their career. Guys with character issues. Guys no one else wants.
"We're going all in on different people than we have in the past," sounds like the Cowboys are planning to make a few big personnel moves. They'll be hard-pressed to add anyone new given their cap situation without getting rid of a few guys first. Dak has a no-trade clause, but he could waive that. Will JJ let Dak and his reps investigate a trade? Will we see a DeShaun Watson-type deal go down for Dak?
Or is JJ just talking and has no clue what he'll do? He doesn't generally give up on "his guys" and let them leave. Amari Cooper didn't give him much of a choice with his "Dak is a black Kirk Cousins" statement. I haven't heard any Cowboys player saying anything too stupid this year to justify trading them away.
My gut says JJ works out a new deal with Dak and CeeDee. Maybe wait another year on Parsons. Spend even more cap space on his upper-tier guys and then have to get even more resourceful in finding guys to fill out the roster. It's the formula he's followed for decades now. He loves his stars too much to let them go. He'll try to fill in the blanks with whatever's left over.
Now, if talks with Dak's reps haven't been going well and they're asking way, way too much ($75+ million per year) then we could see JJ walk away from Dak. If you're Dak's agent with him having a $59+ million cap hit in 2024, your floor for a new deal is $60+ million. QBs are getting $50-$55+ million now and will be getting $60+ million before long, so why not have Dak be the first to break that barrier? Now if you want $60+ million a year you don't come in asking for that. You come in higher at $65-$75 million per year and then negotiate your way downward from there to reach the $60+ million a year deal. If JJ is hearing $65-$75 million per year he may just decide, no. Not going to happen and walk away.
Trey Lance is a $5 million dollar guy this year and they have a fifth-year option available for him. He'd be a lot cheaper than Dak. Get a handful of picks for Dak, save some cap space, and pray Lance isn't as bad as he looked in San Francisco.
It's going to be an interesting offseason in Dallas. They've got issues they've got to resolve. Not as bad as some teams though. We have eight teams that are at least $20+ million over the cap now. The Saints are a whopping $86+ million over the cap. Where do you even start when you're that far in the hole? Yikes!
Fly!!! Eagles!!! Fly!!!
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