Can Cowboys Cut At Corner To Cut Check For Dez?
By Cory Mageors | @inthemageors
DALLAS (105.3 THE FAN) -- Now that we understand Dez Bryant is not directly involved in any off field issues that should warrant the Dallas Cowboys to concern themselves with not paying him during this offseason, let's look at possible options for the team to make room for him.
Is there a possibility you can cut a high paid cornerback in order to make room for Bryant's actual value?
Yes, I want Bryant on this team. I think he's a game changer.
If you like the production of the run game, look at two things A) big blocking up front and B) no safety in the box.
If Tony Romo is healthy, Dez Bryant is 10 times the threat he is with Brandon Weeden and opens up the field for big runs.
And that threat pays off huge if the opposing defense decides to put 1-on-1 coverage on him.
From time to time there will be a struggle here and there, but more often than not Bryant will draw double coverage, and if he doesn't it's on Romo to make them pay.
DeMarco Murray has seen 8-9 man boxes, and the offensive line understands how much more difficult it is to block that.
We can debate the merits of this all you want, but I've talked to coaches who say the first thing you do at the line is check to see if they are doubling that guy, if they are then we go with option two.
But that isn't going to happen with Terrance Williams as your No. 1.
Not yet at least.
As the great football scout Bryan Broaddus told us on his Wednesday night hour "Grinding In the Film Room", "There is something about Dez that teams don't want to play against him and they don't want to tackle him. You want that kind of guy on your team."
So I'm going to premise the rest of this off the idea that we want to keep Dez.
We talked to Frank Provenzano, former Assistant GM for the Dallas Stars, and he suggested that one business tactic for signing a player like Dez is to look at the rest of the roster and what you need.
The Cowboys have a ton of unrestricted free agents coming up at the end of the year, and they have to make sound decisions for each.
Let them go, keep them off the market, let them hit the market and see what the going rate will be. Here is a list of guys who will be UFA's.
I say these are the guys you have to consider keeping, in no particular order.
Doug Free
Dez Bryant
DeMarco Murray
Sterling Moore
Bruce Carter
Rolando McClain
Anthony Spencer
Jeremy Parnell
Ron Leary
The rest of the guys fall into the, we'll see category, including George Selvie and Nick Hayden.
But depending on what you decide Anthony Hitchens is to your linebacking future, one or two of those linebackers could be out.
All that said, Provenzano has a point, you have to make sure you can fill out your roster instead of just paying the big dog and filling in from there.
Or you can pay the big dog and then tell everybody else they get the scraps that are left, which could alienate a larger group. So you run the risk of alienating your gamebreaker for a difference of $1-3 million dollars, or telling a bigger group of the chemistry you've built they have to suffer losses for one guy on the team.
Or there could be another option.
In business and investing, you have to keep an eye on underperforming investments and decide when to cut them loose.
Right now, one of the biggest underperforming contracts the Cowboys have is Brandon Carr.
With the growth of Orlando Scandrick and some of the other young corners in Tyler Patmon and Sterling Moore, the Cowboys might have the option to throw Mo Claiborne back out onto the field in a contract season, which is one of my three great motivators in sports, draft another young CB and escape from the under-performing contract of Carr.
His $50-million contract is 5th highest of the 209 CB contracts out there.
Carr continually struggles to grade out of the bottom rung of cornerbacks in the league and based on the Cowboys past moves of going younger and cheaper, he fits the idea of taking out in order to keep/add.
It won't payoff in the 2015 season on the cap, where his hit savings will only be $566,000.
But in the following years, it will pay off in huge dividends.
In 2015, Dead Money $12.1-milliom, Cap Savings $566k.
In 2016, Dead Money $7.4-million, Cap Savings $6.3-millon.
In 2017, Dead Money $2.7-millon, Cap Savings $10-million.
So, the last two years will payoff substantially.
Right now, the Cowboys have dead money totaling $22.8-million dedicated to DeMarcus Ware, Jay Ratliff, Miles Austin, Nate Livings, Marcus Spears and Kyle Orton. All notable aged players with under-performing contracts.
And in 2015, Miles Austin $5-million and Kyle Orton $2.25-million, are the only big cap hits.
So the Cowboys can afford to take on the hit from Carr's contract if they dump it in 2015, and take big savings in 2016 and 2017.
That could allow the Cowboys enough money to sign Bryant, and have enough room to sign some of their other guys to keep the roster deep and chemistry in tact.
I'm not a capologist, but I understand supply and demand, and right now the Cowboys have more supply at CB talent, which means they don't have to spend that money there, and more demand at game breaking talent, which means they can dedicate that money to a high-powered wide receiver.
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