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3:32 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007 | Permalink
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February 2008
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Movers and Shakers Pre-season Texas Stadium dallasnews.com
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All off-season the talk has been about a contract extension for Tony Romo. Most of the time that's followed by the six-year, $48 million contract Matt Schaub received from Houston. If I'm Romo, I want more than that because Schaub is 0-2 as a starter and Romo has played in a Pro Bowl and took a team to the playoffs. Even if there is no deal done, Romo is going nowhere in 2008 if the Cowboys don't want him to because they'll put the franchise tag on him. That's a measure of last resort and teams generally don't want to do that, especially with quarterbacks. But if I'm the Cowboys, I might start thinking about DeMarcus Ware's future (let alone Terence Newman, who is up after the '08 season. Ware is under contract through 2009 (he's voided the final year of the deal already). Indianapolis just gave its Pro Bowl pass rusher, Dwight Freeney, a $30 million signing bonus as part of a six-year, $72 million deal. Should the Cowboys re-do Ware's deal now and save money in the long-run? Might be something to look at. |
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Comments
Posted by Paulov @ 3:53 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
I think that is an excellent idea. Ware is the superstar of the defense. If Romo has a good year, and I think he will, you can be sure Jerry will hook him up. Re-do Ware's deal now and save some cash for Romo and Newman down the road. If your going to gamble, I would bet on Ware.
Posted by dave j @ 3:59 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
I could see signing Ware after this season. I want to see how he and Anthony Spencer do in Wade's defense.
I know Newman is good, but I don't see signing him to Nate Clements money. If he'll give a hometown discount, sign him. If not, I see drafting 1 or even 2 corners next year in the first 3 rounds to find new starters.
Posted by hecht @ 4:54 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
You kidding me? They need to redo Ware after the year, not before.
Posted by Richard @ 5:05 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
The Cowboys have a lot of space under the cap. They should use it properly and sign one of them to a contract extension... but remember... we did the same last year with brady and roy and we didn't get "our" money worth...
I believe Newman is top quality... and is harder to get a top notch corner than a LB... and considering the division... there are a lot of WR that would give us a lot of troubles if we didn't have Newman
Posted by Steven @ 5:29 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
Before the season they need to address Romo and newman. Not necessarily resign them but get a base of negotiations down and parameters of a deal. I say you offer Tony the same deal Schaub got now and tell him he can either take that now or after the season we will either raise or lower that offer. Newman should be able to be had for around 8 mil a year. But when he was drafted he was laready 25 so he is pushing 30 now and this is most likely his last contract. I say 6 yr/ 50 million would be very reasonable for Newman with it front loaded so that if he starts to decline at 34 or 35 it won't kill us to cut ties.
Ware should be addressed after the season. It is going to be a waiting game between he and Merriman as to who gets resigned first. If we sign Ware then merriman will definately want more. he has the stats to back it up. But if Merriman signs first Ware will want close to that much and I would say that is a valid argument also. He doesn't have the stats but has also been hamstrung by a less aggressive scheme the last couple years. So I say after the season offer Ware a 7 year/ 75 million dollar deal (28 million up front) and see what he says.
Posted by VegasFan @ 5:55 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
YES!! SIGN WARE!! Lock him up now in his prime. He had 11.5 sacks in Tuna's D which had him dropping back into coverage at times. He will thrive in Phillip's D....so sign him now before his market value really skyrockets.
Posted by Chester @ 7:03 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
VegasFan makes total sense. Ware should go sack-crazy, so sign him now.
Posted by dave j @ 8:37 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
If the team does have extra cap room, how about moving money for some signed players so that it counts against this year's cap only?
I think teams restructure deals all the time to lessen the cap hit by converting roster bonuses or salary which count on that year's cap into signing bonuses whose cap hit is spread out over the life of the contract. Is it possible to convert the other way and pay the money now, use up this year's cap, and create cap room for next year and later?
Posted by StickyKreusen @ 9:09 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
Do teams ever use up excess cap space in the current year to save future caps? If the Boys end up being $6-7M under the cap this year, couldn't they effective give that to Ware or Newman as a signing bonus but pay it in the form of base comp? For example they could give Newman $60M for 5 years with a $15M signing bonus, $9M base in 2007 (assuming he is already taking up $3M with his base this year) and $26M spread out over the final 4 years.
It is crazy to go thru the year significantly under the cap with these kinds of potentially huge contracts hanging over the team in the future.
Posted by Brian M., Atlanta @ 9:42 PM Tue, Jul 17, 2007
This is a VERY tough call. If there's anything we can entrust Jerry and Stephen with it's the money side of this business, and the cap-tography that goes with building a champion over the long haul. That said, gosh which of the three do you sign before the season. I believe you go after your two most important positions on the field; QB and CB. You can debate the players all you want, but you cannot debate which positions are most important on the field. This and always will be basic football NFL or not, and that said your two most important spots, or players in this case are Romo and Newman. You resign both before the season. Now I do agree with VegasFan, Ware should go nuts in Phillips version of the 34, which said we do run the risk of him having a monster season and just begging the Cowboys to start negotiations after they claim that Super Bowl title. So, how about locking Ware into a new deal during the season? If its doable, then that'd be the time to get it done. If not, then we have to gamble and wait until post celebration back in Big D. Let me throw another player in the mix; MBIII anyone? Look, if the guy scores another 15-20 TDs this season, believe me you'll be saying lock this guy up now. I believe he's a restricted FA at season's close, but he'd be on my radar for sure if I were the Joneses.