Fisher - Source: Free Doesn’t Think He’ll Stay With Cowboys

boozeman

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Source: Free Doesn’t Think He’ll Stay With Cowboys
Mike Fisher for 105.3 The Fan | CBSDFW.com

May 2, 2013 4:07 PM


IRVING (105.3 THE FAN) – It is a gigantic game of Chicken. It is also a gigantic game of Musical Chairs. And the two games involve gigantic sums of money and, because it’s all about offensive tackles, it involves gigantic men, too.

And beleaguered Dallas Cowboys tackle Doug Free is now a player in the game of Musical-Chair Chicken.

A source close to Free tells me the veteran “anticipates not being with the Cowboys’’ as of June 1 – an indication he is presently unwilling to accept Dallas’ proposal that would substantially reduce his $7 million salary and allow him to likely retain his job starting at right tackle.

June 1 is the day Dallas can release Free and suffer the least amount of cap damage, as his $10-million impact will be allowed to be spread over two seasons. It is clear Dallas prefers to retain Free (but at its desired price). That’s not just a matter of correcting an overpayment on him; it’s also a matter of freeing up cap space that can be used, for instance, to lock up linebacker Sean Lee with a rich extension.

We think that (Jeremy) Parnell and Free … put us in great shape at our tackles,’’ Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this week, noting the two players who rotated at right tackle at the end of last season. “We have a way here that Doug could flourish …”

That “way’’ is to cease overpaying him.

If Free will not budge? That’s why this is a game of Musical-Chair Chicken.



The Cowboys’ top-rated free-agent tackle is, by far, ex-Falcons stalwart Tyson Clabo. One source maybe optimistically says Clabo might settle for a one-year deal worth around $4 million. But his leverage in this situation figures to earn him more – somewhere.

Other veteran tackles on the market include Eric Winston (who is on-record as saying he’d sign for one year and $3 mil), Winston Justice and, for a moment there, Bryant McKinnie (who today re-upped with Baltimore).

For weeks there have been errant reports regarding Dallas “offering’’ these players. Truth is, there has been “touching-base’’ contact in large part because, the Cowboys personnel department tells me, none of those guys are major upgrades over Free.

The cogs are about to turn. Dallas is trying to play hardball with Free. And Free’s attitude suggests he’s responding in kind.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys are working to out-wait, if not out-bid, the competition. The competition – led by the Dolphins – is doing the same with Dallas. There are only so many tackle jobs and there are only so many tackles. (In theory: Free doesn’t budge. The Dolphins win Clabo. The Cowboys then act Winston. Free is left out in the cold.)

Cowboys officials say on the record that they don’t want to create an artificial deadline here for Free. But chairs are about to be occupied, and it’s been suggested to me that Free will be made to know that Dallas wants a response before Monday.
“We want him back,’’ Dallas exec Stephen Jones said of Free. “We’d love to have him here. I think he’d love to be here. Now the question is, it’s got to work for him and it’s got to work for us. I have all the respect in the world for Doug. He works his ass off.’’

And right now, he’s trying to work the game of Musical-Chair Chicken.
 

Cotton

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It's not a game of chicken. We let him go, we get 7 million. He has nothing to offer. He holds no cards.

Wait...

Jerry.
 

boozeman

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It's not a game of chicken. We let him go, we get 7 million. He has nothing to offer. He holds no cards.

Wait...

Jerry.
We don't get seven million just free like that. It costs less to keep him than release him right now.

He does own the cards because we are so tight to the cap.

And yes, Jerry.
 

Cotton

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We don't get seven million just free like that. It costs less to keep him than release him right now.

He does own the cards because we are so tight to the cap.

And yes, Jerry.
We get 7 mill on June 1 is what I meant. We can still sign an OT in FA like Clabo or Winston and still sign our draft picks once we get his 7 mill and the 2 mill for Spears.

But, yeah, Jerry.
 

boozeman

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We get 7 mill on June 1 is what I meant. We can still sign an OT in FA like Clabo or Winston and still sign our draft picks once we get his 7 mill and the 2 mill for Spears.

But, yeah, Jerry.
Right now, we can't expect to be able to sign Clabo or Winston unless they are just willing to structure a dumb deal with a low 2013 cap hit. I also don't think Jones is willing to give out a deal that hits 2014 or 2015 hard because there are younger better players to pay coming up.

This is a classic example of a Jones Family bad contract coming back to roost. Again.

Monday might be the day to watch, per Fisher.
 

Cotton

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Right now, we can't expect to be able to sign Clabo or Winston unless they are just willing to structure a dumb deal with a low 2013 cap hit. I also don't think Jones is willing to give out a deal that hits 2014 or 2015 hard because there are younger better players to pay coming up.

This is a classic example of a Jones Family bad contract coming back to roost. Again.

Monday might be the day to watch, per Fisher.
The point is, we have the money available. 5 million is plenty to sign either one of them. It's not like even if they wanted it we would sign them to a contract that would hit our cap for more than 5 mill this year. It's easily doable, but you watch, we will sit back and watch them both get signed away from us and leave us with no choice but to hope to god Free will take a pay cut.
 

boozeman

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The point is, we have the money available. 5 million is plenty to sign either one of them.
No, it is not. Not where Jerry and Goof Son feel comfortable. They are not "all in" getting the tackle situation fixed. They want their cake and eat it too. I read some stuff today where the team actually believes that Clabo is not much of an improvement over Free. :lol
 

Cotton

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No, it is not. Not where Jerry and Goof Son feel comfortable. They are not "all in" getting the tackle situation fixed. They want their cake and eat it too. I read some stuff today where the team actually believes that Clabo is not much of an improvement over Free. :lol
FML
 

Genghis Khan

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I read some stuff today where the team actually believes that Clabo is not much of an improvement over Free. :lol

Yeah, that's the problem, and it is stunning that even these morons could actually think that these guys aren't major upgrades over Free.

The real problem here is that they refuse to admit just how bad Free is.

Wildly overrating our own players, once again. :budd
 

boozeman

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Yeah, that's the problem, and it is stunning that even these morons could actually think that these guys aren't major upgrades over Free.

The real problem here is that they refuse to admit just how bad Free is.

Wildly overrating our own players, once again. :budd
The contract the player is tied to has a lot to do with it.

Ratliff? Awesome...you'll see.

Free? Well...he can be very good and stuff.

Austin? All Pro if those dadgum hammies would quit tightening up.
 

Cotton

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The contract the player is tied to has a lot to do with it.

Ratliff? Awesome...you'll see.

Free? Well...he can be very good and stuff.

Austin? All Pro if those dadgum hammies would quit tightening up.
Romo - Next year.
 

Texas Ace

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It's not a game of chicken. We let him go, we get 7 million. He has nothing to offer. He holds no cards.

Wait...

Jerry.
Seriously....it's fricking Doug Free, for crying out loud.

Why is this taking so long to settle?
 

Smitty

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Yeah. I think the thing is.... the team actually thinks Free is just as good as Winston or Clabo and is just trying to scare him into a paycut.

I think at a reduced salary, the team is 100% fine with Free starting next year.

I think if he gets cut, it will be a money move only, and will have absolutely nothing to do with how atrociously he played last year. The front office is that god damn bad at evaluating linemen.
 

Texas Ace

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I think if he gets cut, it will be a money move only, and will have absolutely nothing to do with how atrociously he played last year. The front office is that god damn bad at evaluating linemen.
Yup.
 
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Yeah. I think the thing is.... the team actually thinks Free is just as good as Winston or Clabo and is just trying to scare him into a paycut.

I think at a reduced salary, the team is 100% fine with Free starting next year.

I think if he gets cut, it will be a money move only, and will have absolutely nothing to do with how atrociously he played last year. The front office is that god damn bad at evaluating linemen.
Yeah but the reduced salary doesn't help Romo when his head gets knocked off because Free decides he doesn't want to block. It would be best to move him. If it was my team I would rather pay more to make sure my quarterback is safe, but...again Jerry.
 

Cowboysrock55

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We don't get seven million just free like that. It costs less to keep him than release him right now.
Not really. If we release him in real life he doesn't cost us another time. If we keep him we have to pay his base salary which is something horrific like 7 million dollars for next season. What you are looking at is how it affects the cap in a one year vacuum and you shouldn't do that. Especially not in today's NFL where cap room carries over from one year to the next. So what you have to ask yourself is if Free is worth another 7 million dollars or not. If he isn't it is just a question about distributing the remainder of his bonus which has already been paid long ago. You can take all of the hit this year and free up a ton of cap in the future or you can pass some of it off into the future and save more now. Of course what you don't spend now will just shift into the future anyway.

So it does save us a lot of money to cut him.
 

NoDak

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What about his accelerated bonus? I think that's what they're worried about spreading over two years. Not his base salary, which isn't guaranteed.
 

ravidubey

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Right now, we can't expect to be able to sign Clabo or Winston unless they are just willing to structure a dumb deal with a low 2013 cap hit.
Vet minimum salary, a June 3rd roster bonus, and comparable injury settlements if they are injured in mini-camps before June. Done, right?
 
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