2024 Cowboys Free Agency Thread

[bbgun]

Not cap money, but actual money.

So for example with Dak, they can extend him let's say 4 years, $240 million. And then manipulate the deal to have his cap charge at like 30 million or whatever.

But the problem is, he'll get a signing bonus of let's say $100 million (probably more). That's $100 million that they have to pay out immediately.

So while his cap hit might be $30 m, his actual money paid out will be above $100 m in year one.

So it has little to do with the cap and everything to do with actual cash spent in a given year (which is their own internal budget).

It does seem pretty clear that they are intent on staying around the same actual dollars spent each year for the past several years. I doubt that's a coincidence.

But they have more family money than they'll ever be able to spend ...

 

[Chocolate Lab]

I think this is very very real.

I mean, in every pro sport since the beginning of time there have been extremely wealthy team owners (redundant, of course) who are notoriously cheap.

It's not that they don't have money to spend. It's that they only want to use their money in a way that further maximizes their wealth.

 

[Simpleton]

That's not even tinfoil hat material. It's probably just reality.

Yea this family is a scourge, just in a different way now than 20 years ago.

Maybe one day they'll get tired of their play thing and move on.

 

[Genghis Khan]

But they have more family money than they'll ever be able to spend ...

Yes.

 

[boozeman]

Yea this family is a scourge, just in a different way now than 20 years ago.

Maybe one day they'll get tired of their play thing and move on.

Never. It will be passed down at least a few generations, without question.

 

[Simpleton]

Never. It will be passed down at least a few generations, without question.

Yea that's what I meant, maybe two generations from now they'll get tired of being raked over the coals as they approach 50 years without a SB.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

Never. It will be passed down at least a few generations, without question.

I just did a search for Spaulding Jones, and did you know there was a man by that name who worked in the Book Depository Building with Oswald?

Mind totally blown.

Search spaulding (Objects) – Search – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

eMuseum is a powerful web publishing toolkit that integrates seamlessly with TMS to bring dynamic collection content and images to your website, intranet, and kiosks.

emuseum.jfk.org

Spaulding Jones Oral History

Sony Hi8 videotape - master Videotaped oral history interview with Spaulding Jones. Mr. Jones had an office inside the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963 …

emuseum.jfk.org

 

[Cotton]

I just did a search for Spaulding Jones, and did you know there was a man by that name who worked in the Book Depository Building with Oswald?

Mind totally blown.

Search spaulding (Objects) – Search – The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza

eMuseum is a powerful web publishing toolkit that integrates seamlessly with TMS to bring dynamic collection content and images to your website, intranet, and kiosks.

emuseum.jfk.org

Spaulding Jones Oral History

Sony Hi8 videotape - master Videotaped oral history interview with Spaulding Jones. Mr. Jones had an office inside the Texas School Book Depository building in 1963 …

emuseum.jfk.org

Reason enough to make him sell the team.

 

[p1_]

I think this is very very real.

Wonder why you couldn’t see the tweet.

 

[son of deadrise]

WHY AREN'T THE COWBOYS SPENDING MONEY ON PLAYERS???!!!!

Why are they one of the lowest cash spending teams in the league despite being the most valuable??

It's time to put our tin foil hats on and go for a ride through the world of the N. Texas ultra wealthy

BIG TIme THREAD ME

Before we get into the football payroll side of things, let's talk about a concept called the "Family Office" the family office is a tool used by the ultra wealthy to make significant investments into private companies.

These are fully incorp'd investment businesses...

In that vein, I would like to introduce you all to Blue Star Innovation Partners... The family office of the Jones Family... They currently hold significant stakes in 9 portfolio companies and have already made exits (ie sold their stock) from 2 add'l companies.

In addition to that, the Jones' own a massive NTX land/real estate developing company (Blue Star Land LLC), and a multitude of other significantly sized ventures with which the family are intimately involved, as well as Legends Hospitality, etc.,

Then there are the Oil & Gas holdings...

Including Comstock Holdings, of which the Joneses own a majority stake, and just placed an add'l $100M equity investment in (it was announced TODAY)...



So if they can just toss $100M into a Nat'l Gas company to refinance some bank debt, they clearly have cash available...

So why won't they pay football players?

That's where the speculation comes in....

I have been preaching for a while that NFL teams operate more off of cash budgets when it comes to player payroll than the actual salary cap... and from a purely business perspective this makes a ton of sense.

See, despite what fans want to believe, the upside for return on investment of a dollar spent inside an NFL team is relatively capped, ESPECIALLY for a brand as prominent as the Cowboys.

League wide sponsorship and broadcast revenues are distributed evenly among the 32 teams, AT&T stadium is going to sell out every week, concessions and merch will be sold, and tours will be taken regardless of whether DAL is playing in a SB or getting bounced in rd 1 every year

This wasn't the case when Jones bought the team in 1989 when he essentially staked EVERYTHING into the team. Clark Hunt called it the greatest risk anyone had ever taken in sports.

Because of this risk, and the state of the Cowboys org. at the time, the only thing that could save them was winning on the field. Jerry's passion for being in the NFL and the fact that he burned the boats put him in a position to do one thing. WIN.

But now Stephen, who was placed high into the FO months after he graduated from Arkansas, doesn't have the same view.

His view revolves around the portfolio as a whole.

And in 2024, the return on investment of a dollar spent in the land development company, (which holds nearly 30 parcels of land in Collin County alone), or the Family Office, or O&G is virtually unlimited.

This is why I talked about the idea of a "loss leader" a few days ago. The Cowboys don't lose money for sure, but now, the Jones' main purpose is not to "win" based on the Cowboys, financially or otherwise it's to let the Cowboys brand be the thing that gets them ahead other ways

The Cowboys, despite being their most forward facing business, are no longer their only business, probably not their largest business, or even arguably their primary business, they are simply part of the portfolio.

With the goal being to maximize their ROI across the portfolio.

So my theory is that there is a cash budget set somewhere in the range of $200M cash for the year, and that that number likely hasn't changed for several years.

From 2021-2023 they never crossed $200M in cash spending, despite the size of their QBs contract.

In 2024 they sit at ~$183M in cash obligations, with a CeeDee Lamb extension likely to increase that by $7-10M depending on the signing bonus.

This is why even a $12M commitment to Tyron was too much, and why they are prioritizing CeeDee over Dak's contract.

Signing a Dak extension this spring, or really anything more than one vet FA over the league minimum would push them to the point where they are at or over their budget.

In short, they could easily spend another $100M cash on players this year, and stay well within cap compliance, but they'd rather invest that same $100M into an O&G company, and blame the salary cap for why they didn't do more.

Hats off. Probably one of the most comprehensive and logical explanations for why the Jones family really doesn't care that much about a SB.

 

[Genghis Khan]

Wonder why you couldn’t see the tweet.

I don't have Twitter.

 

[ravidubey]

Hats off. Probably one of the most comprehensive and logical explanations for why the Jones family really doesn't care that much about a SB.

Yes they have these land investments, but the entire years revenue for the whole of Comstock Holdings is roughly $39-$40 million annually with a net income of under $8 million. The Jones family cut would be a nice chunk, but nothing special.

About what Dak pays for the folks who wipe his ass.

Bottom line, they have an entire family spending money right now on really expensive lifestyles, and one reliable guaranteed cash cow to fund it.

The expenses to keep Bravo Eugenia running alone would be close to $25 million annually-- on top of financing the $225 million it took to build it. The Gulfstream 650 jet adds another $2-3 million depending on how many hours they fly it, again on top of whatever lease or financing they paid.

The Jones need the Cowboys and the piles of cash it generates.

Upping the annual spending from $190 million to the $240 million the 49ers and Chiefs spend would seriously cramp Jerry and fam's lifestyle at this point.

 

[boozeman]

Yes they have these land investments, but the entire years revenue for the whole of Comstock Holdings is roughly $39-$40 million annually with a net income of under $8 million. The Jones family cut would be a nice chunk, but nothing special.

About what Dak pays for the folks who wipe his ass.

Bottom line, they have an entire family spending money right now on really expensive lifestyles, and one reliable guaranteed cash cow to fund it.

The expenses to keep Bravo Eugenia running alone would be close to $25 million annually-- on top of financing the $225 million it took to build it. The Gulfstream 650 jet adds another $2-3 million depending on how many hours they fly it, again on top of whatever lease or financing they paid.

The Jones need the Cowboys and the piles of cash it generates.

Upping the annual spending from $190 million to the $240 million the 49ers and Chiefs spend would seriously cramp Jerry and fam's lifestyle at this point.

Looks like you did the research I was too lazy to. Props.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

The expenses to keep Bravo Eugenia running alone would be close to $25 million annually-- on top of financing the $225 million it took to build it.

Don't they rent out the Bravo to pay for at least part of it, though? I thought I read that at one point. I can't imagine they're paying 25 mil a year for just their family to use whenever.

And yeah, they do need the Cowboys revenue stream. Too bad they don't need to win big to maintain it.

Really though, this topic needs to go viral in Cowboys fandom circles. Jerry is shameless, but it couldn't hurt for people to start calling him on it.

 

[Cowboysrock55]

And yeah, they do need the Cowboys revenue stream. Too bad they don't need to win big to maintain it.

If it's about ROI they know spending an extra 25 mil on players salaries probably won't increase their revenue enough to justify it. As long as they can win enough games to keep buts in the seats they may view the extra money as a poor investment.

 

[Chocolate Lab]

If it's about ROI they know spending an extra 25 mil on players salaries probably won't increase their revenue enough to justify it. As long as they can win enough games to keep buts in the seats they may view the extra money as a poor investment.

Right. Still #1 on the Forbes list by a mile.

 

[p1_]

Right. Still #1 on the Forbes list by a mile.

The true meaning of All In.

 

[son of deadrise]

These last several posts, the great research exposing the conflict of interest between the fans who pay the bills and the Jones family greed, begs a question. It's a question I've raised before, and been slapped down for repeatedly pointing out the obvious.

But this is different. Sorry, it has to be asked: What is the point in continuing to root for a team whose owners have no financial interest—in fact, have a financial DISINCENTIVE—to invest in the players necessary to win a championship?

These owners cynically exploit fan interest to stoke their cash flow to the benefit of ancillary businesses that deliver better profits.

Is there any point to subsidizing that kind of cynicism?

 

[Plan9Misfit]

These last several posts, the great research exposing the conflict of interest between the fans who pay the bills and the Jones family greed, begs a question. It's a question I've raised before, and been slapped down for repeatedly pointing out the obvious.

But this is different. Sorry, it has to be asked: What is the point in continuing to root for a team whose owners have no financial interest—in fact, have a financial DISINCENTIVE—to invest in the players necessary to win a championship?

These owners cynically exploit fan interest to stoke their cash flow to the benefit of ancillary businesses that deliver better profits.

Is there any point to subsidizing that kind of cynicism?

There’s a reason why I refuse to go to games, buy merchandise, and openly root for them to die.

 

[Rev]

These last several posts, the great research exposing the conflict of interest between the fans who pay the bills and the Jones family greed, begs a question. It's a question I've raised before, and been slapped down for repeatedly pointing out the obvious.

But this is different. Sorry, it has to be asked: What is the point in continuing to root for a team whose owners have no financial interest—in fact, have a financial DISINCENTIVE—to invest in the players necessary to win a championship?

These owners cynically exploit fan interest to stoke their cash flow to the benefit of ancillary businesses that deliver better profits.

Is there any point to subsidizing that kind of cynicism?

Well we are held hostage by them so you either give up entirely or try to ignore the shit you can't control. I do think we are seeing the most apathy from the fans then we have ever seen. I doubt it will stick once training camp comes but we will see.