Archer: Jerry Jones - Starting over not so easy

Cotton

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Jerry Jones: Starting over not so easy
Updated: February 24, 2014, 12:39 PM ET
By Todd Archer | ESPN.com

INDIANAPOLIS -- Even if owner Jerry Jones wanted to start over with his roster, the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager said it's not an option.

"You can't do what I did in 1989 because of the contracts and cap," Jones said Monday at the NFL scouting combine. "The system automatically creates about a third turnover but it also creates contractually for clubs a situation where you cannot just strip it. You couldn't even field a team with the hits against your cap by canceling the contracts."

When Jones arrived 25 years ago on Tuesday, the Cowboys were a mess. They were coming off three straight losing seasons after decades of excellence under coach Tom Landry and needing an injection of talent. The Cowboys used their best asset, Herschel Walker, and turned that into a trade that remade the franchise. They also had the No. 1 pick in the draft and selected quarterback Troy Aikman. By the 1992 season Dallas won the first of three Super Bowls.

Jones also did not have to worry about a salary cap in 1989 the way he does in 2014. The Cowboys could have to pare roughly $20 million to get under the salary cap with restructured contracts, pay cuts or cutting of players, but nothing to the extreme of stripping the core of the team.

After three straight 8-8 finishes and one playoff win in 2009 from a group of veterans, like Tony Romo, Jason Witten, DeMarcus Ware, Miles Austin, Jason Hatcher, many fans believe it is time to forget the hopes and dreams of a last-gasp Super Bowl run. But trading or cutting players leads to the same acceleration of signing bonus money against the salary cap.

The Cowboys could not cut or trade Romo -- and they don't want to -- one year after his six-year, $106 million extension. They would take a $4.6 million cap hit if they cut Brandon Carr this year. They can cut Austin, but it only makes sense as a post-June 1 decision, and that leads to dead money against the cap in 2015.

"The easiest thing in the world is to change and go look for something new," Jones said. "Something (new) being maybe a style, a player, that type of thing. That's easy to make that decision. Now you have to know, you're sitting there saying, 'OK, where do I go from here and what type of player am I going to have out there and how is the best way to use it if there is an asset somewhere else?' You've got to roll the clock forward."
 

Cotton

One-armed Knife Sharpener
Staff member
Joined
Apr 7, 2013
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119,732
You can't do what I did in 1989

You can't do what I did in 1989

You can't do what I did in 1989

You can't do what I did in 1989
 
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