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Cowboys will play it close to vest in free agency
3:58 PM ET
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – The Dallas Cowboys will have a modest amount of room under the salary cap to go after free agents. However, they will have the ability to create a ton of room, if necessary, by simply restructuring some contracts.
When free agency begins March 9, there could be about $1 billion in salary-cap room league-wide.
“I’m not a big fan of free agency; I’ll be the first to admit it,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Unfortunately, good players get paid like they’re great players, average players get paid like they’re good players and it’s a domino effect. It’s not a great way to put your team together.”
The last time the Cowboys jumped into the deep end of the free-agent pool was in 2012, when they signed Brandon Carr to a five-year, $50 million deal. Carr is iffy at being on the roster for the final year of his contract as he has not intercepted a pass in a game since 2013.
Jones would rather pick and choose his spots in free agency in order to keep costs – and risk – down. Last year’s big free agent signing with Greg Hardy, who signed a one-year deal without any guaranteed money. He ended up earning about $8.8 million, with most of it coming in the form of per-game roster bonuses.
The Cowboys will have roughly $13-15 million of spending room, depending where the NFL settles the cap. That’s more than enough to fill holes, but pales in comparison to the room the Jacksonville Jaguars ($78 million), Oakland Raiders ($74 million), Chicago Bears ($60 million) and New York Giants ($58 million) will have.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“To me, if you got that kind of room, and I’m not being critical of anybody, if you got that kind of cap room, to me, it means you haven’t drafted well because you haven’t kept your own players, or you don’t have a quarterback, which is painful for any team,” Jones said. “If you've got a great quarterback, there goes a big chunk of your cap room right off the top. You’d like to hope that you’re drafting well and you’re keeping your own players.”
The Cowboys have signed draft picks such as Sean Lee, Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith and Tyrone Crawford to sizable extensions. Tony Romo has a salary-cap figure of nearly $21 million.
There is a difference between being active and spending big in free agency. The Cowboys want to spend wisely to fill holes on their roster before the draft. That should allow them to draft better.
“I think sometimes there are necessities that you need to jump out and do some things,” Jones said. “Hopefully you’re not really needing to have something that you’re paying a good player like he’s a great player. We’ve done it before. It doesn’t mean we won’t do it ever again, but you try not to. Obviously you’d like to build your team through the draft and keep your players that hopefully you drafted well and keep those type of players so we’re not out there in free agency.”
The Cowboys have 16 unrestricted free agents, including Hardy. Jones said they will use their time in Indianapolis at the scouting combine to see if they can re-sign the guys they want.
With so much cap room available, re-signing players this close to the opening of the market will be difficult. Jones, however, doesn’t see it as an impossible task.
“Now, at the end of the day, it only takes one other team to want one that’s willing to pay them a lot more than we want to pay them, and then you got to look at letting a guy go,” Jones said. “But no, we’re constantly working. We’ve been working with some of our players that we’re trying to sign.”
3:58 PM ET
Todd Archer
ESPN Staff Writer
INDIANAPOLIS – The Dallas Cowboys will have a modest amount of room under the salary cap to go after free agents. However, they will have the ability to create a ton of room, if necessary, by simply restructuring some contracts.
When free agency begins March 9, there could be about $1 billion in salary-cap room league-wide.
“I’m not a big fan of free agency; I’ll be the first to admit it,” executive vice president Stephen Jones said. “Unfortunately, good players get paid like they’re great players, average players get paid like they’re good players and it’s a domino effect. It’s not a great way to put your team together.”
The last time the Cowboys jumped into the deep end of the free-agent pool was in 2012, when they signed Brandon Carr to a five-year, $50 million deal. Carr is iffy at being on the roster for the final year of his contract as he has not intercepted a pass in a game since 2013.
Jones would rather pick and choose his spots in free agency in order to keep costs – and risk – down. Last year’s big free agent signing with Greg Hardy, who signed a one-year deal without any guaranteed money. He ended up earning about $8.8 million, with most of it coming in the form of per-game roster bonuses.
The Cowboys will have roughly $13-15 million of spending room, depending where the NFL settles the cap. That’s more than enough to fill holes, but pales in comparison to the room the Jacksonville Jaguars ($78 million), Oakland Raiders ($74 million), Chicago Bears ($60 million) and New York Giants ($58 million) will have.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“To me, if you got that kind of room, and I’m not being critical of anybody, if you got that kind of cap room, to me, it means you haven’t drafted well because you haven’t kept your own players, or you don’t have a quarterback, which is painful for any team,” Jones said. “If you've got a great quarterback, there goes a big chunk of your cap room right off the top. You’d like to hope that you’re drafting well and you’re keeping your own players.”
The Cowboys have signed draft picks such as Sean Lee, Dez Bryant, Tyron Smith and Tyrone Crawford to sizable extensions. Tony Romo has a salary-cap figure of nearly $21 million.
There is a difference between being active and spending big in free agency. The Cowboys want to spend wisely to fill holes on their roster before the draft. That should allow them to draft better.
“I think sometimes there are necessities that you need to jump out and do some things,” Jones said. “Hopefully you’re not really needing to have something that you’re paying a good player like he’s a great player. We’ve done it before. It doesn’t mean we won’t do it ever again, but you try not to. Obviously you’d like to build your team through the draft and keep your players that hopefully you drafted well and keep those type of players so we’re not out there in free agency.”
The Cowboys have 16 unrestricted free agents, including Hardy. Jones said they will use their time in Indianapolis at the scouting combine to see if they can re-sign the guys they want.
With so much cap room available, re-signing players this close to the opening of the market will be difficult. Jones, however, doesn’t see it as an impossible task.
“Now, at the end of the day, it only takes one other team to want one that’s willing to pay them a lot more than we want to pay them, and then you got to look at letting a guy go,” Jones said. “But no, we’re constantly working. We’ve been working with some of our players that we’re trying to sign.”