Cowboys Sign Dan Bailey To Extension Through 2020 Season

Cowboys Sign Dan Bailey To Extension Through 2020 Season
Posted 8 minutes ago
Nick Eatman DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer

IRVING, Texas - On Wednesday, Stephen Jones told reporters in Mobile, Ala. the team’s goal was to sign Dan Bailey to a long-term deal and described the conversations with his agent as “serious talks.”

Apparently they were.

On Thursday, the Cowboys officially signed Bailey through the 2020 season, giving the kicker a six-year contract extension. Bailey was set to become a restricted free agent this year but the Cowboys bypassed all of that, paying him a deal that will pay Bailey a little more than $3 million per season.

The Cowboys did not disclose the details of the contract but Bailey has been one of the best kickers in the NFL since he joined the league in 2011. Last year, the top eight salaries among NFL kickers were between $2.95 million and $3.73 million.

But the length of the contract will likely help the Cowboys keep his salary cap figure down for a few years, allowing them to have some wiggle room for other players.

Bailey has been a model of consistency the last three years. He made the last 21 field goals of this season and finished the year 28 of 30, including six of seven from 50 yards or more. He made a game-winner against the Giants, giving him seven for his three-year career.

Bailey also improved his kickoffs dramatically in 2013, tying for fourth in the NFL with 52.

The Cowboys decided not to retain kicking coach/assistant special teams coach Chris Boniol, whose contract expired at the end of the season. For now, the Cowboys have not added a kicking coach although it’s likely Carlos Polk will be named assistant special teams coach, under coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

Good

No issue. He is about the only guy who does his job at a high level.

Imagine how much better he could be if we had a kickoff specialist.

Watch him go into the tank now.

Excellent.

It's too long. Maybe it will be ok, but that's a lot of money for a long time for a kicker. Kickers sometimes fall off a cliff with no warning.

Genghis Khan said:

It's too long. Maybe it will be ok, but that's a lot of money for a long time for a kicker. Kickers sometimes fall off a cliff with no warning.

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Doesn't say how much guaranteed money he gets. Assuming it isn't a ton. He's a very good but he is a kicker, after all. Guessing he'll earn that guaranteed money in the first 2-3 years so as long as he holds up for that long I think it's a good deal.

All that matters is the guaranteed money but this is like re-signing Witten to an extension in 2008, there's no logical reason for it to fail aside from a random injury or some such.

Simpleton said:

All that matters is the guaranteed money

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We keep hearing this yet for some reason we have no cap room to improve our team.

CSB time:

I worked with a guy last week from Broussard Louisiana whose son was supposedly this All American kicker who has been coached up by Chris Boniol.

I looked him up and it's true - Seth Sebastian is his name.

His old man told me Boniol told him he decided to leave Dallas because he felt like Bailey no longer needed his help and it was time to find a new kid to help.

E_D_Guapo said:

Bailey also improved his kickoffs dramatically in 2013, tying for fourth in the NFL with 52.

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So he upped his kickoffs? I thought that was a function of scoring. Silly me.....

I'm a Bailey guy. I've been calling him the team MVP for the past 2 seasons, but that's an awfully long time for a position that can go from All Pro to out of the league in a couple seasons. Hopefully there isn't a lot of guaranteed money.

Bonus money is a double edged sword. More of it lowers your base salary, presumably giving you a lower cap number throughout. But then it's harder to get rid of the player without penalty. But less bonus money means higher base salaries and bigger cap numbers. Particularly onerous with a team like us that has perennial cap issues.

6 years for a kicker just feels like a lot in either case.

Watch him go into the Nick Folk tank now.

Most consistent player on the team.

Genghis Khan said:

Bonus money is a double edged sword. More of it lowers your base salary, presumably giving you a lower cap number throughout. But then it's harder to get rid of the player without penalty. But less bonus money means higher base salaries and bigger cap numbers. Particularly onerous with a team like us that has perennial cap issues.

6 years for a kicker just feels like a lot in either case.

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I'm sure there are voidable years at the back end.

mschmidt64 said:

Watch him go into the tank now.

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This is something I haven't figured out yet, but it really plagues Dallas.

I think once people get paid in Dallas, they have a tendency to think they made it and get complacent.

junk said:

I'm sure there are voidable years at the back end.

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i.e. dead money under the cap. For a kicker.