Archer: Finding a Brandon Carr solution for the Cowboys

Finding a Brandon Carr solution for the Cowboys

Todd Archer, ESPN Dallas Cowboys reporter

IRVING, Texas -- Now that the draft is over and free agency is slowing down, the Dallas Cowboys can start going about some other business remaining on their roster.

Dez Bryant is at the top of the list, but near the top is Brandon Carr.

A contract extension may be the best thing for Brandon Carr and the Cowboys. Matthew Emmons/USA TODAY Sports
With the New England Patriots about to cut cornerback Kyle Arrington and his $3 million base salary, it pushed Carr’s contract to the forefront of my mind.

The Cowboys are looking for a solution regarding Carr. Here are their options:

** Designate him a post-June 1 cut and save $8 million against the cap this year, while having him count $7.4 million against the cap in 2016.

** Cut him without the designation, which would save only $566,000.

** Don’t do anything and have him count $12.717 million against the cap and pay him an $8 million base salary this season.

** Get him to agree to a pay cut, which would save them cash and cap dollars.

Most of the focus has been on the pay cut Doug Free agreed to in 2012. Carr’s agent, Ben Dogra, is on record as saying the player would not agree to a pay cut, but that was viewed mostly as posturing. Last week Carr said he would not talk about his contract, but he wants to remain with the Cowboys.

The Cowboys have been quiet about Carr. Owner and general manager Jerry Jones felt Carr’s late-season improvement in 2014 meant more than his overall play last season.

“I’m not quite as critical of what Carr did last year as it might seem I should be,” Jones said last week.

So what is a possible solution that can make both sides happy? A contract extension.

What?

Hear me out. Average cornerbacks received solid money in free agency, and there is plenty of cap room available for teams to give Carr a solid contract so the Cowboys won’t be able to work the system the way they did with Free a couple of years ago.

Cornerbacks like Buster Skrine, Davon House, Cary Williams and Tramon Williams received contracts worth between $6 million-$7 million annually in the offseason. You can hate the fact that Carr did not intercept a pass last year and cringe at some of the big plays he gave up, but realize the market will not be dry for him.

Carr is technically signed through 2017 with a $10 million base salary, but the contract will be void after the 2016 season. He is set to make $17.1 million the next two seasons in base salary.

He wouldn’t get that much in a new deal from any team. The Seattle Seahawks gave Cary Williams a three-year, $18 million deal that included $7 million guaranteed. He had a brutal season for the Eagles but was still able to pull in a decent offer.

The Cowboys can make a similar pitch to Carr for roughly the same average and maybe more years to achieve what they want: salary-cap room with the benefits of keeping the player. The structure of the deal could save the Cowboys money against the cap immediately and not burden them in the future.

While many view the drafting of Byron Jones in the first round as leverage for the Cowboys in dealing with Carr, it really doesn’t diminish how much the Cowboys need him, especially with Morris Claiborne’s knee injury.

Without Carr, the Cowboys’ top three cornerbacks are Orlando Scandrick, Byron Jones and Corey White with the hope Claiborne can contribute. With Carr, the Cowboys top three corners would be Scandrick, Carr and Jones with the hope Claiborne can contribute.

As much as the Cowboys have stockpiled their defensive line and linebackers this offseason, there is an adage that will forever be true in the NFL: You can never have enough corners.

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Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but wouldn't resigning him to a smaller contract extension than what he is due to make be him taking a pay cut?

I say swallow the contract. Keep Jones at safety this year. Start Scandrick and Carr. Let Claiborne try slot again, maybe finding himself in FA a year earlier than he thought will force him to buckle down and prove himself.

please correct me if i am wrong but wouldn't we have more money to invest into Dez if we make Brandon Carr a post June 1st cut? I'd prefer that to having Brandon Carr be our #1 corner this year.

If we can afford it, I'd cut him outright and eat the cap hit this year, and owe nothing against the cap next year. Let Dez play on the tag this year, then use the money saved on Carr not being here and what we paid Dez to work out his contract. Scandrick and Jones can take the corner, with Claiborne or whoever we can find after cutdowns taking the nickel spot. Not ideal, but with the improved pass rush, it certainly couldn't be worse than what we had last year.

NoDak said:

If we can afford it, I'd cut him outright and eat the cap hit this year, and owe nothing against the cap next year. Let Dez play on the tag this year, then use the money saved on Carr not being here and what we paid Dez to work out his contract. Scandrick and Jones can take the corner, with Claiborne or whoever we can find after cutdowns taking the nickel spot. Not ideal, but with the improved pass rush, it certainly couldn't be worse than what we had last year.

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We could cut him now and still sign Dez this year. Carr's hit would be big, but still $4M less than his current cap number and Dez's first year cap number would probably be small enough to fit into that anyhow.

Deuce said:

We could cut him now and still sign Dez this year. Carr's hit would be big, but still $4M less than his current cap number and Dez's first year cap number would probably be small enough to fit into that anyhow.

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Dez would probably cost less against the cap if we sign him long term then he is right now. So Carr isn't holding up a Dez deal. The problem with keeping Carr is that it's eating up a lot of cap space. Not just this year but in future years. I'd rather cut him now and have money to keep more important guys down the road like some of these O-lineman and D-lineman.

Yeah, I brainfarted in not taking into consideration Dez's tag would come off the cap as soon as he's signed long term. Sign Dez, eat all of Carr's cap hit this year, and we'd have the money to resign Hardy next year if we want.

NoDak said:

Yeah, I brainfarted in not taking into consideration Dez's tag would come off the cap as soon as he's signed long term. Sign Dez, eat all of Carr's cap hit this year, and we'd have the money to resign Hardy next year if we want.

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Do that and I don't care if all 10 of our draft picks next April are swing tackles and backup LBs. I'm a happy camper.

Cowboysrock55 said:

Dez would probably cost less against the cap if we sign him long term then he is right now. So Carr isn't holding up a Dez deal. The problem with keeping Carr is that it's eating up a lot of cap space. Not just this year but in future years. I'd rather cut him now and have money to keep more important guys down the road like some of these O-lineman and D-lineman.

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If Dez signs it will almost assuredly cost less against the cap than the franchise tag unless it is massively front-loaded.

Iamtdg said:

Maybe I'm reading this wrong, but wouldn't resigning him to a smaller contract extension than what he is due to make be him taking a pay cut?

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True, and the reality is he's getting a pay cut in almost every option except where they stand pat. It's easier to say they restructured Carr's deal than gave him a unilateral pay cut.

Carr holds a small measure of leverage in that he can be stubborn, force Dallas to cut him, and then sign with another team for the same pay cut. It saves Carr some pride and leaves the Cowboys holding their dicks with a huge cap number on top of it.

Dallas wants to pay less, and Carr wants some dignity. I think they can find a compromise, and an extension (almost a restructuring) is a good one.

Pay him a chunk of his salary as a bonus, drop his base salary by a greater amount, and backload the deal.

I don't understand the rush to get rid of Carr.

A good chunk of the secondary's struggles are directly related to our pass rush woes which should be better this year.

Carr at a reduced rate isn't a bad thing.

Plus if his presence allows Byron Jones to get moved to FS, and then he excels there as the true center fielder we've needed, that's a huge plus.

mschmidt64 said:

I don't understand the rush to get rid of Carr.

A good chunk of the secondary's struggles are directly related to our pass rush woes which should be better this year.

Carr at a reduced rate isn't a bad thing.

Plus if his presence allows Byron Jones to get moved to FS, and then he excels there as the true center fielder we've needed, that's a huge plus.

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I want Carr gone just out of general principle.

But that is not how things work in the NFL.

They pretty much have to keep him, hopefully at a reduced rate.

Cut him, they eat his cap charge and still have no bodies at CB because Claiborne is not going to be ready on opening day.

All in all, I don't think I want Jones at FS. I think he will be a better CB honestly.

But either way, they need to decide and quick. Bouncing around is no way to start a rookie season.

mschmidt64 said:

I don't understand the rush to get rid of Carr.

A good chunk of the secondary's struggles are directly related to our pass rush woes which should be better this year.

Carr at a reduced rate isn't a bad thing.

Plus if his presence allows Byron Jones to get moved to FS, and then he excels there as the true center fielder we've needed, that's a huge plus.

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Oh I'd keep Carr if he was getting paid like 6 mil next year. Under his current contract though it's not acceptable.

I hope Carr realizes that if he is cut there isn't some big pay day out there. Teams have mostly spent their cap and Carr is coming off a pretty bad season. I doubt any other team is giving him a significant pay day. Talk about someone the Pats would probably pick up cheap though and do well with.

I think you could pull a CB off the cut sheet of another team and get close to the same performance the Cowboys are getting out of Carr.

He just isn't that good.

Carr did well in the playoffs against some of the game's top receivers. I'd like to see what he can do with the pass rush we've installed.

Bringing Carr back this year at his current cap number is a non-starter. If he's not willing to take a pay cut, then dump his ass (without the June 1 designation), save a small amount this year and have him off the books next year so that we can do things like re-sign Dez and/or Hardy. Carr would be a fool not to agree to a pay cut, since even with a pay cut we can give him more money than he'll get elsewhere.

UncleMilti said:

I think you could pull a CB off the cut sheet of another team and get close to the same performance the Cowboys are getting out of Carr.

He just isn't that good.

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If we are talking about the Sterling Moores of the world, I don't agree at all.

And I like Moore. But Carr is better than that.

If we cut Carr and still need a body at CB, we could look at Kyle Arrington.

I feel like going into this season without Carr you put yourself in a position to have a depleted secondary pretty quickly. If Carr leaves we have two starting quality CBs, (Jones, Scandrick) and 1 starting quality safety.(Wilcox) Church is a stopgap best suited to a backup position. One injury puts your whole secondary into chaos.

Clay_Allison said:

If we cut Carr and still need a body at CB, we could look at Kyle Arrington.

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I think this would be perfect. No idea what Arrington will sign for but he'd be a perfect fit as that third corner. Once Claiborne is healthy we'd have 4 corners who are at least serviceable. No need for Carr.