Sunday Cheery Sunday? CBA Could Rise From the Ashes

I’ll make an effort for you guys to make my case of not going after Bentley the clearer, so I’ll start in how I see the offseason going if we go after Bentley and if we don’t.

Bentley is signed to a 5 year deal and he’s scheduled to earn in his first year 4-5Ms (That’d be what he would earn with a $28Ms deal, which is what he wants and what I can see him getting).

Dallas signs one of those young and battle tested left and right Tackles, Tom Ashworth or Damion McIntosh, to a deal that will give them 3-4Ms. That way Dallas has a mainstay at RT that could play LT in a pinch.

Adam Vinatieri will be paid something close to 2.5Ms, Longwell will sign something in that neighborhood, for the sake of economics let’s say he makes $2Ms in his first year.

And let’s also add a couple of low to mid priced veterans in Marco Coleman and Jerald Sowell for what would be 3-4Ms first year deals.

That makes for 12-15Ms of the Dallas Cowboys cap space and in the best case scneario without a CBA signed, Dallas would have from 15-20Ms of available cap.

The rest of those 12-15 would be invested in the rookie pool and emergency signings during Training Camp.

Now, this is the case that I would prefer, Bentley isn’t sought after.

Dallas signs one of those young and battle tested left and right Tackles, Tom Ashworth or Damion McIntosh, to a deal that will give them 3-4Ms. That way Dallas has a mainstay at RT that could play LT in a pinch.

Dallas signs Julian Peterson or one of the top MLBs available in Free Agency, they would earn something close to 3Ms in their first year.

Dallas goes after Eric Warfield to play FS, he’d be scheduled to earn 2-3Ms in his first year.

And the combination of Longwell and Jerald Sowell form the cherry for the pie as they would earn something close to 4Ms.

That counts for 12-14Ms of free cap space.

Which one would be a better, one that lands a Center, a RT that can also play Left, a Kicker, a FB and a minor upgrade in pass coverage at FS?

Or one that lands a RT that can also play Left, a huge upgrade for the LB corps, a huge upgrade in coverage at FS, a Kicker and a FB.

Adding talent all around is much more important for me. But that’s my opinion, even if it comes form Mexico or India.

Chandus,

I think you framed the debate fairly. Your numbers are the same as the ones I’ve been estimating.

As you probably know, I like the “Bentely” option.

Petterson’s achilles injury bothers me and I’m not sold on Warfield. I’m not sure Warfield is a huge improvement over Marco Coleman, but I admit I don’t know as much about Warfield as some do.

I would be interested in hearing more about him. Aside from his talent, Warfield has had 2 DUI’s and at least one suspension for substance abuse. And I think he was suspended last year for 4 games (undisclosed reason). This doesn’t sound good.

An advantage that appeals to me about signing Bentley is that Bentely has been a pro bowler at both center and guard. That is worth gold when you look at the overall age of our line. Given their respective ages, either Allen or Riverra could get injured at any time. Bentely provides valuable insurance, especially when none of us have any idea about Peterman. Of course I like the fact Bentely is only 26 years too.

I could go on, but I’ve been preaching this sermon for several sundays.

I will say, however, that if I had to bet, I’d bet BP and JJ agree with you, and not me. We’ll know soon enough.

madcowboy:
Peterson’s ankle injury doesn’t bother me a bit, because as we should all know by now, last season he played for the first time in his career in a 3-4 Defense and still managed to have some pretty decent numbers (82 tackles and 5 passes defended, along with 3 sacks). He will be 28 next season, so he’s young and his best football may be ahead of him.

Something interesting about him, he played DE before being transferred to Michigan St. to play SSLB, so he has the instincts and knows how to get around the edge.

He would be required to add some weight to play under Parcells, but he has room, so that shouldn’t be a problem.

I didn’t knew about the DUI charges on Warfield, and that’s certainly a red flag, I’ve seen him play, that’s what makes me think that he isn’t a cover corner anymore, but he indeed has the instincts to play in zone and play the run. I saw 3 games with him on the field (New England, Denver and Dallas) and I saw that he just can keep up with the faster receivers but makes up with instincts and a hard hitting style. The recipe of a FS. 47 Passes defended and 17 interceptions in the last 5 years are another set of strong reasons for consideration.

It’s over, talks broke off…waiver deadline extended to 10PM EST.

Bad news.

Chandus:

Nice work on crunching the numbers. Very informative. Thanks.

Honestly, the main difference I see between the two is how best to address things, FA or draft. I have been told that Center is a luxury, and OLB a necessity. You have reminded me that Singleton and perhaps Fujita will be back. I agree that OLB is a priority, but since there will be at least one OLB with NFL experience starting, and you have pointed out to me on numerous occassions that the LB class in the draft is very deep, while Cetner is not…it seems like signing Peterson would be more of the luxury route because then you have to figure out what to do with Singleton and Fujita. Center, on the other hand, has a player that is dominating at his position, can play both Center or Guard, and there is much less available in the draft class.

I can live with either scenario as long as the team gets better. The two biggest weaknesses I saw on the team is O-Line and the Linebackers. I happened to think the LB’s played well before they got decimated by injuries. The O-Line was playing mediocre at best before Flozell’s injury. That tells me O-Line should get more of the money to fix the problems. Linebackers are definitely the next area of concern, and they should get more of the draft picks to fix the problems. It all gets down to how to fix these things…with FA money or with draft picks. The only guarantee I will make is that Kicker gets fixed with FA money. I just happen to think O-Line should be next in the cue.

Not really…
We are in alot better shape than most of the other team. I think if JJ and BP play their hands right! we shoul get much better… Skins funeral is tonight!

Half an hour…and I HOPE not another three days.