Cowboys and Patrick Crayton hooking up again

Calvin Watkins said it’s a done deal, Patrick Crayton will sign his new deal sometime on Friday. Here are the terms:

The contract, expected to be signed today, can be worth as much as $14 million. Crayton received a $6 million signing bonus.

[snip]

Crayton will have a $1 million base salary in 2008 and $1.5 million in 2009. He receives a base salary of $2 million in 2010 and $2.5 in 2011. But in the final year of his contract he can earn an additional $1 million in salary if he reaches certain incentives.

Jerry and Stephen do it again. They lock up another player at reasonable rates. I have no problem paying those kinds of numbers for a player of Crayton’s caliber. He’s almost a lock to go over 50 catches and 700 yards receiving for the year. He’s already contributed 7 TD’s. On a team where T.O. has 15 TD’s, MB3 has 12 and Jason Witten has 7, that’s production. And he’s averaging 14.4 yards a catch.

Another thing - he's a young veteran. That’s what Jerry Jones is building here, a team of young veterans, with some older guys sprinkled in for flavor. Just in the past few months he's got Romo, Crayton, and Ratliff, these are guys who have played together for a while now. They are going into the prime of their careers. Last year we signed Andre Gurode and Marc Colombo, before that, Bradie James. Check out the free agents, Ken Hamlin – young veteran. Leonard Davis – young veteran, at least in offensive linemen years. Next up, MB3 and Chris Canty.

Crayton is a guy who eases my mind about the Cowboys receiving corps going into next year. T.O. should be here another year and he shows no signs of slowing down. But Terry Glenn is still a question mark, we’ll have to see how he performs in the playoffs, then monitor his offseason. Behind that are the promising duo of Hurd and Austin, and the project Stanback. Crayton is a guy who we can depend on to play opposite T.O. next year if necessary, or he can be a solid #3 because he’s great when playing the slot. The other guys are going to have to beat him out if they want playing time.

And don’t forget his versatility. He can handle punts and he can be your emergency QB. One more thing, he’s happy to be here – very happy.

"My client is very happy," said Crayton's agent Fred Lyles. "He didn't consider the money. He considered his family for making his decision. His wife, son and mother are very important to him because they live in Dallas. He's a family person and it means a lot to him."

Nick Eatman has more.

Hat tip to Impatient who had the early word up in a diary.

I was going to post the Roy Williams comments, but Terry already has a diary running so just go there.

The latest Inside the Huddle is up, Tony Romo is the host and DeMarcus Ware is the guest. Check it out.

Todd Archer on the reserves getting a shot.