Since it’s the silly season let’s have a little fun. We’ll play a game of "Which rumor do you like best?" Below is a poll of the five "most-likely" rumors I’ve heard about involving the Cowboys and trades. Granted, some are more likely than others. If you believe the smoke=fire philosophy, the Pacman rumor seems to be the most likely one to happen. Even Nick Eatman says why not take a chance on the embattled corner. But for the purpose of this exercise, I’m polling you on which rumor you’d rather have happen, not the most likely. Of the five possible scenarios below, which one would you rather the Cowboys make a reality? I’ve taken the liberty of giving some loose parameters about what it might cost to do the deals and tried to look up some contract numbers. Of course, the Cowboys might be able to pull off more than one of these possibilities, but for this poll, say they can only do one. Which one makes your heart flutter?
Here we go:
Pacman Jones: Let’s set the trade compensation at a 4th-round pick in this year’s draft. Pacman is due $1.25 million in base salary this year, but any trade would likely involve a renegotiation on an incentive-laden contract. So say Pacman agrees to a contract that protects the Cowboys in the case of bad behavior.
Chad Johnson: In the case of Chad, and the other two high-profile receivers listed below, I’m assuming it would take a 1st-round pick. Our 2nd-round pick is pretty far back (#61) and the talent-level for these guys is pretty high. Any team looking to trade with us is going to see those two 1st-round picks and want one of them. For this exercise, let’s assume it will take our #28 pick. Chad’s current contract is for $3 million (for 2008), $4.5 million (2009), $5 million (2010) and $6 million (2011). Now Chad has said it’s not about money, but I don’t believe it. So we’ll say we have to renegotiate a contract that puts him at the top-tier of WR’s. Larry Fitzgerald just got $10 million a year, but we’ll assume Chad will sign for something less because he really wants out of Cincy.
Roy Williams: Again, it will take our #28 pick. Roy is due $3.7245 million in base pay for 2008. But he is a free agent after 2008 so the Cowboys would have to negotiate a new contract because there’s no way we trade a 1st-round pick for a player who we’d only have for one year. So expect a renegotiation that pays Roy big money. This means the Cowboys would have to restructure some of their own contracts and/or cut some players to create cap space. Roy wants to be back in Texas so he doesn't demand Fitzgerald-type money, but something that pays him very well.
Anquan Boldin: The Cowboys give up their #28 pick. Boldin is scheduled to make $2.5 million in base salary this season, $2.75 million in base salary in 2009 and $3 million in base salary in 2010. But assume that Boldin is getting out of Arizona because he is underpaid compared to what Fitzgerald just got. So the Cowboys need to renegotiate a deal that puts him more towards the upper-echelon. Again, this would cause Dallas to restructure some contracts or make some cuts to accommodate Boldin.
Darren McFadden: The Cowboys trade both 1st-round picks and possibly some players/later-round picks to jump up into the top five to get McFadden. Besides the picks, the Cowboys rookie-payment structure would jump up immensely and we’d probably have to clear some cap space to get this done. Although if we traded some players in the deal it could help.
These are just rough parameters and something I’m throwing out there to give some context to the possible trades. Don’t get too hung up on that part of it, just assume Dallas will have to make some sacrifices to get most of these done (except the Pacman deal).
Given all that, which deal would you most like to see Dallas do? Vote in the poll and tell us your thoughts in the comments.
Poll
Which would you rather do?
This poll is closed
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42%
Pacman Jones
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15%
Chad Johnson
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21%
Roy Williams
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13%
Anquan Boldin
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6%
Darren McFadden