Well, one thing you can say about Jerry Jones; he wastes very little time in most cases. Like it or not, Dallas has made a habit of signing players to new deals or extensions right when no one would expect it. They've done it so much, well... you can expect it. Today marks another chapter as the club has inked BTB favorite Sean Lissemore to a three-year deal that runs through 2016.
Lissy's deal didn't expire this year. Lissy hasn't started a game in his NFL career. Yet Lissy's still on his way to his bank to deposit a $2 million signing bonus check. Today's a good day to be Lissy. Reports are unconfirmed at this point that the money paid to Sean are a direct result of Jerry Wipes going public on the Stock Exchange.
The total of the added money has not yet been released, but ESPN's Todd Archer says that there is $3.1 million guaranteed. Lissemore's agent acknowledged the deal could be much bigger if he waited until after the season was over, but the player wanted to get the deal done now.
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While we at BTB have been cheering Lissy on to the point he reached a cult status here on the blog; the support has not been without merit. Rob Ryan and Brian Baker mentioned during the offseason that they didn't realize how much of an impact the player was having on very limited snaps in 2011. On only 282 non-penalty snaps, Lissemore earned a Pro Football Focus cumulative grade of +13.1; good enough to rank sixth of all 3-4 DEs and earn the nod as the Cowboys Secret Superstar.
The William and Mary star was a seventh-round steal from the 2010 draft class and is now clearly in the Cowboys long-term plans after proving that he is capable of playing both end and nose tackle on the Dallas defensive line. His increased snap count from Week One was a direct result of the team missing another seventh-round gem, NT Jay Ratliff who is still healing from an ankle injury. Remember, when the first official depth chart was released, Dallas listed Lissy at DT as his primary position and haven't moved him.
Josh Brent earned the start in Ratliff's absence, but Lissemore played in almost half the snaps (27 of 56); more than the starting nose tackle Josh Brent (23).
He has a career total of 31 tackles and 2.5 sacks coming into 2012. The signing might indicate that Dallas is comfortable with their current team and will not look to bring in any higher priced veteran free agents; regardless that their deal wouldn't be guaranteed for the season. Or again, it could indicate that things are really going well with Jerry Wipes.