Cowboys gaining salary cap room
Cowboys gaining salary cap room
Two moves place team nearly $10 million beneath current limit
08:13 PM CST on Thursday, March 2, 2006
By TODD ARCHER / Staff Writer
IRVING – La'Roi Glover is gone. Dat Nguyen is retired. Dan Campbell, Scott Fujita and Andre Gurode will likely hit the open market Monday.
And the Cowboys are prepared to fill holes on their roster in hopes of becoming a Super Bowl contender in 2006.
They were prepared to fill those holes as early as today had the owners and NFL Players Association not agreed to delay the beginning of the league year. With the delay, the Cowboys could be in even better financial position to sign free agents if the two sides come to an agreement.
If the cap is $94.5 million without a new deal, the Cowboys presently have $8 million to $10 million to spend, although they can easily acquire another $9.6 million with a simple restructuring of the contracts for Jason Ferguson and Marco Rivera.
If there is a new deal, the cap could move to as high as $104 million, and the Cowboys will have roughly $20 million of space and the same ability to create more room.
On Thursday, the Cowboys freed up $6 million in salary cap space by cutting Glover and received another $1.8 million when Nguyen officially filed his retirement papers.
Glover went to four Pro Bowls with the Cowboys but was aware this day was coming because of the economics, not ability. He was scheduled to count $7.2 million against the cap in '06. He felt he had a "solid," season playing nose tackle in the 3-4, but he had just three sacks and 28 tackles.
"I have no regrets about my time in Dallas or New Orleans or Oakland," Glover said. "My NFL experience is missing only one thing, and that's a Super Bowl championship. And that's what is keeping me going, keeping me hungry."
Glover's absence creates another need for the Cowboys at nose tackle. They already have holes at safety, kicker, right tackle and linebacker.
Every player is watching the current talks between the league and the union, perhaps none more than Greg Ellis, who is the Cowboys' player rep.
"I definitely know we have adjusted some of our stuff, and the owners have adjusted some of their stuff," Ellis said. "It's a good indication that both sides have decided to move it back to Monday."
But Campbell was expecting to wake up this morning and be a free agent. The Cowboys have had only brief talks with his agent since the season ended.
"I've been pretty good about the situation, just keeping my mind off of it," Campbell said. "The last two days I was like, 'OK, let's see what's going to happen.' You get prepared for that, and then they extend it three days, so it gets to be a little nerve-wracking."
If there is no deal, then players such as Jason Witten, Al Johnson and Bradie James would be greatly affected. Under the current system, they would be unrestricted free agents after this season, but without a deal they would not be totally free until after the 2007 season.
"It's not the optimal situation," Johnson said. "I still feel confident that a deal will be in place by the start of the 2006 season. I really hope both sides will come to an agreement that everyone can be happy about.
Two moves place team nearly $10 million beneath current limit
08:13 PM CST on Thursday, March 2, 2006
By TODD ARCHER / Staff Writer
IRVING – La'Roi Glover is gone. Dat Nguyen is retired. Dan Campbell, Scott Fujita and Andre Gurode will likely hit the open market Monday.
And the Cowboys are prepared to fill holes on their roster in hopes of becoming a Super Bowl contender in 2006.
They were prepared to fill those holes as early as today had the owners and NFL Players Association not agreed to delay the beginning of the league year. With the delay, the Cowboys could be in even better financial position to sign free agents if the two sides come to an agreement.
If the cap is $94.5 million without a new deal, the Cowboys presently have $8 million to $10 million to spend, although they can easily acquire another $9.6 million with a simple restructuring of the contracts for Jason Ferguson and Marco Rivera.
If there is a new deal, the cap could move to as high as $104 million, and the Cowboys will have roughly $20 million of space and the same ability to create more room.
On Thursday, the Cowboys freed up $6 million in salary cap space by cutting Glover and received another $1.8 million when Nguyen officially filed his retirement papers.
Glover went to four Pro Bowls with the Cowboys but was aware this day was coming because of the economics, not ability. He was scheduled to count $7.2 million against the cap in '06. He felt he had a "solid," season playing nose tackle in the 3-4, but he had just three sacks and 28 tackles.
"I have no regrets about my time in Dallas or New Orleans or Oakland," Glover said. "My NFL experience is missing only one thing, and that's a Super Bowl championship. And that's what is keeping me going, keeping me hungry."
Glover's absence creates another need for the Cowboys at nose tackle. They already have holes at safety, kicker, right tackle and linebacker.
Every player is watching the current talks between the league and the union, perhaps none more than Greg Ellis, who is the Cowboys' player rep.
"I definitely know we have adjusted some of our stuff, and the owners have adjusted some of their stuff," Ellis said. "It's a good indication that both sides have decided to move it back to Monday."
But Campbell was expecting to wake up this morning and be a free agent. The Cowboys have had only brief talks with his agent since the season ended.
"I've been pretty good about the situation, just keeping my mind off of it," Campbell said. "The last two days I was like, 'OK, let's see what's going to happen.' You get prepared for that, and then they extend it three days, so it gets to be a little nerve-wracking."
If there is no deal, then players such as Jason Witten, Al Johnson and Bradie James would be greatly affected. Under the current system, they would be unrestricted free agents after this season, but without a deal they would not be totally free until after the 2007 season.
"It's not the optimal situation," Johnson said. "I still feel confident that a deal will be in place by the start of the 2006 season. I really hope both sides will come to an agreement that everyone can be happy about.
posted by The Gryphon at 11:35 AM
<< Home