Barber Gets Highest Tender Offer; Thomas Signs
Nick Eatman - Email
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - With free agency officially beginning at 11:01 p.m. (CST) Thursday night, the Cowboys have already met another deadline.
The club has sent one-year tender offers to three restricted free agents, including running back Marion Barber, who received the highest tender available.
The Cowboys beat the NFL's 3 p.m. deadline to send out restricted offers and tendered Barber with a one-year contract of $2.562 million. He is free to negotiate with other clubs and can sign an offer sheet. The Cowboys would then have seven days to match the deal and if they chose to pass, they would receive a first- and third-round draft pick in return.
The club also gave defensive end Chris Canty a tender of $2.017 million. The Cowboys would get a first-round draft pick if he signs with another team and they chose not to match.
The Cowboys gave the original draft tender to guard Joe Berger, worth $927,000. But they chose not to tender running back Tyson Thompson, which likely ends his three-year stint with the club.
In other news, the Cowboys have officially signed linebacker Zach Thomas to a four-year deal worth nearly $19 million. However, it will likely end up as the one-year deal that was reported over the weekend. Thomas can easily void the deal down to just one year. With a $1 million base and a $1 million signing bonus, Thomas will now count $1.25 on this year's salary cap. If the contract is voided down to one season, Thomas will also likely earn another $1 million in incentives.
Thomas missed most of the 2007 season after suffering a concussion against the Cowboys back in Week 2. Ironically, the player Thomas collided with on the play he was injured was fullback Oliver Hoyte, who was released by the Cowboys on Thursday.
Hoyte was also injured in that game, sustaining a neck injury that sidelined him for the next six weeks. Hoyte spent the last two years as the Cowboys' starting fullback after making the team as a rookie free-agent linebacker in 2006. The Cowboys switched him to fullback early in his rookie season.
The Cowboys could sign Thomas before the start of free agency because he was released from his original team. Teams can start negotiating with all unrestricted and restricted free agents once the free-agent signing period begins Thursday night.
And when that happens, left tackle Flozell Adams will officially hit the open market unless the Cowboys can work out a new deal before then. The club has continued talks with Adams' agent Jordan Woy on Thursday. Team owner Jerry Jones has stated this week the Cowboys are interested in re-signing Adams, who turns 33 in May.
Adams is one of five unrestricted free agents who can test the waters, along with running back Julius Jones, cornerbacks Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves and safety Keith Davis.
DallasCowboys.com Staff Writer
IRVING, Texas - With free agency officially beginning at 11:01 p.m. (CST) Thursday night, the Cowboys have already met another deadline.
The club has sent one-year tender offers to three restricted free agents, including running back Marion Barber, who received the highest tender available.
The Cowboys beat the NFL's 3 p.m. deadline to send out restricted offers and tendered Barber with a one-year contract of $2.562 million. He is free to negotiate with other clubs and can sign an offer sheet. The Cowboys would then have seven days to match the deal and if they chose to pass, they would receive a first- and third-round draft pick in return.
The club also gave defensive end Chris Canty a tender of $2.017 million. The Cowboys would get a first-round draft pick if he signs with another team and they chose not to match.
The Cowboys gave the original draft tender to guard Joe Berger, worth $927,000. But they chose not to tender running back Tyson Thompson, which likely ends his three-year stint with the club.
In other news, the Cowboys have officially signed linebacker Zach Thomas to a four-year deal worth nearly $19 million. However, it will likely end up as the one-year deal that was reported over the weekend. Thomas can easily void the deal down to just one year. With a $1 million base and a $1 million signing bonus, Thomas will now count $1.25 on this year's salary cap. If the contract is voided down to one season, Thomas will also likely earn another $1 million in incentives.
Thomas missed most of the 2007 season after suffering a concussion against the Cowboys back in Week 2. Ironically, the player Thomas collided with on the play he was injured was fullback Oliver Hoyte, who was released by the Cowboys on Thursday.
Hoyte was also injured in that game, sustaining a neck injury that sidelined him for the next six weeks. Hoyte spent the last two years as the Cowboys' starting fullback after making the team as a rookie free-agent linebacker in 2006. The Cowboys switched him to fullback early in his rookie season.
The Cowboys could sign Thomas before the start of free agency because he was released from his original team. Teams can start negotiating with all unrestricted and restricted free agents once the free-agent signing period begins Thursday night.
And when that happens, left tackle Flozell Adams will officially hit the open market unless the Cowboys can work out a new deal before then. The club has continued talks with Adams' agent Jordan Woy on Thursday. Team owner Jerry Jones has stated this week the Cowboys are interested in re-signing Adams, who turns 33 in May.
Adams is one of five unrestricted free agents who can test the waters, along with running back Julius Jones, cornerbacks Nate Jones and Jacques Reeves and safety Keith Davis.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:59 PM
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