March 12, 2022
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So Amari Cooper wasn't worth that first-round pick after all?
NFL free agency will effectively kick off on Monday, March 14, when the two-day "tampering" window will open for teams to begin negotiating and agreeing to terms with player agents. Let's take a spin around the rest of the NFC East and see what the Cowboys, Giants, and Commanders are up to before the start of the new league year.
The Cowboys' playoffs loss at home to the 49ers was devastating not just because of the hilarious way it unfolded, but also because that might have been their window to compete for a Super Bowl. In 2022, the Cowboys face serious cap challenges and are going to have to part with some core players.
It has been widely reported that the Cowboys will either cut or trade Cooper rather than keep him on their roster at his $20 million salary.
If you'll recall, the Cowboys acquired Cooper for a first-round pick in 2018, and he helped make Dak Prescott a better quarterback. He was worth that pick, for a while, anyway. But if the team is done with Cooper after only 3.5 seasons, that's not exactly a great return on investment.
Lawrence is scheduled to count on the Cowboys' cap for $27 million in 2022. Since signing a five-year deal worth $105 million during the 2019 offseason, Lawrence has 14.5 sacks in three seasons. Rightfully, the Cowboys asked Lawrence to take a pay cut. Just as rightfully, Lawrence was basically like, "Nah."
Multiple sources say Cowboys offered DeMarcus Lawrence a paycut and he declined. Here’s our report from Indy. https://t.co/B0PIHSdNSf
— Calvin Watkins (@calvinwatkins) March 6, 2022
The guess here is that the Cowboys will likely convert a nice chunk of Lawrence's $19 million salary into a signing bonus, kicking the can down the road.
This is interesting.
The #Cowboys are having active trade conversations centered around starting OT La'el Collins, sources say. A mainstay since 2015, Collins is due $10M this coming year and there is interest from other teams.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) March 10, 2022
It's not like $10 million for a starting right tackle is a ton of money. ProFootballFocus has Collins rated as some kind of god every year, but if the Cowboys are willing to deal him despite his reasonable pay, maybe he's just not that great?
Legatron connected on 82.9 percent of his field goals in each of his two seasons in Dallas, however, he missed six(!) PAT attempts in 2021.
Jarwin's release is interesting from an Eagles' perspective since they tried to poach him from the Cowboys' practice squad a few years ago, prompting Dallas to add him to their active roster.
The wrath of Dave Gettleman lingers in the aftermath of his tenure, as new Giants general manager Joe Schoen has said that he wants to clear around $40 million off of the team's cap.
Old friend Zack Rosenblatt of NJ.com detailed what the Giants have already done, and he guessed on what moves are still to come. Go check that out here.
I thought this was interesting from Zack's piece:
Step 7: Trade or cut CB James Bradberry. This will be the key move to get the Giants to that $40 million figure. They also could sign Bradberry to an extension to reduce the cap hit in 2022, but the reality is Schoen doesn’t want to push money into future years and Bradberry is this team’s most valuable, realistic trade chip they have right now as a quality player at a premium position. Bradberry is set to carry a $21.8 million cap hit this year, which is too large — especially since Schoen has made it clear that he won’t restructure any contracts (like Leonard Williams or Kenny Golladay) other than as a “last resort” to save money. So, a Bradberry (or cut if there’s no market) is the most likely path. Trading Bradberry — who should net a mid-round pick or two — would save $12.1 million with a $9.7 million penalty. [NJ.com]
The Giants should absolutely do that. They're going to be awful for a while. May as well get some draft capital in return for a guy heading into his age 29 season while he still has some value.
Josina Anderson tweeted that Collins was asked to take a pay cut, which he refused. She has since deleted the tweet, but she quoted him as saying:
"They asked me to take a pay cut. The first one was fine. Then they asked me to take another one. The money changed after they signed Carson Wentz. I'll just take my chances in free agency."
That'll be $9.6 million in dead money if they cut him, which can be spread out over two years if they designate him as a June 1 release.
Also, no, he's not a fit for the Eagles' defense, unless he's converting to linebacker.
And of course, if you missed our story on the Commanders' trade for Carson Wentz, you can relive the lol's here.
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