Post by prossman on Mar 19, 2009 6:27:54 GMT -7
DC.COM: Spagnola: Most Trying To Distort Williams Trade
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Truth In Trading
Spagnola: Most Trying To Distort Williams Trade
Mickey Spagnola
March 17, 2009 4:42 PM
IRVING, Texas - Hearing this one more time is going to make me scream:
The Cowboys gave up three draft choices for Roy Williams.
Now did they? Really?
Technically, they sure did. Back on Oct. 14, 2008, the Cowboys sent their 2009 first-round pick, which turned out to be the 20th pick in the draft; their 2009 third-round pick, which turned out to be the draft's 82nd pick; and their 2009 sixth-round pick, at this point the 19th in that round - overall unknown since compensatory picks will push the overall number down.
That's three. That's good math. That's an easy way to place the trade in a tidy box, making the deal simple to explain, but also the Cowboys more vulnerable when questioning their sanity, as in didn't owner Jerry Jones learn his lesson when he gave up two first-round picks in 2000 for Seattle wide receiver Joey Galloway.
As in, why you don't give up three draft choices for a wide receiver unless the guy's name is Jerry Rice and it's like 1990.
But again, did the Cowboys give up that much, and frankly you guys deserve better than that, and too should scream every time someone says the Dallas Cowboys traded three draft picks for Roy Williams.
Well, they did and they didn't, depending on how anal you want to be, but what the number-stricken accountant types fail to tell you is that the Cowboys, despite trading three picks to Detroit for the 2007 Pro Bowl wide receiver, still have nine picks in the 2009 draft, two more than if they had the normal allotment of one pick in each of the seven rounds. And chances are they will get two more picks when the compensatory ones are handed out for the likes of Julius Jones and Jacques Reeves.
Then on top of that, before the compensatory picks are handed out, the Cowboys really have a loaded hand when it comes to the middle of the draft, owning four of 62 picks between the 19th in the second round and the 17th in the fourth round.
Now before we go any further, let me issue this disclaimer: This entire discussion comes down to being right on Williams, meaning he becomes the team's lead receiver they've projected. Anything less, and I'll agree, they were pick-pocketed by the Lions.
OK, let's begin. The Cowboys definitely traded their first-round pick to the Lions for Williams. But at this point, without Williams, then the Cowboys either would have to grin and bear another year with Terrell Owens or start desperately searching for a wide receiver in the draft had they still released him - neither a sobering thought, knowing that last year only one rookie receiver (Denver's Eddie Royal, of all things, a second-round pick) caught more than Owens' 69 passes.
So for a first-round pick they ostensibly got a lead receiver with five years of NFL experience to boot. It's not as if they just gave the first pick away.
Now then, yes, they did give Detroit their third-round pick, the 18th in the round. But here is where the story as being told starts to become grossly misrepresented. The Cowboys still have a third-round pick, and instead of the 18th in the round, they have the fifth pick in the third round, coming over from Cleveland as part of those 2008 draft day trades, essentially getting a 2009 third for a 2008 fourth. So in essence, they were playing with house money in this round.
And as for giving Detroit the sixth-round pick, they sure did, the 19th pick in the round. But again, this is where the true facts seem to get glossed over. First of all, the Cowboys already had an extra sixth, owning Miami's (24th in the round) as part of the Jason Ferguson trade. Like how many sixths do you really need?
Then, on top of that, as part of the Williams trade, and this is what no one bothers to point out, Detroit gave the Cowboys Williams and their seventh-round pick, which just so happens to be the first pick in that round. So the difference between the Cowboys' sixth and Detroit's seventh is just 14 spots before those compensatory draft choices are awarded. To me, that late in the draft, that's basically a push.
For example, last year that meant the difference between selecting Texas A&M defensive end Chris Harrington (Arizona's sixth-round pick at 19) and Michigan State defensive end Ervin Baldwin (Chicago's first pick in the seventh). Harrington spent 10 weeks on the Cardinals' practice squad before Cincinnati signed him to its 53-man roster for the final three games of the season. Baldwin spent the first nine weeks on Chicago's practice squad, then was signed to the 53-man roster where he was a game-day inactive for the final seven.
Catching my drift? So to me, between what the Cowboys already had in the third and sixth rounds and the difference between the sixth given and seventh received, they basically traded the equivalent of a first-round pick for Williams.
And let me take this one step further: This is not the year to have nine draft choices, let alone 11, and certainly not the year for your first to be later than No. 15 or 20. See, because of 2010 potentially becoming an uncapped year, the salary cap rules change for 2009, including player contracts. You watch, because of the 30-percent yearly salary increase rule, there will be teams less than enchanted with who they are picking in the 20's of the first round, and for sure in the 30's, trying to bail out into the second round - or next year. Why pay first-round signing bonuses for basically second-round talent?
Also, and pay attention, don't drift on me now. This is important. Teams cutting or trading players during the 2009 NFL calendar year (Feb. 28 through the end of the season) with unaccounted signing bonus proration will be charged the full acceleration against the 2009 cap, and I'm talking immediately, not a portion this year and all the rest next year. You know, like how the final three prorated years of Owens' $12.9 million signing bonus is costing the Cowboys $9.675 million this year.
Well, if a 2009 draft choice or rookie free agent fails to make your team, and I'm guessing out of nine drafted players (but potentially 11 if all are used) and what, maybe seven to 10 signed rookie free agents, only seven or so might make the Cowboys' final 53-man roster, then the team will be charged the entire signing bonus against this year's salary cap.
For the Cowboys, already dealing with $21 million of dead money for released players so far this year and last, that is not a frivolous sum.
For example, last year Cowboys sixth-round pick Erik Walden was given a $133,875 signing bonus. Only $44,625 counted last year and the remaining $89,250 counts this year. Well this year, because of the potentially uncapped 2010 season and wanting to prevent teams from pushing money into that season unconscionably, the entire $133,875 would count against the cap. No proration allowed.
And brother, you had better not make a mistake on like a third-round pick, say the fifth pick the Cowboys have in that round, someone projected to receive a $900,000 signing bonus. Because all of that signing bonus will escalate into this year's cap.
Also, when it comes to signing rookie free agents, the Cowboys must be very careful. Those guys normally are paid signing bonuses in the range of $5,000 to $12,000, although some are given as much as $20,000, depending if a minor bidding war between multiple teams breaks out. Well, eating those bonuses all in the same year can add up, and what, maybe one out of seven of those guys signed makes your team. The odds are against you.
Take last year. Guys such as Danny Amendola and Marcus Dixon received three-year deals with $12,000 signing bonuses. Even though they were placed on the practice squad, technically they were cut. Because of that, both are counting just more than $8,000 apiece against the Cowboys' cap this year for the final two years of prorated signing bonus. Say that happens this year with like three of those guys paid as much. That would be $36,000 right out the window. Might not seem like much, but get four of those guys and you have just wasted nearly the full-year salary of a practice squad player.
So look, let's not become overly hysterical about the Cowboys giving up three draft choices for Williams. They really didn't. They gave up a first, that's what the traded amounted to. Now if you want to argue even that was too much, go ahead, knock yourself out. That's legit. Although, we won't know that answer for 16 more games.
But as for the rest, don't let anyone else bring that weak stuff in here. At least not around me.
_________________
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Truth In Trading
Spagnola: Most Trying To Distort Williams Trade
Mickey Spagnola
March 17, 2009 4:42 PM
IRVING, Texas - Hearing this one more time is going to make me scream:
The Cowboys gave up three draft choices for Roy Williams.
Now did they? Really?
Technically, they sure did. Back on Oct. 14, 2008, the Cowboys sent their 2009 first-round pick, which turned out to be the 20th pick in the draft; their 2009 third-round pick, which turned out to be the draft's 82nd pick; and their 2009 sixth-round pick, at this point the 19th in that round - overall unknown since compensatory picks will push the overall number down.
That's three. That's good math. That's an easy way to place the trade in a tidy box, making the deal simple to explain, but also the Cowboys more vulnerable when questioning their sanity, as in didn't owner Jerry Jones learn his lesson when he gave up two first-round picks in 2000 for Seattle wide receiver Joey Galloway.
As in, why you don't give up three draft choices for a wide receiver unless the guy's name is Jerry Rice and it's like 1990.
But again, did the Cowboys give up that much, and frankly you guys deserve better than that, and too should scream every time someone says the Dallas Cowboys traded three draft picks for Roy Williams.
Well, they did and they didn't, depending on how anal you want to be, but what the number-stricken accountant types fail to tell you is that the Cowboys, despite trading three picks to Detroit for the 2007 Pro Bowl wide receiver, still have nine picks in the 2009 draft, two more than if they had the normal allotment of one pick in each of the seven rounds. And chances are they will get two more picks when the compensatory ones are handed out for the likes of Julius Jones and Jacques Reeves.
Then on top of that, before the compensatory picks are handed out, the Cowboys really have a loaded hand when it comes to the middle of the draft, owning four of 62 picks between the 19th in the second round and the 17th in the fourth round.
Now before we go any further, let me issue this disclaimer: This entire discussion comes down to being right on Williams, meaning he becomes the team's lead receiver they've projected. Anything less, and I'll agree, they were pick-pocketed by the Lions.
OK, let's begin. The Cowboys definitely traded their first-round pick to the Lions for Williams. But at this point, without Williams, then the Cowboys either would have to grin and bear another year with Terrell Owens or start desperately searching for a wide receiver in the draft had they still released him - neither a sobering thought, knowing that last year only one rookie receiver (Denver's Eddie Royal, of all things, a second-round pick) caught more than Owens' 69 passes.
So for a first-round pick they ostensibly got a lead receiver with five years of NFL experience to boot. It's not as if they just gave the first pick away.
Now then, yes, they did give Detroit their third-round pick, the 18th in the round. But here is where the story as being told starts to become grossly misrepresented. The Cowboys still have a third-round pick, and instead of the 18th in the round, they have the fifth pick in the third round, coming over from Cleveland as part of those 2008 draft day trades, essentially getting a 2009 third for a 2008 fourth. So in essence, they were playing with house money in this round.
And as for giving Detroit the sixth-round pick, they sure did, the 19th pick in the round. But again, this is where the true facts seem to get glossed over. First of all, the Cowboys already had an extra sixth, owning Miami's (24th in the round) as part of the Jason Ferguson trade. Like how many sixths do you really need?
Then, on top of that, as part of the Williams trade, and this is what no one bothers to point out, Detroit gave the Cowboys Williams and their seventh-round pick, which just so happens to be the first pick in that round. So the difference between the Cowboys' sixth and Detroit's seventh is just 14 spots before those compensatory draft choices are awarded. To me, that late in the draft, that's basically a push.
For example, last year that meant the difference between selecting Texas A&M defensive end Chris Harrington (Arizona's sixth-round pick at 19) and Michigan State defensive end Ervin Baldwin (Chicago's first pick in the seventh). Harrington spent 10 weeks on the Cardinals' practice squad before Cincinnati signed him to its 53-man roster for the final three games of the season. Baldwin spent the first nine weeks on Chicago's practice squad, then was signed to the 53-man roster where he was a game-day inactive for the final seven.
Catching my drift? So to me, between what the Cowboys already had in the third and sixth rounds and the difference between the sixth given and seventh received, they basically traded the equivalent of a first-round pick for Williams.
And let me take this one step further: This is not the year to have nine draft choices, let alone 11, and certainly not the year for your first to be later than No. 15 or 20. See, because of 2010 potentially becoming an uncapped year, the salary cap rules change for 2009, including player contracts. You watch, because of the 30-percent yearly salary increase rule, there will be teams less than enchanted with who they are picking in the 20's of the first round, and for sure in the 30's, trying to bail out into the second round - or next year. Why pay first-round signing bonuses for basically second-round talent?
Also, and pay attention, don't drift on me now. This is important. Teams cutting or trading players during the 2009 NFL calendar year (Feb. 28 through the end of the season) with unaccounted signing bonus proration will be charged the full acceleration against the 2009 cap, and I'm talking immediately, not a portion this year and all the rest next year. You know, like how the final three prorated years of Owens' $12.9 million signing bonus is costing the Cowboys $9.675 million this year.
Well, if a 2009 draft choice or rookie free agent fails to make your team, and I'm guessing out of nine drafted players (but potentially 11 if all are used) and what, maybe seven to 10 signed rookie free agents, only seven or so might make the Cowboys' final 53-man roster, then the team will be charged the entire signing bonus against this year's salary cap.
For the Cowboys, already dealing with $21 million of dead money for released players so far this year and last, that is not a frivolous sum.
For example, last year Cowboys sixth-round pick Erik Walden was given a $133,875 signing bonus. Only $44,625 counted last year and the remaining $89,250 counts this year. Well this year, because of the potentially uncapped 2010 season and wanting to prevent teams from pushing money into that season unconscionably, the entire $133,875 would count against the cap. No proration allowed.
And brother, you had better not make a mistake on like a third-round pick, say the fifth pick the Cowboys have in that round, someone projected to receive a $900,000 signing bonus. Because all of that signing bonus will escalate into this year's cap.
Also, when it comes to signing rookie free agents, the Cowboys must be very careful. Those guys normally are paid signing bonuses in the range of $5,000 to $12,000, although some are given as much as $20,000, depending if a minor bidding war between multiple teams breaks out. Well, eating those bonuses all in the same year can add up, and what, maybe one out of seven of those guys signed makes your team. The odds are against you.
Take last year. Guys such as Danny Amendola and Marcus Dixon received three-year deals with $12,000 signing bonuses. Even though they were placed on the practice squad, technically they were cut. Because of that, both are counting just more than $8,000 apiece against the Cowboys' cap this year for the final two years of prorated signing bonus. Say that happens this year with like three of those guys paid as much. That would be $36,000 right out the window. Might not seem like much, but get four of those guys and you have just wasted nearly the full-year salary of a practice squad player.
So look, let's not become overly hysterical about the Cowboys giving up three draft choices for Williams. They really didn't. They gave up a first, that's what the traded amounted to. Now if you want to argue even that was too much, go ahead, knock yourself out. That's legit. Although, we won't know that answer for 16 more games.
But as for the rest, don't let anyone else bring that weak stuff in here. At least not around me.
_________________