FRISCO, Texas – That time of year again in the NFL. New league year, salary cap, free agency, trade season, all having begun at 3 p.m. Wednesday.
That means time to thrown down the yellow flag, cautioning against these bloating contract numbers player agents love to throw out to make themselves look great in the business of hunting down clients before anyone has a chance to read the fine print once the ink dries, usually no sooner than tomorrow after guys fly into town to take physicals.
It Happens Every Spring. Oh wait, that's a 1949 baseball comedy movie. Google it. Upgraded forerunner of the "spit ball."
For example, let's take the Cowboys re-signing restricted free agent KaVontae Turpin. Great move by the way.
In the bluster to be first announcing the new deal for the NFL's best return man, who moonlights as a receiver and quite possibly could take on more responsibility in that area this year under new head coach Brian Schottenheimer, here were the numbers:
Three years, $18 million, and being shouted from the highest mountain, "most ever for an NFL special teams player." Bet Turp didn't mind that too much, although probably recoiled since the former USFL Offensive Player of the Year back in 2022 fancied himself a most productive wide receiver, too.
But let's get real on these numbers that most, especially those on talk radio, were screaming about Turpin's contract averaging $6 million a year. This came thanks in part to his new agents boasting about the deal they signed after getting him away from his former agents, who did the fine work of hooking him up with the Cowboys when no one else was knocking at his door for just a chance.
And man, happy for Turp after all he's been through to get to this point, but here are the facts: His actual contract is three years, $13.5 million, which includes a $3.6 million signing bonus, $5 million guaranteed (signing bonus plus his 2025 base salary of $1.4 million) and then a $500,000 roster bonus ($29,000/game) for a first-year salary cap hit of $3.1 million, coupled with the ability to prorate his signing bonus over three years ($1.2 million per year).
Essentially, what the Cowboys did was take a restricted free agent, who they likely would have tendered for a right of first refusal at the second-round compensation level of a guaranteed $5.346 million base salary, and gave him that money up front to lower his first-year cap hit to $3.1 million. They gave Turp his money today but lowered his 2025 cap hit by roughly $2.2 million.
Hey, when your 2025 top-five cap hits total $121 million, and then must account for $20 million in dead money, and your projected draft pool is now $12.7 million for this coming season, every million dollars counts. That's like saving enough for two bottom-salary tier players.
That being a "selectively slick" shot.
- Whac-A-Mole: This favorite state fair game might as well be NFL free agency for the Cowboys. Once they knock down one problem or even two, like re-signing defensive tackle Osa Odighizuwa, then defensive lineman Solomon Thomas while losing defensive lineman Chauncy Golston and finding a running back in Javonte Williams, up pops a void at cornerback when eight-year veteran nickel Jourdan Lewis agrees to terms with Jacksonville on a three-year, $30 million contract, the $10 million a year for a slot corner going on 30 a tad rich for the Cowboys' cap blood. Like, for the time being, that ugly cornerback mole is staring right at them from this standpoint: With Lewis on his way out, the only sure starting corner standing is DaRon Bland. That's because former Pro Bowl corner Trevon Diggs, after chordal tissue graft knee surgery in need of intensive offseason rehab, is no sure bet to start the season on time. And as of 2 p.m. Wednesday, that left the Cowboys with rights to these corners not named Bland: Caelen Carson, Josh Butler, Kemon Hall, Andrew Booth and special teamer C.J. Goodwin. That had to make new defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus queasy, and the scouting department on the lookout for a draftable corner likely in one of the first two rounds. Oh, but by 3 p.m. the Cowboys took a Whac at that mole, trading for Buffalo corner Kaiir Elam, the Bills' former 23rd pick in the first round of the 2022 NFL draft, just a 12-game starter in his 29 games played for Buffalo, injuries and being made inactive cutting him short of the potential 51 games over three seasons. No way the Bills were going to pick up his fifth-year option in May, so they parlayed Elam and a 2025 sixth-round pick for a Cowboys 2025 fifth and 2026 seventh.
And if the name Elam sounds familiar, Kaiir's dad, Abram Elam, had two tours of duty in Dallas, the former safety first playing for the Cowboys during the 2006 season and then returning in 2011 to start 16 games. Guessing, though, Kaiir only a puddy fix in that corner hole.
- And Another: You know that four-year, $80 million deal Osa Odighizuwa signed to prevent the Cowboys franchise tagging him for $25.1 million? When looking at the $39 million guarantees, it really comes down to a three-year, $59.5 million deal that they can escape from before the $20 million base salary kicks in the fourth season. So instead of that $25.1 million cap hit this year on the tag, the deal lowers that charge to just $6.25 million. Is that the definition of being "selectively aggressive" then? And don't want to hear anything about the Cowboys having to pay more because of dragging their feet again on a deal. Good move if logic becomes involved.
- Another Mole Down: So linebacker has become a bit of an issue for the Cowboys, what with 2024 leading tackler Eric Kendricks unrestricted and last year's budding phenom DeMarvion Overshown likely starting the season on PUP after suffering that torn ACL in his "other" knee 11 games into the season. But the Cowboys are taking a Whac at that, trading a seventh-round pick to Tennessee for Titans middle linebacker Kenneth Murray Jr., the former Sooner leading the Titans this past season with 95 tackles and a career-high 3½ sacks. This is another former first-round draft choice, leaving OU after three seasons to become the Chargers' 23rd overall pick in the 2020 first round. He'll cost a $6 million base with a $1 million roster bonus, the Cowboys giving up just a sixth-round pick for Murray and a seventh.
- Comping Out: No surprise the Cowboys were awarded the maximum four compensatory picks, three fifths and a one sixth after losing eight players this past season in free agency, including starters Tyron Smith, Tony Pollard, Tyler Biadasz and Dorance Armstrong, not to mention productive rotation defensive end Dante Fowler Jr. And if needing a reminder, those comp picks now can be traded, and they used the highest of those three fifths (170) in the trade for Elam. But the Cowboys aren't likely done there, since they still have three fifth-round picks (their own at 149 and then 171 and 174) and now two sixth round picks (their own at 188 and Buffalo's sixth (204). That means the Cowboys not only have ammo for another trade but also can use some of these picks to move around in a round during the draft, or package a couple to move back into the fourth round where they don't have a pick after trading their fourth to Carolina for wide receiver Jonathan Mingo.
- Something Special: No sense messing with a good thing since kicker Brandon Aubrey led the team with 150 points, making all 30 of his extra points and 40 of 47 field goals, two of his four misses from less than 50 blocked, and two of his misses from 50-plus short from 70 and off the right upright from 61. So to maintain the all-important kicking operation, they re-signed deep snapper Trent Sieg to a three-year, $4.5 million package and now punter Bryan Anger, who doubles as the holder, to a two-year deal averaging $3.2 million a year. And word is there were several teams interested in Anger, who averaged 48.5 yards a punt in 2024, the second highest mark in franchise history to only his 51.4 in 2023 but a notch better than his 48.4 averages in 2022 and 2021.
- Free Range: A happiest of birthdays to former Cowboys longtime assistant coach Gene Stallings (1972-85) turning 90 on March 2, having also spent four seasons as the Arizona Cardinals head coach (1986-89) and the Alabama head coach (1990-96), where he won the Natty in 1992. And knowing Gene, having spent time with him in 2017 for a Cowboys Legends Show, probably is still riding on his ranch in Paris, Texas, repairing fences … You know the aforementioned 150 points Aubrey accounted for in 2024 ties Emmitt Smith for the second most in franchise history, Emmitt putting up his 150 in 1995 thanks to 25 touchdowns. Brandon came up just seven short of his franchise record of 157, set in 2023 … And for those raising their eyebrows over the Rams releasing 32-year-old wide receiver Cooper Kupp, know Los Angeles is absorbing $22.3 million in dead money to save just $7.5 million against the 2025 salary cap. So they might know more about Kupp's future than the rest of us, seeing that he averaged two catches for 28.2 yards over the last five games of 2024 and was slowed to just 12 games after suffering a high-ankle injury.
And for this week's final word, we go to Cowboys owner Jerry Jones when peppered with questions about the upcoming draft, knowing the Cowboys need to fill some holes that they're currently doing with the signing of free agents and making the trades that they have on the opening of the new league year. Jerry realizes making some of their current roster decisions depends on projections of players improving and those on the mend.
"We've got to do some speculation about what we'll do in the draft, and we've got to have some, all of those things, we've got to have some good news on the rehab front, and we're getting it. So obviously we've got a lot of guys that didn't finish up the year that we will and need to count on to start the next year. You weigh all of that, where we think we can go now.
"You know, have to have depth because you've got to. If ever there was a lesson, not a lesson, but an obvious fact of being in the NFL, was last year on what you do when you have injury. And, of course, last year we signed our top two guys, Dak [Prescott] and [CeeDee] Lamb, and neither one of those guys were on the field when we finished up. So the point is, we all understand everybody plays with injury, but within that, with what we can do, which we were planning on where we were going to be frankly under the cap this time last year, no surprises here."
And having said all that, more to come obviously before the Cowboys even get to the draft. More moles, you know, to deal with.
