March 10th Bag of Footballs: Deals, Deals!
There is a lot happening in a lot of different sections of the Cowboys world so here is a bunch of it in small bites.
Today is March 10, which means it’s NFL Free Agency Week. Traditionally, that means very little for the Dallas Cowboys, but we should stay on our toes to see if they are willing to change our minds. Whether they get busy or not, many of their rivals will be trying to sort out their own problems. That is front and center in this week’s WBOF (Weekly Bag of Footballs), so let’s get going.
Weekly Cowboys Transactions -
DT Osa Odighizuwa agreed to terms on a four-year, $80 million contract extension.
Team placed 2nd round tender offer on WR KaVontae Turpin for $5.4m.
S CJ Goodwin signed a one-year, $1.4 million contract.
Team restructured the contract of WR CeeDee Lamb that will create roughly $20 million in cap space.
S Juanyeh Thomas was signed to a one-year, $1.03 million contract as ERFA.
RG Brock Hoffman signed a one-year, $1.01 million as ERFA.
Team restructured the contract of QB Dak Prescott that creates up $36.6 million in cap space.
Edge Tyrus Wheat signed a one-year, $1.03 million contract as ERFA.
Safety Markquese Bell agreed on a three-year, $12 million deal.
Most of these deals are pretty standard and straightforward. The restructures are essentially just moving things around on the spreadsheet and ultimately require no consent from the players involved, nor do they offer any sort of compensation.
The Turpin tender is likely to ensure he doesn’t go anywhere without a fight, as he still has some restrictions on his freedom. Dallas has the right to match and would receive a draft pick if they choose not to match an offer sheet. Beyond that, several deals involve special teams players or exclusive-rights free agents, so there are no significant negotiations. The money is what it is, and it’s another year of fixed income for Hoffman, Wheat, and Thomas. C.J. Goodwin rolls over again as a special teams veteran.
But, obviously, the big move was Osa Odighizuwa. I didn’t write a big post-signing piece on the agreement to a major deal because it was exactly as we projected in this space before it happened. Here is the passage from our newsletter on Feb 19th:
I support keeping Odighizuwa at the going rate. I would prefer a tag perhaps, but I want a longer deal if it can be done at a good price. The thing is that a good price is probably closer to 4/$80m than just about anyone who is a Cowboys fan would like to admit. He has done his part and he will find this offer out there. The question is where.
So, four years and $80 million was pretty much the exact deal and now it is up to him to make it worth the while. I think he will and I would have done the exact same thing if I was the team (although I might have been more proactive last summer).
Then, there is the deal with Markquese Bell on a 3/$12m deal with roughly half guaranteed. From the details, it is more like 3/$9m and not a big deal either way on a talented player they have liked for a number of years in sort of a Rico Dowdle sort of way.