Breaking Down Dallas Cowboys' Best, Worst Contracts
No team is immune to bad contracts. It doesn't matter the sport or the team, every team has a handful of contracts that they wished were never signed. It is just a part of sports and business.
But, just like signing a player to a bad contract, there are also times where teams benefit from taking chances on players early. We've seen the Dallas Cowboys do this multiples times with mixed results.
Here, we look at some of the best and worst contracts for the Cowboys.
For this exercise, I will avoid using rookie contracts. Each rookie contract is slotted, so Dallas doesn't really have to do much work with those.
Instead, we will look at players who were given second contracts by the Cowboys and examine how those deals have benefited or have hurt the team.
Best: LT Tyron Smith
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In 2014, left tackle Tyron Smith signed an eight-year, $97.6 million contract extension that will make him a Cowboy until 2024.
While the total may seem high, Smith's average guaranteed money per year puts him at 53rd among offensive linemen in the league. He is only guaranteed $2.7 million per year for next seven seasons, which is a pretty ridiculous number considering he was named to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl in 2016.
What makes this contract even better for Dallas is the length of it. For the most part, Smith's salary will stay the same for the next six seasons while much lesser players are getting bigger extensions with more guaranteed money.
Players such as Matt Kalil and Riley Reiff got massive deals in free agency in 2016; each is getting much more guaranteed money than Smith on far shorter deals.
The longer Smith plays, the better the deal will look compared to the rest of the league. As long as the 26-year-old keeps playing at this level, not only will he have one of the best contracts for Dallas, it'll be one of the biggest steals in the league.
Worst: DE Tyrone Crawford
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In 2015, the Cowboys signed defensive tackle Tyrone Crawford to a five-year extension worth $45 million.
He's the 11th highest paid 4-3 defensive tackle in the league, according to Over The Cap. However, he's no longer playing the position he was signed to play as he has been moved to left defensive end.
Since signing the extension, Crawford has 9.5 sacks in the past two seasons. In 2016, Pro Football Focus ranked Crawford as the 56th edge defender in the NFL, while the NFL1000 graded him 40th among 4-3 defensive ends.
The misconception is that Crawford has declined since signing his big extension. He's still the same player he was when he signed his second contract.
The Cowboys believed that by signing Crawford early, they would be able to get him cheaper after he "broke out" as a three technique in defensive coordinator Rod Marinelli's scheme. But his play leveled off, and he hasn't been able to live up to his massive extension.
Crawford is an expensive defensive lineman, but he's useful. He can play multiple spots fairly well, but he's just not worth the extension he was paid. The 27-year-old enters the season with the team's fourth-highest cap charge.
Best: LB Sean Lee
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When Sean Lee is healthy, there may not be a better linebacker in the entire league. That's why in 2013, the Cowboys signed him to a six-year, $42 million contract extension.
In 2014, however, Lee missed the entire season with a torn ACL. After the injury, many wondered if the Cowboys were foolish to give an oft-injured linebacker an extension.
But, in the past two years, his contract has looked like a bargain.
Like Tyron Smith, Lee's deal is one of the best on the roster because of how it compares to the rest of the league at his position.
In terms of average money per year, he is making just the 17th most for stand-up linebackers. And in terms of guaranteed money per season, the 30-year-old finishes 21st. He's clearly underpaid, and a big reason why is because of injury concerns. Dallas was able to grab Lee at a discount because of his injury history, and it's paid off as of late.
Lee was outstanding in 2016, making his first All-Pro team of his career. He had the fifth-highest grade among linebackers, according to Pro Football Focus and finished fourth in the NFL1000.
As long as Lee is healthy and on the field, the Cowboys will feel pretty good about the deal they signed him to in 2013.
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Worst: DT Cedric Thornton
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After terrorizing the Cowboys for years, Dallas signed divisional foe Cedric Thornton away from the Philadelphia Eagles during the 2016 offseason.
Thornton signed a four-year, $17 million contract to be the team's starting one-technique. However, he only played 278 total defensive snaps as he fell behind Terrell McClain on the depth chart, per Football Outsiders.
When Thornton signed with the Cowboys, the thought was that they were going to get a more athletic one-technique. The idea was to pair him with Rolando McClain lined up behind him.
When McClain was on the field, the thought was that the team didn't need to worry about offensive linemen getting to him as he excelled when taking on blocks. Thornton could use his quickness to disrupt plays, rather than taking on blocks.
But McClain was suspended for 10 games and never played in 2016. To hide their smaller middle linebackers, Dallas needed a more traditional one technique who could take on blocks to free up the linebackers. Thornton was forced into backup duties for most of the season.
The 28-year-old played very limited snaps in his first year in Dallas and that could happen again in 2017 as the team signed Stephen Paea, who is more of the run-plugging defensive tackle than a penetrator.
Thornton is being paid like a top-20 defensive tackle in the NFL, yet he may not even start for the Cowboys in 2017. He's going to need to be significantly better if he wants to justify the contract he signed with Dallas in 2016.
Best: WR Cole Beasley
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According to Pro Football Focus, Cole Beasley in the third-best slot receiver in the NFL. Not only is he dynamic out of the slot, he also graded out as the 13th-best receiver in 2016. However, he isn't being paid like one of the top receivers in football.
In 2015, Dallas signed Beasley to a four-year deal worth $13.6 million. That contract will make him a Cowboy through the 2018 season.
Despite playing like one of the top 20 receivers in football, Beasley is being paid outside of the top 50 receivers in the NFL. And that number will only decrease as more receivers receive contract extensions over the next two years.
The 28-year-old is scheduled to cost less than $9 million against the cap in the next two seasons, per Over The Cap. That is a steal considering how well he's played and how important he is to the team's offense.
By paying Beasley in the 2015 offseason before he broke out, the Cowboys were able to get a nice bargain on one of the league's best receivers.
Worst: TE James Hanna
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In 2016, the Cowboys re-signed tight end James Hanna to a modest three-year, $8.25 million deal.
On the surface, that deal doesn't look too bad. But after missing all of 2016, it's fair to wonder if Dallas overpaid for Hanna. Obviously, his knee injury makes this deal look worse than it is, but it still doesn't justify the contract.
Before signing his contract in 2016, Hanna caught just 33 passes in his career and zero touchdowns. He's really an H-back who makes his living as a blocker.
While he's an average blocker, he isn't being paid like a situational blocker. Instead, he's being paid closer to a starting tight end (36th highest paid tight end in the NFL). However, he's just so limited as a player that it's hard to justify paying just an average blocker close to starter money.
The Cowboys paid decent money to a player who is pretty replaceable, all things considered. Hanna's contract won't prevent the team from re-signing their own or attracting big name free agents, but it's an overpay for a below average player.
In five years in the NFL, Hanna has never finished with an average grade, per Pro Football Focus. Yet, he's being paid like one again in 2017.
Best: FS Jeff Heath
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In full disclosure, this spot belonged to David Irving before news came out that he's facing a possible four-game suspension due to a failed performance-enhancing drugs test, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.
However, after digging a little deeper into some of the Cowboys' recent signings, it was safety Jeff Heath who made the list as he has one of the best contracts on the roster.
In 2016, the Cowboys signed Heath to a four-year extension worth $7.6 million. At the time, the move made sense for both sides as he was one of the core special team players on the roster and is a more than adequate backup at safety.
However, what makes Heath's contract and this situation interesting is that the deal is already paying dividends for the Cowboys, and it has a chance to be an even bigger steal by the end of the season.
Heath finished with a 76.4 grade in 2016, according to Pro Football Focus. The site shows that a grade in the 70s equals to an average starter in the NFL. Heath is expected to open the season as the team's starter and it's fair to assume that he will only improve as he plays more.
In 2017, Heath will be just the 58th highest paid safety in the NFL, and he will certainly exceed that ranking.
Worst: QB Tony Romo
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The worst contract on the Cowboys' book is for a player who won't contribute to the team this year; Tony Romo.
The Cowboys released Romo in April with a June 1 designation, meaning that the quarterback will count for more than $19 million against the team's cap for the next two seasons.
Romo's contract will count for $10.7 million against the cap in 2017, making him the fourth-highest cap charge this season, per OverTheCap.
Unfortunately for both sides, his contract extension didn't work out as well as planned as the 37-year-old suffered multiple big injuries that caused him to leave the game early.
As frustrating as it is, Romo's contract is the worst on the roster and will be again in 2018.
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