CHRIS KEATINGMASON, TX
With the release of Tony Romo, the Cowboys now have a pretty significant amount of available cap space. Wouldn't it make sense to take advantage of the situation and sign Zack Martin to a contract with a large first year salary instead of a signing bonus? That way, he wouldn't count against the salary cap with dead money in future years and he would get the same amount of money.
Bryan: I am not going to pretend I know how they're going to structure Zack Martin's contract. They have a plan how they want to do it and I will wait to see how that unfolds.
David:I understand what you're saying, but if I had to guess, I think they'll give Martin a back-loaded contract structure, like they did with Tyron Smith and Travis Frederick. I think that's for two reasons. Firstly, it gives them a way to free up money against the salary cap in the future – should they need to. Second, they don't see it as a long-term risk, because of their players' durability. Martin has yet to miss an NFL game and is the model of consistency, which makes it much more palatable to move his money around than it would with another player.
GARY DAVISFRESNO, CA
In your tenures with the Cowboys, which draft pick was the biggest bust or most disappointing in your opinion?
Bryan: In the 2003 NFL Draft we took Wisconsin center Al Johnson with the 38th overall pick. I want to say he played 31 or so games for us? That's a terrible selection to make for that number of games.
David:I've only been here for a handful of years, and I know there are plenty of busts to look back on. But any list of disappointing Cowboys draft picks is – unfortunately – going to have to include Morris Claiborne. It's not just that the Cowboys drafted him No. 6 overall, but they also traded up from No. 14 and gave away a second-round pick in the process. Claiborne is one of the nicest guys I've ever worked with, but he appeared in just 48 of 83 possible games over five years in Dallas. He finished his career here with four total interceptions. Not a great return on the investment.
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