(Editor's Note: Time to check the mail! The DallasCowboys.com staff writers answer your questions here in 'Mailbag' presented by Miller Lite.)
I completely get the idea George Pickens may be a one-year rental, but there seem to be a lot of veterans also on one-year deals. I also realize that cap considerations have to be made, but when you have a lot of players on one-year deals, aren't you a hostage to free agency every year? And surely this must hamper continuity as you have to go backward to go forward each year? – Kevin Boxell/Luton, UK
Mickey: You hit the nail right on the head. There are salary cap considerations, meaning you can't have a steak on every plate. And at some point, teams can't re-sign all their guys on the final years of their contracts early Now this is a different story when dealing with a high-profile player you know you want back, and if that final year on the deal has an inordinately high base salary, you try to sign him to an extension by paying the player a signing bonus that can be prorated over the life of the new deal and then can pay that player a minimum base salary for that first year of the extension. But you must be 100 percent sure you want that player around.
Micah parsons fits into that discussion since his fifth year option the Cowboys already have picked up is charging $24 million against the cap. An extension reduces that base salary, and in turn reduces his cap hit while guaranteeing him money for the next four or five years. But then take WR Jalen Tolbert, in the final year of his contract. Tolbert must weigh either betting on himself having a good year and then marketing himself in free agency vs. taking a lesser deal and getting his money early. This is more complicated than you think.
Tommy: I see the point you're making and it makes sense, but uniform continuity is impossible in the NFL. All 32 teams are going to experience some sort of roster loss when free agency hits because no one has the resources, salary cap space or roster space to retain everybody. All the one-year deals the Cowboys made in free agency and the trade market were low risk, low cost additions that have the upside to pan out into key players on the roster in 2025.
When it comes to continuity, you want to keep your best players around, and the Cowboys have done that by signing Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb, Osa Odighizuwa and at some point, Micah Parsons, which is the best way to maintain a consistently good roster and supplement it with a surrounding case for your star players.
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