RiverDog
Well-known member
bigDhawk":1sgj6kuh said:RiverDog":1sgj6kuh said:Well, that's the Cowboys, and it goes a long way in explaining why they are always one of the teams that have so much trouble staying under the cap and haven't seemed to be able to get that one player that can put them over the hump. They spend their money foolishly, hitch their wagon to the wrong horses.
I don't see the Hawks paying anywhere close to that kind of scratch to Okung, not with Russell and guys like Wagner and Wright coming up soon. Even when he's healthy, Okung is merely adequate, and not All Pro quality like Smith is. IMO this will be the last year we see Okung in a Hawks uniform.
Here in Dallas I've been listening a lot to the local talk about the Smith extension and by all accounts the Cowboys made out like bandits in this deal and absolutely fleeced Smith. Apparently the player's union and agents are up in arms that Smith signed such a favorable deal for the club and left tens of millions on the table. The problem with the deal, which is for 10 years, is that it only gives Smith one shot at a guaranteed signing bonus. He is only 22 years old I think, and if the deal were for half the years, he could basically do the same deal again in five years and get another 40-50 million guaranteed. He essentially signed away his entire career with only one chunk of guaranteed money. This is a crazy good deal for the Cowboys as it will essentially give them five or six years of cap freedom for one of the best young LTs in the game, should they ever need to cut him. FWIW, Smith is the only player on the Cowboys roster I would trade straight up in a heartbeat for the player on our team at that position.
As for how this effects Okung, I would say not at all because absolutely no one is going to structure a deal like that again that is so favorable for the club. This contract will not be a realistic comp for any franchise LT going forward.
FYI Smith is 23, will turn 24 during this coming season.