NFL: Is The Writing On The Wall?

March 1-6, 2001 will be six of the most gut-wrenching days the Dallas Cowboys franchise and their fans ever experience according to DFW sportscaster Norm Hitzges on KTCK-Dallas. Hitzges insists that’s when the franchise decides whether or not to keep quarterback Troy Aikman.

In April of 1999 the Cowboys asked Aikman to restructure his contract in order to go out and get players like Joey Galloway, Ryan McNeil and Jackie Harris because Dallas believed they still had the cornerstones of the franchise and could make another run at a championship before they rode off into the sunset.

After all, the Redskins weren’t that good at the time and Dallas felt they could win the NFC East and get at least a partial home field advantage.

Dallas gave Aikman a $20 million signing bonus when they restructured his deal in April 1999. Aikman got $13 million up front and they delayed $7 million until March 2001 in order to create $3 million in cap space at the time. That’s how they have been able to sign players like Galloway, McNeil and Harris over the last couple of years.

Aikman has a $7 million buyout in March 2001. The contract was restructured to be for 1999 and 2000 with an option for 2001-2007. Before March 1, or after March 6, 2001, Dallas can exercise the $7 million buyout or pickup the option until 2007, but either way Aikman gets the $7 million and it counts against the cap. The only difference is how and when it counts against the cap.

Understand that nobody in the Cowboys’ organization ever imagined that this team would be this bad this soon or they might have done things differently like keeping draft picks and trying to acquire young help through the draft instead of seeking out proven veterans who were ready to play at the time.

Now, with nearly as many injured veterans as healthy ones on the roster and the team obviously spiraling downward on the talent scale, Dallas has one of the most serious decisions to make (in the entire history of the franchise) over these next 90 days or so.

THE STICKY PART

There is another option. If the Cowboys decide to cut Aikman during that week of March 1-6, 2001, that will signal the official end of the dynasty. Releasing Troy Aikman tells veterans like Emmitt Smith, Darren Woodson and Larry Allen that it’s over and the rebuilding period has begun.

There is a clause in Aikman’s contract that begs the question "should Dallas cut Troy Aikman?" According to Hitzges the rather ominous clause states:

"However, if the player is cut before the seventh day of the 2001 league season (which officially begins on March 1, 2001), all buyout and payout clauses are no longer applicable," Hitzges said. Of course, sometimes the league changes it’s calendar year, but right now it officially starts on March 1, 2001.

If Dallas cuts Aikman, what happens? Their cap hit next year climbs to $10,063,000 on Aikman, but that’s it for him. The hard part is that hit is coupled with at least $11 million in dead weight from deals with players no longer on the team. That brings the tally to a staggering minimum of $21 million in dead cap weight.

Add factors such as players like James McKnight hitting bonus accelerators on their contract this year and Dallas may have additional bonus money as well as some new dead weight money to consider after this year. This could force Dallas to cut the budget now in order to get under the 2001 cap figure. Dallas will start with less than $38 million in salary left for the 2001 season if Aikman is released.

The up-side would be that after 2001, Dallas would be past the dead weight cap hits on most players like Aikman, Jay Novacek, Deion Sanders, etc.

If Dallas chooses to give Aikman the seven million and extend his contract, and then Aikman decides he’s going to retire, or they cut him after June 1, 2001, the hit gets spread over two years, but it’s much larger.

THE EXODUS

Will Jerry Jones actually cut a player who won three Super Bowls and always did whatever the franchise asked of him? That’s a much tougher question. If Jerry can do it, Dallas will have to endure a couple of years of really bad football, but will have much needed cap relief after 2001. What a scenario Cowboys’ fans have to look forward to for the next two or three seasons.

Even worse, it will probably signal the beginning of a mass exodus of players from Dallas. It’s likely that Dexter Coakley will not be re-signed. Ryan McNeil and Randall Cunningham could be gone, as well as several others, but after a couple of seasons of a pathetic product, Dallas would recover some major cap room. Dallas needs to recover from mistakes like keeping the wrong player, and re-signing lesser players like they did when they let Randall Godfrey go to Tennessee.

If they can stop making bad trades and wrong decisions they could begin stockpiling draft picks for some selected veterans. Who knows? They could do something similar to what the San Francisco 49ers are doing now. Of course there is no known "Jeff Garcia" type waiting in the wings here, and Dallas won’t have a shot at the rookie crop of quarterbacks in 2001 thanks to the trade with Seattle for Joey Galloway.

If Dallas can find a taker and Aikman is traded then it will be the same as if he retired as far as the cap hit goes so that isn’t likely. Again, before June 1, 2001 it will count against the 2001 cap, after June 1, 2001 it will be spread over two seasons.

BUM BA DEE DUM…HAPPY TRAILS TO YOU…

One last note, Troy Aikman recently bought an enormous home in Santa Barbara, California that once belonged to Marcus Allen. Dallas has a history of bad endings to relationships with their quarterbacks. Don Meredith won’t return. Danny White moved back home to Arizona. Only Roger Staubach remained in Dallas after retiring.

Troy Aikman has been great to Dallas fans and the entire Dallas area. He’s been a pillar of the community and has several local business interests as well as personal ties to the area. It would be a shame to know that this guy’s last year with the franchise was one in which he was literally run out of town. Dallas owes Aikman more than that. The Cowboys owe him more than that.

Business is business and if Aikman must be released for the long term good of the franchise then so be it. Just let it be done with reciprocity. Aikman deserves the same dignity and class that he showed on and off the field. He’s been a huge part of the renewed success of the Dallas Cowboys, and he deserves treatment commensurate with his contribution to the organization and their fans.

Unfortunately, many fans booed Mr. Aikman early this season, refusing to allow him to ride off into the sunset as a hero. If the writing on the wall is any indication of things to come, that ride got just considerably shorter. Whatever happens, Aikman deserves to ride tall in the saddle when he makes that journey. Perhaps Emmitt Smith will receive a little better treatment when his time comes, for it too is fast approaching.