Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Spencer as a free agent
By Tom Carpenter
Nick Eatman of DallasCowboys.com warns fans to not expect the Dallas Cowboys to be big-time players on the free-agent market this offseason. In fact, he thinks they likely will have to let Anthony Spencer walk.
"Personally, I don’t think the Cowboys will keep Spencer next year because I think he’s going to test the market first and there will be some big-time money out there for him," he wrote. "Surely the Cowboys want him back and I bet he wouldn’t mind staying here. But the second contract is the biggest contract of a player’s career. He’s got to take the best deal for him and I’m guessing it’ll probably be somewhere else."
Part of the problem the Cowboys have is that they are already $20 million over the salary cap, even without Spencer in the mix. Eatman suggest they could save money elsewhere, though.
"The Cowboys could cut players like Doug Free and Dan Connor to get about $10 million back on this year’s cap. Restructuring deals for guys like Brandon Carr, DeMarcus Ware, Jason Witten and Miles Austin could free up about $15-20 million," he noted.
Getting back to Spencer, ESPN NFL Insider Bill Polian thinks he would be a better fit in a 4-3 scheme:
Bill Polian
Best available NFL free agents"He played OLB in Dallas' 3-4 scheme, but I think he's more of a 4-3 end. He is an outstanding pass-rusher. As I mentioned earlier, I'm normally wary of players having good seasons in contract years, but putting him at OLB doesn't allow him to do what he does best, which is rush upfield. And I see upside for him in a 4-3 scheme."
