Seahawks ‘know where it’s going’ with free-agent linebacker Bobby Wagner

Seattle Seahawks general manager John Schneider confirmed he and coach Pete Carroll have been in talks with All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner.

The Seattle Seahawks may have a chance at reuniting with a familiar face this offseason. General manager John Schneider confirmed Thursday that he and coach Pete Carroll have been in talks with All-Pro linebacker Bobby Wagner.

“We’ve been able to talk to Bobby now and address some of those things, so it’s worked out great,” Schneider said during his weekly radio hit on Seattle Sports 710 am. “We’re gonna be in communication as we go along throughout free agency now.”

Wagner represents himself, acting as his own agent, similar to other former Seahawks like offensive lineman Russell Okung and cornerback Richard Sherman.

“We have been able to now, so (Carroll) and I were able to talk to him the other day, and we had a great, awesome, frank conversation, so he knows where we are, and we know where he’s at,” Schneider continued. “We have so much respect for him personally and professionally, so we were able to talk through some things and yeah, we know where it’s going.”

Free agency and the new league year officially start on Wednesday, but Monday begins the legal tampering period, so stay tuned!

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Report: Cowboys TE Dalton Schultz to report to first day of minicamp

Schultz will attend the mandatory three-day session, per reports, with contract talks having picked up following his OTA absence. | From @ToddBrock24f7

In the end, there wasn’t much drama to it at all. Cowboys tight end Dalton Schultz will reportedly report to the first day of minicamp on Tuesday.

The news first came from NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, citing a source.

Schultz had opted to sit out the final week of voluntary OTAs in an effort to prod contract negotiations with the club. The Cowboys placed the franchise tag on Schultz back in March as a way to secure the fifth-year veteran’s services. He signed a tender locking in a 2022 salary of $10.93 million if a new deal isn’t reached by July 15.

According to Pelissero, “talks have picked up in recent days.” Though nothing is apparently imminent, there’s been enough movement, apparently, to encourage the Stanford alum to report for the three-day mandatory session.

Schultz said he spent considerable time in the gym this offseason to bulk up, gaining extra weight so he can, as he put it, “hold my own a little more” against the league’s larger edge rushers.

It’s felt that the Cowboys ultimately don’t want to pay Schultz elite tight end money, despite him turning in career highs in targets, receptions, receiving yards, first downs, and touchdowns in 2021. His franchise tag number places him within the top ten at the position in terms of annual salary.

But massive paydays are already being given to Dak Prescott, Ezekiel Elliott, and DeMarcus Lawrence. Rising superstars Trevon Diggs and CeeDee Lamb will be in line for second contracts soon. And the front office has to already be thinking about what it will take to keep linebacker phenom Micah Parsons in a Cowboys uniform.

As solid as Schultz has been, it may simply not be enough to stay in Dallas beyond 2022. That’s where the contract talks come in.

“I let my agent kind of handle all that business,” Schultz said two weeks ago.

But he’s back at work on Tuesday, at least.

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DeMarcus Lawrence reportedly refuses pay cut offer from Cowboys

Lawrence is the Cowboys’ highest-paid defender, but reportedly refused to take a pay cut to help the team get under the 2022 salary cap. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys front office entered this offseason needing to do a very delicate dance as far as the salary cap is concerned. One certain high-priced veteran is already rumored to be on the chopping block as a cost-cutting measure. There’s talk of a possible franchise tag and contract restucturing in the coming days for others to help keep the team’s most important playmakers in the building.

Now it appears another fan favorite may be ready to play hardball with the Joneses.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence has reportedly turned down a pay cut proposed by Cowboys management, according to Calvin Watkins of the Dallas Morning News.

Lawrence, with a scheduled 2022 base salary of $19 million, is currently the team’s third-highest-paid player, behind quarterback Dak Prescott and wide receiver Amari Cooper, both of whom are listed at $20 million for the upcoming season.

Cooper is thought to be headed for release by the Cowboys within the next  two weeks if a trade partner cannot be found. Now Lawrence, the 2014 second-round draft pick out of Boise State, may also be on his way out of Dallas. (Cowboys Wire explored this very possibility recently.)

As Watkins somberly notes regarding the Lawrence development: “Normally when a player rejects a pay cut he’s soon to be released.”

The two-time Pro Bowler has 48.5 sacks in his eight seasons with the Cowboys. He missed significant time in 2021 due to a foot fracture but was a difference-maker when he was on the field; he recorded 21 tackles, five tackles for loss, seven quarterback hits, and five passes defensed. He also forced two fumbles and logged an interception that he returned for a touchdown, the first of his career.

Fellow edge rushers Randy Gregory and Dorance Armstrong are both set to enter free agency, meaning the Cowboys brass has multiple serious decisions to make- and quickly- regarding the key position. While Armstrong was more of a rotation man last year and Tarell Basham, Carlos Watkins, and rookie Chauncey Golston all contributed as well, Lawrence and Gregory made for a rather formidable set of starting bookends on the defensive line.

Now all of a sudden, there’s a very real chance that both could be wearing a different uniform in 2022.

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Jerry Jones says Prescott couldn’t ‘have any more leverage’ than right now

Jerry Jones believes that after the Cowboys went 4-7 without Dak Prescott that he has tons lf leverage in future contract talks.

The Dallas Cowboys failed to reach the playoffs for the second consecutive season. Injuries were the team’s biggest Achilles heel in 2020 which caused big contributors such as Tyron Smith, La’el Collins, Sean Lee, and Leighton Vander Esch to all miss significant time. The biggest loss, however, came in Week 5 against the New York Giants when quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a season-ending ankle injury and effectively derailed any plans for a successful season.

The offseason focus for the Cowboys is getting the long-awaited contract done with Prescott. Owner Jerry Jones made an appearance on 105.3 The Fan on Tuesday and acknowledged his franchise quarterback has all tons of leverage once contract talks resume.

“I don’t know how you could have any more leverage,” Jones said. … His evolving into an NFL quarterback has been nothing short of a perfect picture. He has great ability, in my mind, to win games. He’s talented. He certainly has the experiences and he has all the things, which has been substantiated by what we’ve offered Dak. You wouldn’t offer Dak what we offered in the past if you’d not thought he was very special. The issue is, how do you come together? And that’s no stranger to me. I’ve been doing it all my life, putting things together. We’ve got to get it together.”

The Cowboys tried at the last minute back in July to secure Prescott long-term with an offer that was around $35 million per year with over $110 million in guaranteed money and a $50 million dollar signing bonus. However, dollars weren’t the biggest hold up to get the deal done, it was the length of the contract. The organization wanted a five-year commitment while Prescott wanted a four-year marriage with the opportunity to cash in again once the new television revenue kicks in.

America’s Team, like all NFL clubs, will be working with a condensed salary cap in 2021 due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. The two-time Pro Bowl selection played on a franchise tag this season that paid him $31.4 million, and that number will go to $37.7 million if a second tag is applied this offseason.

The impact of the loss of Prescott this season was evident.

Even with a 3-1 record to close out the year, the Cowboys were a dismal 4-7 in his absence. After averaging 32.6 points per game with Prescott the Cowboy’s offense dwindled to 21.1 points per game with Andy Dalton, Garrett Gilbert, and Ben DiNucci under center.

The organization and Prescott have never wavered on wanting to get a deal done. Jones sighted flexibility as a key factor going forward.

“We have a certain amount, period, that can be paid to players every year,” Jones said. “It’s a very competitive thing, and the longer the term, the more flexibility you’ve got in any numbers that you have in a contract. The planning ahead, the looking at what you can spend, what you can give on any other free agents, that’s your overall planning.”

The Cowboys had extremely high hopes and were expected to win a weak NFC East in 2020. If that’s to be the case next season, getting Prescott inked long-term has to be the top priority.

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Report: ‘No scheduled talks’ between Prescott’s agent and Cowboys

With less than 24 hours to go, there are no plans for the two sides to meet… but there are options for a new contract for the QB.

Maybe someone should make a test call to the phones of Todd France and Stephen Jones, just to make sure they’re still on and working. The agent for Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and the team’s executive vice president/chief operating officer have less than 24 hours to consummate a new contract for the starter before an important window closes.

But apparently, both sides have more important things to do on a lazy summer Tuesday than working to secure the services of the presumed leader of America’s Team. As reported by ESPN’s Todd Archer, “there are no scheduled talks between the Dallas Cowboys and the quarterback’s agent,” according to Archer’s sources.

But “Deadlines make deals,” of course. That’s an old saying that dates back to-

Wait. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones is the one who said it, back in the 1990s. And while the multi-billionaire has been in plenty of financial staredowns over his tenure as team boss, few other wranglings have felt like they held the future of the franchise in the balance.

Prescott is already locked in as the team’s starting quarterback for 2020; his signing of the franchise tender assured that. This game of chicken is about what happens in 2021 and beyond.

In a video posted Tuesday morning, Mike Fisher of 105.3 The Fan offers a quick guide to the five ways things could play out as the Wednesday deadline approaches.

To summarize, the team could:

  1. Do nothing. Let the franchise tag stand. Prescott makes $31.409 million for 2020 in what amounts to another one-year prove-it deal. Pick up talks again in the next offseason. The risk? It sends a message to Prescott that the front office still doesn’t believe in him, potentially souring him on wanting to remain in Dallas. It also makes 2021 even more expensive than 2020.
  2. Use the franchise tag on Prescott again in 2021. For another $37.7 million, the team retains control over Prescott for an additional season. But it’s hard to imagine the relationship could possibly survive two-plus years of let’s-wait-and-see-where-this-is-going non-commitment.
  3. Give in to Prescott’s ask for a four-year deal instead of a five-year pact. The sticking point in these talks has seemed to be more about time than money. Prescott, who’s been the biggest bargain in the league since his rookie deal, would understandably like another turn in the payday line when the league’s TV contract expires and there’s a lot more cash out there to be made.
  4. Find a way to make the five-year deal more attractive to Prescott’s camp. “Is there a way to anticipate what Dak would make in 2024,” Fisher wonders, “and compensate him for that now?” This spreads out cap impact and allows the Joneses more leeway in expanding the roster elsewhere.
  5. Get creative. Take a look at the groundbreaking contract the Chiefs worked out with Patrick Mahomes. Maybe “the first-ever percentage-of-the-cap deal” would be enough of a sweetener to bring Prescott around. Maybe working some magic with innovative option bonuses or guarantees. Jerry and Stephen Jones would undoubtedly love the revolutionary structure of their starting quarterback’s contract to become the talk of the league and the deal that everyone else is trying to emulate. All it takes is a phone call.

The clock is ticking, with loud, echoing booms like the cliffhanger ending of every episode of 24.

How far will the timer be allowed to count down? What happens if it hits zero? Will the Cowboys cut the red wire or the blue wire?

And will this whole thing blow sky-high if they make the wrong choice?

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