Cha-Ching.
That's what Dallas Cowboys free agents Dez Bryant and DeMarco Murray are hoping to hear this offseason. Both star offensive players are coming off fantastic seasons and both have a strong interest in returning to Dallas for the 2015 season.
"I'm very confident in my mind that we are going to get something done," Bryant said recently, according to NBCDFW.com. "But we just have to see. It's a process. We're talking about big money. We have to see what happens."
Murray has echoed similar statements though both know the NFL is a business first. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, that business's bottom line is hard-pressed. Dallas doesn't have much salary cap space with which to work with, so they'll have to get creative if they want to keep both guys in a Cowboys uniform next season.
That doesn't mean it won't happen, though.
"My guess is very high," Tim Cowlishaw of the Dallas News wrote when asked what the chances of both Murray and Bryant returning next season were. "About 100 percent certain Bryant will be back. Probably 70 to 75 on Murray."
Team owner Jerry Jones will take those odds any day.
Dallas is expected to owe roughly $130 million in cap commitments for the 2015 season. Working in their favor, however, is an expected rise in the salary cap to $140 million or more. Using that number, ESPN's Field Yates laid out a scenario in which both Bryant and Murray are still playing in Big D next year.
"Teams maneuver cap space easily through releases or the restructuring of contracts on their roster," Yates wrote. "Among the candidates on the Cowboys' roster to have his contract reworked (or be outright released) is cornerback Brandon Carr, whose $12.717 million cap number in 2015 exceeds his level of performance.
"The Cowboys will have the franchise tag available this offseason to use on one of these two players. The value of the franchise tag at each position will be determined closer to the start of the new league year, but for perspective, the running back total was $9.54 million in 2014 and the wide receiver tag was $12.312 million in 2014. Both numbers will rise next season; we're just not sure by exactly how much, as the franchise tag total is based on the average of the top five salaries league-wide at that position."
