Could Jets Have Legit Shot at Dalton Schultz?

[Peace Frog]

Interesting article on Dalton Schultz and whether Dallas can afford to keep him--Dallas is anywhere from $17 million to $24 million over the cap, with 21 players as FAs.  

If you look at OTC we look to be 5th in cap space heading into next year (but still with some work to do, as do the 4 ahead of us).  May be wishful thinking but not sure FAs are going to be flocking to Miami when FA hits because of all the noise.  Having said that, FL is a no income tax state and likely have a better roster than us--but Tua.  Chargers look to be an up and coming team, Herbert, nice weather but awful for taxes. Jaguars, another no income tax state and as big of a clown show as Miami but Lawrence.  Bengals are interesting team. SB roster, Burrow and Uzomah's hurt, but it's Ohio.  It's probably a pipe dream but do you think we'd have a realistic shot at this guy?  Would do wonders for Zach and mean we'd only need to dip once in the draft for a TE.  Still only 25 years old.  

1. Miami Dolphins: $66,167,360
2. Los Angeles Chargers: $62,400,267
3. Jacksonville Jaguars: $61,334,233
4. Cincinnati Bengals: $56,398,062
5. New York Jets: $47,649,012

https://www.dallasnews.com/sports/cowboys/2022/02/02/cowboys-would-love-to-keep-te-dalton-schultz-but-probably-can-no-longer-afford-him/

Dalton Schultz is coming off his best season. His career is on the rise.

That doesn’t mean it will continue here.

Schultz is among the 21 players on the Dallas Cowboys roster set to enter the free agent market. Difficult decisions lie ahead with a payroll that already swells anywhere from $17 million to $24 million over next season’s projected cap.

“We’re not going to be able to keep everybody,’’ executive vice president Stephen Jones said.

It will be tough to keep Schultz. Do the Cowboys want to retain their second leading receiver? Sure.

But the 25-year-old likely played his way out of the club’s price range.

Schultz had 78 receptions for 808 yards and eight touchdowns. Baltimore’s Mark Andrews and Kansas City’s Travis Kelce were the only tight ends in the NFL with more receptions. Andrews, Kelce and San Francisco’s George Kittle were the only players at his position with more yards.

That’s impressive company. And Schultz was at his best late, with 25 catches for 224 yards and four touchdowns in the final four games of the regular season. He led the Cowboys with seven receptions for 89 yards in the team’s playoff loss to San Francisco.

Kittle tops the salary list at the position with a contract that averages $15 million. Kelce, Philadelphia’s Dallas Goedert and Andrews are right behind him with deals that average from $14 million to $14.3 million. New England’s Hunter Henry and Jonnu Smith are tied for fifth with an average of $12.5 million.

The next tier of tight ends average from $8 to $10.5 million.

It’s reasonable to put Schultz between those two tiers or the back end of the first tier when projecting what he’ll command on the open market. That will likely be too rich for the organization’s blood.

A big chunk of production walks out the door if Schultz leaves. But, part of the evaluation for Dallas is how these numbers were amassed. Was Schultz the primary target, or was he the beneficiary of opponents determined to take the Cowboys wide receivers out of the mix? Is he a weapon defenses go into a game determined to take away, or part of the ancillary wave that they will live with the results? Are defensive coordinators content to have Dak Prescott dump the ball to Schultz underneath instead of finding Amari Cooper, CeeDee Lamb or Michael Gallup in space?

None of this is meant to diminish what Schultz accomplished in 2021. But, these are part of the internal discussions taking place in Dallas to put his offensive value in context.

Blake Jarwin is another factor in this decision. The Cowboys signed the tight end to a four-year, $22 million contract two seasons ago. He has a base salary of $4.5 million and a cap hit of $5.8 million in 2022.

A hip injury limited Jarwin to just eight games. He caught 11 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns and is more of a vertical threat than Schultz. It would make more fiscal sense to keep him on the belief he’ll return to form, let Schultz walk and add another tight end in what should be a good draft for the position.

 

[Larz]

[Bronx]

giphy (1).webp giphy (1).webp

[Beerfish]

Good young key pass catching TE, they will find a way to keep him.  Others will get cut or restructured or traded etc.

People need to put this fantasy to bed.

[Green Ghost]

I think they get rid of Cooper before this kid.

[Peace Frog]

4 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Good young key pass catching TE, they will find a way to keep him.  Others will get cut or restructured or traded etc.

People need to put this fantasy to bed.

I agree, probably a fantasy but less of one than Davante Adams.  

[Peace Frog]

6 minutes ago, Green Ghost said:

I think they get rid of Cooper before this kid.

Agree but I think Cooper has some funky issues with his contract if they don't do somthing by mid-March. 

[undertow]

I just listened to the Conor Hughes Jets pod and he said the Cowboys are working on a new deal with Schultz or he will be franchised...I mean I take all this info with a grain of salt he could not know what he's talking about. lol

[Peace Frog]

1 minute ago, undertow said:

I just listened to the Conor Hughes Jets pod and he said the Cowboys are working on a new deal with Schultz or he will be franchised...I mean I take all this info with a grain of salt he could not know what he's talking about. lol

Well, f*ck me and my thread!

[slats]

7 minutes ago, Peace Frog said:

I agree, probably a fantasy but less of one than Davante Adams.  

I prefer Schultz at $15M to Adams at $30M, anyway. The pay scale for TEs makes it doable. They’ll probably want to go a little less expensive with someone like Njoku but, if Schultz hits the market, JD has to inquire. 

[Long Island Leprechaun]

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

[CanadaSteve]

This is another great example of why F/A is a game of sifting through the Fool's Gold.

What about this:

If a player gets to free agency, the market will kind of determine his value.  If the player is TRULY worth the value they are asking for, the team they belong to will pay it.  Who wouldn't!  If your QB is worth $40 million a year, then you would want to pay them because they are going to bring that back to you ten-fold by constantly having you in Super Bowl contention.

But, if they get let free, chances are, you are paying over premium for the biggest names.

That's why the best value is the guys somewhere in the middle.  The players who asked for middle ground money.  The solid lunch-pail player who can come into any team situation and do their job well.  BLUE COLLAR BABY!

You find those franchise building players in the draft.  You draft them, coach them, play them, and then pay them for as long as they perform like a franchise player.  

It SEEMS like an easy formula, but it doesn't seem to get followed very much because, well....it just doesn't seem to excite fan bases and sell advertising very well.

[Lith]

3 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

We need TEs from both FA and draft, imo.  Schultz caught 13 passes his first two years -- before he broke out in year 3.  Kittle had a bigger mpact as a rookie, but he only caught 43 as a rookie, but it wasn't until year 2 that he broke out.  We need an experienced guy who can contribute immediately, to take some of the pressure off a rookie. 

I would love to add Schultz, but I consider that a longshot -- as mentioned above, he is liekly to be franchised or extended.  And even if he hits FA, he will likely have a dozen suitors and including ocntenders and teams with established QBs.

[nycdan]

Cowboys are about $22M over the cap as things stand.  They can't work out a deal until they clear that up.  

Cooper gets them most of the way - about $16M savings if they cut him. Demarcus Lawrence could save them $8M although I don't see a replacement unless it's through the draft.  Their backup TE, Blake Jarwin could get them another $4M.  I'm sure they can dig further and clear the space, especially if they restructure another contract or two.  It will sting, but they can do it.

The question is, do they see that as the best course?  Answer?  It's Jerry...who the fudge knows...

[Long Island Leprechaun]

5 minutes ago, Lith said:

We need TEs from both FA and draft, imo.  Schultz caught 13 passes his first two years -- before he broke out in year 3.  Kittle had a bigger mpact as a rookie, but he only caught 43 as a rookie, but it wasn't until year 2 that he broke out.  We need an experienced guy who can contribute immediately, to take some of the pressure off a rookie. 

I would love to add Schultz, but I consider that a longshot -- as mentioned above, he is liekly to be franchised or extended.  And even if he hits FA, he will likely have a dozen suitors and including ocntenders and teams with established QBs.

100%. Some very good TE's available in FA that would be an immediate and substantial upgrade. Get at least one in the draft and we'll be in a much better place.

[nycdan]

10 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

Sure.  Schultz was a 4th round pick.

But so were 4 other TEs in that draft, including Herndon.  None of them are amounting to much now.  So we could roll the dice, or take a guy who has already established himself and is far more likely to be successful.  We have to spend the cap on something.  No?

[TheNuuFaaolaExperience]

Signing Dalton Schultz is a Mike Maccagnan move. He is not a game breaker and is only attractive because he is light years better than our TE room combined. Draft TE early and in the mid rounds. 

[BCJet]

Is schultz a good blocker?  Yes catching passes is a huge part of being a top tier TE, but he probably faced a lot of single coverage with the other weapons on the team which may lead to inflated catch numbers.

Personally I think the draft is full of TEs who have very high upside and low ceilings.  Rukert, McBride and Charlie Kolar can both block very well and are good receivers that are 2nd or 3rd round picks.  Ruckert in particular, IMO, has a top 5 TE ceiling given his elite blocking skills and his athleticism.

[nycdan]

1 minute ago, TheNuuFaaolaExperience said:

Signing Dalton Schultz is a Mike Maccagnan move. He is not a game breaker and is only attractive because he is light years better than our TE room combined. Draft TE early and in the mid rounds. 

I'm curious.  What should we spend our $50M in cap space on?  I'm not a fan of always having lots of unused cap.  You know who spends their cap to the limit and brings in or trades for experienced vets?  The Rams.  Maybe there's more to that than conventional wisdom thought.

[TheNuuFaaolaExperience]

2 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I'm curious.  What should we spend our $50M in cap space on?  I'm not a fan of always having lots of unused cap.  You know who spends their cap to the limit and brings in or trades for experienced vets?  The Rams.  Maybe there's more to that than conventional wisdom thought.

Re-signing Braxton Berrios at a slightly inflated number because he will end up being worth more than his contract.

Extend Quinnen Williams.

Sign Allen Robinson.

These three things excite me more than overpaying for a good TE. 

 

[David Harris]

8 minutes ago, TheNuuFaaolaExperience said:

Signing Dalton Schultz is a Mike Maccagnan move. He is not a game breaker and is only attractive because he is light years better than our TE room combined. Draft TE early and in the mid rounds. 

I agree.  I'd like Dalton Shultz as an upgrade but nowhere close to $15 mill.  I'd much rather have Njoku for $7-8 mill.

$15 mill per year players need to be game changers and Schulz is a limited pass catcher.

You really have to draft (or trade) for game changers.

[varjet]

23 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

I think that is the perspective more for Dallas than the Jets.

Dallas made the playoffs, but they still have draft picks.  They could pick a McBride/Ruckert in the lower first or second round, let Schultz walk and try to keep Cooper.   Dallas has fewer holes than the Jets-they have a good roster, just bad coaching/chemistry.  

The Jets have a lot of roster holes.  TE is a high bust draft position-the transition from college to the NFL I think is a bigger jump than we think.   If the Jets paid up for Schultz, that means they could look in rounds 4 and 5 for another TE (coincidentally, where Schultz and Kittle were drafted).  

The Jets need 2 LBs, 2 TEs, 2 S, 1+ WR, 1+ EDGE, DT at this point, CB, RG, T3, IOL depth, etc.  any opportunity to use cap space to fill a gaping hole should be used.   Schultz is a prime opportunity to do that, but it does not sound like the Cowboys go with that, if for no other reason that TE, like S, has a cheap franchise tag.  See Marcus Maye.  Schultz will not happy.   See Marcus Maye.  

[Peace Frog]

30 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

While I would love that, you aren't guaranteed that either of those guys is a player.  I'd love to double dip at TE in the draft but then we'd be passing on other positions of need--so many holes.

With an established young TE, you know you have at least 1.  

[David Harris]

8 minutes ago, nycdan said:

I'm curious.  What should we spend our $50M in cap space on?  I'm not a fan of always having lots of unused cap.  You know who spends their cap to the limit and brings in or trades for experienced vets?  The Rams.  Maybe there's more to that than conventional wisdom thought.

I'd go after Godwin for $16-17 mill per year.  Maybe DJ Chark as a Tier 2 FA.  Scherff would be great.  Njoku I like as a Tier 2 less expensive TE.   Hassan Reddick. 

 

I like Schulz just not anywhere close to that price tag.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

35 minutes ago, slats said:

I prefer Schultz at $15M to Adams at $30M, anyway. The pay scale for TEs makes it doable. They’ll probably want to go a little less expensive with someone like Njoku but, if Schultz hits the market, JD has to inquire. 

It's not the time to go least cost, it's time to go best value and Schultz brings that with better production and strength as both a pass catcher & run blocker.

[Barton]

35 minutes ago, Long Island Leprechaun said:

Keep in mind that he was a late 4th round pick. Kittle was a 5th round pick. Point is, Jets would be better drafting a couple of TE's than paying an exhorbitant price for Schultz.

Yea, lets count on the Jets to nail those middle round picks. 

[JustInFudge]

Schultz is #1 on my offseason wish list, which means with absolute certainty, he will resign or be franchised by the Cowboys.

You're welcome, Jets fans! 

[Peace Frog]

1 minute ago, JiFapono said:

Schultz is #1 on my offseason wish list, which means with absolute certainty, he will resign or be franchised by the Cowboys.

You're welcome, Jets fans! 

Like I said, f*ck me and my stupid thread!

[Peace Frog]

2 minutes ago, Barton said:

Yea, lets count on the Jets to nail those middle round picks. 

Or, lets pick the complete anomolies that have excelled out of the middle rounds and forget that 1000 guys that didn't.

But Tom Brady was a 6th rounder!!

[nycdan]

4 minutes ago, TheNuuFaaolaExperience said:

Re-signing Braxton Berrios at a slightly inflated number because he will end up being worth more than his contract.

Extend Quinnen Williams.

Sign Allen Robinson.

These three things excite me more than overpaying for a good TE. 

 

I like Berrios.  Agree on Q.  Not sure about A-Rob.  He really hasn't been a dominant WR in over 5 years.  Maybe it's CHI, maybe not.  I think he'll be asking for way more than he's worth though.  1-year prove-it deal? Sure.  Not giving him 3 years / $54M though.

 

3 minutes ago, David Harris said:

I agree.  I'd like Dalton Shultz as an upgrade but nowhere close to $15 mill.  I'd much rather have Njoku for $7-8 mill.

$15 mill per year players need to be game changers and Schulz is a limited pass catcher.

You really have to draft (or trade) for game changers.

$15M/year sounds very high for Schultz.  Kelce and Andrews are in the $14M range and nobody else should be beating that number.  $12.5M puts him in Hunter Henry / Jonnu Smith territory which feels closer.  Maybe a little more since it's a year later.  Call it $13M/year.

To get a WR worth a damn, you're paying a fair bit more than that.  Edge?  Way more.  OL?  Way more.  TE and Safety are two of the positions where you CAN get a game changer for far less than other positions.  All else being equal, draft the Edges, CBs and WRs, and trade for or sign the Safeties and TEs sounds more efficient than the other way around.

You may be right about Schultz not being a top talent, but if he's better than anything else we can get, and he's looking for near his market value, I think that given our extreme need, it's not a bad play.  I'm fine with another guy, as long as he's capable of being a productive part of our offense.  

Other than Njoku, who else is out there that could be our #1?  Ertz?  

 

[Paradis]

Jets fans everywhere are far, far too enamoured with Schutlz. 

you guys love the idea far more than the player. 

[Sonny Werblin]

 

If the Jets sign a TE, it will be someone like OJ Howard or Hayden Hurst. An underachiever looking for an opportunity. 

Has anyone been paying attention to how JD operates? There will be no splashy signings. JD has three rules in free agency and they are: 1) Value, 2) Value and 3) Value. 

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

56 minutes ago, Beerfish said:

Good young key pass catching TE, they will find a way to keep him.  Others will get cut or restructured or traded etc.

People need to put this fantasy to bed.

Cowboys have a lot of good players they need to take care of.  You might be right or it might not be that simple.  Teams over the cap with lots of talent will need to make tough decisions.  Especially on.a team where said player is the fifth most important player on offense behind Prescott, Elliott, Lamb, LT Smith.  And that's not even including 1st team All Pro LG Zack Martin. Let alone what they have on Defense coming up.

Possibly a 1 year Franchise tag but not at the expense of the future roster.  They also have decisions on Gallup and Gregory.

[OtherwiseHappyinLife]

12 minutes ago, Paradis said:

Jets fans everywhere are far, far too enamoured with Schutlz. 

you guys love the idea far more than the player. 

Please enlighten us.  

[Untouchable]

Schultz probably isn’t happening 

But I’m not sneezing at a Njoku/Ruckert tandem at TE.

And I still say to pull off a trade for Cooper. That’s the most realistic and effective way to complete the WR corps along with re-signing Berrios. We’re not getting Adams and I seriously doubt that someone like Mike Williams hits FA.

Cooper, Davis, Moore, Berrios and a mid-round pick at WR.

Njoku, Ruckert, Yeboah and a cheap veteran depth option like Griffin or Kroft at TE.

Then a platoon of Carter, a kid like James Cook and Walter in the backfield.

That’s more offensive firepower than this team has had since the 80’s and sets Wilson up for success.