The 3 biggest bargains on the Dallas Cowboys in 2019

La’el Collins

Right Tackle

Average salary on current deal: $7.7 million

At face value, $7.7 million seems like a lot of cash to pay a “bargain player”, but dive a little deeper and you’ll quickly see La’el Collins is a relative steal for the Dallas Cowboys. That’s because lesser players  have been signing mammoth contracts as of late and La’el could probably double his current salary if he were on the market right now.

Just this past offseason, Trent Brown signed a deal with Oakland for 4 years, $66 million (all numbers per sportec). Brown, 26-years-old and a former seventh round draft pick, lacks the production and upside, yet he stands to make roughly $9 million more PER YEAR in annual compensation.

Additionally, Brown is rated below Collins in 2018 performance grades by Pro Football Focus.  It’s not like Collins blew us away in 2018 with his performance. In fact, I think many of us were expecting better from the 25-year-old LSU alum. But he still ranked ninth overall in the league at RT and still shows the ability to be a Pro Bowl player at any given time.

The real brilliance of La’el Collins’ deal was the fact it was such an important low commitment deal. In the 2018 La’el looked like a player on the brink of greatness. The Dallas Cowboys were likily tempted to lock him up long-term while they could afford it. Instead, they played it conservative and extended him for just two seasons at a modest $7.7 million.

Dallas now seems resigned to let Collins play out his deal in 2019 and go out to greener pastures in 2020. The team has taken steps to replace him with either Cam Fleming or Connor Williams (who’s playing on his rookie contract).

Collins’ deal is so attractive, many consider it one of the most trade friendly contracts on the team. Moderate money, on a low commitment deal, for a player with Pro Bowl potential? Yes, please.

That’s it. Who’s on your list?