Money might trump talent for the Dallas Cowboys in the 2022 NFL Draft

Let’s play a game. Let’s pretend the Dallas Cowboys are cheap and looking for ways save money. Not a hard thing to imagine? I don’t suppose it is, given Stephen Jones’ spending habits and incessant penny pinching.

One of the best ways to save money these days is by loading up on players who are playing on rookie deals. It’s no secret that rookies are inherently cheaper than veterans. They come with slotted salaries and certain degree of control. But that wasn’t always the case…

Not long ago rookies got PAID. Negotiations were brutal and often times first round picks were paid more than veteran Pro Bowlers. Nowadays that’s not the case. Rookies get paid according to their draft position. Regardless of individual demands or position play, a pick at 24 gets paid the amount for the draft slot of Pick 24.

The numbers crunchers at Pro Football Focus looked at this and wanted to calculate which positions offer the greatest and least savings on their rookie deals. This is relevant to any team interested in saving money (i.e. everyone, to some degree).

The Dallas Cowboys might pass on better players in order to draft more valuable positions in the upcoming draft

Stephen Jones, the Dallas Cowboys ultra-frugal unofficial GM, could save tens of millions just by following this simple guideline, so you better believe it matters to him. Let’s look at specific situations, shall we?

The Dallas Cowboys are on the clock and three players they like fall into their laps: Tyler Linderbaum (OC), George Karlaftis (DE), and Kenyon Green (OG).

Assuming all are evenly rated players on the Dallas Cowboys draft board and knowing that all play a position of need heading into the 2022 season, we could look at the surplus value of each position to help break the tie.

Looking at the chart above we can determine the Karlaftis offers the most savings playing on a rookie deal and Linderbaum offers the least. Guard is the Cowboys biggest need but the guard position only offers a fraction of the savings a defensive end does playing on a rookie deal.

Financially speaking, the pick is a no-brainer.

Now, what happens if the Dallas Cowboys have this unfold at Pick 24: Zion Johnson (OG), Nakobe Dean (LB), Bernhard Raimann (OT) are all their top rated players available. But let’s say the Cowboys rate Zion far above the other two.

Ignoring how you personally feel about the players above (try, darn it) and just going off the Dallas Cowboys hypothetical rankings, how would you manage this situation as the Dallas decision-maker? OG offers the least amount of savings but gives them the best player on their board. OT and LB offer more savings as picks, but aren’t quite as good as individuals.

You can see this is when it gets tricky.

As fans/draftniks we typically want the best player regardless of positional value or rookie contract savings, but ownership is an entirely different story. Look at how the Dallas Cowboys have operated the 2022 offseason. They’ve willfully downgraded at multiple positions all in the name of austerity.

They want to win but not as much as they want to make (keep) money. You can rest assured they are factoring in items such as this when it stands to save them $10M+. It can also cause them to miss out on a great player just by chasing value…

Take this and store it away in the back of your mind. When Dallas goes on the clock two weeks from today, you can bet money will enter into the equation. The only question is how much weight will it carry?