Cowboys Get a Free Pass on Free Agency, 'Skins Don't

[sportscurmudgeon]

The Bledsoe signing is a good one because the signing bonus is so low. Suppose Bledose totally bombs out this year and has to be cut next January. HIs signing bonus was $2M over 4 years meaning that $500K was counted in 2005 and the "dead money hit" is only $1.5M. That's not such a horrible risk to take.

I also like the Ferguson signing. Absent a serious injury, Ferguson is a bona fide run stopper on the DL. He will have to play there for three years to make his dead money hit reasonable, but there isn't any reason yet to assume he can't do that. He may not be an All-Pro, but he can still play.

Rivera is a guy who just gets the job done without and flourish or fanfare. He is awfully long in the tooth for an offensive lineman - despite the Ray Brown example - and so he is a much bigger gamble.

Anthony Henry is the biggest gamble of the lot since I'm not sure he is good enough to deserve a $10M signing bonus no matter what he age is.