Injured Cowboys safety Barry Church’s pain isn’t only from his torn Achilles.
He also missed an opportunity at more financial security in the process.
According to Calvin Watkins of ESPNDallas.com, the Cowboys offered Church a new contract prior to his injury.
His agent didn’t turn down the offer of present a counter at the time, and when Church tore his Achilles, his financial future was thrown into doubt.
He’ll be a restricted free agent after the season, and it’s unlikely anyone would sign him to an offer sheet coming off such an injury. That means the Cowboys can secure his rights for another year, probably at a much lower number than they were talking about previously.
The right-of-first-refusal tender for RFAs in 2012 was $1.26 million. Even if they wanted to use a second-round tender, that was $1.927 million this year.
But there’s really no point in going higher than the lowest level, even if he had earned a starting job and was a player they viewed as a contributor for years to come.
Teams try to lock up players early all the time, offering a guarantee to try to get in under market value, and Church’s bad luck shows that’s not always the worst idea for players either.