you hit the nail on the head for me...you are playing spreadsheet math...I save 20 mill and there fore I can be a better team because I get more FA. yet, who are the FA? and if these FAs are going to hit the market, they are usually really really expensive much like Dak or they are average players and why fill a team with a bunch of average players, including Keenum. what do you expect to accomplish?....given that a player of high caliber will cost high dollars to begin with...ala Lawrence....so a Lawrence + Keenum is a better option than Dak? and the QB is the most important position on the team....usually if a team lets a FA walk and doesn't give them a contract, its because they are either old, problematic or way too expensive....the rest that hit the market all have warts....
….so how will all these FAs make us better? provide a high level plan if you will...... and when was the last time a team built through FAs and succeeded? and you expect a guy who has done nothing in his career except for one season to take us to the promise land. so you are dismissing all his other years of mediocrity, all 7 years of mediocrity......but focusing on 2017 and saying lets do what Minnesota did, without knowing if that's even possible through FA....but by the same token you are focused on 2019 for Dak and dismissing all the previous years...and I am surprised with all the focus on Keenum, a guy who nobody wants...yet he is supposed to become the dallas savior because hey, he had one good season...who cares he sucked the other 7, I am just going to focus on that one season, because I got nothing else...
again, you are just playing Math as you said, without having a football plan.... unfortunately, spreadsheet math doesn't win championships.
and lets not forget, which is something we haven't even discussed..... we already have 95 mill in cap space and can easily open another 10-15 and if we want, we have zero dead cap money and we can fill the most important position on the team, and still get any of these other top FAs that you have not spoken of yet, including Cooper, Quinn and some middle of the pack FAs without having to worry about cap space..
I just don't think its a good idea to go with a journey man player, who has underwhelmed pretty much all his career at the most important position
and btw, I agree, long term solution is draft...unfortunately with the cap, the salary demands, draft has become the most important factor...and last year we totally screwed it up...and the year before, at this point we only have gallup to show for it and that is if LVE ever comes back and plays at a high level....