Those who think we have a happy ending coming with our upcoming contract need to prep some.
Sharpe is more annoying than usual, because he's being more stupid than usual. "They won't pay Dak his money." How did 40mil get to be Dak's money? Why not 50? 100?
Should Dak be paid 14% more than Russel Wilson, the highest paid player in the league?
Maybe. Really, maybe. There's some argument that the payscale is going up a lot in the near future, and that a contract under the current payscale will be very undervalued by the new payscale.
And I think this is the sticking point. Dak wants to be paid *now* not according to the payscale *now*, but the payscale he projects for *tomorrow*.
Not entirely unreasonable. But it is unreasonable to expect Jerry to go along with it. Now, both sides disagree on the proper payscale to use.
IMO, that can only get fixed by time. And both sides should start acting based on that.
Dak was happy to play for 2mil last year, turning up his nose at a 33mil per year contract. Why would he be in a big hurry to sign a contract this year, when he'll make 33 on the tag anyway?
Dak should plan to play on the tag.
But, from the Cowboys perspective, Dak is not only wanting a massive premium on the current payscale, he's entirely discounting the *extra* value that Jerry brings to the table with the Cowboys brand.
Jerry should make it clear that he expects the value of the Cowboys brand to be taken into account when making contracts. He should have *always* been doing that. But it's a good time to start now, when his QB not only ignores Cowboy brand value, but wants to be paid according to a projected future payscale.
The Cowboys should be seriously looking into drafting a QB this year. And look into trades for Dak in case we find one we like, and in case he signs his franchise tag.
I don't think there's a magic wand to fix this, particularly since Jerry got publicly punked by both DLaw and Zeke, and has given himself no viable option but Dak at QB. Unreasonable demands appeared to put Dak at no risk of losing the Cowboy brand. So why not be unreasonable? Jerry has established no deterrence.
Jerry can pay Dak 40, or establish deterrence. Once deterrence is lost, it costs to reestablish it. In this case, the cost will be transitioning to a new QB. It's a bad time to lack deterrence, but it is what it is now. Should have thought of that before giving up a 1st for Cooper, so that he could set his price. Or before he let Dlaw and Zeke punk him.
Maybe Jerry actually *agrees* with Dak on the likelihood of an impending boom in the payscale. Maybe that's why he just keeps on caving with player after player. Then fine. "Cave" on Dak and pay him 40.
But if not, I think it's time to move on. Once you start paying the price for deterrence by bringing in an option, a Dak's contract gets less valuable to us by that price. This doesn't get better. It gets worse.
Jerry didn't get punked by Zeke. Have you ever looked into the details of that deal? It's an extremely team-friendly deal. Tank's deal only looks bad because he had a lower sack total in 2019. He'll do better with the reinforcements he's getting on the DL. 
