How long does that alternative work? One year? Multiple years? The front office is tasked to keep the football team competitive. This isn't madden. Its not as simple as you are describing the alternative.
Fair, since you are consistent with having said Romo's contract was also a detriment to the team's success. I would have been ecstatic if we could've signed Brady. Apart from that, I don't see any way the team could upgrade on the position, and using that cap for defense to me wouldn't move the needle much. Right now we have Dalton cheap because he signed on to be a backup. But your plan of signing those vets like Brady or Bridgewater really doesn't save much cap to keep a Byron Jones or even a Clowney. I really don't want to nurse a rookie in and wait for him to develop while we enjoy the last several years the O-Line will perform at a high level. I'm all for having Dak sign a 4-5 year contract with an out after 3 years. At this point we can move on from both Dak and Zeke, and let MM prove himself for the remaining 2 years of his contract.There are good veteran QB's available every offseason. The idea of positional scarcity at QB is kind of antiquated. IMO, you could keep a treadmill of moderately paid mediocre QB's going forever. The team could also draft and develop a guy and get the advantage of his rookie deal for a few years.
I just really don't think that paying a non superstar QB $35m or more per year is a recipe for success. I don't care what the market says because the market has been set by idiots (Rams and Eagles).
Fair, since you are consistent with having said Romo's contract was also a detriment to the team's success. I would have been ecstatic if we could've signed Brady. Apart from that, I don't see any way the team could upgrade on the position, and using that cap for defense to me wouldn't move the needle much. Right now we have Dalton cheap because he signed on to be a backup. But your plan of signing those vets like Brady or Bridgewater really doesn't save much cap to keep a Byron Jones or even a Clowney. I really don't want to nurse a rookie in and wait for him to develop while we enjoy the last several years the O-Line will perform at a high level. I'm all for having Dak sign a 4-5 year contract with an out after 3 years. At this point we can move on from both Dak and Zeke, and let MM prove himself for the remaining 2 years of his contract.
Agree on all accounts. I can see it go down to 27-28M a year for year 1. I'm all for that "all-in" type move. If we don't have playoff success in the next 3 years, I don't want Dak anymore. I would be ready for a real rebuild, one we really couldn't have because we used our highest pick in the past decade on a RB, and haven't drafted in the top 5 ever since. Devoting to Dak to a 3rd contract would be repeating the same mistake with Romo. Romo kept us competitive enough to not draft near the bottom, but could lift the team from many warts. Unless the mistake was actually coaching... we'll find out in the next few years.Personally, I think that Dallas is trying to get Dak to sign a long term deal not to screw him but to get it so that his bonus money is more spread out and that his cap hit is cheap for the first 2 to 3 years. Basically an "all in" type move with the expectation of a rebuild in the future.
No one really discusses that option much and Dak seems to be fighting it but if Dak signed a deal where he had a cap hit in the 25m range at first, people like me wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on.
A short deal with Dak making $35m per year doesn't afford that flexibility.