I just think this board underestimates the allure of stability at the position is for GM's.
Bus drivers are paid near star QB money.
The QB is such a hard position to find some semblance of stability, GMs would rather pay the hefty price than let their guy wall to a division rival and then end up getting beat by him in playoffs. In that scenario, the GM is the laughing stock of the League...and these guys have egos.
Is there an issue with these QBs getting paid disproportionately to their talent vs star QBs...yes! But the issue is that there isa good answer to solve it.
Acquiring a vet journeyman and drafting a QB every year is the only realistic answer.
Most on this site would prefer to forgo a journeyman contract and just take advantage of cheap labor with rookie contracts. Problem is, most rookie are trash...and if you have a somewhat decent team, the locker room might start calling for a different QB. Star vets at different positions can start getting agitated as their best years are being wasted.
All sorts of issues pop up when trying to skirt the QB pay issue.
Running the ball can work. But it's the QB who wins games late with little time left.
It's a unique situation
Interesting comments.
The bus drivers paid elite money like Cousins and Prescott simply don't win Superbowls.
You can have a bus driver if a rookie like Purdy or if they are a vet being paid accordingly like a Mayfield, Geno Smith or Darnold which I think would give those teams of reaching a Superbowl.
I wouldn't have given Prescott the first contract. I was a huge advocate of drafting Hurts at that time and stated the same in the draft thread from that season on this forum.
With that said, I appreciate that most front offices would have stuck by Dak. I get it.
However, after three subsequent failures and poor individual performances in the play offs (twice vs 49ers and once against Packers - the Defense was awful in the latter as well) that was enough for me to assess that Prescott will never win a Superbowl. He had two good rosters against the 49ers yet couldn't get it done. The offense only had to put up 20 points in one of those games. Elite quarterbacks would have won at least one if not both of those games. Dak was being paid elite money yet played like a bus driver. Huge problem.
You mention star vet players getting agitated as their best years are wasted...it could be argued this applied to the likes of Zach Martin, T Smith, Lawrence etc durinhg those play off losses especially against the 49ers.
As a result given how long the front office waited, they really had a fantastic opportunity to just let last season play out rather than pay Prescott $231 guaranteed over 4 years. They could have moved on rather than be lumbered with that back breaking contract.
I advocated your suggestion several years ago of signing a vet QB like a Mayfield/Smith/Darnold to say 2-3 years on $30 a year whilst drafting mobile quarterbacks until you hit. Then you decide if they are an elite QB. If not you repeat the cycle if they are then pay the man. You would get very similar production if not the same with a vet like the above three quarterbacks to Prescott at half the price allowing the team to strengthen in other positions. This is backed up albeit not a huge sample size by the Cowboys having similar or even better records with and without Dak after he got injured. He isn't a game changer.
What is undeniable is that mobile quarterbacks have dominated the play offs in recent seasons. Even the likes of Burrow and Purdy can move when required but it's really the likes of Mahomes and Hurts playing in the majority of Superbowls in recent seasons.
