Love the idea of a cheap, young QB to build a team around (Stephen will still hold onto cap room like it's his childhood blankie, so it probably still won't matter) but I'm not sold on Drew Lock.
I'd rather find our own in the late 1st preferably (5th year option), or in the 2nd round next year, and right now, the only guys that fit that bill for me are Trey Lance of North Dakota State or Brock Purdy of Iowa State. Someone else will surface in that range between now and the next draft as well.
I think this team and it's incredibly lazy and inept front office, is much more likely to go and try find a veteran if they decide Dak's not worthy of a second franchise tag.
High bar would be Matt Stafford (Detroit saves $14M in cap room if they move on after this season). Low bar would be re-signing Andy Dalton.
If Mike McCarthy truly was the "QB whisperer" some of you hope he is, maybe he could do something with a low-cost trade target like Josh Rosen (Dolphins) or Will Grier (Panthers).
Rosen is only 23 and would have a 2021 cap # of $920k and a 5th year option for 2022.
Grier is 25 and would have a 2021 cap # of $850k and a 2022 cap # of 1.02M.
I'm not saying either player is a sure thing playoff caliber by any means. I am saying that if McCarthy truly is an elite offensive coach and QB specialist, he should be able to take a talented, young QB like Rosen, Grier, or someone we aren't talking about, plug them into this offense (great O Line, Zeke, and 3 darn good WR's) and maximize their ability.
That would be $37M less than Dak would cost and would buy a lot of pass rushers and defensive backs. But like I said, I think this FO is lazy and doesn't have the foresight or command (personnel-wise) to pull off something like that.
