The Cost of Not Signing Dak (lengthy)

Aviano90 · Jan 15, 2021

doomsday9084 said:
IMO, the Cowboys are in deep trouble. The coach isn't particularly good. They have significant holes in several spots that aren't going to be easy to fill. They have a bunch of bad contracts. Hell, the GM seems to be an idiot.

I used to be in the "don't pay him" crowd but screw it. Pay the man. Last year he wanted a shorter deal . . . well, give it to him. Give him $40m per year for 3 years. When this whole thing just comes undone as the team cuts and eats the salary of Jaylon, Tyron, Zeke, etc. over the next two years, Dallas can just cut bait with everyone and start from scratch in 2024. Until then, I can just root for something good to happen in the mean time.

The OP is generally right. Letting him walk gets Dallas virtually nothing other than moving that "reset" date from 2024 to 2023 or something. Its not like Dallas is going to win *more* by letting him walk.

I'm of the opinion to not pay Dak and get out of the bad contracts over the next couple of years. I think it will be win-win for Dallas and Dak, like letting DWare go in 2014.

G2 · Jan 15, 2021

Aviano90 said:
I'm of the opinion to not pay Dak and get out of the bad contracts over the next couple of years. I think it will be win-win for Dallas and Dak, like letting DWare go in 2014.

I get what you're saying. The thing I'm hesitant about is how awful this franchise is at finding QBs.

Aviano90 · Jan 15, 2021

Streetwise said:
I get what you're saying. The thing I'm hesitant about is how awful this franchise is at finding QBs.

Well they lucked into Dak and then screwed it up by being in cap hell and afraid to pull the trigger on impact free agents while our QB was making $465k a year and producing at a top 10 level. They aren't going to do any better with him making ~$35 million a year if they couldn't take advantage of him making $465k.

starfan1 · Jan 15, 2021

Streetwise said:
I get what you're saying. The thing I'm hesitant about is how awful this franchise is at finding QBs.

If you truly believe the window is now than its stupid not to pay him. Signing Dak isnt going to strap you so much you cant build a competitive defense. The problem on defense is not so much bad contracts its talent Talent is found by drafting better. OK they overpaid Dlaw and Jaylon and Zeke. when they should have overpaid Byron if they were going to overpay someone.

Dak has been the most critical player on offense that isn't one of the O-Line I don't mind if they give him a larger piece of the pie. I think they cave and give him last years deal for 4 years.I also aint going to lose a ton of sleep if they move on I just think it sets them back.

CATCH17 · Jan 15, 2021

Mobinvans said:
Dak sucks...he’s certainly not a Tom Brady, Manning type that can carry a team

let him walk for that kind of money

Middle of the pack QBs are pretty common now

It's good to see other fans that pay attention to trends and have the ability to separate themselves from being a fan and knowing what is best for the team.

I wish our management had that capability.

G2 · Jan 15, 2021

Aviano90 said:
Well they lucked into Dak and then screwed it up by being in cap hell and afraid to pull the trigger on impact free agents while our QB was making $465k a year and producing at a top 10 level. They aren't going to do any better with him making ~$35 million a year if they couldn't take advantage of him making $465k.

Agreed. After Aikman, they got lucky with Romo and Prescott. Everything else has been hot garbage.

ABQCOWBOY · Jan 15, 2021

starfan1 said:
If you truly believe the window is now than its stupid not to pay him. Signing Dak isnt going to strap you so much you cant build a competitive defense. The problem on defense is not so much bad contracts its talent Talent is found by drafting better. OK they overpaid Dlaw and Jaylon and Zeke. when they should have overpaid Byron if they were going to overpay someone.

Dak has been the most critical player on offense that isn't one of the O-Line I don't mind if they give him a larger piece of the pie. I think they cave and give him last years deal for 4 years.I also aint going to lose a ton of sleep if they move on I just think it sets them back.

What if you don't truly believe that the window is now and that you can Sign Dak and build an competitive defense in time?

Ranched · Jan 15, 2021

Mobinvans said:
Dak sucks...he’s certainly not a Tom Brady,

ABQCOWBOY · Jan 15, 2021

daboyzruleperiod said:

It's true, Brady won 3 Super Bowls in his first 4 years. Prescott has not even gotten to one yet. Tom was certainly no Dak and Prescott was certainly no Brady.

InTheZone · Jan 15, 2021

getting someone else that may show up in Quarters 1-3 is hurting us?

I don't care about hurting someone's feelings in the locker room, you have people like Jaylon Smith thinking his game is perfect and all is good, I don't want him or anyone else like him on the team. As for his leadership, yes he shows great poise and presence, but I cannot help but think it's all mind games with him, he'll just say the right things and hope everyone ignores any mistake on the field. You can't even call out an incompletion of his without being bombarded by insults and defenses.

I am all in on removing all these remnants from these underachieving seasons. There are only a handful of guys I have as must keep, and I don't believe Dak is one of them. He is more of the type to continue our issues forward.

csirl · Jan 15, 2021

Dak = Trubisky with a good PR team.

DFWJC · Jan 15, 2021

No matter how long the OP, it will not change the minds of those for or against signing Dak at 38-40 mil per year.

Just the seemingly 100th thread covering all the same topics already discussed.

It is an opinion. That's all.
Just an opinion repeating what has been said 100 other times already.

Open forum, so that's fine. But just sayin'

75boyz · Jan 15, 2021

ABQCOWBOY said:
It's true, Brady won 3 Super Bowls in his first 4 years. Prescott has not even gotten to one yet. Tom was certainly no Dak and Prescott was certainly no Brady.

Yeah, I was equally floored recently reading a post here. It said, to the effect, that just because the current HC is 17-26-1 in his last 44 games that that meant absolutely nothing.

I took it to mean that the current HC guy, in performance of his duties as it correlates to wins and losses, has been doing an extremely poor job.

Now I guess you can argue the merits of a starting QBs performance as to its impact on wins and losses as well.

This argument doesn't stand up to the phone watching stat analytic experts here. Especially wins over playoff level competition.

What? Super Bowl wins?

Or Jameis Winston 2019 yardage totals?

Super Bowls are SO over rated, lol

Aviano90 · Jan 15, 2021

DFWJC said:
No matter how long the OP, it will not change the minds of those for or against signing Dak at 38-40 mil per year.

Just the seemingly 100th thread covering all the same topics already discussed.

It is an opinion. That's all.
Just an opinion repeating what has been said 100 other times already.

Open forum, so that's fine. But just sayin'

I changed my mind from last year.

csirl · Jan 15, 2021

Leadership?

Wasnt Dak called out in Michael Bennetts locker room talk after the 2019 Thanksgiving game?

What about his (we're not allowed say on this forum) party before training camp? That shows a distinct lack of leadership. Real leaders lead by example.

ABQCOWBOY · Jan 15, 2021

You know, it's funny. When I was a young, I had a girlfriend, one of those girls that everybody liked. fun to be around, real easy to look at, a girl that in a lot of ways, was just one of the boys. She was really fun to be around but the thing was, she always found trouble and eventually, I cut her loose. Not because she wasn't gorgeous, not because I didn't like her. It was just that I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would get caught up in one of her deals and I didn't have rich parents. My Dad was not coming to come bail me out of jail or what have you.

That's kind of how I see the Dak thing. I like the guy, I think you have a chance to win with him, if you can put him in the right situation. He's not automatic, he won't get a bad team to the championship or even the playoffs but not many QBs can do that anyway. But if I can't afford him, if his situation is just one of those deals, then I get it. Not every deal is meant to be made....

Turk · Jan 15, 2021

Hawkeye19 said:
TLDR: Letting Dak walk hurts this franchise a lot more than it helps us, in both the short and long term.

I have gone back and forth on the Dak-Dilemma for months. I am not a Dak hater. I consider myself a Dak-realist. He is not "elite" in my opinion (Mahommes, Rodgers are the only 2 QBs this year that qualify as elite in my estimation). Nor is he "mediocre" or "average" as many on this site claim. He is good. At times, he is really good. At other times, his play is borderline average.

And so we have arrived at a crossroads. To pay or not to pay? 2 years ago-- fans were arguing on whether or not he was worth 30 mil per year. Many said "not worth more than 25". Then Wentz and Goff signed-- and the needle moved to 34-35 mil per, and the counter was "not worth more 30". Then Mahommes and Watson signed, and the conversation is now 40 mil per and the counter is now "not worth more than 35". The simple truth is the QB market has been drastically reset over the past 2 years, and the cost of good QB play has significantly risen. Had we signed Dak 2 years ago for 30 mil, we would be in the middle of a sweetheart of a deal. But I digress....

If you let him walk... you gain cap space, yes-- but what do you lose? I've been thinking about the following items:

1. Fractured Locker-room. The players love him. He is the unquestioned leader and this is "Dak's team". If we choose to not pay him, the move will NOT be well received by the players and a riff occurs and eyebrows are raised. Add to that the pressure you put on Dak's replacement to fill his shoes on the field, and with his buddies off it-- and you have a bad situation ready to explode.

2. You lose top 10 level QB play on the field. No-- he is not top 3. But he is not middling either. IMO-- he is trending up, and his quality of play is top 10 in the NFL-- and that will win a lot of games. If you let him leave-- how do you replace his production?

3. Leadership intangibles. Related to point #1 for sure-- but Dak may have the best leadership skill of any QB in the NFL right now. Yes, Rodgers is a HOF player, but some of his teammates hate the guy. Mahommes is a stud and well-liked-- but Dak just is a natural born leader. He says the right things. He does the right things. He is football smart, but he has a high emotional IQ as well. Yes, you could trade up to draft a rookie-- but what you might gain (stress "might") in the football talent category, you more than likely lose a TON when it comes to leadership and "face of the franchise" factor.

4. You stand to lose Rep/Cred. If you let Dak walk, and he gets signed by another team, and hoists a Lombardi-- you will forever be the FO that "couldn't get a deal done with a high caliber franchise QB". Ouch. This franchise is already a laughing stock-- but that would take things to a new low-- especially if the "solution" they bring in to replace Dak doesn't pan out.

Therefore-- the best thing for the entire franchise is to sign Dak to a 4-5 year deal. We will overpay. But the number most fans are comfortable with paying him has already moved from 25 million per year 2 years ago, to 35 million per year now. As a fan-- Are you really willing to let him walk and potentially suffer the fallout over a 5 million per year difference?

too much of this is speculation; like the part about the team imploding if Dak walks. I really doubt that. And your claim about Dak having the best leadership skills in the NFL. THAT is really arguable.

DFWJC · Jan 15, 2021

big dog cowboy said:
Said the same thing 2 years ago. Now it's going to cost A LOT more.

Well,

Two years he supposedly wanted about 32-34 mil per year.....Dallas paid him 2.05 million
One year ago he supposedly wanted 35-37 range. Dallas paid him 31.41 mill

We assume he will get 39-40 per year and partially make up that 35 million or so lost from those two years but with the cap rising longer term, that's not a given in present value dollars.

Turk · Jan 15, 2021

ABQCOWBOY said:
You know, it's funny. When I was a young, I had a girlfriend, one of those girls that everybody liked. fun to be around, real easy to look at, a girl that in a lot of ways, was just one of the boys. She was really fun to be around but the thing was, she always found trouble and eventually, I cut her loose. Not because she wasn't gorgeous, not because I didn't like her. It was just that I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would get caught up in one of her deals and I didn't have rich parents. My Dad was not coming to come bail me out of jail or what have you.

That's kind of how I see the Dak thing. I like the guy, I think you have a chance to win with him, if you can put him in the right situation. He's not automatic, he won't get a bad team to the championship or even the playoffs but not many QBs can do that anyway. But if I can't afford him, if his situation is just one of those deals, then I get it. Not every deal is meant to be made....

That sounds sensible.

By the way whatever happened to that girl?

ABQCOWBOY · Jan 15, 2021

Turk said:
That sounds sensible.

By the way whatever happened to that girl?

Funny thing about her. She married a State Legislator. She has a couple of kids and now lives up in Santa Fe, I think.

The Cost of Not Signing Dak (lengthy)

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