Can we put to rest the "if you're against Dak's 40 mil contract, you must hate him"?

Reverend Conehead

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When Dak was in contract negotiations and the number 40 mil came up, I was against signing him for that. I was saying let him walk, hire Andy Dalton as a stop-gap, and draft a QB. I got accused of hating Dak. I don't hate the man. I actually think he's a great guy. I just don't think he's a QB worth 40 million. He's a quarterback with enough abilities to have a chance at a ring if he has a great team around him, a la Joe Flacco. There's a reason Flacco didn't get another ring after he got his big payday.

Right now I wish we had Andy Dalton as our temp guy and Mac Jones as our heir apparant. And extra cap space to sign some help. And a better coach, as McCarthy doesn't seem to be the same coach as the one who won a Super Bowl with the Pack. Btw, I don't hate McCarthy either. I'm just being honest about who I think he is.

The whole not wanting to pay Dak 40 mil was never about hating him. It was all about being honest about who he is and what's best for the team. I don't think this team will even be in the playoffs next year. I would love to be wrong, but I think I'm right.
 

Aerolithe_Lion

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It’s millennial hyperbole arguing tactics. You see it all over the internet: “It’s either the best movie ever or it’s not worth my time.”

The emotional weight of someone not entirely agreeing with your opinion is only buoyed with sophistry.
 

MyFairLady

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4th round draft pick on a rookie deal wining a playoff game you are a hero. 40 million dollar "leader" of the team lays a giant egg at home in the first round of the playoffs you are a zero. That is the way it works. Don't worry though he has his bags of money to keep him happy.
 

Reverend Conehead

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4th round draft pick on a rookie deal wining a playoff game you are a hero. 40 million dollar "leader" of the team lays a giant egg at home in the first round of the playoffs you are a zero. That is the way it works. Don't worry though he has his bags of money to keep him happy.

I've long been skepital about some fans' belief that many NFL athletes care more about money than winning. However, I'm starting to think they're right.
 

DogFace

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When Dak was in contract negotiations and the number 40 mil came up, I was against signing him for that. I was saying let him walk, hire Andy Dalton as a stop-gap, and draft a QB. I got accused of hating Dak. I don't hate the man. I actually think he's a great guy. I just don't think he's a QB worth 40 million. He's a quarterback with enough abilities to have a chance at a ring if he has a great team around him, a la Joe Flacco. There's a reason Flacco didn't get another ring after he got his big payday.

Right now I wish we had Andy Dalton as our temp guy and Mac Jones as our heir apparant. And extra cap space to sign some help. And a better coach, as McCarthy doesn't seem to be the same coach as the one who won a Super Bowl with the Pack. Btw, I don't hate McCarthy either. I'm just being honest about who I think he is.

The whole not wanting to pay Dak 40 mil was never about hating him. It was all about being honest about who he is and what's best for the team. I don't think this team will even be in the playoffs next year. I would love to be wrong, but I think I'm right.
So your position would have been to let him walk and start over drafting a QB?
 

CTcowboy203

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It doesn’t make you a dak hater at all. You can be against dak the quarterback or think he’s not good or average that’s fair. However bringing him back for less or saying we overpaid just shows a clear lack of cap knowledge from anyone.

Every time a franchise level quarterback signs they reset the market. The cowboys should have signed dak sooner to keep the $ down
 

nobody

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So your position would have been to let him walk and start over drafting a QB?

I too was against signing him for 40 million and I'd much rather have put him on a non-exclusive franchise tag again and either way started shopping for a new QB. Either someone else would sign him (unlikely) and we'd get 2 firsts from them, or he'd be our QB for 2021 anyway. If Parsons dropped to us like it happened, I think you'd draft him and either trade back into the first for a QB or pick one in the second round.

I say that as a fan of Dak. I wanted him as the QB. I think he can get it done with the right tools. I don't think we're ever going to have all of the tools because of his contract and because of Jerry. Now we're stuck with a QB that won't have the tools and the team's salary cap situation means the talent level is going down soon.
 

Reverend Conehead

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So your position would have been to let him walk and start over drafting a QB?

Once, he asked for 40 million, yes. I was okay with keeping him at 25 or 30 mil max, but 40 was just too much for his skill set. Either way was a risk, but I thought we could better mitigate the risk of drafting a QB, plus having a stop-gap veteran like Dalton.
 

Brax

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It doesn’t make you a dak hater at all. You can be against dak the quarterback or think he’s not good or average that’s fair. However bringing him back for less or saying we overpaid just shows a clear lack of cap knowledge from anyone.

Every time a franchise level quarterback signs they reset the market. The cowboys should have signed dak sooner to keep the $ down
The problem is Dak has not shown he's a franchise type QB so far 6 seasons and counting.
 

sunalsorises

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Ultimately, I don’t think Mac Jones is that much better than Dak but your point stands.

I imagine that at some point some team is going to find a way to keep brining in decent QBs on affordable deals and winning with them often enough. I’m interested to see what Tennessee does this post season.
 

PAPPYDOG

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When Dak was in contract negotiations and the number 40 mil came up, I was against signing him for that. I was saying let him walk, hire Andy Dalton as a stop-gap, and draft a QB. I got accused of hating Dak. I don't hate the man. I actually think he's a great guy. I just don't think he's a QB worth 40 million. He's a quarterback with enough abilities to have a chance at a ring if he has a great team around him, a la Joe Flacco. There's a reason Flacco didn't get another ring after he got his big payday.

Right now I wish we had Andy Dalton as our temp guy and Mac Jones as our heir apparant. And extra cap space to sign some help. And a better coach, as McCarthy doesn't seem to be the same coach as the one who won a Super Bowl with the Pack. Btw, I don't hate McCarthy either. I'm just being honest about who I think he is.

The whole not wanting to pay Dak 40 mil was never about hating him. It was all about being honest about who he is and what's best for the team. I don't think this team will even be in the playoffs next year. I would love to be wrong, but I think I'm right.
Only Dak lovers use the word HATE for reasons most of you are aware of.....:confused:
Shame really as the only emotion that should apply is the LOVE for our STAR!
 

CATCH17

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What’s bad is the Jones’s did the contract like a fan of Dak would’ve done it.


Now we’re just screwed.


The only path to success I see is right back to where we were with Jason Garrett and that’s hopefully forming a offensive line so great that they can just bull through anyone.

Imo they’d be lucky to ever have a line as good as 2016.
 

Flamma

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Once, he asked for 40 million, yes. I was okay with keeping him at 25 or 30 mil max, but 40 was just too much for his skill set. Either way was a risk, but I thought we could better mitigate the risk of drafting a QB, plus having a stop-gap veteran like Dalton.

It doesn't work that way for quarterbacks coming off their rookie season. You either pay them top market value, or they walk. Do you think Baker Mayfield will accept 25 million?

I was against paying Dak market value because it puts the Cowboys at a disadvantage to teams with better QBs making the same money. So now the Cowboys have to make up for their quarterback with a better roster using the same amount of money. That's called luck.

That said, what was Jerry's alternative? I know, you already mentioned Dalton and whatever. In other words, Dallas would be hot trash for the next few years. Jerry obviously didn't want that. It's not easy finding a good QB in the 1st round of the draft. Probably not one as good as Dak. Go ahead, point to all the good QBs that came out in the last 3 to 4 years without saying Herbert or Burrow. I'll wait.
 

CouchCoach

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There is another element to this that affected my thinking, the Joneses history with QB's. If not for having Payton on staff, no Romo likely. They missed on Lynch and Cook and settled on Prescott. Add to this all of those bodies that came through Dallas.

Finding that guy is hard enough for any team but their evaluation of QB's and the development of them is questionable. I do not think anyone will argue that Prescott has improved but he is not a top tier QB and I don't care what the stats say, I've watched him play since he was a junior at Miss St.

Everyone wants great but sometimes you have to settle for good and he is good enough with a good enough team. And good enough coaching and I question if he has had that and most of his improvement seems to be the self-improvement kind.

I am sure Prescott and his agent had this discussion that setting his sights that high would bring additional scrutiny to the most scrutinized position in all sports. Brady and Rodgers are having MVP seasons but "Dak's slump" was item #1 on the agenda. He went for the gold like 99.99% of us here would, that .01% is for the Mother Teresa posters that would take less money for the Joneses to overpay another player(s).

The signing of Prescott for 40M a year wasn't a bad deal, if you take that deal on its own. That 40M is going to be at the bottom of the top 10 soon when other teams have to make the same decision the Cowboys had to make about whether to throw this one back and go fishing again.

The cumulative effect of the Cowboys overvaluing and overpaying players like Lawrence, Elliott and Cooper has as much a drag on the cap as Prescott.

It's not Prescott and his salary, it's the ineptitude of the two men who run the franchise with total impunity and are actually rewarded with more ratings and revenue for their incompetence.
 

Creeper

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Nice post. I feel the same way. Unfortunately, the CAP is a reality in the NFL and it is as much a part of team building as any individual player. I would have been be okay with Dak at $35 million or less back then. Today I would be closer to $30 million. Dak is a good QB but he obviously has some flaws that are not going away.
 
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