Omerv brought up a very good point. Name the last time that a team signed a free agent QB as their starter that won the Super Bowl. I can think of only one, Peyton Manning, but that hardly makes it anywhere close to a sure fire cure. The only reason he was even available as a free agent is because many didn't think he would be able to play again after his neck injury so the colts released him. As far as your big idea of that it's so easy to draft a good QB, well the list is a mile long of QB's that have been picked as high as the first player picked, Jamarcus Russell, Ryan leaf was a number 2 pick and every number down from there who were complete and total busts in the NFL. If drafting QB's was such an exact science there wouldn't be that mile long list of busts.
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It is easy to draft one. It's hard to put them in a situation that allows them to be successful. That's the tough part. You point to Jamarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf, that's interesting. I will tell you this. Anybody who thought that Russell was the real deal as an NFL quality QB coming out deserves what they got. I don't think it was hard to see that Russell sucked out loud, in terms of throwing an NFL Football. That, to me, actually proves the point I'm making. He was never an NFL quality QB and it was easy to see. You want to talk about Leaf, that's cool too. Leaf, he was the real deal, in terms of talent. He was more talented, physically, then Manning by a lot IMO. Now obviously, Manning had other qualities that set him apart and that's fair, that's why he was the number one guy that year but Leaf was the real deal. He was just immature and it was a mistake to take him, and put him in SoCal and give him all this money at such an early age. The situation he was in was not good and that too speaks to what I am saying. It's easy to see the talent. It's easy to draft that guy, if you have the assets, but it's hard to put them in a situation where they can be successful. Beathard did it wrong there, they really should have handled him the way GB handled Rogers, who was also a very immature QB with unlimited talent ceiling. Same guy, in terms of those things. I mean, the worst place he could have gone was San Diego but that's what happened. San Diego failed to put him in a situation where he could be great. Now, having said all this, the major issue with Leaf was the injury. He was never the same after that and you can't know that part. That can happen to the greatest of talents and that's just Football. That can happen to Dak tomorrow, you never know so I don't think Leaf is the ideal example there. In fact, I think he is proof that what I am saying is accurate. Perhaps you disagree but I can defend that point pretty easily.
Peyton is not the only or the first FA QB who has won a championship in the NFL. League is full of them to be honest. I mean, if the standard is actually winning a championship, then tell me what guarantee you have that Dak will be able to do that if he never leaves. There is no guarantee that he will be able to do that so why is the standard, FA that will win a championship? I mean, that's what we all want but that is not a given, for sure. If it is, then I want that same guarantee behind Dak if he gets signed. See how that fails here?
I mean, if we want to have an honest discussion around FA QBs, then there are examples. Off the top of my head, I think Foles and Cousins can be pointed to recently. Brett Favre in Minnesota, Rich Gannon, Randell Cunningham, Alex Smith, Kurt Warner, Vinny Testivardi, Kerry Collins, Jake Plummer, our own Tony Romo was an FA, and there are more. I mean, it's not all that uncommon to see, to be honest. The problem is that you just see the same situation repeating itself in FA by these teams that I tried to explain about the draft. If you are bad at drafting Rookies and putting them in situations that allow them to win, then you are more then likely going to be bad at bringing in FA QBs and putting them in positions to win. That just makes sense right?
However, if you want examples of FA QBs who won championships, those are out there too. Brad Johnson, Drew Breez (Yeah, he was an FA), Jim Plunkett, Steve Young, Len Dawson, Doug Williams, Trent Dilfer, Johnny Unitas, all FAs, all won Super Bowls. As Cowboy Fans, we are spoiled in that we have drafted QBs who have been fixtures on the team and have gone on to, not only win multiple championships, but have Hall Of Fame Careers. We think that this is the way it has to be at QB but a lot of the league doesn't do it that way. Hell, Washington has done more with FA QBs then probably anybody, in terms of translating FA QBs into championship runs.
So there you go, it's not as hard to find quality at QBs, as many believe. They are out there and it does happen. The problem is, most teams suck at actually putting their QBs, drafted or signed, in situations where they can have a great chance to be successful. As I said in an earlier post, drafting a QB at the top of the draft or signing a good one in FA is more about throwing up a hailmary and less about actually having a real plan to make them successful and competing for a championship. That's the problem in the NFL. We are not one of those teams right now. We are unique in that we have a team that you can put a good QB in and expect them to have a decent chance to compete for a championship. If Dak and his agent want to believe that they have the Cowboys over a barrel and that some other team is going to give up the picks and the money they want, cool. Trade him if one does. But if not, and I think this is more likely, then get serious in your discussions, stop believing these yahoos who keep telling you "Pay The Man" and realize your value in this league, and to this team. This team values him more then anybody else in this league. Stop being stupid, listen to what Jerry is telling you, he takes care of his QBs and you have to be a fool to not realize that. Go take care of your business and win a championship. If you do this, then the world is open to you for the rest of your life. Look at Troy, look at Tony, both of those guys made a lot of money in Football. Both those guys had great careers in Football. Both those guys are at the top of their fields in TV and they have all of that due to Football and Jerry.
I mean, this ain't hard. We are making it harder then it needs to be IMO.
