Are the Cowboys bidding against themselves for Dak?

big dog cowboy

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If the boys sign him to a massive deal - they are guaranteed to lose at least some of that talent & probably go right back to cap hell like they have been in for a decade+
That simply isn't going to happen. That's over reactionary thinking.

Especially considering the jump on the salary cap that's coming.

Additionally, since when have the Cowboys been in cap hell for the last decade???
 

gjkoeppen

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I've always been a supporter of Dak and have followed him since his junior year at Mississippi State. The guy is tougher than a frozen $2 steak, but this whole contract thing is starting to sway my opinion on him and his value to this team.

Dak plays behind arguably the best OLine in football with arguably the best running back in football & had one of the best receiving cores in football last year. He played well and put up excellent stats, but in my opinion it's very hard to evaluate his value because of all the talent around him. If the boys sign him to a massive deal - they are guaranteed to lose at least some of that talent & probably go right back to cap hell like they have been in for a decade+

Very difficult decision, but I may be selling my Dak stock and I wouldn't be mad at a franchise tag + trade scenario. Like Emmitt said - he needs to consider all of the endorsements he gets due to being the face of the Dallas Cowboys, that wouldn't be the case on any other team.

I understand you are now questioning you opinion on Prescott, but there is at least some flaws in what you said. First I got to say that I am a huge Cowboys fan and have been since their first day of existence. But you see the offensive line the same way as many here do but in reality it's nowhere the same line of 2016 when they were the best line in the league. Then when Prescott and Elliott were rookies defenses stacked the line to stop Elliott and that line still opened up holes for him to run and he was the NFL rushing leader. Last year Elliott had SIX games where he had got 60 yards or less, 1 with 18 carries for only 35 yards. So was it because the line still isn't the best or was it that Elliott still isn't the best?

Now you say tag and trade Prescott. What do they get in trade? What do the Cowboys do for QB? Bring in a QB that either is at the extreme end of their careers for 1 maybe 2 years and then what? Or bring in a QB that other teams don't want and are letting them go in free agency? So signing some other teams cast offs is the answer? Draft a QB? What QB at the 17th pick? That QB is going to be ready to take the Cowboys to a Super Bowl when? Or do you say to trade up? So besides using their #1 pick now using more picks to get a rookie QB that will put a HUGE damper on getting some starting talent for the defense and he'd be ready to make that huge leap when?

All of the scenarios for the Cowboys that don't include Prescott work only if every aspect of them work flawlessly like in some perfect world. Any little hitch in those gettiups will make them turn out to be bad choices.

Now there are risk in both cases, with Prescott and without Prescott, but there are far fewer risks and chances for any part to become a failure in having Prescott than the alternatives.
..
 

atlantacowboy

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I've always been a supporter of Dak and have followed him since his junior year at Mississippi State. The guy is tougher than a frozen $2 steak, but this whole contract thing is starting to sway my opinion on him and his value to this team.

Dak plays behind arguably the best OLine in football with arguably the best running back in football & had one of the best receiving cores in football last year. He played well and put up excellent stats, but in my opinion it's very hard to evaluate his value because of all the talent around him. If the boys sign him to a massive deal - they are guaranteed to lose at least some of that talent & probably go right back to cap hell like they have been in for a decade+

Very difficult decision, but I may be selling my Dak stock and I wouldn't be mad at a franchise tag + trade scenario. Like Emmitt said - he needs to consider all of the endorsements he gets due to being the face of the Dallas Cowboys, that wouldn't be the case on any other team.

Good post. And just to add, has Dak proven he can lead the team? He threw 22 TD passes last year. Thats nothing. No 4th quarter comebacks. ..... Bad road losses where his offense didn't show up. Even if we paid him Kirk Cousins money, where does that get us? Sometimes in the NFL, you have to take a step backward in order to advance 2 steps forward. We have a better shot at BUILDING a super bowl team with a game managing QB making 20-25 million surrounded with elite talent rather than paying Dak as if he was a super star.
 
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buybuydandavis

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Yes and no. The "market" has set the benchmark for what starting QB's get.
Wentz, Goff and Wilson have shown what is the starting point is.
And every year, the rates go up with the cap always being increased.

Markets sometimes set the price at higher than the value. That the league is currently paying that much does not make it a good idea.

I remember DEs were exploding, I think before we franchised Spencer, and then the free agent market collapsed that year. New CBA may boost the entire league's salary, but QBs are looking overpriced by the current salary cap.
 

ultron

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That simply isn't going to happen. That's over reactionary thinking.

Especially considering the jump on the salary cap that's coming.

Additionally, since when have the Cowboys been in cap hell for the last decade???



I should've reworded that - they were in cap hell for mostly all of Romo's tenure and really haven't signed a 'big name' free agent in quite some time because of that. They got out of cap hell because Dak was a 4th round pick, but still had Romo's dead money on the books. They also have over 20/53 roster spots to fill this offseason. That's not an easy task even with the cap space that they have and the extra cap all teams may get.
 

John813

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I don't think you are really asking me but I will give my opinion on this. I personally don't believe Dak has nearly as much leverage as many here might believe, I think his next contract (in a few years if he can swing it) is where he has major leverage. What I think is happening is that he and his agent are trying to wait to see what the other FA QBs sign for this year. I think they feel like they have what they've been offered on lock down. They can't go down, they can only go up, based on what somebody else might sign for this season.

JMO

I think if Bridgewater gets close to 30mil, then it helps Dak on the AAV front. I don't think any FA QB this round will secure a huge signing bonus, guarantees and term. Either or, as Brees-Rivers and Brady are old and guys like Tannehill-Bridgewater don't have the quality of play established long term.

His leverage unfortunately is our FO gushing over him and the fact the QB market for competent, let alone elite guys is hard to find. IF not the Cowboys, some team without a good QB will offer him close to what he wants. Desperate GMs = overpaid contracts to QBs.

Markets sometimes set the price at higher than the value. That the league is currently paying that much does not make it a good idea.

I remember DEs were exploding, I think before we franchised Spencer, and then the free agent market collapsed that year. New CBA may boost the entire league's salary, but QBs are looking overpriced by the current salary cap.

I agree. It blew up last decade. When guys like Flynn, Glennon and a few others where making 8 figure annual salaries* it was a show of the times that the QB spot was entering silly season regarding contracts. Only takes a few desperate GMs to get a snowball rolling down the mountain before it becomes an avalanche.
 

glimmerman

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Dak needs to step up as a leader and take a deal with the team. Asking for to much at this point is not good. Take a short term deal if your gonna gamble on yourself cash in after the CBA. He wants more now and later. I don’t know the complete offer at 33 per year. But if it’s full of guaranteed money and big signing bonus then with the endorsements it could be doable. These guys get caught up in wanting more than the next guy. He wants more than goff. But hasn’t been as far as he has.
 

CouchCoach

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One way to find out is to tag him and let his agent explore his value to other teams.
 

CouchCoach

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Personally I think the Cowboys front office is deluded in thinking that this team is ready to compete for a super bowl.
That's all of that ego stroke talent of this team talk that they love to see. Talent is the entire team, not just the O. The D is mediocre and the ST are awful.
 

DasTex

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There are a hand full of teams that would likely be a fit for Dak

Pats - but not sure they go over the $30 million mark for him. Brady likely coming back for 1-2 years
Raiders - could see them doing something crazy and breaking the bank for him
Colts - plenty of cap room and young team. Probably the best fit
Bucs - plenty of cap - good WR core. 2nd best fit - but not sure they would break the bank for Dak
 

CATCH17

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Personally I think the Cowboys front office is deluded in thinking that this team is ready to compete for a super bowl.

The problem though is that teams come from nowhere almost all of the time.

We've had our own teams that came out of nowhere and in those years when we could've competed for a championship we didn't add to our defense in Free Agency.

The 49ers didn't go into this past season thinking they were a Superbowl contender.. It happened though and they made the most of it.



Maybe McCarthy comes in and makes our offense more efficient and less predictable and Nolan throws enough coverages at teams and gets us more turnovers and next thing we know we're in the hunt..

It's also sounding like 14 teams will make the playoffs now and having a 1st round bye won't be as big of a deal.
 

beware_d-ware

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The last starting caliber QB to hit the open market got 3 years $81 million fully guaranteed, and the QB market hasn't gone down a bit since then.

If Dak hits the open market, I think he'd get $35M pretty easily.
 

buybuydandavis

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The last starting caliber QB to hit the open market got 3 years $81 million fully guaranteed, and the QB market hasn't gone down a bit since then.

If Dak hits the open market, I think he'd get $35M pretty easily.

Wouldn't sign 33 last year. 35-40 this year.
 

FTWayne

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Good post. And just to add, has Dak proven he can lead the team? He threw 22 TD passes last year. Thats nothing. No 4th quarter comebacks. ..... Bad road losses where his offense didn't show up. Even if we paid him Kirk Cousins money, where does that get us? Sometimes in the NFL, you have to take a step backward in order to advance 2 steps forward. We have a better shot at BUILDING a super bowl team with a game managing QB making 20-25 million surrounded with elite talent rather than paying Dak as if he was a super star.
that's why he looked so good in 2016. He threw conservative passes with a little amount of turnovers and let Zeke move the chains.
 

ondaedg

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I've always been a supporter of Dak and have followed him since his junior year at Mississippi State. The guy is tougher than a frozen $2 steak, but this whole contract thing is starting to sway my opinion on him and his value to this team.

Dak plays behind arguably the best OLine in football with arguably the best running back in football & had one of the best receiving cores in football last year. He played well and put up excellent stats, but in my opinion it's very hard to evaluate his value because of all the talent around him. If the boys sign him to a massive deal - they are guaranteed to lose at least some of that talent & probably go right back to cap hell like they have been in for a decade+

Very difficult decision, but I may be selling my Dak stock and I wouldn't be mad at a franchise tag + trade scenario. Like Emmitt said - he needs to consider all of the endorsements he gets due to being the face of the Dallas Cowboys, that wouldn't be the case on any other team.

The entire league knows he will be tagged if a deal isn't reached so little point to be courting Dak.
 
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