BTB: Stephen Jones says they will not work on Dak's extension until training camp

[Beast_from_East]

If he holds out he’ll still owe the Cowboys a year of service. There is no upside for Dak to hold out. His best negotiating position is to be a free agent and be available to all 32 teams and any can sign him without compensation to the Cowboys. He gets to that moment fastest by playing the 2024 season for Dallas. The only way he signs with Dallas is if the Cowboys offer him a deal as great or greater than what his agent believes he can get if he were a free agent. Dak’s agent works for the same agency as Justin Jefferson’s agent. These guys are not just goofing around.

Yeah, the idea that the Cowboys are playing hardball is just ridiculous, Dak has all the leverage here because, like you said, he is fixing to be a free agent and can negotiate with all 32 teams with no compensation required.

Its like an auction, the more bidders you have for an item, the higher the price typically goes. This is especially true if supply and demand mechanism is involved (the demand for the item for exceeds the supply of the item).

There are only about 12-15 "starting caliber" Qbs in the NFL and there is a reason you never see any of these guys hit free agency, see above. That is how a broke down 35 yr old QB coming off an Achilles tear gets $180 million.

 

[plymkr]

If you are Dak, what is the modern way of going about this if Dak is left to play on an expiring?

Seems like he would be smart to pull a couple of fake injuries to get through the season without a serious injury.

Or do you just hold out? You get docked pay for that, right?

Or...does Dak just fall to the ground the second he senses pressure?

I just dont see a QB playing on an expiring who could lose a lot of money from a serious injury.

Well considering Kirk ripped his Achilles late in the season and signed for big money I don’t see Dak hurting for suitors even if he did get injured. The best play for Dak financially would be to come out and play his best ball and be an unrestricted free agent. Then theoretically he would have the Cowboys and about 10 other teams to bid on him. If I was Dak I’d do 1 of two things. Demand a trade and get the 60 million APY now or play out this last year and let the league bid for him. More than likely I would ask for a trade if the Jones are dragging their feet because that offensive line is looking bad for next year and we don’t have any RBs right now. I’d wave my NTC and get to Minnesota or somewhere else.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

I think Jerry is done with Dak and basically if they need to pay him for a year they are going to bite the bullet and let him walk next year along with McCarthy.

 

[khiladi]

1. Kirk Cousins was playing lights out before the injury and when MM was having to dumb down the offense again for Dak after getting destroyed by the 49ers. JJ made it a point 2 weeks ago that the real credit goes to Mike McCarthy for the offensive changes.

2. Dak playing with a year on his contract is the height of pressure. The higher the stakes, the more he goes into a shell. In 2020, he was awful and had 7 TOs in 4 and a half games. He’s actually lucky from a financial perspective that he broke his leg, because if he played out that season, he’s not getting that contract. He’s lucky even Dalton got injured and then they relied on a guy DeNucci to start, and that too with basically their whole starting OL out.

 

[plymkr]

I wonder if this delay has anything to do with his sexual assault investigation?

Also wasn't it reported they were talking then a few days later it came out they hadn't talked?

I am speculating the delay is 2 fold. One is the sexual assault allegation. The other is I wonder if they want to see what Trey can do in TC and how much he’s developed since last year. Purely speculation on my end.

Or possibly the green bay game really shocked the FO and they may have doubts about Dak’s ability to win the postseason. Don’t forget that a teammate leaked that Dak too nervous in playoff games. Another aspect is the FO may be seeing Dak losing the team since everyone’s family members have been chiming in on social media. There’s a lot of uncertainty right now about Dak and personally I’m glad they are not rushing the extension with him.

 

[plymkr]

Dak playing with a year on his contract is the height of pressure. The higher the stakes, the more he goes into a shell.

Very good point

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Dak has been extraordinarily consistent for 8 years.

Consistent at what? Beating up bad teams and crapping the bed over and over again when facing better teams isn't really consistency that you pay 60 mil a year for.

 

[buybuydandavis]

It also makes zero sense for the cowboys to do an agreement that late unless they just don’t care about improving the roster.

They'd be burning a year to get Dak on a cheaper contract.

But if we're so eager to get Dak signed, why are we willing to burn a precious year of Dak to do it?

I'm surprised, but I think they're trying to move on from Dak and doing everything they can to get Dak to demand a trade this year.

 

[buybuydandavis]

Consistent at what? Beating up bad teams and crapping the bed over and over again when facing better teams isn't really consistency that you pay 60 mil a year for.

That does seem like what we're getting out of Dak.

Is there an easy way to calculate Dak's stats against winning teams?

 

[CATCH17]

Yeah, the idea that the Cowboys are playing hardball is just ridiculous, Dak has all the leverage here because, like you said, he is fixing to be a free agent and can negotiate with all 32 teams with no compensation required.

Its like an auction, the more bidders you have for an item, the higher the price typically goes. This is especially true if supply and demand mechanism is involved (the demand for the item for exceeds the supply of the item).

There are only about 12-15 "starting caliber" Qbs in the NFL and there is a reason you never see any of these guys hit free agency, see above. That is how a broke down 35 yr old QB coming off an Achilles tear gets $180 million.

2 HOF QBs just left their franchise and Baker Mayfield and Jordan Love lead those teams further in the playoffs than we got.

Stop being scared of change.

A better team and Lance could very well be better than a lesser team and Dak.

 

[CTcowboy203]

Maybe I missed it, but did the article have a quote from Jerry or Steven saying this or was this just assumed???

It was based off the report from slater I believe but not from Jerry.

 

[Captain-Crash]

Stephens waiting to see if dak gets to wear his number 4 jersey or the orange jumpsuit with a new number on it. shrugs.

How about them cowboys?

 

[Jayinem]

this is nothing,wait till Jerry kicks the bucket..

??? I don't wish death on the man, but there's a strong possibility it could get better without him. Maybe Stephen has his own ideas and would want a GM unlike Jerry but won't tell his dad that. Maybe Stephen wants to spend in free agency, maybe Stephen's ego isn't so big he can't pick up a phone and only expects teams to call him in trades etc... Stephen is very aware that people are very unhappy with his dad I doubt he wants to do the exact same things as Jerry. If he does the same things we're screwed, but there's a solid chance he won't.

 

[shabazz]

Jerry's senility coupled with Stephen's ineptitude makes Daks future uncertain.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he was traded, released, extended, or just played out the year....and I'm starting not to really care either

 

[Captain-Crash]

Consistent at what? Beating up bad teams and crapping the bed over and over again when facing better teams isn't really consistency that you pay 60 mil a year for.

he wants us to keep the choker, it works out better for the Eagles if we keep him and pay him a crap load of money so we can add quality and depth. Heck, if I were an Eagles fan like some of these fake Cowboys fans, I too would be hoping the Cowboys would keep him.

 

[Blitzen]

Kirk Cousins is 35 yrs old and is coming back from an Achilles tear...............he has 1 single career playoff victory.

He got 4 yr, $180 million ($90 million fully guaranteed).

Dak is 5 years younger, extremely durable (has started 88% of available games for his career), and has twice as many playoff wins as Cousins.

To think Dak would not get north of $200 million on the open market (with at least half guaranteed) is wishful thinking. Only question is does Dallas pay this or somebody else.

I already said the threshold is around $100 million guaranteed (not much more), and at least 4 years in length. Which is not that bad considering. I think he would get that amount of guaranteed money on the open market.

The issue is that the Jones’ are not that dumb (I think they are kinda dumb though). The moves they are currently making are uncharacteristic (no matter how much Cowboys’ fans want to say this is the same script as free agency in the past several years). They typically keep anyone of value on the squad. Visiting with Tyron’s agent only to find out the price was far too high (a one year heavily incentivized contract). Armstrong and Fowler have been valuable contributors that signed small deals. They know they will be using a bunch of new starters. That is not this team’s m.o. because they typically like more continuity. Everything signals that this is a turning point season, where everything comes down to playoff performance.

If they hold off on signing Dak, but extend Ceedee to make more cap room, they are signaling that his contract is not a priority. Playing hardball at this point in free agency makes no sense (even for them).

I would still be surprised if they did not extend Dak, and let him play the last year out. It’s uncharacteristic-but so are many of the choices they have already made this off-season.

 

[FanofJerry]

I have noticed that the extreme critics on this site have baked an out into the future...

They criticize Jerry for dumb contracts and blame Stephen for being cheap in Free Agency. See how that works in a critics favor? No one can do anything right.

NBA and NFL are different...but look at the Dallas Mavericks since 2011 and see how being a tight wad helped them to this point. I hope Stephen isnt a tight wad post-Jerry.

 

[Verdict]

They got owned by Dak and France in the original contract and the way the FO played that out.

Now they are stuck in a deal where once again the player has 100% of the leverage based on the language they put in it.

I don’t believe Dak has all the leverage. Using your logic, Dak has always had a blank check to demand whatever he wanted from the Cowboys.

If the Cowboys are unwilling to cave to Dak’s demands the Cowboys have options. They can let Dak walk in free agency or they can put pressure on Dak to waive his no trade clause by benching him.

That is of course somewhat of a nuclear option with fallout for the Cowboys too, but make no mistake, Dak does not want that to happen.

 

[shabazz]

Is this their pathetic attempt to play hardball? He is going to holdout.

From your lips to God's ears....

 

[shabazz]

Captain Insano, our GM, may move way up in the draft and grab a QB.....expect the unexpected