Can we afford Dak?

[Jkyle]

Given that the salary cap will drop to $175 Million, it will be interesting to see if the cowboys can afford to pay Dak his $37 million Franchise Tag. If he doesn't sign a deal that allows the team to lessen the cost for this year, the team would be hard pressed to not have to release some players just to say under the $175 Million cap.

 

[Carson]

Yes. They moved cap over in anticipation of this. Plus there is always ways around.

Im not a cap expert, but there’s always ways to limit the cap hit.

 

[JoeKing]

Can the Cowboys afford not to sign Dak? It's his team and it does not work without him. Of course, the Dak haters will disagree so don't even bother with your opinion. It's a lame point of view.

 

[CATCH17]

Yes we can afford but the cost is being mediocre for at least 3 seasons.


The one thing I will say though is our division is trash and as long as Washington doesn’t have a QB and we stay healthy we could win the division and possibly get a wildcard W.

The goal is to win Superbowls and I think signing him is a dead end path because as we all agree this team needs a lot of pieces.

Dak can’t play defense, block, or catch passes and he without a doubt needs all those things to carry him.

 

[HungryLion]

Yes we can afford but the cost is being mediocre for at least 3 seasons.


The one thing I will say though is our division is trash and as long as Washington doesn’t have a QB and we stay healthy we could win the division and possibly get a wildcard W.

The goal is to win Superbowls and I think signing him is a dead end path because as we all agree this team needs a lot of pieces.

Dak can’t play defense, block, or catch passes and he without a doubt needs all those things to carry him.

Some new and fresh insight from Catch.

 

[Vanilla2]

I don’t get it. I’ve seen years where we as a board moved money around before free agency to fit our guy or guys and now with dak we forget all the money moving lessons we learned.

 

[CATCH17]

Can the Cowboys afford not to sign Dak? It's his team and it does not work without him. Of course, the Dak haters will disagree so don't even bother with your opinion. It's a lame point of view.

Is there any proof it works with him?

We have 1 wildcard win in 5 seasons.

Imo, he’s not a difference maker.

If you move a truly elite QB to another team I think you get better results over a 5 year period then that.

Paying for an elite player and not having an elite player is a good way to be mediocre.

 

[CouchCoach]

Yes we can afford but the cost is being mediocre for at least 3 seasons.


The one thing I will say though is our division is trash and as long as Washington doesn’t have a QB and we stay healthy we could win the division and possibly get a wildcard W.

The goal is to win Superbowls and I think signing him is a dead end path because as we all agree this team needs a lot of pieces.

Dak can’t play defense, block, or catch passes and he without a doubt needs all those things to carry him.

Agree but do you think they're going to do that if they don't sign him and do something else at QB? Why haven't they done that already? He was the best deal QB the Cowboys have ever had and they failed to cash in when they could have.

If the FO doesn't know how to build a team, what difference does it make what they pay the QB?

 

[Carson]

Agree but do you think they're going to do that if they don't sign him and do something else at QB? Why haven't they done that already? He was the best deal QB the Cowboys have ever had and they failed to cash in when they could have.

If the FO doesn't know how to build a team, what difference does it make what they pay the QB?

It’ll get done.

Dak wanted 4 years, Jerry wanted 5. Both likely balked on it. They’ll get it done.

 

[Kolemmitt]

Given that the salary cap will drop to $175 Million, it will be interesting to see if the cowboys can afford to pay Dak his $37 million Franchise Tag. If he doesn't sign a deal that allows the team to lessen the cost for this year, the team would be hard pressed to not have to release some players just to say under the $175 Million cap.

Yes. Easily and definitely. And, we do not have to release anyone that is under contract for '21. $175 million was the floor. It will likely be closer to $190-$195. If we are smart and sign Dak long-term, we can also be a player in FA.

 

[cowboyec]

yes.

 

[CouchCoach]

Is there any proof it works with him?

We have 1 wildcard win in 5 seasons.

Imo, he’s not a difference maker.

If you move a truly elite QB to another team I think you get better results over a 5 year period then that.

Paying for an elite player and not having an elite player is a good way to be mediocre.

Is Lawrence a 21M DL? Elliott a 15M RB? Cooper a 20M WR? Smith a 11M LB?

Any team that is going to hand out top 5 contracts to any players is going to have to have some players overperforming on their contracts. Do the Cowboys have that? Maybe Gallup and Lamb.

This isn't about Prescott or even paying the QB, it is about how this franchise distributes the cap money and the evaluation of player value. It is the sum of the parts that creates this whole mess.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Given that the salary cap will drop to $175 Million, it will be interesting to see if the cowboys can afford to pay Dak his $37 million Franchise Tag. If he doesn't sign a deal that allows the team to lessen the cost for this year, the team would be hard pressed to not have to release some players just to say under the $175 Million cap.

its a one year issue, with expectations that the cap will go up in 2022 and then start to sky rocket in 2023 and 2024, so its all about how you structure the deal.

this is also an issue for all NFL teams, not just cowboys. I expect most teams to keep their core, with lots of older veterans hitting FA

 

[jazzcat22]

Given that the salary cap will drop to $175 Million, it will be interesting to see if the cowboys can afford to pay Dak his $37 million Franchise Tag. If he doesn't sign a deal that allows the team to lessen the cost for this year, the team would be hard pressed to not have to release some players just to say under the $175 Million cap.

The cap is not set yet. So not concerning myself over it.
And if it does come in at that, there will be a lot of teams in worse shape than we are.
And there is nothing we can do about it. So not going to lose sleep over it.

However I would bet my house there will be many blaming Jerry for it. When actually in a normal year we would be in great shape. But they will not give him credit for it.
(yes it is really Stephen, but one in the same)

 

[CATCH17]

Is Lawrence a 21M DL? Elliott a 15M RB? Cooper a 20M WR? Smith a 11M LB?

Any team that is going to hand out top 5 contracts to any players is going to have to have some players overperforming on their contracts. Do the Cowboys have that? Maybe Gallup and Lamb.

This isn't about Prescott or even paying the QB, it is about how this franchise distributes the cap money and the evaluation of player value. It is the sum of the parts that creates this whole mess.

Oh we have some bad contracts..

Just throw another on the pile and hope it works?

Hard pass from me.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

Yes we can afford but the cost is being mediocre for at least 3 seasons.


The one thing I will say though is our division is trash and as long as Washington doesn’t have a QB and we stay healthy we could win the division and possibly get a wildcard W.

The goal is to win Superbowls and I think signing him is a dead end path because as we all agree this team needs a lot of pieces.

Dak can’t play defense, block, or catch passes and he without a doubt needs all those things to carry him.

it all depends on the draft. if we don't draft well defensively, we could add mahomes and Kelce and Henry and still struggle because the defense is bad....we must, must address the defensive drafting issues and hit on at least three players this year and nail the first and second round. we will not, in no way shape and form be able to fix the defense with FAs, it will require too many and cost too much.....no defensive FAs in 2021. target 2022.

 

[CouchCoach]

It’ll get done.

Dak wanted 4 years, Jerry wanted 5. Both likely balked on it. They’ll get it done.

I think it is already done and may have been since the deadline ran out last season. Booger is not going to make an announcement with all this Rodgers, Stafford and Watson stuff swirling around. He prefers to be the big story.

 

[Reverend Conehead]

Yes we can afford but the cost is being mediocre for at least 3 seasons.

IMO, that's the same thing as saying we can't afford him. It's all about the ability to win championships. If the price for Dak is so high that we can't afford a quality line to protect him and a quality defense to keep the other team's points down, then that price is too high.

To be clear, this is NOT Dak bashing. I love the guy. I think he's talented and has a great attitude. It's just that this is a team sport. He can't win a championship all by himself. No quarterback in history has ever been able to do that. If his price gets so high that the rest of the team can't be strong enough, then we would be better off moving on and taking our chances drafting a quarterback.

I want him to sign! But at an affordable price and then have him play on a team with a good, solid defense. Those championships we won with Staubach and Aikman were all with excellent defenses. Those guys were great, but even they had to be backed up with great defenses. And being well protected by the O-line and having a good running game goes without saying.

 

[CouchCoach]

its a one year issue, with expectations that the cap will go up in 2022 and then start to sky rocket in 2023 and 2024, so its all about how you structure the deal.

this is also an issue for all NFL teams, not just cowboys. I expect most teams to keep their core, with lots of older veterans hitting FA

The hard fact the NFL knows is that at 175M, there are players that will go unsigned because the money's gone. At 195M, there are still some teams with some trimming to do but at 175M, that's radical surgery and not only does that hurt that team but the competitive level of the league.

This is a special and unique circumstance that the NFL and NFLPA will have to address and come to agreement on for the good of the game.

 

[cowboyec]

Is there any proof it works with him?

We have 1 wildcard win in 5 seasons.

Imo, he’s not a difference maker.

If you move a truly elite QB to another team I think you get better results over a 5 year period then that.

Paying for an elite player and not having an elite player is a good way to be mediocre.

but how are those loses on Dak?
1-2 in the play-offs.
beat seattle at home...strong game from Dak and a solid showing by our defense if my memory is correct.

lost at home v green bay....still think we shoulda won that game.
we get blown off the field in the 1st half.
Dak played great in the 2nd....we come all the way back to tie and then rodgers happens.
defense couldn't stop him.

the loss to the rams....they stomped a mud hole in our *** and walked it dry with that run game.
but Dak played solid and kept us in it.
don't believe he had a turn over.

so how is any of that on him.
i'd say considering....its pretty damn good.