Franchise tag is $26,895,000
Transition tag is $24,373,000
Stephen probably has a good idea of what market would offer him, therefore he mentioned the transition tag. Match that offer and retain him. Likely its less than the $33 million they offered.
But he has to sign the tag to be traded. If he doesn't sign the tag, like LeVon Bell he gets to sit out and is a free agent next year.
Of course, by then he's let two draft classes go by (2020 and 2021), and he's not likely to be in anyone's plans since he hasn't proven to be a team player, his skills are rusty, he hasn't taken a snap in a year and yada, yada, yada (whatever else a team can say to drive the price down if they want to sign him).
Let's edit that after looking at Bell's situation.......
"In the case of Bell, even though he did not get an
accrued season in 2018, if he were to be tagged again by the Steelers in 2019, it would count as his third franchise tag; it would not revert to his second. Per the CBA, Pittsburgh in that case would be required to tender Bell non-exclusively (with first- and third-round comp picks attached) at the average of the top five highest-paid players at the league's highest-paid position."
Seeing that it would appear if Dak sits out we can tag him again next year. Pretty much ruin his chance anywhere if sat out 2020 and 2021.