Cowboys options with Dak from Overthecap

[dreameaglegreen]

The best way coarse of action is to trade him this yr and take on the massive 60 million hit to dead money. This is what the Eagles pretty much did with Wentz, but they did already have Hurts on their roster. With MM returning that isn't going to happen, I say just leave the contract alone.

If they take that coarse, it might be rough. I propose they take a different course.

 

[Cowboyny]

If they take that coarse, it might be rough. I propose they take a different course.

It’s a real tough situation where the the front office has puts themselves into a corner

 

[Havic]

For me its simple.

You tell Dak to restructure his final year or he sits on the bench with Lance starting.

 

[Sydla]

Absolutely not. Why would they?

You'd be committing something like $25m cap dollars to a QB who has never played.

I read it wrong and deleted the post after realizing I made a mistake. Thought it was referencing Parsons.

 

[Sydla]

Restructure is the only thing that makes any sense...can make a lot of room for one run with the existing roster and a free agent move or two, then blow it up.

Restructure just lowers his cap hit next year. You are going to still have to deal with his overall cap charges as you'd just be pushing some of next year's cap hit into those void years.

 

[Sydla]

If they take that coarse, it might be rough. I propose they take a different course.

Yeah they might scuffle for a few years but at this point, many of tired of the same season over and over - win regular season games, turd out in the playoffs.

Some just want a new direction.

 

[plymkr]

"While the injury risk is probably lower with Prescott you do have to ask yourself what I think was the biggest underlying issue with Romo: if you can not win with Prescott making $40 million a year what makes you think you can win with him at $60 million a year? Really this gets down to an underlying issue of a team not looking for other options at the position so they have a different option, but that is a topic for another day."

/thread

I think that is the question we’re all asking in some way shape or form. If we can’t win with him making 40 how do you win with him making 60?

I do agree this article should be stickied because it is very informative and clears up a lot of misconceptions. I never imagined the internet helping with communication.

I think it basically comes down to do we want to go through cap hell this year or 3-4 seasons from now. Personally I say bite the bullet and get it over with, especially with Lance in the wings and a deep QB draft class.

 

[plymkr]

I love how people want to roll with Trey Lance next year without talking about the fact that, if he's good, they're going to have to give him the same $60m in 2025 lmao.

2024: Lance rookie deal
2025: Lance franchise tag
2026: Lance $65m

THINK PEOPLE

The only way that scenario plays out is if Lance takes every snap next year and plays at a high level. 2025 would be Lance’s 5th year option. If Jerry and cap boy were smart they would negotiate an extension for Lance paying him backup money. Like the same deal they gave Cooper. Ala what Green Bay did with Love. But that would require our front office to be proactive and think outside the moment which is something they struggle with.

But I really don’t think Lance will jump from 3rd QB that was inactive every game to the franchise tag then to 65 million a year in 2 seasons. If that happens then it means we have the real deal on our hands. That would be a great problem to have.

 

[Silverstar]

For me its simple.

You tell Dak to restructure his final year or he sits on the bench with Lance starting.

Having Lance does give Jerry some leverage regarding this kind of outcome but not much. I mean Lance has only started like 8 games?

 

[gtdRR]

Realistically they have three options....

1) Cut/Trade Dak and roll the dice on Lance doing a Trey Lance impersonation or finding a Baker Mayfield in free agency
2) Extend Dak, keep things mostly as is and continue to win 10-12 games next year but have a likely early playoff exit.
3) Keep Dak, have an aggressive "all in" type of offseason and actually give yourself a shot at a deep run

Spoiler alert....The Cowboys pick option 2

Option 1. They are already $20mil over the cap, post June 1 the hit would be an additional $25mil. That's not rolling the dice, the roster would be gutted, that's starting the rebuild.

 

[deerhunter11]

Wow this is scary. This team never learns. We’re screwed

Yeah I figured Jerry would extend Dak , thats why I have been thinking about how to build a good running game.If you extend Dak ,you must have a good running game.

 

[thunderpimp91]

Option 1. They are already $20mil over the cap, post June 1 the hit would be an additional $25mil. That's not rolling the dice, the roster would be gutted, that's starting the rebuild.

Nah Daks cap hit is already at $60M. If they cut/traded him it goes down to $25M so it actually saves them from the bulk of their cap issues. The only issue becomes who is your QB....

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Restructure just lowers his cap hit next year. You are going to still have to deal with his overall cap charges as you'd just be pushing some of next year's cap hit into those void years.

That's fine...the dead cap in year's to come will be a non issue if we blow it up afterwards. Which you know we won't. Jerry can't sell 1-15.

 

[RS12]

 

[JBS]

Nah Daks cap hit is already at $60M. If they cut/traded him it goes down to $25M so it actually saves them from the bulk of their cap issues. The only issue becomes who is your QB....

This isn’t true. Only if they cut him post 6/1. Which means they can’t use the cap savings until June 2nd when it’s virtually useless. A trade and he counts 60M against the cap this season. It’s in the article.

 

[JBS]

It’s a real tough situation where the the front office has puts themselves into a corner

It’s really not that tough. If winning a championship was the primary objective for this front office , the decision is easy. You don’t extend Dak. Just like everyone here says and just like the guy who wrote the article suggested. However, that isn’t the primary objective for this franchise. So they will extend him.

 

[gtdRR]

Nah Daks cap hit is already at $60M. If they cut/traded him it goes down to $25M so it actually saves them from the bulk of their cap issues. The only issue becomes who is your QB....

That's not true. We have like 16 FAs, we'd carry his $60 cap hit through FA. Cutting him as post June 1st would then give us some relief but at that point the team is built already.

 

[Bobhaze]

Option 4) Resign Dak on team friendly 2-3 year deal in the 35-45 million range. Trey Lance lights it up preseason. Dak has a Dak game. Lance takes over and reignites the offense. Dak is cut post June 2025.

So called “team friendly deals” are mostly a fan’s fantasy. The thing about pro sports most of us fans don’t understand is most veteran professional athletes are paid according to “market value” for their position, not their actual accomplishments or perceptions of their value based on what fans think. It is nothing at all like the real world we live in.

NFL QBs are the highest paid football players. Period. And that is 100% based on how difficult it is just to find a decent starting QB. It’s Economics 101. The basic “supply and demand” part of economics. The demand for a decent QB is extremely high. The supply is also extremely low. So the market dictates that QBs are paid the most % of the cap.

Thinking a QB who despite his poor play at the worst moments has also been reliably good in the regular season is going to take less than market value is unrealistic.

Look I’m tired of watching Dak’s poor play in the biggest games too. But this organization put all their financial eggs in Dak’s basket a few years ago and frankly have not managed some other key parts of the roster wisely. The defense was atrocious in that playoff game last Sunday, and as bad as Dak was, even if he had played a perfect game, it would have taken at least 49 points to win that game.

This team has a lot of holes.

 

[Bobhaze]

The only way Trey Lance gets 60 is if he wins an MVP

Have you been paying attention to what NFL QBs are being paid? Joe Burrow just signed last summer for $55 mil. Chargers QB Justin Herbert, who has more potential than accomplishments is at $53 mil.

In two years when Lance is due his next deal, if he’s the starter here and has earned the desire of this team to keep him as their starter, the Cowboys will have to pay market value. That’s just how it works. You don’t keep even decent starters for chump change.

 

[Mac_MaloneV1]

The only way that scenario plays out is if Lance takes every snap next year and plays at a high level. 2025 would be Lance’s 5th year option. If Jerry and cap boy were smart they would negotiate an extension for Lance paying him backup money. Like the same deal they gave Cooper. Ala what Green Bay did with Love. But that would require our front office to be proactive and think outside the moment which is something they struggle with.

But I really don’t think Lance will jump from 3rd QB that was inactive every game to the franchise tag then to 65 million a year in 2 seasons. If that happens then it means we have the real deal on our hands. That would be a great problem to have.

The 5th year option has to be given this offseason.

Why would Lance sign that deal? He can get a backup contract anywhere.

Well no I don't think it will happen either, but that's the scenario we're basically talking about.