Dak has a larger cap hit than Mahomes!

[TheMarathonContinues]

For perspective, Mahomes got $66 million guaranteed at signing on a 10 year deal.

Conversely, Dak Prescott got $95 million guaranteed at signing on a 4 year deal.

Look no further than the bumpkins getting fleeced in negotiating these contracts for why we’re forever having cap problems.

It’s funny I read on where they got fleeced on Amari just for people to say it’s a bargain years later lol.

 

[Stash]

It’s funny I read on where they got fleeced on Amari just for people to say it’s a bargain years later lol.

If you try hard enough, you can justify almost anything.

 

[Toro9]

Incredulous

 

[ConstantReboot]

It probably wont be, but the Cowboys have 3 options.

1) Eat the bulk of his cap hit now and create more flexibility next year or even more leverage in contract negotiations.
2) Restructure the deal push money into years he isn't even on the roster.
3) Extend Dak at an even higher AAV....the biggest piece here that worries me is that you are negotiating with Dak at a time when he has total control. The Cowboys need to get his cap number down and the first two options are not that great.

I think you're right that Dak's cap hit wont be that high, but I'm not sure the options to lower that hit are that great.

This is the problem with our FO. They caved when they shouldn't have. They caved when signing a contract with Zeke. And they caved when they were doing Dak's contract. In fact, they should have thought of trading both players when they had value.

The FO lack of football knowledge is evident. They think they know, but they don't know.

 

[MikeT22]

GOOD FOR DAK !!!!!!

Bad for the Cowboys !!!!

 

[thunderpimp91]

This is the problem with our FO. They caved when they shouldn't have. They caved when signing a contract with Zeke. And they caved when they were doing Dak's contract. In fact, they should have thought of trading both players when they had value.

The FO lack of football knowledge is evident. They think they know, but they don't know.

Agree completely. I don't think it's Daks fault, Zekes fault, Dlaws fault, etc when it comes to these contracts. Jerry caves every single time. I mean Dak got everything he could have imagined in a new deal coming off a year where he missed over half the season with an injury that left everyone wondering if the guy would be close to the same every again.

Jerry/Stephen are the reason for the current situation.

 

[Hadenough]

"Dak's contract will be a bargain in three years".

I laughed when that was initially being put forth by the Prescott propaganda pushers, and I'm laughing now.

I remember that!

 

[MikeT22]

Romo was a very good QB and so is Dak. Both have very good regular season winning percentages better than most QBs, but the playoffs have been a problem mainly because we haven’t had good enough teams. If some fans want to cry because we don’t have a Mahomes good luck finding a QB of that quality. The Cowboys have struck gold twice at QB with Staubach and Troy Aikman.

Dallas has drafted only 1 Qb in round 1-3 in the last 30 years. Zero in the last 20.

There is a reason we can’t find a SB caliber QB, we don’t try to.

 

[KJJ]

Dallas has drafted only 1 Qb in round 1-3 in the last 30 years. Zero in the last 20.

There is a reason we can’t find a SB caliber QB, we don’t try to.

The Cowboys haven’t had a need to use a premium draft pick on a QB. They burned a second round pick on Quincy Carter because they released Troy Aikman and had nothing at the position. Carter ended up being a bust. Since then they had Romo for nine years and they’ve had Dak for seven seasons. You don’t invest a high draft pick on a QB unless you really need one because their bust potential is too high. The 49ers gave up the farm to move up for Trey Lance at number three overall and he’s been a bust so far. The QB they had has been better and Brock Purdy who was drafted in the seventh round has shown more potential. Drafting a QB is the ultimate crapshoot. Drafting a QB high is a long way from guaranteeing a Super Bowl caliber QB and I could list of page full of examples.

 

[conner01]

Not at all. ‘Every other player’ isn’t costing their team over $20 million for a year they won’t even be here.

Structure of contract is done by the team to fit into cap. They set base salaries and spread bonus money out to make it fit how they want
It’s totally up to the team since the players bonuses are generally paid at set intervals or upfront. How it effects the cap is the structure the team wanted because it doesn’t really matter to the player

 

[Stash]

Structure of contract is done by the team to fit into cap. They set base salaries and spread bonus money out to make it fit how they want
It’s totally up to the team since the players bonuses are generally paid at set intervals or upfront. How it effects the cap is the structure the team wanted because it doesn’t really matter to the player

That’s not accurate. The player will always look for as much guaranteed money as they can get as soon as they can get it.

But the point isn’t who decided to dump $22 million in dead money in 2025, it’s that they did it at all.

These are the same people that tried to justify giving Cooper away because he was making $20 million. While they’re set to have $22 million in cap space for a player not under contract.

That’s the issue.

 

[Calvin2Tony2Emmitt2Julius]

Bad for the Cowboys !!!!

Not really

 

[RonnieT24]

Dak cap hit for 2025 is already 22 million and that is after his contract expires. People say we need to adopt a more "win now" philosophy. Hate to be the one to break it to you but what you have been seeing the last 2 years is "win now".

Sorry but this simply is not true. You don't trade your #1 receiver for a six pack o beer if you are in "win now" mode. Nor do you sit on available cap space. Nor do you sit out any opportunity to bring on impact free agents. Jerry himself stated that he is reluctant to go "all in" on one year. Not saying I agree with his logic .. but the Cowboys have clearly not operated in a manner that anyone could call "win now" in a very long time.

 

[MikeT22]

The Cowboys haven’t had a need to use a premium draft pick on a QB. They burned a second round pick on Quincy Carter because they released Troy Aikman and had nothing at the position. Carter ended up being a bust. Since then they had Romo for nine years and they’ve had Dak for seven seasons. You don’t invest a high draft pick on a QB unless you really need one because their bust potential is too high. The 49ers gave up the farm to move up for Trey Lance at number three overall and he’s been a bust so far. The QB they had has been better and Brock Purdy who was drafted in the seventh round has shown more potential. Drafting a QB is the ultimate crapshoot. Drafting a QB high is a long way from guaranteeing a Super Bowl caliber QB and I could list of page full of examples.

.Yeah we definitely don’t want a bust. Much better to stick with a QB who isnt good enough for nearly a decade and then waste another decade doing the same thing.
Even NE drafted Jimmy G while Brady was in his prime. We get a 2nd tier QB and ride him for a decade.

 

[Kingofholland]

Dak had a 20m cap hit last year (on a 40m AAV) and Mahomes had 37m (on 45m AAV). When teams push cap hits into future years, what exactly did you think that meant? Did you think the restructuring made the hits vanish forever?

This will surely happen to Daks contract again and we'll be talking about his cap his again next season

 

[conner01]

That’s not accurate. The player will always look for as much guaranteed money as they can get as soon as they can get it.

But the point isn’t who decided to dump $22 million in dead money in 2025, it’s that they did it at all.

These are the same people that tried to justify giving Cooper away because he was making $20 million. While they’re set to have $22 million in cap space for a player not under contract.

That’s the issue.

How much is guaranteed has little to do with each years cap hit. Generally they get that when they sign but it’s cap hit is spread out over the contract or in some cases after the contract is even expired

 

[Stash]

How much is guaranteed has little to do with each years cap hit. Generally they get that when they sign but it’s cap hit is spread out over the contract or in some cases after the contract is even expired

Yes, but the higher the guaranteed amount, the longer the team is locked in to the deal.

 

[KJJ]

.Yeah we definitely don’t want a bust. Much better to stick with a QB who isnt good enough for nearly a decade and then waste another decade doing the same thing.
Even NE drafted Jimmy G while Brady was in his prime. We get a 2nd tier QB and ride him for a decade.

I get everyone is frustrated but he’s 26 games over 500 as a starting NFL QB and has two playoff wins. Go research how many QBs have won as many games as him over the past seven seasons. He led us to our first road playoff win in 30 years. He had possibly the best game of his career against Tom Brady on the road. Yes, he was up and down this past season but he’s still a much better QB than most teams have and he gives us a chance. If the OC change doesn’t improve him next season and his inconsistency continues then we have to start looking for a better option. I wouldn’t be opposed to drafting a QB at some point this April.

 

[Flamma]

I still bang my head against a wall when I hear people say we HAVE to sign Dak now to free up more money....do these fools not realize that it's only locking us into several more years of futility??? Some of the people pushing for a new deal, are also saying he will never take us anywhere....I am at a loss. It will not hurt us to wait until this time next year to decide....DO NOT rush into something stupid!!!!!!!!

You're right. But the Cowboys kind of backed themselves into a corner. In order to sign or extend players, do anything in FA, and sign rookies, they have to get the money from somewhere. Someone is getting released, restructured.

If they keep Dak at his current cap hit, there will be serious issues with this off season. It's a no win situation.

 

[MikeT22]

I get everyone is frustrated but he’s 26 games over 500 as a starting NFL QB and has two playoff wins. Go research how many QBs have won as many games as him over the past seven seasons. He led us to our first road playoff win in 30 years. He had possibly the best game of his career against Tom Brady on the road. Yes, he was up and down this past season but he’s still a much better QB than most teams have and he gives us a chance. If the OC change doesn’t improve him next season and his inconsistency continues then we have to start looking for a better option. I wouldn’t be opposed to drafting a QB at some point this April.

I get that it's a dilemma when you have a QB that is good but not elite. And at the same time have a HC and OC who are decent but not elite and not to even mention the front office. There are quite a few teams in the same situation. The most frustrating part is only drafting one QB in any of the first 3 rounds only once in 30 years and at the time making a 2nd tier QB the highest paid in the league. But it is what it is.