March 2023: Huge decision coming on Dak's contract

[McKDaddy]

Just think we can't go all-in built around Dak and his 20% CAP hit.

Just paying QB's (to Dak's level just doesnt tend to win SB's)

Bingo

 

[Flamma]

No one really talking about Dak's contract right now but trust me, it's coming real soon. His $49M 2023 cap hit is the straw stirring pot. His contract will not have any more guaranteed money after the 2023 season. The impact has backed Jerry and Stephen into a corner with only 2 options.....

• Option No. 1.... Admit they are/have lost confidence in Dak by NOT doing anything but eating the $49M cap hit, leaving their options open to release or trade Dak after the season. Yes, he has a no-trade clause which gives him a bit of leverage on who/where he's traded. BTW, nothing to stop them from doing the 2nd option ( extend and/or restructure) AFTER the 2023 season if Daks lead the team to let's say NFCCG and/or Super Bowl.

• Option No. 2....This one is really simple, restructure/extend the current contract to lower the impact of the 2023 cap hit. But this would close the trade/release options after the 2023 season. In fact, it would more than likely add more guaranteed years/money ( probably 3-4 ). The bottom line, this would basically guarantee Daks is on the team next few years. To be honest, this was the plan when the initial contract was signed. Aikman and Romo's contracts were structured the same way.

Fish does a good job explaining..........



https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news...contract-coming-future-jerry-jones-salary-cap

Dak Prescott: New, Richer, Longer Cowboys Contract Coming?​

The Cowboys essentially have two routes to take regarding QB finances. Brace yourself, because March 2023 might be the time when "a new contract for Dak Prescott'' becomes a pretty common headline.

• MIKE FISHER
• JAN 28, 2023 9:02 AM EST

Very good post. But what to do now? This is a bad situation. Because without restructuring him, Dallas probably can't compete. If they restructure him, they're prolonging his stay.

If the front office isn't going to go all in to win a championship, why restructure? But the front office might restructure just to keep a competitive team, even if they know they have no chance at a championship. That's where we're at right now.

 

[Swagger]

LOL. They have been to the playoffs in consecutive years with 12 win seasons each of those years. Who is coming in and playing QB in 2024 with the 26th pick in the draft? Are they paying Cooper rush to stay?

Until they have a viable answer at QB, along with fielding a competitive team in 2023, they will have to work around Dak's contract. If the Cowboys can make some tough (unpopular) roster decisions this year, then they can hold the line on Dak and maintain status quo with his contract until next year.

My guess is he will respond in 2023, have a good year, get extended and we can all be pizzed for the foreseeable future.

5 of those 6 winning games took place with a practice squad level of QB. The sole loss coming against a team with their starting QB and will be playing in the Superbowl. Either the roster is loaded outside of the starting QB or the starting QB isn't a game changer/difference maker.

Either way, it would be ill advised to fully restructure Dak Prescott's contract due to the above clear points.

 

[phildadon86]

No one really talking about Dak's contract right now but trust me, it's coming real soon. His $49M 2023 cap hit is the straw stirring pot. His contract will not have any more guaranteed money after the 2023 season. The impact has backed Jerry and Stephen into a corner with only 2 options.....

• Option No. 1.... Admit they are/have lost confidence in Dak by NOT doing anything but eating the $49M cap hit, leaving their options open to release or trade Dak after the season. Yes, he has a no-trade clause which gives him a bit of leverage on who/where he's traded. BTW, nothing to stop them from doing the 2nd option ( extend and/or restructure) AFTER the 2023 season if Daks lead the team to let's say NFCCG and/or Super Bowl.

• Option No. 2....This one is really simple, restructure/extend the current contract to lower the impact of the 2023 cap hit. But this would close the trade/release options after the 2023 season. In fact, it would more than likely add more guaranteed years/money ( probably 3-4 ). The bottom line, this would basically guarantee Daks is on the team next few years. To be honest, this was the plan when the initial contract was signed. Aikman and Romo's contracts were structured the same way.

Fish does a good job explaining..........



https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news...contract-coming-future-jerry-jones-salary-cap

Dak Prescott: New, Richer, Longer Cowboys Contract Coming?​

The Cowboys essentially have two routes to take regarding QB finances. Brace yourself, because March 2023 might be the time when "a new contract for Dak Prescott'' becomes a pretty common headline.

• MIKE FISHER
• JAN 28, 2023 9:02 AM EST

Take the hit this year. Hope that MM craps the bed and we have a high draft pick. Draft a QB in 2024 (Maye or Williams) and move on with a new QB/HC combo.

 

[nightrain]

5 of those 6 winning games took place with a practice squad level of QB. The sole loss coming against a team with their starting QB and will be playing in the Superbowl. Either the roster is loaded outside of the starting QB or the starting QB isn't a game changer/difference maker.

Either way, it would be ill advised to fully restructure Dak Prescott's contract due to the above clear points.

So you think Rush would have led the Cowboys to the playoffs in 2022? Look at the stats of the Cowboys offense with Rush and with Dak.

 

[LittleD]

Jerry and Stephen have to decide if Dak is really the guy. If not, they draft a QB, like Purdy and let Dak go after this season. Maybe you can trade him, maybe not. Bottom line is that
they hung their star on a marginal QB who has glaring holes in his game. Jerry won't like it but, he may have to burn it down to the ground after this season to rebuild and retool.

 

[Hoofbite]

And this is why you don't write contracts to be restructured unless the player is 100% elite. When has this approach ever worked for Dallas in the sense that they weren't faced with massive dead money for an underperforming player. Carr, Ware, Romo, etc. All restructured by design and all of them underperformed/didn't perform when their cap hits were highest.

There is 1 player I would take a restructure by design approach with on the team right now. Micah. Everyone else needs to earn next season's salary.

 

[CowboyoWales]

LOL. They have been to the playoffs in consecutive years with 12 win seasons each of those years. Who is coming in and playing QB in 2024 with the 26th pick in the draft? Are they paying Cooper rush to stay?

Until they have a viable answer at QB, along with fielding a competitive team in 2023, they will have to work around Dak's contract. If the Cowboys can make some tough (unpopular) roster decisions this year, then they can hold the line on Dak and maintain status quo with his contract until next year.

My guess is he will respond in 2023, have a good year, get extended and we can all be pizzed for the foreseeable future.

Cough, cough 49ers who only really capitulated in the play-offs with their QB4. Or there's the Eagles with the QB that nobody rated coming into the season.
If you build the team you don't need an elite QB.
In any case, as I'd kept being said, most teams don't win SB's with expensive QB's (hence the no SB wins in 10 years of QBs earning top 5 salary).

 

[nightrain]

Cough, cough 49ers who only really capitulated in the play-offs with their QB4. Or there's the Eagles with the QB that nobody rated coming into the season.
If you build the team you don't need an elite QB.
In any case, as I'd kept being said, most teams don't win SB's with expensive QB's (hence the no SB wins in 10 years of QBs earning top 5 salary).

Hurts was a second round pick who the Eagles obviously had a plan for. You want to go the Mr. Irrelevant route and hope to strike gold? Better really bolster up the roster for that scenario. How long is that rebuild going to take so the Cowboys don't need a QB to compete?

 

[Sydla]

They are going to restructure. I am not sure why people think they would just eat that 49 million cap hit. They would have zero room to do anything else. They'd have to start cutting guys - Zeke, T Smith, Lewis, etc - just to get enough cap space to fill out a roster. And you'd then have to replace guys you just cut with even worse players. They can't fill out 10-12 roster spots with just drafted/UDFA players.

He's getting restructured. Just accept that.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Hurts was a second round pick who the Eagles obviously had a plan for. You want to go the Mr. Irrelevant route and hope to strike gold? Better really bolster up the roster for that scenario. How long is that rebuild going to take so the Cowboys don't need a QB to compete?

Repeat again.....no QB paid in top 5 QBs has won the SB in 10 years. If all we have is the Dak of the 49ers team, we can get a fa vet to play to that standard for a fraction of Daks $52m in 2024.
....spend the saved CAP on Offenseive weapons. A bit like the Stafford route, lesser QB hit, but improve the roster to compensate.
With Dak you can't afford the weapons,like Amari, not that Dak got very far when he did have Coop.

 

[Jumbo075]

Two Super Bowl winning former head coaches, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson, have both said that Dak is good enough to win a Super Bowl in the right offensive system, i.e. a system structured to have a strong running game. The Cowboys have to rework their entire running back roster, and get some road graders on the offensive line. Dak is not the superstart he's made out to be by some. But he can get the team over the hump with the right system.

The days of Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin have sadly been squandered. The need a new Oline coach to implement a better running scheme. Hence, the decision to allow Moore to leave for the Chargers, and fire the Oline coach. Smith and Martin may hang around a couple more years, but Martin, although drafted 3 years later, is actually older than Smith. Both are on the downsides of their careers. The future at tackle is Tyler Smith and Terrance Steele, with the Cowboys still trying to develop a competent swing tackle backup. Biadasz was just added to the Pro Bowl at Center, and the Cowboys need two new guards, plus backups.

Elliott is finished. He's used up his body at Ohio State and for the Cowboys, and has nothing left in the tank. And as good as Pollard has been, he's not a back to carry the load, and his injury means it would be unwise to sign him to a long-term deal. Malik Davis may be a short-term keeper, but the Cowboys need to make RB a priority in next year's draft.

At Wide Receiver, the Noah Brown days are probably over, and the Cowboys need to find out if last year's 3rd round pick is a bust. They may still sign OBJ in the offseason, because they need speed on the outside.

Mike McCarthy has a tough job ahead of him on the offensive side of the ball. The Cowboys will need an overhaul in this offseason, and maybe the next one also. It will be interesting to see what they do in free agency this year to shore up weaknesses before the draft.

But even if the rest of the Cowboys, including the coaches, players and scouts do the right thing, they still have to deal with Jerry Jones. Jones is the ultimate anchor for the team, not Dak.

 

[CowboyoWales]

They are going to restructure. I am not sure why people think they would just eat that 49 million cap hit. They would have zero room to do anything else. They'd have to start cutting guys - Zeke, T Smith, Lewis, etc - just to get enough cap space to fill out a roster. And you'd then have to replace guys you just cut with even worse players. They can't fill out 10-12 roster spots with just drafted/UDFA players.

He's getting restructured. Just accept that.

Yep, bit the OP options don't need to be so polarised. Certainly restructuring will have to take place, just don't think we should throw out the options of cutting Dak before 2024 (if he doesn't improve and prove consistency)

 

[CowboyoWales]

Two Super Bowl winning former head coaches, Bill Parcells and Jimmy Johnson, have both said that Dak is good enough to win a Super Bowl in the right offensive system, i.e. a system structured to have a strong running game. The Cowboys have to rework their entire running back roster, and get some road graders on the offensive line. Dak is not the superstart he's made out to be by some. But he can get the team over the hump with the right system.

The days of Tyron Smith, Travis Frederick and Zack Martin have sadly been squandered. The need a new Oline coach to implement a better running scheme. Hence, the decision to allow Moore to leave for the Chargers, and fire the Oline coach. Smith and Martin may hang around a couple more years, but Martin, although drafted 3 years later, is actually older than Smith. Both are on the downsides of their careers. The future at tackle is Tyler Smith and Terrance Steele, with the Cowboys still trying to develop a competent swing tackle backup. Biadasz was just added to the Pro Bowl at Center, and the Cowboys need two new guards, plus backups.

Elliott is finished. He's used up his body at Ohio State and for the Cowboys, and has nothing left in the tank. And as good as Pollard has been, he's not a back to carry the load, and his injury means it would be unwise to sign him to a long-term deal. Malik Davis may be a short-term keeper, but the Cowboys need to make RB a priority in next year's draft.

At Wide Receiver, the Noah Brown days are probably over, and the Cowboys need to find out if last year's 3rd round pick is a bust. They may still sign OBJ in the offseason, because they need speed on the outside.

Mike McCarthy has a tough job ahead of him on the offensive side of the ball. The Cowboys will need an overhaul in this offseason, and maybe the next one also. It will be interesting to see what they do in free agency this year to shore up weaknesses before the draft.

But even if the rest of the Cowboys, including the coaches, players and scouts do the right thing, they still have to deal with Jerry Jones. Jones is the ultimate anchor for the team, not Dak.

So you're saying overhaul the Offense inc running game, WR and even then MM has a 'tough job ahead of him'....all this with arms tide behind back with a QB paid 20% of the CAP.
Tough ask and not a scenario that's conducive to going 'all-in'.

 

[john van brocklin]

No one really talking about Dak's contract right now but trust me, it's coming real soon. His $49M 2023 cap hit is the straw stirring pot. His contract will not have any more guaranteed money after the 2023 season. The impact has backed Jerry and Stephen into a corner with only 2 options.....

• Option No. 1.... Admit they are/have lost confidence in Dak by NOT doing anything but eating the $49M cap hit, leaving their options open to release or trade Dak after the season. Yes, he has a no-trade clause which gives him a bit of leverage on who/where he's traded. BTW, nothing to stop them from doing the 2nd option ( extend and/or restructure) AFTER the 2023 season if Daks lead the team to let's say NFCCG and/or Super Bowl.

• Option No. 2....This one is really simple, restructure/extend the current contract to lower the impact of the 2023 cap hit. But this would close the trade/release options after the 2023 season. In fact, it would more than likely add more guaranteed years/money ( probably 3-4 ). The bottom line, this would basically guarantee Daks is on the team next few years. To be honest, this was the plan when the initial contract was signed. Aikman and Romo's contracts were structured the same way.

Fish does a good job explaining..........



https://www.si.com/nfl/cowboys/news...contract-coming-future-jerry-jones-salary-cap

Dak Prescott: New, Richer, Longer Cowboys Contract Coming?​

The Cowboys essentially have two routes to take regarding QB finances. Brace yourself, because March 2023 might be the time when "a new contract for Dak Prescott'' becomes a pretty common headline.

• MIKE FISHER
• JAN 28, 2023 9:02 AM EST

So is Jerry going to double down on his initial questionable decision?

 

[nightrain]

Repeat again.....no QB paid in top 5 QBs has won the SB in 10 years. If all we have is the Dak of the 49ers team, we can get a fa vet to play to that standard for a fraction of Daks $52m in 2024.
....spend the saved CAP on Offenseive weapons. A bit like the Stafford route, lesser QB hit, but improve the roster to compensate.
With Dak you can't afford the weapons,like Amari, not that Dak got very far when he did have Coop.

Have you seen Stafford's contract? It's the option 2 for Dak.

 

[Hawkeye0202]

They would have zero room to do anything else.

Maybe that's the plan.........use it as an excuse 1. a losing record and top draft position for replacement 2. move on from Dak. I know it sounds a bit crazy but restructuring may be as easy as some think.

 

[john van brocklin]

I found a QB tree can go pick one should be ripe before draft time P.S, The tree is in Henryetta OK

Does Bacon grow on that tree ?

 

[32BellyOption]

The worst thing to do would be to double down on a bad bet. Don’t restructure and play with the chips you have next year. If Dak craps the bed again then we can get out. If he doesn’t, then great.

 

[CowboyoWales]

Have you seen Stafford's contract? It's the option 2 for Dak.

But the Rams signed him to go all in 2021/22. That windows gone for Dak and he hasn't proved he can step up (even when he had Amari)