Dalton never had the the kind of talent on offense around him that Dak has here with these receivers, RB and OL. The only consistent stud Dalton ever had was AJ Green...every other year they had a different #2 receiver and more often than not it was a TE. They never had a running back during his time there as good as Zeke.
But this isn't about Dalton.
It's about moving forward and what gives us the best chance. You say the draft is a crap shoot at QB. Well guess what buttercup? It's pretty much a crap shoot across the board. Every year there are sure things that bust, all across the board at every position. So you magically think that two years of drafting defense will be the difference for Dak, without any free agent help. Or you only want guaranteed free agents that will improve us. Well that doesn't happen either. Still a guess. So over this next two or three years...we just assume the guys we keep are going to just keep getting better? Or maybe leaks will sprout up elsewhere. Biadasz' ranking if I remember correctly was below average....as was Looney's. So, are we going to keep a guy that might not be a good starter to protect Dak up the middle? Good chance Tyron breaks down again, are we spending any money in FA to find a replacement that isn't a road bump? Conner Williams still shows that he can be bum rushed at the most inopportune times....are you spending money in FA or draft capital to fix that hole? Is Collins injury something he will come back to be the player he was his ONE good year? Any plan can be nitpicked. There are multiple ways to go.
As I have said many times....I prefer we keep Dak. In doing so, it will lessen our ability to build a better supporting cast. If we can't hit on 2-3 average or better starters and a couple more contributors in each draft then to a certain extent we will just be treading water. We blew our chance with Dak on a cheap deal. Other teams have done a much better job of taking advantage of rookie starters than we did. In many cases, you basically have to choose between having a great QB with an average supporting cast, or a rookie QB or bus driver with a great supporting cast. If we do keep Dak, he is going to be judged but his ability to rally the team and more or less carry the team to wins. Russell Wilson carries that team to 10+ wins year after year. Mahomes has taken his team to the Super Bowl and won it. Brady carries every team he has been on to their best seasons and he is 40+ years. Aaron Rodgers the same in Green Bay. If Dak gets the big money and doesn't get us to at the very least multiple NFC Championships if not Super Bowls, he will be looked at as not being worth it. And we will still be set back 3-4 years.
Most of us have waited at least 25 years for this team to become an annual contender...a couple years more aren't going to kill us.
that's one of the biggest pile of crap ever....
Dak in his first three and half years had Witten, Dez (broken down and often injured) and lets hear a woohoo for Beasley. 2018 he started with Williams and what's his name as the starting WRs....only after 2018 did he get cooper and since has produced one of the best pass offenses...
Andy had AJ Green, among the top 3 WRs in the league and borderline HOF candidate.....through his first 4 years... as well as Gresham, Mohammed Sanu, Brandon Tate, Marvin Jones....all of whom heck of a lot better on any given day than Stone Hand Williams....
so this notion of Andy had nothing and lifted buses single handedly and jumped over tall buildings (yes, I am exagerating) crap doesn't wash at all.
and yes, I agree. moving forward and giving us the best chance....and Andy doesn't. end of story. he in fact gives us zero chance outside of perhaps picking in the top 5 if that should be our goal.
and its not a crapshoot, if you go with a known quantity, which is a top 10 QB, proven in the NFL...going with the unknown (draft QB) is a crapshoot.. and if I have to take crapshoot, I rather do that on defense. instead of destroying a position that's in great shape and add another uncertainty to the most important position on the team and still have to go through the crapshoot for defensive players....that's just adding to your problems as opposed to solving them.
and youmention those players and called them average....what's the difference between those "average" players protecting Dak, Dalton or "unknown QB"?
and I don't think two years of defensive drafts is good for Dak....its good for the DEFENSE and its good for the TEAM. geez, is that a hard concept to understand!!!
and yes, IMHO in 2021 we shouldn't be going after any defensive FAs.....makes no sense....
and sounds like you are advocating building a team through FA....if yes, then .tell me which team did it last? and how successful were they?
its funny that you say:
"So over this next two or three years...we just assume the guys we keep are going to just keep getting better? Or maybe leaks will sprout up elsewhere."...this makes no sense.....yes, every team in the NFL hopes their players get better. will they? is the unknown and until you go through it you won't know...so is CD going to get better? or should we cut our losses and not take a chance and just dump him on a trade and cash in while we can? should we just get rid of Riggs, he showed potential, so lets cash in get a draft pick and lets just go and build a defense through FA. lets just get 5 or 6 players through FA....is that the smart idea? teams that succeed do it through smart drafting and keeping their own players and fill a gap here or maybe there through FA.....if we can't draft well, then its all moot anyway...if we can't draft well, that goes for QB position as well.
and its been proven over and over and over and over and over and over and over again...signing Dak is not going to stop you from signing other players. we had this very year 7 of the highest paid contracts for their respective positions on the team, plus Dak's 32M.....
and at this point since Wilson, Brady, Mahomes, Rodgers are not available Dak is our best shot....and btw, I rank all of those QBs ahead of Dak. with Brady on his way out of the league soon to follow Rodgers....