IDK, I can see your point...but this game wouldn't be as lucrative for any of them without the fans.
Putting it mildly, the guy hasn't done squat up til now, yet he wants Top-5 QB $$$ ...why, well, 'because.
Maybe he should go out and win a ring or at least put up Top-5 QB #s before acting entitled to that $$$.
Fans will remember a "team first" guy...which would pay immense dividends down the road for his legacy.
Also, it's not like he still won't get $25M-$35M guaranteed even on a team-friendly contract.
That right there (even after tax and agent fees) is enough for him, his immediate family and very close friends to live off of for the next 50+ years.
Why go the extra selfish mile for another $15M-$20M guaranteed when he hasn't earned it, and it will hamstring his team keeping them from putting the best possible teammates around him in order to win titles?
It's never worked like that. Dak hasn't done squat? Garropola and Cousins weren't elite QBs when they signed their deals last season. Carr wasn't elite when he signed his deal the year before. What did any of them win? When did most other QBs "earn" their salaries? Or any QB that hasn't already won a Super Bowl that will sign a bigger deal after this season? It's more about the timing of when deals are done and really the only comparisons are to other QBs that sign in the same year. Fans seem to think that QB deals are somehow re-negotiated every year for every QB and slotted accordingly. If every QB were to sign a new deal this season, Dak wouldn't be paid in the top 5, but that's not how NFL contracts work. As long as the cap continues to rise, so will salaries, for all positions.
Fans will remember what they want to remember. Brady didn't take big discounts early in his career, neither did Brees who actually signed for an NFL record guarantee at the time, but they are being praised now for taking less. They can do that because they are set financially and have a legacy, regardless of what happens next, that earning potential will continue throughout their lifetimes. A player with only a few seasons doesn't have that. Fans that dislike Dak already aren't suddenly going to like him, because he took $15 million less in guaranteed money. Dak isn't threatening to sit out a season or delay getting a needed surgery, or even sitting out of OTAs, minicamps etc in attempt to strongarm the team.
Signing Dak isn't going to greatly affect our ability to sign our other players because all the other players want to get paid too. That pipe dream only works if all the players do that, and that's not going to happen. If Dak signed for $30/yr instead of $32/yr, that $2 million difference isn't the reason we could resign Zeke, Coop, Byron etc. Teams don't suddenly get bad because they"hamstrung" themselves by a QB contract. Other players want to get paid too, if they don't they leave in FA. Teams go south when other players start to leave to get theirs, retirements, age, or to injuries, or those other players aren't having career years, coaching changes, poor drafts etc.