Suppose we do take Shadeur Sanders?

[shabazz]

Didn’t his Dad say he’d “step in” if his son if drafted by the wrong organization. Obviously the Cowboys are not the kind of ill managed, ill coached franchise Prime would want his son to be connected with.

The Cowboys are still seen as a premiere organization.

If Prime came here with Shadeur, the "ill coached" part of it goes away. But if Prime doesn't come here, he will know who the new coach will be by draft time.

As for the managed part, any decent Cowboys Qb can build his brand and be marketable for many years after they retire regardless of the management.

It doesn't seem right, but it's just the reality of what happens here

 

[rags747]

Sanders pluses are that he is accurate and he has that killer instinct which are great pluses to have for a qb.
Sanders negatives are that his arm is good enough but it is not outstanding and while he seems mobile in college he will be much slower in the pros. Straight line speed is not great and not much body twitch at all while running. He will also tend to hold the ball too long.

Net net his #1 trait is his killer instinct which all great qb’s have had. His career will be interesting to watch.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

No to Sanders, trade down for high draft capital in 2026. We're going to have to take the bitter pill of: the existing team, Dak (and presumably his reduced mobility) and hope for a coaching bounce.
Re-evaluate once the coaching team is in place.....for those interested in EFL, Liverpool FC and, Arne Slot

That works, plus, we could get Manning in 2026. But there is a way to get out of his deal in 2026 or 2027. To me, getting a QB in 2026 works because we can then get the most back from cutting Dak with the least cap hit.

Also, I do hope you enjoy how my Cherries beat Arsenal and City.

 

[Whirlwin]

Annoying how they only do that towards the end of their careers.

Jerry just doesn’t like using free agency. He likes to create his own stars. And that’s hurt us for a long time. The genius of the patriots, they would trade their first round picks for other first round picks. I think the only guy they kept was the defensive tackle, and I’m having a senior moment and can’t remember his name lol Jerry Keeps his too long, his loyalty hurts him . Fans hate him, players love him.

 

[shabazz]

Sanders pluses are that he is accurate and he has that killer instinct which are great pluses to have for a qb.
Sanders negatives are that his arm is good enough but it is not outstanding and while he seems mobile in college he will be much slower in the pros. Straight line speed is not great and not much body twitch at all while running. He will also tend to hold the ball too long.

Net net his #1 trait is his killer instinct which all great qb’s have had. His career will be interesting to watch.

I would also add that he's had experience working behind a bad offensive line but still producing . Many of these top college qbs come from teams with impregnable o-lines and then struggle behind porous NFL lines.


Again, not endorsing him but pointing out some qualities we have seen in him such as, "looks to pass first and keeps eyes downfield while scrambling"....he's being coached correctly

 

[CowboyoWales]

That works, plus, we could get Manning in 2026. But there is a way to get out of his deal in 2026 or 2027. To me, getting a QB in 2026 works because we can then get the most back from cutting Dak with the least cap hit.

Also, I do hope you enjoy how my Cherries beat Arsenal and City.

Indeed, I hope Hughes helped establish the squad. Your Hungarian Left back is certainly garnering interest.

I just can't see us taking a QB in 2025 as it's tantamount to Jerry admitting he made a massive mistake.

He's going to clean out the coaching room, make himself look like a dynamic GM and hope for the bounce.

I reckon BPA, the interesting part will be how much (if any) money is restructured or Jerry is willing to take an exploratory/fact finding year allowing the GM to assess the franchise and give him a 2026 with a number of high picks (and a little more CAP flexibility).

 

[Loso86]

So, I was posting in a thread, and someone mentioned about Shadeur Sanders. I've been heavily on the record wanting Jeanty. That said, suppose we do take Shadeur Sanders? So, for this thread, I will explore two ways that I could see us going about this.

As I've stated before, Dak's contract (assuming no restructures) would have to be examined. The below link is the details of his contract. There is a tab when looking at his cap hits for "post-June cut".

https://overthecap.com/player/dak-prescott/4848

To me, as I've stated in other threads that I've written, the most optimal times to make Dak a post June 1 cut are 2026 ($40,010,000.00 in cap savings and a $27,686,666.00 cap hit)or 2027 ($45,000,000.00 cap savings and a $16,691,666.00 cap hit).

Before I layout my two scenarios, I must explain why I wouldn't just have Shadeur takeover to start 2025. This offense is far too one dimensional, and, given Dak's contract, we have the luxury of letting a QB sit for a season or two like the Packers did with Love or the Chiefs did with Mahomes. So, it would be better to let him sit a season or two under Dak while he learns the pro game. So, I will present the scenario for him taking over in 2026 (Dak cut in June that year) and 2027 (Dak cut in June that year). I will then, after analysing the two scenarios, provide what I think is the best scenario.

The next thing, before I get into the scenarios, is to look at the most optimal draft (will dive into this more after the SB). Assuming we first draft Sanders, I would then draft Dion Walker (NT Kentucky) or Nazir Stackhouse (NT Georgia) in round 2 and go oline round 3. I'm thinking someone like Xavier Truss (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Truss). He's 6'7". Unfortunately, this is where having a 4th round pick would be helpful, but hopefully Mingo can step in as a good receiver aside from Lamb. The running backs in this draft class after round 4 (from what I see on Walter Football) don't look very appealing. Additionally, we probably would still have another year or two to get the team ready. Plus, this is assuming we don't restructure Dak, so we are eating a cap hit here. Luckily, cutting Terrance Steele with a June 1 cut in 2025 should save some cap space. However, I think the savings would go to a new contract for Parsons. Unfortunately, I also don't like our safeties if we don't spend on FA entering 2025. On the other hand, the starting oline would probably be (assuming Martin retires) Tyler Smith, Bass, Beebe, Truss (RG), and Guyton (RT, his natural position). Obviously, Dak would start the entirety (assuming healthy) of 2025 and we'd probably want someone like Lance or another backup in the wings until Sanders is ready. Oh, and DLaw will be gone, and I don't think we have enough draft space for another pass rusher in 2025. Luckily, we have Kneeland.

So, now, let's suppose we cut Dak in 2026 for scenario 1. We'd have a dead hit of $27 mil and cap savings of just over $40 mil and a QB on a rookie deal. Assuming Parsons is extended in the 2025 offseason, here are the other contracts that expire after 2025 (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/contracts). So, it looks like the expiring contracts after 2025 (again, assuming we extend Parsons after the season) would be Jake Ferguson, Wilson, Tolbert, Bland, Waletzko, Bass, and Aubrey among others. Obviously, we will want to extend Aubrey and Bland. We will also probably want to extend Ferguson. So, (of course, we could trade players like Tolbert and Bland after the season for picks), but, depending on the cap space following this, we still need a guard, WR, and a safety. I'd probably draft a guard, RB (since we wouldn't be able to get a good one in 2025), a CB (if we trade Bland), and WR and use FA on a quality safety. Good news, we would have a newly extended Aubrey, a suitable replacement for Tolbert to mix in with Mingo and Lamb, and another guard to replace Bass. Oh, and we should have a better run game and safety play. The downside is that we probably can't adequately replace all the losses, and our linebackers would still be rail thin. But, the nose tackle from 2025 should still be helpful in stopping the run. Plus, we have Sanders with 4 more years (assuming we use the option).

Now, suppose we use the cut in 2027 to gain $44 mil. Again, we are assuming Parsons is extended following the cut of Steele. I think in 2026, we have to extend Aubrey either way. In this situation, it makes even more sense to try to trade Bland. Additionally, we will still probably want to sign Ferguson. But, we wouldn't be able to sign as many players. But, we still probably draft a RB, guard, and WR. We also would need a safety in the draft. On the plus side, it gives us another year to make sure the team is ready for Sanders to take over. Downside, Mazi (DT), Kneeland, Liafu, and Beebe currently are scheduled for their contracts to expire in 2027 (of course, using the option on Mazi moves his expiration date to 2028, so let's assume we do that). We'd have 4 mil extra in cap space to extend these players. Additionally, we don't seem to have as many expiring contracts in 2027, so we can use the extra cap savings to fill other weaknesses. The one downside about waiting until 2027 to start Sanders is that he'd only have 3 years left (assuming we use his 5th year option) on his rookie deal.

I'm aware the above scenarios are a mouthful. I think the positives of starting Sanders in 2026 is that we get 4 years of him playing on his rookie deal, and we should have some decent weapons around him. The problem is, the running game wouldn't be ideal yet, and our linebackers room wouldn't be great. But, the nose tackle we draft in 2025 would help with our run defence.

The positives of starting Sanders in 2027 is we'd have more time to make sure he can be successful, but he'd have one less year with his rookie deal. However, assuming the Joneses address the linebackers and any other key weaknesses entering 2027, he should be able to succeed from the time he starts. Additionally, he might get some playing time at the end of 2026 before taking over 2027 to get his feet wet in the NFL. Additionally, Dak's dead hit is significantly reduced in 2027, which means that we aren't as hampered with our 2027 cap space.

So, to me, I would think it's a bit better to let him take over in 2027 as the full time starter and let Dak go in 2027. We'd have a little more cap space and the cap hit wouldn't be as high. So, we'd have more cap space available. It would mean being patient waiting for him to take over, but I think the patience would be rewarded by ensuring he has the ability to succeed. We would be able to have sufficient time with Dak's deal to be able to make sure he's as prepared as possible to start and to succeemuch respect for you to write all of this

 

[Brax]

That works for me too. I don't know if Dart would necessarily be a first round QB. Tbh, my first choice would be Manning at QB if he is available next year (which means we need a trade back this year that gets us an extra 1st). If we can get Manning in 2026, let him sit and then take over in 2027, then that's even better because we only concede $16 mil in dead money and gain nearly $45 mil from cutting Dak.

Not sure where you are getting your numbers but they are wrong 27 would be 33 million and that’s assuming they will not restructure they aren’t paying him 89 million next year and 67 million in 26 Jerry isn’t paying him to play for someone else while taking a massive cap hit. You guys are dreaming. Dak is the QB until 28 or 29 that’s what the numbers say. 4-5 more years of declining QB play with the injury factor in play every season. Enjoy the ride it isn’t going to be pretty especially when Jerry starts babbling about how Dak can play at a high level into his 40s. It will be 35 years of failure and Jerry will be taking championship every year, it’s really sad

 

[morat1959]

Do not draft Sanders!

 

[Cowboys93]

I 100% believe he should be the target for Dallas should they land in top 5 range. Jerry gets his cash cow via jersey sales and the team actually commits to the future by investing in a true QB prospect. People have their preconceived notions about him but throw everything out the window and just watch him play and you’ll see he is a pure passing QB which is what this team needs

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Jerry just doesn’t like using free agency. He likes to create his own stars. And that’s hurt us for a long time. The genius of the patriots, they would trade their first round picks for other first round picks. I think the only guy they kept was the defensive tackle, and I’m having a senior moment and can’t remember his name lol Jerry Keeps his too long, his loyalty hurts him . Fans hate him, players love him.

Oh I understand that. That's a big reason we find ourselves where we are. That and he should be glad his trades aren't in Monopoly.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Indeed, I hope Hughes helped establish the squad. Your Hungarian Left back is certainly garnering interest.

I just can't see us taking a QB in 2025 as it's tantamount to Jerry admitting he made a massive mistake.

He's going to clean out the coaching room, make himself look like a dynamic GM and hope for the bounce.

I reckon BPA, the interesting part will be how much (if any) money is restructured or Jerry is willing to take an exploratory/fact finding year allowing the GM to assess the franchise and give him a 2026 with a number of high picks (and a little more CAP flexibility).

Right, so the easiest way then would be to do it in 2026 for a QB.

Also, yes, Hughes has been excellent. Pity how Bournemouth is better managed than the Cowboys.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

Not sure where you are getting your numbers but they are wrong 27 would be 33 million and that’s assuming they will not restructure they aren’t paying him 89 million next year and 67 million in 26 Jerry isn’t paying him to play for someone else while taking a massive cap hit. You guys are dreaming. Dak is the QB until 28 or 29 that’s what the numbers say. 4-5 more years of declining QB play with the injury factor in play every season. Enjoy the ride it isn’t going to be pretty especially when Jerry starts babbling about how Dak can play at a high level into his 40s. It will be 35 years of failure and Jerry will be taking championship every year, it’s really sad

Not from what I saw on OTC and Sportrac when I go to the right and hit the cut button. I don't know what would happen in a restructure, but, if he's not restructured, then we could be out of it, per OTC and Sportrac, by 2026 or 2027. Plus, much like Russell Wilson or Derek Carr, there are probably injury guarantees in there. So, there's also a way around it with that depending on when those are.

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I would also add that he's had experience working behind a bad offensive line but still producing . Many of these top college qbs come from teams with impregnable o-lines and then struggle behind porous NFL lines.


Again, not endorsing him but pointing out some qualities we have seen in him such as, "looks to pass first and keeps eyes downfield while scrambling"....he's being coached correctly

Exactly, and I could see him being a good fit here. That said, if we draft him, we should sit him for a year behind Dak to let him adjust to the pro level and so he doesn't get injured early on.

 

[darthseinfeld]

So, I was posting in a thread, and someone mentioned about Shadeur Sanders. I've been heavily on the record wanting Jeanty. That said, suppose we do take Shadeur Sanders? So, for this thread, I will explore two ways that I could see us going about this.

As I've stated before, Dak's contract (assuming no restructures) would have to be examined. The below link is the details of his contract. There is a tab when looking at his cap hits for "post-June cut".

https://overthecap.com/player/dak-prescott/4848

To me, as I've stated in other threads that I've written, the most optimal times to make Dak a post June 1 cut are 2026 ($40,010,000.00 in cap savings and a $27,686,666.00 cap hit)or 2027 ($45,000,000.00 cap savings and a $16,691,666.00 cap hit).

Before I layout my two scenarios, I must explain why I wouldn't just have Shadeur takeover to start 2025. This offense is far too one dimensional, and, given Dak's contract, we have the luxury of letting a QB sit for a season or two like the Packers did with Love or the Chiefs did with Mahomes. So, it would be better to let him sit a season or two under Dak while he learns the pro game. So, I will present the scenario for him taking over in 2026 (Dak cut in June that year) and 2027 (Dak cut in June that year). I will then, after analysing the two scenarios, provide what I think is the best scenario.

The next thing, before I get into the scenarios, is to look at the most optimal draft (will dive into this more after the SB). Assuming we first draft Sanders, I would then draft Dion Walker (NT Kentucky) or Nazir Stackhouse (NT Georgia) in round 2 and go oline round 3. I'm thinking someone like Xavier Truss (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xavier_Truss). He's 6'7". Unfortunately, this is where having a 4th round pick would be helpful, but hopefully Mingo can step in as a good receiver aside from Lamb. The running backs in this draft class after round 4 (from what I see on Walter Football) don't look very appealing. Additionally, we probably would still have another year or two to get the team ready. Plus, this is assuming we don't restructure Dak, so we are eating a cap hit here. Luckily, cutting Terrance Steele with a June 1 cut in 2025 should save some cap space. However, I think the savings would go to a new contract for Parsons. Unfortunately, I also don't like our safeties if we don't spend on FA entering 2025. On the other hand, the starting oline would probably be (assuming Martin retires) Tyler Smith, Bass, Beebe, Truss (RG), and Guyton (RT, his natural position). Obviously, Dak would start the entirety (assuming healthy) of 2025 and we'd probably want someone like Lance or another backup in the wings until Sanders is ready. Oh, and DLaw will be gone, and I don't think we have enough draft space for another pass rusher in 2025. Luckily, we have Kneeland.

So, now, let's suppose we cut Dak in 2026 for scenario 1. We'd have a dead hit of $27 mil and cap savings of just over $40 mil and a QB on a rookie deal. Assuming Parsons is extended in the 2025 offseason, here are the other contracts that expire after 2025 (https://www.spotrac.com/nfl/dallas-cowboys/contracts). So, it looks like the expiring contracts after 2025 (again, assuming we extend Parsons after the season) would be Jake Ferguson, Wilson, Tolbert, Bland, Waletzko, Bass, and Aubrey among others. Obviously, we will want to extend Aubrey and Bland. We will also probably want to extend Ferguson. So, (of course, we could trade players like Tolbert and Bland after the season for picks), but, depending on the cap space following this, we still need a guard, WR, and a safety. I'd probably draft a guard, RB (since we wouldn't be able to get a good one in 2025), a CB (if we trade Bland), and WR and use FA on a quality safety. Good news, we would have a newly extended Aubrey, a suitable replacement for Tolbert to mix in with Mingo and Lamb, and another guard to replace Bass. Oh, and we should have a better run game and safety play. The downside is that we probably can't adequately replace all the losses, and our linebackers would still be rail thin. But, the nose tackle from 2025 should still be helpful in stopping the run. Plus, we have Sanders with 4 more years (assuming we use the option).

Now, suppose we use the cut in 2027 to gain $44 mil. Again, we are assuming Parsons is extended following the cut of Steele. I think in 2026, we have to extend Aubrey either way. In this situation, it makes even more sense to try to trade Bland. Additionally, we will still probably want to sign Ferguson. But, we wouldn't be able to sign as many players. But, we still probably draft a RB, guard, and WR. We also would need a safety in the draft. On the plus side, it gives us another year to make sure the team is ready for Sanders to take over. Downside, Mazi (DT), Kneeland, Liafu, and Beebe currently are scheduled for their contracts to expire in 2027 (of course, using the option on Mazi moves his expiration date to 2028, so let's assume we do that). We'd have 4 mil extra in cap space to extend these players. Additionally, we don't seem to have as many expiring contracts in 2027, so we can use the extra cap savings to fill other weaknesses. The one downside about waiting until 2027 to start Sanders is that he'd only have 3 years left (assuming we use his 5th year option) on his rookie deal.

I'm aware the above scenarios are a mouthful. I think the positives of starting Sanders in 2026 is that we get 4 years of him playing on his rookie deal, and we should have some decent weapons around him. The problem is, the running game wouldn't be ideal yet, and our linebackers room wouldn't be great. But, the nose tackle we draft in 2025 would help with our run defence.

The positives of starting Sanders in 2027 is we'd have more time to make sure he can be successful, but he'd have one less year with his rookie deal. However, assuming the Joneses address the linebackers and any other key weaknesses entering 2027, he should be able to succeed from the time he starts. Additionally, he might get some playing time at the end of 2026 before taking over 2027 to get his feet wet in the NFL. Additionally, Dak's dead hit is significantly reduced in 2027, which means that we aren't as hampered with our 2027 cap space.

So, to me, I would think it's a bit better to let him take over in 2027 as the full time starter and let Dak go in 2027. We'd have a little more cap space and the cap hit wouldn't be as high. So, we'd have more cap space available. It would mean being patient waiting for him to take over, but I think the patience would be rewarded by ensuring he has the ability to succeed. We would be able to have sufficient time with Dak's deal to be able to make sure he's as prepared as possible to start and to succeed.

Lets suppose we dont.

Because we are not going to

 

[Brax]

Not from what I saw on OTC and Sportrac when I go to the right and hit the cut button. I don't know what would happen in a restructure, but, if he's not restructured, then we could be out of it, per OTC and Sportrac, by 2026 or 2027. Plus, much like Russell Wilson or Derek Carr, there are probably injury guarantees in there. So, there's also a way around it with that depending on when those are.

I understand but do you believe that they will pay him 89 million next year as a cap hit. They will push for he money down the road the next 2 years leaving a huge dead hit. Your numbers only work if they pay the numbers shown 27 would be a correct year if they pay him the cap number of 167 million for 25-26 and that my friend is not happening. Genius Jerry has screwed this team most likely until the 29 season it’s simple cap dollars which is why he said Dak has to do more with less. Add in CDs numbers and MPs soon to be numbers and a few more of we like our guys contracts and 5 guys will be talking up a huge chunk of cap so the answer is Jerry the draft king and dumpster Stevie building with low end players, just wait till Aubrey comes up and Jerry says he just can’t afford paying a kicker top money because he doesn’t have the cap available

 

[RustyBourneHorse]

I understand but do you believe that they will pay him 89 million next year as a cap hit. They will push for he money down the road the next 2 years leaving a huge dead hit. Your numbers only work if they pay the numbers shown 27 would be a correct year if they pay him the cap number of 167 million for 25-26 and that my friend is not happening. Genius Jerry has screwed this team most likely until the 29 season it’s simple cap dollars which is why he said Dak has to do more with less. Add in CDs numbers and MPs soon to be numbers and a few more of we like our guys contracts and 5 guys will be talking up a huge chunk of cap so the answer is Jerry the draft king and dumpster Stevie building with low end players, just wait till Aubrey comes up and Jerry says he just can’t afford paying a kicker top money because he doesn’t have the cap available

Thats probably the case that they will restructure his deal. At that point, I will have to give a fuller plan based on that. It'll give me something to post about during the offseason besides mock drafts lol. I would also be furious if he can't keep Aubrey because of cap issues.

 

[Brax]

Thats probably the case that they will restructure his deal. At that point, I will have to give a fuller plan based on that. It'll give me something to post about during the offseason besides mock drafts lol. I would also be furious if he can't keep Aubrey because of cap issues.

Nice talking to you it’s refreshing not to be called a idiot, moron, durrrrr durrrrr , you don’t know football, find a new team, have a nice weekend and enjoy the game, remember it’s only a game

 

[Creeper]

Go to Spotrac and read the details of his contract. You can't wait for June first. 2026 is fully guaranteed on the 5th league day of 2025. 2027 is fully guaranteed on the 5th league day of 2026. This is stuff that we don't see now because we haven't reached the 5th day of those seasons. His dead cap will go up for those seasons on the 5th day. That's how I'm reading it.

The way out of Dak's contract has got to be through a trade which Dak would have to sanction. The team he goes to would pick up his salary while Dallas would take a hit for his prorated bonus outstanding. But the early guarantees make cutting him almost impossible.

Dak's contract gets worse every time I look at it. I cannot believe Jerry was willing to sign this deal. He is the worst negotiator I have ever seen.

 

[Creeper]

Am I the only one that would stay away from Shedeur Sanders? I watch him play now and I do not see what all the noise is about. If he was not Deion's son I don't think he would be anywhere near the top of the QB prospects list.

I will watch him play as much as I can the rest of the year but what I see is an over-hyped product of the media fascination with Deion's family.

Can a Shedeur fan please enlighten me? I am willing to listen.