Yes, I know, not another Dak thread but this one isn't about paying him or tagging him, it is all based one person's perspective, Big Mike. He has seen first hand what a high % of the cap to the QB can do and he had Tier 1 QB's.
Whether you are a Dakster or Dakater, I think most will agree, he is not a lifter, he needs talent on the field with him as we've seen when the RB1 was missing and there was no WR1.
So if you are this HC, with his experience with QB and salaries, where is the breaking point with Prescott as his QB1? What will paying a 2nd Tier QB 1st Tier money do to his ability to build around him and the D is building around him.
It's not lost on him what they're paying the OL and RB now and he's probably watched a lot of college QB's this past season doing some scouting and evaluating.
I do not doubt he likes Prescott but how much? Does he like him Rodgers, Ryan and Wilson money?
The market has a lot to do with this but if what they do the deal now that puts him in the top 3 now but barely in the top 10 in 2022 and he's not really a top 10 QB?
It is most certainly a dilemma with a QB that you know you need to put the pieces around him but his salary prevents that except for 1st contract players.
The HC's thinking on this is one perspective. Consider the Joneses. What have they said is their biggest regret during the Romo years? Putting the pieces around him.
The other dilemma is the effect of tagging the QB. New HC in his first year and QB maybe in his final. And the assignment is to be better than 2019, the expectations with this hire are as high as they could be from the FO.
And the ultimate dilemma, what's the message tagging sends to the QB, belief or doubt? This is not his first negotiation, the called the last one off with no deal. And the rest of the offense, how do they read a tagging?
No team in the NFL is facing the textbook "damned if you do and damned if you don't" like the Cowboys are this offseason.