Many pundits think this is why Dak will not sign a new contract with Dallas This year. I can guarantee you his agent and anyone else advising him is telling him not to sign. He can play out this year at a near the top contract. Then he hits free agency, and there is absolutely nothing Dallas can do about it. He will be able to sign with any team he wishes, and the desperate teams will drive up the price.
Unless Dak wants to take a top of the market contract now, which would be doing the team a favor and sacrificing millions, the Cowboys only options will be:
- Outbid other teams and pay Dak an enormous contract. They can afford it because the CAP continues to skyrocket, but this is a mess of their own creation when they franchised him instead of resigning him early and then giving him all the power in his new contract just to save a few bucks.
- They can let him walk and content themselves with a compensatory draft pick and once again be the laughing stock of the NFL. Even if they luck into another franchise QB somehow, putting themselves in a position where they can’t even recoup value in a trade and watching him walk for nothing but a 3rd round pick will go down in history like the Hershall Walker trade is linked to the Vikings.
Even fans who hate Dak for whatever reason and will be happy when he’s gone have to admit that the Jones boys have been taken to the woodshed, but they foolishly skipped there with smiles on their faces. If Dak resigns before playing out his 2024 contract year for any amount of money, it will be clear that he loves the Dallas Cowboys more than what’s best for him personally.
I‘ll bet every member of the NFLPA who isn’t a Cowboy is praying he will play out this year and become a free agent. It will be the ultimate player wins against the owner scenario.
