Uncle Rico was almost a Raider

[Bleedblue1111]

It really does say a lot.

Because if I'm a young TE and I'm looking for an opportunity to play, Oakland couldn't have been more ideal.

Great young QB in a top 10 offense with no established veteran ahead of him at TE (at the time...they signed Jared Cook this off-season). Would have had a easy path to playing time. But he chose to stay here, behind Witten for at least another season or two.

Two words. The Star.

 

[TwoCentPlain]

Had Rico told Jerry he wanted to be on an active roster and was taking Oakland's offer, I think Jerry would have offered to put Rico on the 53-man Cowboy roster.

I personally think Rico last year was ready for the active roster for pretty much every team in the NFL. Rico's potential was visible and I knew he would get much better. I can't believe 31 teams were dumb enough to let Rico pass through waivers.

Even harder to believe is that every team in the NFL, including the Cowboys, passed on Dak for several rounds.

31 Teams could have had both Rico and Dak last year for a song and a dance. Crazy! Can you imagine sitting here right now if some team had claimed Rico off waivers and drafted Dak before the Cowboys took him in the 4th round. The Jerry hate would be off the charts. Jerry chose Tapper while Dak was still on the board!

 

[lostar2009]

I just need to see Rico ball out Saturday. Hehehe

 

[The Fonz]

Had Rico told Jerry he wanted to be on an active roster and was taking Oakland's offer, I think Jerry would have offered to put Rico on the 53-man Cowboy roster.

I personally think Rico last year was ready for the active roster for pretty much every team in the NFL. Rico's potential was visible and I knew he would get much better. I can't believe 31 teams were dumb enough to let Rico pass through waivers.

Even harder to believe is that every team in the NFL, including the Cowboys, passed on Dak for several rounds.

31 Teams could have had both Rico and Dak last year for a song and a dance. Crazy! Can you imagine sitting here right now if some team had claimed Rico off waivers and drafted Dak before the Cowboys took him in the 4th round. The Jerry hate would be off the charts. Jerry chose Tapper while Dak was still on the board!

31 Teams could have had Cooper Rush too

 

[Setackin]

He knew he wasn't ready to play and he knew he'd have been inactive every week.

He chose to stay around our coaching staff and players like Tony Romo who were spending extra time with him.

Say what you want about Tony and out staff but that speaks volumes.

Yea, that first year every time he was interviewed, he'd talk about Romo staying late with him.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Is he out of the protocol now?

 

[speedkilz88]

 

[casmith07]

Future all-pro for us.

 

[Plankton]

Since when do teams have to ask to claim a player of someone's practice squad? Those players are waived and don't have a choice. Maybe Oakland was going to do something shady like claim him, keep him on the roster for 1 week, then cut him and put him on their PS, I don't know.

also, even with the money being the same, being on the PS delays UFA by 1 season, so this story feels like it's missing something.

If a player passes through waivers, and is assigned to a practice squad, another team can make a claim on that player to sign him to the active roster only, and would need to keep him on the 53 man roster for at least three weeks. The original team has the right to sign the player to the active roster to block the move, and IIRC, the player has the right to decline the offer from the other team.

 

[xwalker]

If a player passes through waivers, and is assigned to a practice squad, another team can make a claim on that player to sign him to the active roster only, and would need to keep him on the 53 man roster for at least three weeks. The original team has the right to sign the player to the active roster to block the move, and IIRC, the player has the right to decline the offer from the other team.

The other team has to claim them on waivers. If they clear waivers, they are free agents and have the option to decline signing with another team.

If they do sign with another team, that team is required to pay them for 3 weeks. They don't have to be on the 53 for 3 weeks, but the team has to pay them.

 

[DC Cowboy]

It really does say a lot.

Because if I'm a young TE and I'm looking for an opportunity to play, Oakland couldn't have been more ideal.

Great young QB in a top 10 offense with no established veteran ahead of him at TE (at the time...they signed Jared Cook this off-season). Would have had a easy path to playing time. But he chose to stay here, behind Witten for at least another season or two.

OR it could be as simple as no state taxes vs. 13 % state taxes.

 

[xwalker]

OR it could be as simple as no state taxes vs. 13 % state taxes.

If his agent even mentioned that, then he's a moron. A player in Rico's position should be concerned about being in the best position to become a legit NFL player.

 

[FaSho]

I wonder why this isn't more common.

Makes perfect sense to hook Noah Brown with the same deal.

Brown would potentially opt to leave, if playing time was involved. Gathers wasn't going to get playing time with Oakland, they just wanted to try to develop him like we have.

Definitely glad that Rico stayed. Was probably the best choice he could have made. Learning from Witten has probably sped up his development a bit.

 

[Nightman]

You are confusing the practice squad with the waiver wire. If he was claimed he would have no choice in the matter. It sounds like he cleared waivers and made it to the practice squad and they tried to bring him to their active roster. If he wasn't claimed he had a choice. He made the right choice.

Exactly........ he wouldn't stand to make 450k unless OAK was adding him to the active roster

I did hear that DAL gave him $10 less than the minimum so they could retain a full years service time

 

[Philmonroe]

Had Rico told Jerry he wanted to be on an active roster and was taking Oakland's offer, I think Jerry would have offered to put Rico on the 53-man Cowboy roster.

I personally think Rico last year was ready for the active roster for pretty much every team in the NFL. Rico's potential was visible and I knew he would get much better. I can't believe 31 teams were dumb enough to let Rico pass through waivers.

Even harder to believe is that every team in the NFL, including the Cowboys, passed on Dak for several rounds.

31 Teams could have had both Rico and Dak last year for a song and a dance. Crazy! Can you imagine sitting here right now if some team had claimed Rico off waivers and drafted Dak before the Cowboys took him in the 4th round. The Jerry hate would be off the charts. Jerry chose Tapper while Dak was still on the board!

With bold that's knowledge talkng because if you find the threads from last year after the draft and when Tony got hurt you would see this wasn't that obvious. If it was we might have taken him with our first pick and so would other teams too knowing what we think we know now

 

[BAT]

I wonder why this isn't more common.

Makes perfect sense to hook Noah Brown with the same deal.

Only works if Brown is not claimed when he is cut. Rico was cut made it through waivers and signed to PS before being offered a roster spot by Raiders.

 

[Manwiththeplan]

I did hear that DAL gave him $10 less than the minimum so they could retain a full years service time

So Dallas could retain a full year of service time? You mean towards unrestricted free agency?

 

[hornitosmonster]

Money is the same (actually more because of taxes), you get to stay in Dallas, and you get to play for the Cowboys. Easy choice for Rico

 

[Nightman]

So Dallas could retain a full year of service time? You mean towards unrestricted free agency?

Yes...... DAL didn't pay him the minimum and he didn't get on the 53 man roster so DAL has him for 4 years before UFA...... 2017-20

 

[tyke1doe]

He knew he wasn't ready to play and he knew he'd have been inactive every week.

He chose to stay around our coaching staff and players like Tony Romo who were spending extra time with him.

Say what you want about Tony and out staff but that speaks volumes.

That and the fact that the tax structure in California is dramatically different than the tax structure in Texas. $499,999 gets you more in Texas than the same amount in California.

Just saying.