What if it is the rope-a-dope?

Bobhaze

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It is maddening to try and figure out the logic of what the Cowboys front office is doing this year.
They are not relying totally on past form nor are they really merging into new "All-In" lanes.
They say they are simply willing to play out the season, pay Dak 55M this year on the cap and 40M next year to hit unrestricted free agency.
--at which point he becomes the most expensive NFL property to hit free agency in history. DAL gets an R3 comp pick in 2026.
So how does this make any sense?

They'd surely be better off paying Dak a super-premium 60M but removing trade restrictions. Right?
They'd be better off asking his agent if they could find a team NOW to trade for an R1 right? Dak gets his extension, picks his team, DAL gets an R1 now to pick one of the 5 R1 rated QBs this year and clears 25M in cap space.

So what else could it be?

Well what if it is just Jerry poker and Jerry lies?
What if they are going to extend Dak and all sides know it?
They have the deal basically worked out.
Then they would know how much cap cash they will have in a month?
And a week after the draft they could announce signings with no cost to the comp pool Stephen holds dear.
They could then have agreements already with agents/players right?

Say, if Connor Williams doesn't get a deal for more than 30M over 3 years he agrees he will sign in Dallas and moves back home.
What if Calais Campbell wants to finish on a good team and sees Zimmer as the kind of coach he can work with?
What if Donovan Smith has talked to MM about providing LT cover.
What if Zeke knows the deal with Dak and is content to simply retire in Dallas as the short yardage and blocking back realizing there are no big pay days left? .
What if OBJ has been basically ignoring people because he wants to finally tag along on the Cowboys bandwagon as that playoff playmaker?

This team could go from dead in water to loaded for a title run still.

It won't but it could.
And maybe it should.
I would like to believe this FO has a “master strategic plan” that results in a major roster upgrade. There’s only one problem though and it’s a big one: These guys don’t know HOW to build a championship roster in the modern cap era.
They have literally never done it in the cap era and they’ve also never done it without a major assist from a strong, powerful HC.

Can it happen? Sure. The blind squirrel/broken clock theories can certainly apply. But…I will believe this front office knows what they’re doing after they’ve done it. The evidence of three decades makes it hard to “believe” any PR that comes out of the Star.
 
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