What options do Cowboys have to move on from Prescott?

[Diehardblues]

If Mm is a lame duck, we roll with Lance. If he wants to save his job, he will advocate for Prescott imo

You really believe that’s what our ownership and HC are thinking?

 

[75boyz]

Eat some cap, dead money, whatever in getting rid of him as quick as possible.
Draft is the ideal solution.
However I am not confident in the quarterback scouting of this team.
They suck at DT drafting and even worse at QB drafting as they never draft a high pick one to begin with.

All I can confidently say is that to remain status quo by extending him is NOT the answer.

So, roll the dice on a draft pick improvement and live with it.
Better than continuing to stick with this known playoff fraud.
Period.

 

[nightrain]

Yea, Cousins or Mayfield are only FA options available this year.

Cousins coming off season ending injury. Are we ready to invest several years and a market type contract ?

And we’d consider that a considerable upgrade?

Cousins is a better QB talent. If all in means all in, then on with it.

 

[Brax]

Before any other contract is signed, the Cowboys need to figure out what they want to do with quarterback Dak Prescott, who is entering the final year of his contract with a $59.45 million cap hit and a dead cap value of $61.91 million. The Cowboys cannot realistically construct a winning team with Prescott's contract as it is, so they'll inevitably have to either extend him, trade him, or cut him.


“If we get to March and the Cowboys, for whatever reason, have decided they don't want to extend Prescott… then things get interesting," ESPN's Dan Graziano said. "Prescott's 2024 money is not guaranteed. The Cowboys could cut or trade him prior to paying the March roster bonus and save $34 million on their 2024 cap."
Regardless of the salary cap, there isn't any clear path to a quarterback upgrade for Dallas. Kirk Cousins and Baker Mayfield will be the headliners of a lackluster free agency, and any trade will likely result in a downgrade at the quarterback position.

Finding a franchise quarterback is a daunting task, and Prescott is a three-time Pro Bowler who just had an All-Pro season despite coming up short in the playoffs again. Only a handful of quarterbacks would represent an obvious upgrade, and none of them will be available for trade. All that leaves are the quarterbacks that Dallas currently has on their roster . San Francisco gladly traded Lance away just two years after spending multiple first-round picks to draft him third overall, so it's unlikely that he's a viable answer.

"The Cowboys know how hard it is to get a good quarterback and Prescott is largely considered a top-10 passer in this league," ESPN's Jeremy Fowler said. "So, it would be mildly surprising if they moved on from him, but with that 2-5 playoff record, certainly that could be a negotiating point for Dallas that comes up over the coming months."

Extending Prescott is the most reasonable move if Dallas wants to remain competitive. And remaining relative and competitive is our owners first priority. He appears to be “ All In” on this current core of stars even recently stating we will go as far as Dak takes us.

Also worth noting is in McCarthys lame duck season without a contract extension it’s very doubtful they change QB’s. That leaves us basically negotiating how big and how long the extension.

Nice post well done, If Jerry believes Dak is the QB to take them to the SB in spite of his dismal performances in the playoffs (which I for one believe he does) then the extension is coming and it’s what will happen imho. The option of just letting the last year of his contract play out with the last year of MM contract and adjust the roster to suit the cap and let Dak and MM prove their worth is definitely a high position to consider. I would ask Dak to wave the no trade clause, if he will not save the money and move on. Jerry has “all in” so to me it’s easy to read the cards Dak gets the big extension and Dallas suffers more years of failure and all we will hear is the championship caliber team Jerry has constructed again and he’s happy Dak is here long term. Unfortunately like some here Jerry just can’t see Dak for what he really is, a good QB who comes up short against good teams. As for pro bowl being the 6th alternate doesn’t mean anything. If Jerry is only concerned about relevancy and beating sub par teams Daks his guy if winning a SB is his real goal then moving on from Dak sooner rather than later should be the only consideration at this point. Jerry and Stevie’s lack of player evaluation and horrible contract management has put them in a corner and unfortunately they won’t fight like a cornered rat they will fold like a cheap tent and take the easy way out. Wonder where the Cowboys would have been if they didn’t move on from championship caliber QBs like Meredith and a SB QB like Morton. Let’s keep the the QB who can’t get it done in the the playoffs after 8 seasons, brilliant just brilliant. Glad I never worked for a company that kept underperforming people and made them the highest paid employee. All businesses are performance based except the Dallas Cowboys who only consideration seems to be relevantly so good enough is the bye word.

 

[Creeper]

Well, it seems to boils down to two thoughts. 1. Those who hate Dak and just want him gone. They don't know or care what happens next. To them, anything is better than going 12-5, winning the division and going to the playoffs with Dak. They would rather go 5-12 or 8-9 for the next 10 years than stick with Dak and have a chance to do something.

The 2nd thought is, we don't have another option at this point and we don't want to eat $62 million against the CAP this year if we cut Dak. That would mean 2024 would be a lost year almost certainly. There is the trade option so we could at least pick up some good draft picks for Dak, but Dak has a no trade clause. Unless Dak goes to Jerry and requests a trade it is not happening. The only real options are stick with Dak and extend him, or cut him and take the CAP hit in 2024. Then hope Lance comes around, or maybe in 2025 after going 5-12 they will get a high enough draft pick to select a potential Dak replacement.

It boils down to accepting what we have, and trying to build a better team around Dak, or facing the unknown for however many years it takes to find a QB better than Dak.

In all of this we still have an owner who thinks going all in is paying vet minimum for a few free agents to fill holes in the roster.

If the fans thought that the 2023 team with the inability to run the football, or stop the run, was good enough to get them past the best teams in the league then they should start facing reality. The Cowboys were never that good and the Packers exploited all the Cowboys' weaknesses on offense and defense. We should be focused on fixed what we know is most broken.

 

[Diehardblues]

Nice post well done, If Jerry believes Dak is the QB to take them to the SB in spite of his dismal performances in the playoffs (which I for one believe he does) then the extension is coming and it’s what will happen imho. The option of just letting the last year of his contract play out with the last year of MM contract and adjust the roster to suit the cap and let Dak and MM prove their worth is definitely a high position to consider. I would ask Dak to wave the no trade clause, if he will not save the money and move on. Jerry has “all in” so to me it’s easy to read the cards Dak gets the big extension and Dallas suffers more years of failure and all we will hear is the championship caliber team Jerry has constructed again and he’s happy Dak is here long term. Unfortunately like some here Jerry just can’t see Dak for what he really is, a good QB who comes up short against good teams. As for pro bowl being the 6th alternate doesn’t mean anything. If Jerry is only concerned about relevancy and beating sub par teams Daks his guy if winning a SB is his real goal then moving on from Dak sooner rather than later should be the only consideration at this point. Jerry and Stevie’s lack of player evaluation and horrible contract management has put them in a corner and unfortunately they won’t fight like a cornered rat they will fold like a cheap tent and take the easy way out. Wonder where the Cowboys would have been if they didn’t move on from championship caliber QBs like Meredith and a SB QB like Morton. Let’s keep the the QB who can’t get it done in the the playoffs after 8 seasons, brilliant just brilliant. Glad I never worked for a company that kept underperforming people and made them the highest paid employee. All businesses are performance based except the Dallas Cowboys who only consideration seems to be relevantly so good enough is the bye word.

Not what most want to hear but unfortunately the reality of our conundrum with ownerships agendas.

 

[Diehardblues]

Well, it seems to boils down to two thoughts. 1. Those who hate Dak and just want him gone. They don't know or care what happens next. To them, anything is better than going 12-5, winning the division and going to the playoffs with Dak. They would rather go 5-12 or 8-9 for the next 10 years than stick with Dak and have a chance to do something.

The 2nd thought is, we don't have another option at this point and we don't want to eat $62 million against the CAP this year if we cut Dak. That would mean 2024 would be a lost year almost certainly. There is the trade option so we could at least pick up some good draft picks for Dak, but Dak has a no trade clause. Unless Dak goes to Jerry and requests a trade it is not happening. The only real options are stick with Dak and extend him, or cut him and take the CAP hit in 2024. Then hope Lance comes around, or maybe in 2025 after going 5-12 they will get a high enough draft pick to select a potential Dak replacement.

It boils down to accepting what we have, and trying to build a better team around Dak, or facing the unknown for however many years it takes to find a QB better than Dak.

In all of this we still have an owner who thinks going all in is paying vet minimum for a few free agents to fill holes in the roster.

If the fans thought that the 2023 team with the inability to run the football, or stop the run, was good enough to get them past the best teams in the league then they should start facing reality. The Cowboys were never that good and the Packers exploited all the Cowboys' weaknesses on offense and defense. We should be focused on fixed what we know is most broken.

Right!!

And this is partially how our owner is thinking. He’d rather stay with what he knows than the unknown.

Jethro is more comfortable with 12 win choke in the playoffs than having to start over.

And try to build on what he has. It’s not a totally unreasonable model.

Afterall this was the best 3 year run in regular season he’s had since the 90’s. He just needs to try and get over the hump with it. I’m not sure it’s time to start over either.

 

[Havic]

You really believe that’s what our ownership and HC are thinking?

Why let mm play out his contract? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If the idea is he is gone after this year, should have let him go a month ago

 

[charron]

The biggest issue is how they look at the QB position. Paying non elite players elite money will almost always hurt the team overall in the long run. The fallacy of most teams is they think they have to extend a decent QB, not because he deserves it but in fear they may get worse without. Yes there is a chance they move on from Dak and they get a lesser QB. But there are plenty of decent veteran QB's to be had for fairly cheap. You can get a flacco or baker mayfield really cheap. Maybe Minn moves on from cousins and you get him cheap. They are out there you just have to do some work. Then you have absolutely got to draft a guy to develop. In last years draft will levis fell and if your office had him as a 1st round talent then you should have taken him. now they did get trey lance but his contract comes up the same time as Daks. So it will be really hard to know if he's worth a second contract and how much he would want. This organization needs to be willing to walk away from someone when they over value themselves. i'll say the same with Parsone, diggs, cd. Take a good deal that is team friendly and makes you rich or try and trade them for more assets and look to finding more guys like Gilmore, lewis who will be a fraction of the price while drafting young talent.

 

[PAPPYDOG]

We can do the same for Rush 5-1 or Trey and have a cap for the team to build around them.

 

[Diehardblues]

Why let mm play out his contract? Doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. If the idea is he is gone after this year, should have let him go a month ago

Great question. Trying to get into our owners mind is always challenging. But after 35 years following him I’d say he feels we are close. And wants to give him at least one more shot.

I don’t think he’s necessarily gone after this year. A big season and some success in playoffs most likely gets him an extension.

 

[Brax]

Not what most want to hear but unfortunately the reality of our conundrum with ownerships agendas.

The sad part is if they extend Dak and allow the no trade clause to be left in then the future is bleak, you just can’t pay too cap Dollars to a QB who isn’t elite and then pay top 1-3 money to a WR, LB, DE, 2 or 3 OL players along with DBs. Jerry has a mindset that his offense will win the day hence the large difference from O to D in cap spending. Not sure how paying Dak top cap dollars with all he needs to be successful yet with really good talent around him offensively he has failed year in year out. I know the cap geniuses on board keep saying the cap means nothing but funny how here we are and all of a sudden the cap means everything. Status quo here we go again more of the same and it will get worse because Jerry likes his guys and Stevie is a expert dumpster diver and folks will keep complaining and want top end FAs signed when the cap is tied up on Jerry’s guys and the cap means nothing folks will reappear. It’s ok because watching Jerry in his box when they lose the critical games is priceless.

 

[StarOfGlory]

Good post and on point.

I see 2 very telling reasons that they stay the course with Dak. It is apparent that Jerry wants to win now with keeping McCarthy and even saying all in. If you were going to trade or cut or let him play on the current contract then you would not have kept McCarthy. Cutting Dak leaves you with also zero options at QB unless the team is not telling us how good or bad Trey Lance is. There is no chance we ride with Rush as the starting QB in 2024.

Trading Dak could be the start of a rebuild for what you would get for him which contrary to what the fans think would bring at least 2 1st round picks and more. But no trade is going to give you anywhere near what the productivity of Dak has been. We aren't getting any of the top 3 candidates at QB in the draft so forget moving up in the draft unless you are willing to give up 3 1st round picks. Regardless of what you think of Nix, Penex, or J J McCarthy, they appear to be not much better than Rush and definitely not ready to start in the NFL. (For that matter, the top 3 aren't as good as CJ Stoud IMO)

We could just ride with Dak this year on his current contract and hopefully draft one in 2025 but again McCarthy is going to do his best to win this year so expect another 12-5 season especially with I believe a much improved defense under Zimmer. Then you face the dilemma in 2025 with Dak a free agent getting far more than you could sign him this year for and no way to franchise tag him so drafting a QB late 1st hasn't been great for any team. Plus the fact your options for signing free agents this year would only come with quite a few restructures of other players. Sort of the rock and the hard place situation.

Then there is the Jerry factor. I do believe that he wants to win now because his time isn't another 10 years and the rebuilding takes more than year especially with a toss up of 50-50 on a rookie QB. Don't think he is willing to go down that road. Yet again that could be something about Trey Lance we don't know that change everything.

The first part of March is the key though. By March 13th we have to be under the cap in order to sign free agents. We have other free agents on the team currently we want to keep so getting those signed and getting under the cap makes the decision on Dak that more urgent. If we are going to trade him, first he has to agree to the trade to that team and second Dallas has to agree on the compensation for him. Dak is going to want a new contract from the new team so before he accepts to be traded then the new team will need to come to terms with him also. The betting is that Dak will get roughly $60 million a year for 5 years on his new deal. That's a lot of things to happen over the next 3 weeks.

So if we want to trade Dak, then the most likely place he would agree would be Atlanta because they have the most ready team to win on both sides of the ball. Minnesota and Pittsburgh would be next up because Dak isn't going to go to a rebuilding team unless it is $70 million a year contract and most of it guaranteed. Forget Justin Fields because if you don't like Dak, Fields isn't going to be any better and Fields is likely to go to Atlanta at a much lower cost.

So options are limited and Dak being extended for more than most care, will probably happen. So we must hope Jerry is really serious about all in to improve the defense especially in stopping the run, improve the OL, and improve the running game or we will keep posting the same old things in 2025.

I agree with almost everything you said except the multiple 1st's for Dak. He will be 31 at the start of the 2024 season, has a big number, and consistently fails in the playoffs. That doesn't scream multiple 1st's for a player.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

If you want to go to the playoffs pay him, but if you want to win the Superbowl look somewhere else.

kirk cousin, mayfield, lance they all suck. there is no where else. I guess we are stuck with one and done playoffs.

 

[75boyz]

This just in:
Outstanding playoff quarterbacking and playoff coaching are mandatory to overall team success.
Sticking with either of the current Cowboy position holders will continue team playoff futility.

All the micro posts regarding specific personnel needs does nothing to answer the macro deficiency at HC and QB that determines everything.

We need a new QB in order to win playoff games.
AND a HC.

 

[BigD_95]

Where would we look to make Super Bowl this year?

and with Dak where do we look to make the super bowl this year? He isn't getting us there.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

Where would we look to make Super Bowl this year?

We can't. We don't even have a team that has the ability to compete with the elite teams in the league. This team isn't going to beat KC, Baltimore, Buffalo, San Francisco etc, I expect it's only going to get worse for Prescott and Co. as teams like Houston start to get better.

 

[Diehardblues]

and with Dak where do we look to make the super bowl this year? He isn't getting us there.

Is that what our owner thinks?

It’s not just about making SB. It’s about staying competitive and relative. And building in that. This is what makes our owner most comfortable.

 

[BigD_95]

Yea, Cousins or Mayfield are only FA options available this year.

Cousins coming off season ending injury. Are we ready to invest several years and a market type contract ?

And we’d consider that a considerable upgrade?

Cousins would come cheaper than Dak - the money they save they could invest around Cousins making the team better.

 

[Diehardblues]

We can't. We don't even have a team that has the ability to compete with the elite teams in the league. This team isn't going to beat KC, Baltimore, Buffalo, San Francisco etc, I expect it's only going to get worse for Prescott and Co. as teams like Houston start to get better.

Yea, we are going to continue to lose ground on other up and coming teams .

But our owner isn’t about to give up on a competitive and relative situation until it’s declining. Which could happen this year.

Unfortunately he’s still all in for at least one more season.