Why Hasn't Dalton Shultz Signed A Long Term Contract Yet

[CowboysExchange]

I feel like I was right about our teams success using old man Witten, Hanna, Escobar, Swaim, Gathers, and Jarwin so far.

Schultz looks like a good enough te to run an 11 personnel scheme. As long as he improves on 3rd down man to man coverage and in the red zone

But let's get McKeon, Bunting, and Sprinkle out there to play some games and we'll see what kind of overall te core we're gonna have to run this 12 personnell scheme. That's an entirely different scheme when your 2nd starting te is out there on 50% of the snaps.

But at least we only have 1 big glaring hole at #2 starting te going in to the new season.

If we don't address it by game #1 we're gonna be in for a looooong season if Schultz is drawing more man to man coverage and the 2nd te has to thrive on finding soft spots in the Zone

 

[conner01]

If Schultz' 11 million towards the cap is gonna hamper us from signing a 2nd starting te then that isn't something I'm gonna get on board with.

We need 2 pretty good tes if we're gonna succeed. We just barely sniffed the playoffs last year and our talent as a te core was better than it's been in 10+ years thanks to Schultz (and Jarwin)

12 tds is way better than the 6 tds we've been averaging for the past decade even if it wasn't against top tier teams. Js

I expect we draft a TE at some point
We ain’t signing one for the same reason most of the decent ones got tagged, they cost too much

 

[CowboysExchange]

I expect we draft a TE at some point
We ain’t signing one for the same reason most of the decent ones got tagged, they cost too much

1 decent te in in a dominant 2 te scheme is a recipe for 8-9

We saw that w Witten for more than half of his career. Js.

We haven't drafted a day 1 starting te in 20+ years.

 

[CowboysExchange]

I expect we draft a TE at some point
We ain’t signing one for the same reason most of the decent ones got tagged, they cost too much

Cook is still out there. Rudolph I think is still out there Graham is still out there

Jesse James is even better than our #2s lmao.

Hayden Hurst, oj Howard, CJ ozomah, Everett

There was 8-10 #2 te upgrades in fa but we didn't jump

There are 8 tes right there and I betcha all of them are better than our current #2 te

I think cook is the best proven fa te out there. He's 35 and brings a whole different set of skillsets.

He'd be perfect for 5-6 million

He's drawing man to man even at 35. He's not a guy you can blanket.

 

[CowboysExchange]

I expect we draft a TE at some point
We ain’t signing one for the same reason most of the decent ones got tagged, they cost too much

Your guy Schultz got Drafted in 2018. Jarwin in 2017. McKeon undrafted in 2020 and Sprinkle in 2017

These players have all been around for 2 full seasons. This is Schultz 4th season and would be Jarwins 5th season, McKeon's 3rd season, and sprinkles 5th season.

Based upon our aquisition success if we draft now we might have a starter by 2024 or 2025. Js

 

[CowboysExchange]

One of our biggest problems at the te position is the way we use and develop them from the beginning.

We spend waaaay too much time overdeveloping and training them before they ever play a single snap.

Only to find out 3-4 years later they're a bust. That's the problem w the next man up philosophy and the Everysnap player. Aka Escobar, Swaim etc.lol

We should be teaching these rookie tes about 6 plays based upon their skillsets. And using a Te by committee system

Then in some non competitive division matchup lol when we're up by 24 at halftime Throw that rookie out there in the red zone and see if they can make some plays.

If they can't score against Washington, Philly, or the Giants they're prolly not gonna make it as even a mediocre te. Js

Terrance Steele caught a TD pass against Washington. Lol.

We gotta get these tes out there playing before year 3. Js

 

[offlimits]

There's no way he's playing this year under the franchise tag 10.9 million.. He isn't worth it. From his point of view it's 10.9 million guaranteed for one year, He can bet on himself and get paid again next year. Dallas can A. sign him and get the cap hit down. B. Draft a replacement C. Sign or trade for another TE. Then rescind the tag.

He's a JAG. You can draft another just like him in the 5th-6th round every year. It's simple.

 

[conner01]

Your guy Schultz got Drafted in 2018. Jarwin in 2017. McKeon undrafted in 2020 and Sprinkle in 2017

These players have all been around for 2 full seasons. This is Schultz 4th season and would be Jarwins 5th season, McKeon's 3rd season, and sprinkles 5th season.

Based upon our aquisition success if we draft now we might have a starter by 2024 or 2025. Js

We didn’t draft sprinkle but none of these guys were very high picks. Jarwin was not drafted, Schultz was a 4th round pick and I don’t even remember about McKeon
Not many 4th round picks are starter quality right away, which is why they weren’t drafted higher
But a 4th round player and an UDFA who developed into starters is really good player acquisition

 

[conner01]

Cook is still out there. Rudolph I think is still out there Graham is still out there

Jesse James is even better than our #2s lmao.

Hayden Hurst, oj Howard, CJ ozomah, Everett

There was 8-10 #2 te upgrades in fa but we didn't jump

There are 8 tes right there and I betcha all of them are better than our current #2 te

I think cook is the best proven fa te out there. He's 35 and brings a whole different set of skillsets.

He'd be perfect for 5-6 million

He's drawing man to man even at 35. He's not a guy you can blanket.

I think you might check your guys
Most are not out there to sign

 

[conner01]

1 decent te in in a dominant 2 te scheme is a recipe for 8-9

We saw that w Witten for more than half of his career. Js.

We haven't drafted a day 1 starting te in 20+ years.

We ran more 3 WR than 2 TE sets
And the second TE was Jarwin for part of the year with little production and sprinkle who’s still here with a bit of McKeon layer who’s still here

 

[CowboysExchange]

We didn’t draft sprinkle but none of these guys were very high picks. Jarwin was not drafted, Schultz was a 4th round pick and I don’t even remember about McKeon
Not many 4th round picks are starter quality right away, which is why they weren’t drafted higher
But a 4th round player and an UDFA who developed into starters is really good player acquisition

I agree. Good aquisition but we're also tying up roster spots and playing w at least 1 Scrub starting te if not 2 scrub starters every year and they're playing 140%+ of the Snapcounts. And we're not ever improving.

Jarwin- Undrafted

Schultz 4th
McKeon Undrafted
Sprinkle- 5th-Wft
Bunting- Undrafted

We could go get some decent fa tes for 3-5 million every year that are veterans but we don't put any $tock or draft capital into the position.

We draft tes like we do punters and kickers but at least we go out and get some fa's w those positions.

Talent acquisition isn't rocket science but thats what we make it out to be when were shopping for 1 million dollar tes in the closeout sections of the draft and fa. Lmao

 

[conner01]

I agree. Good aquisition but we're also tying up roster spots and playing w at least 1 Scrub starting te if not 2 scrub starters every year and they're playing 140%+ of the Snapcounts. And we're not ever improving.

Jarwin- Undrafted

Schultz 4th
McKeon Undrafted
Sprinkle- 5th-Wft
Bunting- Undrafted

We could go get some decent fa tes for 3-5 million every year that are veterans but we don't put any $tock or draft capital into the position.

We draft tes like we do punters and kickers but at least we go out and get some fa's w those positions.

Talent acquisition isn't rocket science but thats what we make it out to be when were shopping for 1 million dollar tes in the closeout sections of the draft and fa. Lmao

You could do that at every position but I’d rather develop a rookie and have him cheap then get a comp when he leaves or then pay him
TE is not a hard position to draft just like guard is not
I’d rather spend FA money on what we can’t draft
Some positions are really tough to draft unless you have a high pick. LT, Edge rusher, impactful DT, QB are all tough positions to draft unless you have a high pick or get really lucky
Just a different philosophy for me
As for cook he wouldn’t be a bad addition and he is still out there and in the 4 mil range. He will not get signed before the draft but we aren’t done signing players. And most teams will still release some guys after the draft
So we may still add a TE or one may be there the scouts like at some point. I think we really need a vet tackle because I can’t imagine Ball being the swing tackle having never played a rep
I don’t think we are done at WR either. We lost 3 and added one with another likely to miss the start of the season. There WR position is gonna get additions either thru draft or FA before camp and likely the draft. If you look at slot types they tend to fall and if Lamb is outside that could be an easy addition that adds some real speed. There are some really fast slot guys in this draft

 

[CowboysExchange]

You could do that at every position but I’d rather develop a rookie and have him cheap then get a comp when he leaves or then pay him
TE is not a hard position to draft just like guard is not
I’d rather spend FA money on what we can’t draft
Some positions are really tough to draft unless you have a high pick. LT, Edge rusher, impactful DT, QB are all tough positions to draft unless you have a high pick or get really lucky
Just a different philosophy for me
As for cook he wouldn’t be a bad addition and he is still out there and in the 4 mil range. He will not get signed before the draft but we aren’t done signing players. And most teams will still release some guys after the draft
So we may still add a TE or one may be there the scouts like at some point. I think we really need a vet tackle because I can’t imagine Ball being the swing tackle having never played a rep

Schultz was the Last te drafted going way back to 2018. Here is the last decade of other tes drafted. It might be really easy for you to draft one Connor but its Jerry and Stephen I'm concerned with lol.

Rico- 2016- 6th
Swaim-2015-7th
Escobar-2013 2nd

We haven't had even a good te since 2014 with the exception of Schultz last year and certainly not a good te core going wayyyy back so maybe the Cowboys should let you pick one this year

 

[CowboysExchange]

I think you might check your guys
Most are not out there to sign

all of those tes were available to sign. And some still are. But at 3-5 million for mediocre tes they started getting gobbled up. Lol Especially when teams started franchising comparable tes for 11 million.

Wrs jumped from 10-15 million to 20-30 million overnight.

The tes that got tagged were
Gesecki, NJoku, and Schultz.

Gesecki- I would have tagged
Njoku- I wouldnt tag
Schultz- I wouldnt tag

 

[CowboysExchange]

I thought Gesecki was even a borderline franchise tag candidate

But he has some great skillsets if he had the right talent around him he'd be even better Its hard to give up on a big 50/50 ball te just because of his stats.

 

[conner01]

I thought Gesecki was even a borderline franchise tag candidate

But he has some great skillsets if he had the right talent around him he'd be even better Its hard to give up on a big 50/50 ball te just because of his stats.

It’s obvious teams around the league value the position. If you have a good one they get tagged because it’s a reasonably cheap position to tag

 

[conner01]

Schultz was the Last te drafted going way back to 2018. Here is the last decade of other tes drafted. It might be really easy for you to draft one Connor but its Jerry and Stephen I'm concerned with lol.

Rico- 2016- 6th
Swaim-2015-7th
Escobar-2013 2nd

We haven't had even a good te since 2014 with the exception of Schultz last year and certainly not a good te core going wayyyy back so maybe the Cowboys should let you pick one this year

I’d argue we have a good one now
But it’s really about developing the guys
We’ve took a 4th rounder and an UDFA and developed them into good players
Jarwin is a good player but just been injured too much
I don’t see us using a top 3 round pick on a TE unless someone falls
I think we will try and fix oline, WR and edge/DT in the top 3 rounds
But they seem high on NcKeon though we haven’t had a chance to really see him
But he might be able to replace Jarwin and be just as productive if not more

 

[CowboysExchange]

I’d argue we have a good one now
But it’s really about developing the guys
We’ve took a 4th rounder and an UDFA and developed them into good players
Jarwin is a good player but just been injured too much
I don’t see us using a top 3 round pick on a TE unless someone falls
I think we will try and fix oline, WR and edge/DT in the top 3 rounds
But they seem high on NcKeon though we haven’t had a chance to really see him
But he might be able to replace Jarwin and be just as productive if not more

I think we'll focus on wr, oline, Dline, Te and Rb in the draft.

I think we'll draft a te late as always too. Maybe in the 5th round

I think Schultz is a pretty good te. He played way better than I thought he would last year.

I'm guessing the te core will put up close to the same kinda numbers next year. The only dip in production I think we'll see is in the # of tds they will score. I think it will drop from 12 tds to 7-8 tds.

I do think Schultz's role will change some and he'll draw more man to man coverage and they'll blanket McKeon more if he's starting te #2.

I don't think he'll regress in targets. They may even go up. But I do think his catch rate and TD % rate will drop some.

I see Schultz as a 5-6 td a year avg possession receiving te. Maybe he has a higher Ceiling I just don't see it with my eyes.

I do think the te core benefitted from having 2 avg tes in the lineup for once in 10+ years. And having 3 steaks at wr didn't hurt.

I also think Philly will get their LB Deficiencies worked out where he got 4 of his 8 tds.

I still think he'll get about 6 tds because that's what he's averaged over the past 2 years.

Plus he's Daks QB Efficiency rating just like #82 was for Romo so ya know he's gonna get targeted heavy. Ha ha ha ha ha

I don't care if he catches 130 balls for 7 yard averages as long as he scores tds and wins some games for us against some good teams this year

That's just not usually the case for DC possession receiving tes that doesn't have those go up and get a ball skillsets or big play capabilities.

And why I'm very hopeful I'm still a little concerned about that 9 game stretch he had with only one TD.

I'ma keep dangling that carrot (franchise tag) until he proves himself. Esp since he's playing around 90% of the snaps.

 

[CowboysFaninHouston]

A matchup problem.....from a defensive point of view....

He may either outrun our LB or a safety can't handle him.

Which would you say he is closer to......keeping DCs up at night or being basically neglected like Witten in his final seasons because he can't do much damage?

He just isn't a 10m plus TE because he has catch numbers. Anyone can catch dump offs.

He isnt awful, just isn't a top TE. He wouldn't be here if Jarwin panned out.

For us right now, we need to get this run game fixed, and when your starting TE is a liability in the run game, that's not a step in the right direction.

I understand you want Kelce, but I doubt if KC is willing to trade him. SF said no to a Kittle trade. Perhaps we find the next Kittle in draft. but draft hasn't happened. what else is available? not much. regardless of ability to only catch dump offs, he is catching them. many of them. moving the chains. catching TDs, which his stats are better than most other TEs in the league. unfortunately the other comparable TEs got tagged by their teams too.

now, if your argument is that Schultz isn't great. you may have a point. if you argument is we shouldn't have signed him, then I disagree. losing Wilson, Cooper and then add Schultz, that would have been too much impact on the recieving group, leaving us with CD who is still learning and Gallup who is coming off injury yet again. if we kept cooper and wilson, then I would be ok losing Schultz.

 

[fivetwos]

I understand you want Kelce, but I doubt if KC is willing to trade him. SF said no to a Kittle trade. Perhaps we find the next Kittle in draft. but draft hasn't happened. what else is available? not much. regardless of ability to only catch dump offs, he is catching them. many of them. moving the chains. catching TDs, which his stats are better than most other TEs in the league. unfortunately the other comparable TEs got tagged by their teams too.

now, if your argument is that Schultz isn't great. you may have a point. if you argument is we shouldn't have signed him, then I disagree. losing Wilson, Cooper and then add Schultz, that would have been too much impact on the recieving group, leaving us with CD who is still learning and Gallup who is coming off injury yet again. if we kept cooper and wilson, then I would be ok losing Schultz.

I dont expect to have an elite TE, but I WANT one that isn't an atrocious blocker because I know that this QB is taking us nowhere unless the run game dramatically improves.

I've said that I understand why they tagged him and I'm OK with it for now.....I just hope the plan is to draft a 2023 starter next week.

All else aside, Schultz should not be paid long term like the players you mentioned, and thats where its headed as of now.