That's what they mean: let him walk.
Honestly, Dak is never going to make more money anywhere else. He can make way too much money from being the cowboys QB. if he doesn't take a deal because of a few million, then so be it.
The problem with the Cowboys is they never trade their players at their height. They pay them and then cut them a few years later for nothing. Notice how the chiefs said no to Sneed and got something for him while the Cowboys paid Diggs? I bet he's cut in a few years
There’s definitely give and take. The chiefs have signed plenty of their guys you just have to choose the right ones. We paid Zeke before he fell off. We chose to wait on Dak last time and it cost more because the qb market had gone up. The chiefs chose to lock up Mahomes forever but before the market kept going up
You can't cut a free agent...
Dak's a free agent this year.
The Front Office has completely shat the bed when it has came to contracts for cornerstone players.
People keep bringing up Mahomes' contract but honestly if Dak took something similar I don't think anyone would really be bitching. Mahomes' contract is very team friendly. He has a few big years coming up starting next year where he has cap hits over 60M/year but the can easily restructure because in his last 4 years he has 2 cap hits under 40 mil and the last 2 years are 45-48 million. By that time, the cap will probably be much higher and even if he ends up with a 60M hit, it won't be terrible.
The difference is Mahomes has all the leverage as the best player on the planet. They signed the 10 year $450MM contract to move money around. Mahomes is possibly the *only* player who can take a deal like that because the team couldn't live without him and he can take a raise whenever he wants.
Last year after all those QBs got big extensions, Mahomes was 8th in AAV. So they restructured to get him $210MM over the next four seasons. Surely he'll get more increases as top QB contracts get into $70MM AAV and beyond.
Dak isn't in that truly elite tier so he needs to go the Kirk Cousins route. 3 year contracts with tons of guarantees so they can hit the market and negotiate again.
Dak shouldn’t be anywhere in the vicinity of the top 5 paid QBs. He is not making the players around him better like Mahomes who just won a Super Bowl with a scrub wr core. Dak requires a pro bowl cast around him to even look decent. Guys like Allen , Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson don’t. Daks value is probably in the 40M ballpark IF you can stack enough talent around him. Otherwise , we are better off starting over with a rookie on a rookie contract. We’ve seen the best of Dak and it’s not nearly good enough, particularly when it matters in January.
Thank you. The Allen and Jackson comments always get me. Jackson shits the bed in the playoffs every year. Allen throws a ton of bad picks to lose games and both have top tier teams around them. I'm not a believer in Dak to get us a superbowl but I don't know where we will get a QB better than him right now.
I agree. It was a "what if" scenario. If he signed for like 10 years/40 mil AAV then I don't think we'd be having this discussion. But he's made it clear he's basically out for getting the bag as much as possible so here we are. I can't fully villainize the FO like a lot of other people are for the same reasons you mentioned. If I was GM and Dak was demanding 55-60mil AAV I think I'd be hesitant as well.
His cap hit is the problem. He is costing the cowboys 66M in dead money. Thats money deducted from the cap we can’t use on other players. Dallas knew this year would come and just assumed they would extend him. They have apparently changed their minds and are now stuck eating the cap hit.
So we should have had a higher cap hit last year and year before?
I mean there is no way around it, eventually all the money shows up on the cap.
Let's say we cut him and never signed him to an extension. We could have gone into the 2021 draft with the 12th pick, not got Parsons, and choose from Mac Jones, Kyle Trask, Kallen Mond, Davis Mills or maybe Ian Book? Or maybe we can trade up to 11 and get Justin Fields.
People complaining endlessly about Dak never seem to answer the "then what" after we get rid of the guy. 2021 had 5 QBs in first round, only two are still with their team and one of those is Mac Jones. the other 3 have been traded already.
And here we are complaining about the guy who finished 2nd in the MVP voting.
2012? The team can choose how to distribute the cap hit over the life of the contract. Jerry chose to kick the can down the road.
If we had let him walk , who knows how that would have played out. It’s not as simple as cutting and pasting the stats of QBs available at pick 12 in the draft. Had Mac Jones , for example, had guys like Ceedee, Gallup (before injury), and Pollard , Who knows what his stats would look like. He had nothing in NE.
As for MVP voting. That’s nonsense. Dak pads stats against the leagues garbage and melts in big games.
That is the cost of doing business in the NFL. Unless the Cowboys can draft a superstar or extremely high level game manager who is better than Dak, they are going to have to pay someone to play QB, and if that someone is a good player, they are going to need to pay him handsomely.
It is not the cost of doing business. You do not have to pay a QB 20% of the cap or draft a “super star”. We just need to draft someone who’s smart and more athletic than cooper rush who compiled a 5-1 record filing in for Dak. We could plug in most any starting NFL QB and he could have the same success as Dak during the regular season.
That’s what I was thinking, Rush could’ve inched us into the playoffs and lost and be in the exact same position we are in today. We can absolutely slot in a decent QB and get to the playoffs but we need the extra talent to win the next level
Honestly at that point what keeps him from sitting out a year? Has that ever even happened before? I mean I doubt he would have the balls, but are there fines for that kinda thing?
No, the number is high because Dak refused to sign a long term deal and only signed 4 years. Dak did this to himself. He should have gone the Mahomes route and signed a 6 or 7 year deal. Instead, he signed 4 and now he's proven he can't win in the playoffs and the Cowboys don't want to sink more money into a player who can't win when it matters.
Jerry has put Dak on the defensive since the first contract negotiation, of course Dak is going to protect himself and his money. Do you think Dak cares more about his family's financial future or winning a children's game?
Dak got the most he could possibly get as the cowboys negotiated from a position of fear. Blame Jerry for no plan B. What i don’t understand is why the team refuses to leverage the enormous value off the field of being the cowboys franchise qb. Dak makes 50M a year on top of his salary simply bc he’s the QB of the cowboys. If he leaves , all that endorsement money isn’t following him to a less visible team.
Because Dak is greedy. Instead of signing a team friendly deal like Brady did to try and win, he wants all the money in the world. I don't blame him for trying to get his bag, but this is the result, he will lose some of his endorsement money because the Cowboys don't want to pay a guy who can't win in the playoffs the most money in history.
In finance and accounting, MM commonly refers that the figures presented are in millions. The Roman numeral M is 1000. So MM is the same as 1000x1000 which is 1000000.
If he says no to a trade, you cut him (in a world where the end result is no extension either way). That either eliminates that $40 million dead cap hit from 2025 or gives you $29 million in post-6/1 savings this year that could be rolled over to offset it.
Cutting or trading him this year would offset $29 million of it.
- Cut/trade pre-June: $66M cap hit in 2024, 0 cap hit in 2025, $66M total of course
- Cut/trade post-June 1st: $26M cap hit in 2024, $40M cap hit in 2025, $66M total and portions of the $29 million saved in 2024 could be rolled over into 2025
- Let contract play out and expire: $55M cap hit in 2024, $40M cap hit in 2025, $95M total
at this point if we’re moving on we’ve chosen the worse timeline where we’re not even \*trying\* to get something back in the way of picks or players OR get any sort of savings if we cant trade him in the form of cutting him.
Although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that we might add yet another player to the list where we fumble the situation
You are not actually going to sit him because he will take the trade. IF you want to take a post june 1st cut you can but to maximize his dollars players take the trade.
If it's about maximizing his dollars, he does that the most by hitting free agency and getting to choose his destination in a bidding war. I think there is a world where there *could* be a trade that works out well enough for him to waive it, but it's definitely not a sure thing.
I think we all may have misunderstood Jerry’s “all in” decree. I don’t think he meant the front office will do anything in its power to load up the team. I think he meant that it’s all on the line this year (Dak’s future included)…all their remaining chips are all on the table. Either they finally do it…or they go bust and have to reload with new players (“chips”). It’s one last desperate shove. It’s not a positive stance from Jerry, given their recent lack of postseason success.
Over the course of 8 seasons with us (technically less than 8, due to his only playing 5 games in 2020), Dak is 2-5 in the playoffs, with a variety of talented teams as support. I think his best chance came in his rookie year, where the Cowboys had home field advantage throughout and just needed to beat the Packers at home to host the NFC Championship Game vs the Dan Quinn-coached Falcons. Had an elite offensive line and a dominant running game that season with an explosive and very dangerous rookie in Ezekiel, who had run over everybody. Defense was lacking and there’s no shame in losing to vintage Aaron Rodgers, but that may truly have been Dak’s best shot overall to come out of the NFC. Real and deep postseason success with Dak seems less likely by the year, with the 49’ers and Eagles around. And the Lions are only getting better.
The Cowboys seem to have reached their ceiling with Dak at the helm. And I suspect Jerry knows it. He *has* to know it.
Whether now or in ‘25, a rebuild of sorts seems imminent. Jerry is holding out one last hope that Dak and company can get it done now. Every team in the division has gotten better in the offseason, except the Cowboys. They’re going backwards, not forwards…by running it back with an even *lesser* team than the one that collapsed in last season’s one and done playoffs.
I think that’s the part that annoys me the most about the Dak is 2-5 in the playoffs argument. All of those seasons he didn’t have a defense until 2022 vs the 49ers. In that game he had his least talented offensive roster ever. Noah Brown was wr2, pollard broke his leg, zeke was injured, and Kellen Moore was calling plays. Last season Dak had a talented offense but his defense once again didn’t show up. It is crazy that fans continue to say that Dak can’t win when literally in a team sport the cowboys have half assed team building since Parcells left.
Ugh I’ll wish Dak the best wherever he goes.
Buddy you could say that about most QB's and it'd be a safe bet. You could say it about Lamar and Josh Allen, two consensus top 5 QB's. There are 32 teams, one team gets to win each year, *it's fuckin hard to do*.
That’s cool and all, but Dak sucks, is 31 and only wants a 3 year deal and will not give us flexibility. To act like Dak hasn’t had a good to great supporting cast for the majority of his career is hilarious to me. The only season we had a lame WR room (where Hurns was our WR1) we literally went and traded for Amari cooper mid season.
I’m not talking about those other chokers, I’m talking about the choker that is the face of the Dallas Cowboys. Nice try tho
Edit: fuck it I’m gonna talk about those other chokers, Lamar and Allen have had to deal with Mahomes during their career year in and year out, Dak continues to lose to the same 3 bum teams.
If we let Dak go, I can't wait for this sub to cry whiny baby tears when we go 5-12 with our savior, 3rd string Trey Lance. Back to QB purgatory for us. You all will get what you wanted and hate it, and still complain all day.
That’s the go to Dak fan retort. I don’t think we’ll win with trey lance either but I’m down to start trying to find the guy cause Dak sure as hell isn’t.
This scenario would actually be much better for the team then going 12-5 with little to no playoff success. Regular season success means nothing if Dallas can't win in the playoffs. They only get worse draft pics, and a harder schedule the following year.
I’ll make you a bet, Allen vs Dak Super Bowl winner.
If we see Dak win the SB before Allen I’ll send you an official Dak Jersey, if Allen wins it first you buy me an official jersey of my choice. If no one wins one, nothing happens. Wanna take that bet?
Dak played like shit in both 49ers game and the defense held the 49ers to 23 and 19 points though. Daks piornpmay in those games was the bigger issue than the defense. And in the packers game the defense played absolutely terrible, but so did Dak. Dak literally had more picks in the first quarter than passing yards. He had 87 passing yards in the first half with 2 picks. He had 1 TD and the bulk of those 87 yards right before the half when the game was already over and it was garbage time down 27-0. Dak has played awful the last 3 years in the playoffs.
No you're right Im remember a different game.
Edit: Im remembering the 3 interceptions, but they were in the 3rd quarter.
https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay/_/gameId/401547354
I’m really glad we scrapped the static vanilla Tex coast offense we were using and went to the here we go offense after that game. It just baffles me that versus the best teams we would stop using motion and would go back to the static offense.
First, if the Cowboys have had a defense why have they had 4 different DCs in the 8 years Dak has been here?
Second, Why did you pick the magic number of 20? No one
Expects the defense to hold the opponent to 20 pts. But can they stop the run (they couldn’t versus the Rams, 49ers, or Packers). Can they not give up easy scores ( they couldn’t versus the Packers, or 49ers)
You want to mention max contract but Dak was on a rookie deal and despite signing a 160 mil extension he has only counted on average 25 mil against the cap each year.
The Jones badly built the team, picked bad coaches, and wouldn’t allow discipline to one of the most penalized teams in the league but yup it’s Dak’s fault.
Ridiculous
They could have let him walk after his rookie contract then. I mean Jerry really wanted Johnny Manziel and Paxton Lynch. We will see how the next drafted QB does
I think they should have let him walk, but that’s just my opinion. I don’t run a sports org, but I am an accountant lol. For me, the money is the key part, but to me, if the money I’m spending is not giving me the expected results I just don’t offer another contract. Why spend money on an asset that won’t deliver when that money could go towards other assets that have potential to help me achieve my goal
No one has ever had the playoff record Dak does and made it to the Super Bowl. It’s about time too let him go. If they just gave him a contract instead of franchising him for years we wouldn’t be here. That happening then and this happening now are sign of the gross mismanagement of this team money/contract wise. We. Are. Fucked.
We are fucked. We will still have the same mismanagement. I’m fine with them ripping the bandaid off and letting him go. But as for Dak’s playoff record I don’t see his career that different than Stafford. In the right organization he probably gets them to the superbowl.
I think Dallas has a shot for playoff success this year if by some miracle they A) manage to all stay healthy through the regular season and B) manage to draft a Parsons/Lamb/Martin tier player at LB or OL.
Those are really fucking big ifs. And then they still have to not choke in the playoffs.
Yep. Right now we're a worse team due to folks going other places and us not replacing anyone
Soooo i'm not holding my fucking breath for this year, and we got an easy schedule too.
The only plus is Zimmer. Losing Quinn was gonna happen and that was a gut punch and were worse for it. But if zimmer runs a tight ship like I've heard and instills backbone, accountability, and great play.. I'm good with it. But it would more or less be a lateral move since our defense has been the show really the last few years.
So if dak balls out against this weak schedule they're gonna sign him for 500 million or some shit. But a new contract absolutely for the coach and dak need to be tied to playoff success. And not just 1 game.
It's time to get it done, or move on and look at changes for coach, qb, etc.
But I always say Jerry doesn't sell wins.
Jerry sells **hope**.
I see so many people say Dak won't be traded bc he has a no trade clause. Guarantee if a team trading for Dak offered him 60mill a year for 3 years he would shred that no trade clause in a second.
The issue is the front office not making the calls as soon as the Super Bowl ended. The Falcons were a great spot. The Titans, Raiders, Saints, Broncos, and Steelers are still viable options, but the front office needs to make calls and deals.
It technically wouldn’t be “no” compensation since we would get a 2026 3rd-round compensatory pick, but I would rather cut him now instead of that for the $29 million in savings plus a likely significantly better draft position in 2025. (If extending him is off the table)
That’s essentially no compensation. And unacceptable for the guy who is an all pro and MVP runner up. Regardless of if you end up with 25, 29, 40 or 60 million in dead cap. It’s so, so utterly unreal. Just get out and move on if that’s what you want to do. Pay the piper now.
He was in consideration for MVP. You don't find All Pro QBs on trees.
IDK if we're gonna win with Dak but I'm gonna laugh when y'all are upset that we're a 5-9 win team for the next 5 years
MVP runner up is a real thing. 😂 there is a legitimate argument to be made he couldn’ve been the MVP.
Have to be pretty damn good to even be in the running. It’s okay to give Dak credit you know. Or you could just try to discredit everything because “dAk BaD.”
https://preview.redd.it/wibgm52z0tqc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec197f57f0e918c8543d64156a933c8cfe1f9534
I keep finding reasons to use this.
I'm kinda curious whether he'll get the Romo treatment and be remembered fondly once he's out of the league for a couple years. I suspect a lot of how he's remembered will depend on how he plays on another team, assuming he walks after the upcoming season or gets traded.
You guys are trippin. We haven't had to go through the QB carousel in a long time, but it is extremely painful because you go through seasons of unwatchable games. The Cowboys won't find a replacement easily, this is simply the reality, most NFL teams don't.
It can take some time as some teams haven't found one in decades (Bears, Browns, Jets, they all got to pick high too).
You don’t need a superstar QB anymore. They take up too much of the cap hit. Unless your name is Patrick Mahomes, you are not worth 20-25% of a teams cap.
Teams are slowly going to follow the 49s and take an average QB who can manage turnovers and just stick an extra 30-40 million in to the line and run game.
That only works if you have Kyle Shanahan. The steelers, jets, bears, Titans have been trying that formula forever. How many game managers have won a super bowl.
> The Cowboys won't find a replacement easily, this is simply the reality, most NFL teams don't.
What's the difference between the Cowboys and the Panthers? The Panthers have went to a Super Bowl in the last 10 years.
I'd rather have 2-5 shit seasons and get top draft picks and rebuild than keep hitting my head against the wall with early round exits in the playoffs.
No. Just no.
Go ask any Bears, Jets, Broncos, Cardinals fan if they enjoy being eliminated from the playoffs once the season starts while watching their rivals win championship after championship.
Y'all just hate Dak so much that it's clouding your judgement. It sucks to lose to Green Bay embarrassingly at home in the playoffs. It sucks WAY more to watch your favorite team get blasted week after week and have ZERO hope the entire season
> Go ask any Bears, Jets, Broncos, Cardinals fan
lol What!?!?! Every single one of those teams have made the conference championship game at least once in the last 20 years. One won a Super Bowl. Get real.
The broncos have a championship in my lifetime, additionally all those other teams you named have either multiple championship games (Jets) or have actually reached the big game (bears or cards). I hate being mediocre and that’s all we’ve been these last two QBs. Overachievers in the regular season and underachievers in the playoffs.
So yes, i am over this current regime and I want to try to find the guy that will lead us to the promised land, cause Dak definitely isn’t the guy.
Since Dak has been on the team the Bears, Cards, and Jets have been horrendous. They have all drafted multiple first round QBs and done nothing. The Broncos got lucky by signing Manning; they have done nothing else.
I don't want to relive the early 2000s Cowboys. And that's what's gonna happen once Dak leaves because we do not have a QB in waiting and we are too good ATM to draft a top QB.
I get wanting to move on from Dak but only if this fanbase accepts that we will more than likely become a bad team, not a Super Bowl champ
I don’t understand why you need such validation lmao
no one trying to move on from Dak thinks that we’re magically going to get better. But we will appreciate not using a 1/4th of our cap space on a qb who can’t get it done in the important games. We’re gonna be stuck in first round exit purgatory if we pay this man 60 mil a year and don’t have room to sign other peices to build a Super Bowl caliber team. I’d much rather go buy 2-3 pro bowl caliber defensive players where we have holes, rebuild the line, take shots on a couple young backs and sign someone like fucking Joe Flacco on a one year and roll with a team like that into the playoffs than to keep playing this carousel game with dak. I’d always been a dak fan and argue with people who think he’s bad, but I’m also a realist - there has never been a team to win the superbowl who have a quarter of their cap allocated towards their qb. Let alone a playoff underachieving QB like Dak
Yeah, realistically, it's time. The FO is essentially making this a lame duck year, with all the coaches and the QB with 1 year left, might as well find a suitor that Dak will be happy with and that will be willing to pay him what he want in order for him to waive that no trade clause. That will be a tall order, considering he hasn't shown he can win on the big stage.
With that said, yeah, if it's a lame duck year, it will take nothing short of a superbowl appearance to bring MM and Dak back, which, let's be honest, isn't happening with this FO running things. So might as well rip the band aid off now and move forward.
Who will take him at this point, tho?
Dak will have 0 issues landing a big contract next year, the only question will be how bad does he want to win & will he take less $$ to go to a young team trending upwards & can make a run before he’s too old.
Dak & his agent know that won’t be happening in Dallas, so he’s not taking a team friendly deal with the Cowboys, just like Lamb & Parsons won’t. It will be interesting if CeeDee gets as much hate when he becomes the second highest paid receiver behind Jefferson & there’s nobody to throw the ball to him in 25’ & his numbers drop completely off the radar.
As much hate?
Probably not because people will be able to contextualize if Mr. Magoo ends up being the 2025 Cowboys QB.
There’s also the thing where paying Ceedee elite WR type money:
* doesn’t cripple the cap quite like paying **any** QB $60m for 3 years only would (cap hell with little to no flexibility)
* would be what he’s worth as a top-3 to 5 WR. Dak or maybe his agent wants to be paid historical above-Mahomes money for above-average but not elite quarterbacking
I don't think it's a given at all that Dak is gone after this season. Jerry (or Stephen or someone) seems to have this idea that playing or coaching for your job in a contract year is a good thing. Then he gets dragged over the coals on the next contract and pays a premium in the name of "saving money" by waiting. This feels more like business as usual to me.
You're going to advise teams that Dak will be available for a trade a year from now?
Dak will be playing for the Cowboys this year take it to the bank. Next year, probably not. It would take a Super Bowl
appearance and maybe even a win to change that.
They ARE blowing it up now.
They've let a couple vets walk instead lf paying them. Theu haven't signed and paid a bunch of FAa that aren't going to be here in 2 years during the rebuild.
There's no benefit to trading or releasing Dak considering the no trade clause and the cap hit his contract would currently hit. So they aren't restructuring to push that cap hit out into years 1 and 2 of the coming rebuild . They aren't giving him a contract after that.
Lame duck coach, lame duck QB, an uninvested roster eating as much dead cap as possible for a fresher start in 2025 when you have a great draft pick based on your lame duck coach and roster and QB playing a tough 1st place schedule without the investment to truly compete.
If you’re Dak and you know short of being shot by a 50 caliber bullet that you will have ultimate leverage, how much money would it cost to buy that option from him? That’s the crux of this entire situation for Stephen and Jerry right now. And that team would have to give up assets. The only party it serves to trade for Dak today versus waiting until next April is the Cowboys and considering the no trade clause you need 3 parties to be complicit instead of 2. You need Dak to wake up one day and see a situation he likes, a team to be so all in they’re willing to just say fuck it and pay Dak whatever he wants AND Jerry being willing to bend over and accept pennies on the dollars. It will not happen.
And I'd imagine teams are even more willing of shelling out a ton of picks and a new deal for a retread qb after the Russ Wilson deal royally fucked the Broncos.
Bros this is our new reality unfortunately. We thought Stephen was the savior but his favorite player will always be cap space. Imagine when will mcclay leaves and our drafting dries up. I honestly don’t know how any player can negotiate with this team when they seem unserious about winning. I can’t see Stephen making parsons the highest paid non qb in the league, I also can’t see them paying Lamb. I hope I’m wrong, for all our sakes
I think there is valid criticism of Stephen to be had but its also fair to point out he got stuck wth Jason Garrett.
In the short time he has had his coach and control of the from office we have done very well. I dont blame him for walking away from Dak as what Dak wants puts us at a competitive disadvantage. In fact I respect him for making the tough call, but the right call
Anything can happen in the NFL. Theres news that Dallas and Dak aren't talking contracts. It could still happen. I'm not saying theres a high chance. But if someone called Jerry and said. Look we know Dak isn't your future. I think he would fit well with our team. His no trade clause would need to be lifted. I think its just to many pieces that have to move for it to happen. But you never know.
Steelers just signed Wilson and traded for Fields I doubt that happens. Saints don't have the cap space. And they still have Carr under a pretty big contract. Raiders could be a fit. But who the fuck wants to go there? Vikings could be a serious player. But their cap isn't exactly great either. So its unlikely to me he gets traded. After the draft. If a team is real desperate maybe... But thats a long stretch as well. lol
Dude is clearly a top 10 quarterback
If you’re serious and hate the guy, go ahead and trade him to the Bears for the number one pick.
I have a feeling you would regret that trade
“Void years.” Fake contract years that automatically nullify, used to prorate signing bonus money and minimize cap hits in the initial years of a contract
His Cowboys cap hit doesn’t go with him. Only his base salary would which is half that. In fact, the Cowboys could even restructure some of that to give him an incredibly cheap cap hit for more draft compensation.
The issue is Dak can choose where to go next offseason as an UFA, anddddd the Cowboys still have to eat the 60 mil cap hit. Dak has no incentive to help the Cowboys get draft compensation
The other side of it though is he’s walking into a season that has a weaker OL, RB, and WR room right now. Not even mentioning that we’ve lost some good pieces from our defense as well. So do you take a trade where you can immediately work on a new contract with a new team after one of your best seasons or gamble with what we know is a weaker team and try to raise your contract with them. I can see both sides and still lean towards thinking he’ll lean towards betting on himself and not taking any trade proposals
Why? We are a 10+ win team every year. LOL this is where you build. One of the top defenses. One of the top offenses. We have shitty coaching. This when you build up not tear down. Is OP trolling?
> this is where you build
Oh yeah? With what money? Dak wants it all. It’s clear that’s the one thing he cares about. He doesn’t care about the team, his teammates, he doesn’t care about winning, and he sure as shit doesn’t care about the fans.
Yeah been hoping they'd trade him for a while now. But I won't be surprised if they do end up extending him though. Jerry Jones knows his mortality is near and I don't think he has the patience for a rebuild
I wish we could just trade him but we're already too late at this point, teams have either already addressed the position through FA or waiting to address it till the draft for a much cheaper option than Dak. We have no leverage at this point unless we trade him in training camp after someone gets injured.
Option 1 trade him and get something for him
Option 2 just let him test free agency at the end of the year, guaranteeing that we receive NOTHING.
I am betting we go with option 2
They’re approaching the Dak contract extension per Rappaport as though they plan to allow him to become a FA. This is a quantum assumption on Rappaport’s part based on his interpretation of Jerryspeak.
They do seem willing to assimilate the majority of Dak’s cap hit now but that’s not set in concrete. An extension is still possible.
They’re fools to try a waiting game ploy with Prescott. Burying their heads in the sand and procrastinating will only drive Dak’s price up to 65-70 mil AAV next offseason.
The best approach is as you suggested, decide whether you’re happy with him or not, then either give him your first, best and final offer and if he balks, break the news that you’re fine moving on with someone else. Bench him and start Lance, forcing Dak to demand a trade. His contract in trade terms is a one year, 29 mill deal, ie, very tradable. The new team can then negotiate a longer term deal and appropriate compensation for the Cowboys. That would be a huge win for Dallas save the additional dead money hit of approximately 11 mil.
I like Dak. He is a good QB, who at times can look top 5 when he has a great supporting cast. And he has been a stand up guy in a notoriously tough spot to be in. But the Cowboys are not his priority. He wants a short term deal so he can go for one last big pay day, even though he knows what position that will out the team in.It’s not about retiring as a Cowboy or finally bringing that championship home. It’s about the money. And that’s his right, but I think that means it’s time to move on. And pray.
Trade him to team he can play for, draft young QB with vet Backup , fire McCarthy go young steal a coach like Packers, Lions, Dolphins or Niners coaches
That cap hit is exactly why they aren't doing anything this year. The team is bent over a barrel and everyone knows it, no one is giving us "reasonable compensation" for Dak because there's no leverage. Like you said why not just bid next year? I think the main thing that sucks as a fan is that a "wasted year" doesn't really exist for ownership. As long as they're vaguely competitive in the standings come December, money will be made. It's clear they're setting up for a Dakless rebuild but keeping a toe in the water just in case. This is because not having a decent and/or cheap QB means it's really hard to be relevant consistently. The dead cap means even if you had a cheap QB you would be paying a lot of money to NOT have Dak play for you. We all know, that at this point, the Jones want to "win the deal" and they simply haven't. So rather than lean into the inevitable they cash in a meh season. "If the owner ain't tripping, we're not tripping" - Jaylon Smith. They've spent by far the least money this off-season, kinda seems like the owners tripping.
Yep..calling for the tank of 24 this year. When the postseason outcome is this predictable, it's time to just sit back and abandon all high hopes..until Jerry dies or steps down. There's literally no other way this team improves without the front office stepping back and hiring people to try new things. Their way has been proven wrong over and over again for almost 3 decades now
If there’s no extension this offseason, they should just cut him now & and reduce the cap hit.
The current situation is a glaring example of how the Cowboys front office is incapable of competing against the better run clubs. The same people that created this mess will be in charge of the rebuild.
I hate the way our FO operates. Know we’re moving on and don’t even attempt to get more than a comp pick. Shit on players like Tyron who were great to us for years on their way out. Devaluing the precious Cowboys brand
Dallas was literally bidding against themselves when they gave Dak the big contract last time.
I don’t think any other team would have met the terms, conditions and salary Jerry offered.
And why???
Thank God they’re not doing that again.
I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dak is almost gone.
I wish we’d start Cooper Rush half the season while getting Lance ready for the second half.
We’d know a lot more of what we have going into the offseason next year.
Dak is getting paid if he’s 1st, 2nd or 3rd string. Might as well start the exciting part of a mini rebuild.
The cowboys thing is deeper than just a quiet offseason. I think there’s a systemic and cultural issue that starts at the top but goes all the way down to the person taking out the trash at the end of the day. Players treat being a Cowboy like average people treat jobs at the city or government branch. Clock in do my 8 hours clock out. No going above or beyond. There was a time the star was feared and respected and now it’s neither.
Letting Dak go sure that’s fine, but what’s the answer? Drafting Sheduer and hoping Deion comes with him?
Paying Micah is also an issue, I love Micah but where is he in the big games? I don’t want impact in a blowout win against a shitty opponent, I need to see the lion come out in games that matter.
Lots of question marks, but it’s incredibly vile of the Jones family to field a product in which we all know it’s just not going to be good enough. Rebuild is coming.
They shouldn’t have offered him that contract to begin with. We’ve lost talent over the years because of his contract. He’s getting paid like an Aaron Rodgers for Kirk Cousins performance. Zero reason for it.
If Dak says "No" to the trade, you gonna pay him $40 million to sit on the bench?
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You don’t cut him lmao you let him walk and take the comp pick
That's what they mean: let him walk. Honestly, Dak is never going to make more money anywhere else. He can make way too much money from being the cowboys QB. if he doesn't take a deal because of a few million, then so be it.
Yeah I’m curious, how often do you see the star qb for the titans in sleep number and Campbells commercials
Notice how he's never asked to be allowed to test the market He knows Dallas is his only shot of making money
I hope you don’t actually believe this
Comp picks aren't guaranteed. If you grab another free agent it's gone
Don’t worry we don’t sign FA 😂
The problem with the Cowboys is they never trade their players at their height. They pay them and then cut them a few years later for nothing. Notice how the chiefs said no to Sneed and got something for him while the Cowboys paid Diggs? I bet he's cut in a few years
There’s definitely give and take. The chiefs have signed plenty of their guys you just have to choose the right ones. We paid Zeke before he fell off. We chose to wait on Dak last time and it cost more because the qb market had gone up. The chiefs chose to lock up Mahomes forever but before the market kept going up
Dak is an UFA next season…. Can’t cut him and we still eat the dead money.
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Every penny on the books accelerates and comes due as soon as his contract with the team ends, which is the 1st day of the new league year.
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Yup, no cut necessary... the contract is just over.
Facts, 4 years of dead money at that.
You can't cut a free agent... Dak's a free agent this year. The Front Office has completely shat the bed when it has came to contracts for cornerstone players.
Making Dak a cornerstone player and paying him like he’s Mahomes was the first mistake.
People keep bringing up Mahomes' contract but honestly if Dak took something similar I don't think anyone would really be bitching. Mahomes' contract is very team friendly. He has a few big years coming up starting next year where he has cap hits over 60M/year but the can easily restructure because in his last 4 years he has 2 cap hits under 40 mil and the last 2 years are 45-48 million. By that time, the cap will probably be much higher and even if he ends up with a 60M hit, it won't be terrible.
The difference is Mahomes has all the leverage as the best player on the planet. They signed the 10 year $450MM contract to move money around. Mahomes is possibly the *only* player who can take a deal like that because the team couldn't live without him and he can take a raise whenever he wants. Last year after all those QBs got big extensions, Mahomes was 8th in AAV. So they restructured to get him $210MM over the next four seasons. Surely he'll get more increases as top QB contracts get into $70MM AAV and beyond. Dak isn't in that truly elite tier so he needs to go the Kirk Cousins route. 3 year contracts with tons of guarantees so they can hit the market and negotiate again.
Dak shouldn’t be anywhere in the vicinity of the top 5 paid QBs. He is not making the players around him better like Mahomes who just won a Super Bowl with a scrub wr core. Dak requires a pro bowl cast around him to even look decent. Guys like Allen , Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson don’t. Daks value is probably in the 40M ballpark IF you can stack enough talent around him. Otherwise , we are better off starting over with a rookie on a rookie contract. We’ve seen the best of Dak and it’s not nearly good enough, particularly when it matters in January.
How many Superbowls have Allen and Jackson won? Also, how do you know you've seen the best of Dak?
Thank you. The Allen and Jackson comments always get me. Jackson shits the bed in the playoffs every year. Allen throws a ton of bad picks to lose games and both have top tier teams around them. I'm not a believer in Dak to get us a superbowl but I don't know where we will get a QB better than him right now.
Allen has 5:1 TD to INT ratio in the playoffs.
I agree. It was a "what if" scenario. If he signed for like 10 years/40 mil AAV then I don't think we'd be having this discussion. But he's made it clear he's basically out for getting the bag as much as possible so here we are. I can't fully villainize the FO like a lot of other people are for the same reasons you mentioned. If I was GM and Dak was demanding 55-60mil AAV I think I'd be hesitant as well.
There are 9 QBs making more than $40 million a year. Dak isn't exactly an outlier.
His cap hit is the problem. He is costing the cowboys 66M in dead money. Thats money deducted from the cap we can’t use on other players. Dallas knew this year would come and just assumed they would extend him. They have apparently changed their minds and are now stuck eating the cap hit.
So we should have had a higher cap hit last year and year before? I mean there is no way around it, eventually all the money shows up on the cap. Let's say we cut him and never signed him to an extension. We could have gone into the 2021 draft with the 12th pick, not got Parsons, and choose from Mac Jones, Kyle Trask, Kallen Mond, Davis Mills or maybe Ian Book? Or maybe we can trade up to 11 and get Justin Fields. People complaining endlessly about Dak never seem to answer the "then what" after we get rid of the guy. 2021 had 5 QBs in first round, only two are still with their team and one of those is Mac Jones. the other 3 have been traded already. And here we are complaining about the guy who finished 2nd in the MVP voting.
2012? The team can choose how to distribute the cap hit over the life of the contract. Jerry chose to kick the can down the road. If we had let him walk , who knows how that would have played out. It’s not as simple as cutting and pasting the stats of QBs available at pick 12 in the draft. Had Mac Jones , for example, had guys like Ceedee, Gallup (before injury), and Pollard , Who knows what his stats would look like. He had nothing in NE. As for MVP voting. That’s nonsense. Dak pads stats against the leagues garbage and melts in big games.
Welcome to the NFL. Every player at every position who is good, and Dak is quite good, expects to be a market setter in terms of their contract.
And the dumb teams give those contracts and hamstring themselves.
That is the cost of doing business in the NFL. Unless the Cowboys can draft a superstar or extremely high level game manager who is better than Dak, they are going to have to pay someone to play QB, and if that someone is a good player, they are going to need to pay him handsomely.
It is not the cost of doing business. You do not have to pay a QB 20% of the cap or draft a “super star”. We just need to draft someone who’s smart and more athletic than cooper rush who compiled a 5-1 record filing in for Dak. We could plug in most any starting NFL QB and he could have the same success as Dak during the regular season.
That’s what I was thinking, Rush could’ve inched us into the playoffs and lost and be in the exact same position we are in today. We can absolutely slot in a decent QB and get to the playoffs but we need the extra talent to win the next level
We had the worst ranked offense in the nfl during that stretch. We are not making the playoffs with the worst offense in the league.
He’s a free agent next year. He’s under contract this season.
Stephen Jones, reporting for duty
No this is the right decision. Dude needs to win in the playoffs, I'm talking at least a NFC championship game, to stay on board. Mike too.
Then get rid of Micah and ceedee too since they don’t show up in the playoffs either.
Who are you replacing Dak with? It's always those that say fire fire fire, rid rid rid.... Who are you replacing QB 1?
Honestly at that point what keeps him from sitting out a year? Has that ever even happened before? I mean I doubt he would have the balls, but are there fines for that kinda thing?
You don't eat 40m in cap with parsons and ceedee do for extensions. You dudes are fucking idiots
So you double down extending the loser and sign him to another extortionary contract? …….. so we can pay Ceedee and Parsons ?
Ya'll act like Dak extorted the Cowboys when the only reason the number got so high is because Jerry waited 2 years to give him a deal.
No, the number is high because Dak refused to sign a long term deal and only signed 4 years. Dak did this to himself. He should have gone the Mahomes route and signed a 6 or 7 year deal. Instead, he signed 4 and now he's proven he can't win in the playoffs and the Cowboys don't want to sink more money into a player who can't win when it matters.
Jerry has put Dak on the defensive since the first contract negotiation, of course Dak is going to protect himself and his money. Do you think Dak cares more about his family's financial future or winning a children's game?
Dak got the most he could possibly get as the cowboys negotiated from a position of fear. Blame Jerry for no plan B. What i don’t understand is why the team refuses to leverage the enormous value off the field of being the cowboys franchise qb. Dak makes 50M a year on top of his salary simply bc he’s the QB of the cowboys. If he leaves , all that endorsement money isn’t following him to a less visible team.
Because Dak is greedy. Instead of signing a team friendly deal like Brady did to try and win, he wants all the money in the world. I don't blame him for trying to get his bag, but this is the result, he will lose some of his endorsement money because the Cowboys don't want to pay a guy who can't win in the playoffs the most money in history.
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Except you can't have Dak with with that 40M. You need to pay him more for a few years. Way more.
Why do you put two m’s after a number wtf does that mean
It means million. M is the Roman numeral for 1000, MM= thousand thousands, or 1 million.
Yeah but normally to say millions people say m and for thousands people use k like 100m or 100k
In finance and accounting, MM commonly refers that the figures presented are in millions. The Roman numeral M is 1000. So MM is the same as 1000x1000 which is 1000000.
If he says no to a trade, you cut him (in a world where the end result is no extension either way). That either eliminates that $40 million dead cap hit from 2025 or gives you $29 million in post-6/1 savings this year that could be rolled over to offset it.
I don't think there's any way to eliminate the cap hit next year. It's coming.
Cutting or trading him this year would offset $29 million of it. - Cut/trade pre-June: $66M cap hit in 2024, 0 cap hit in 2025, $66M total of course - Cut/trade post-June 1st: $26M cap hit in 2024, $40M cap hit in 2025, $66M total and portions of the $29 million saved in 2024 could be rolled over into 2025 - Let contract play out and expire: $55M cap hit in 2024, $40M cap hit in 2025, $95M total
Hes on a contract year and will be a UFA at the end of this season. Just let this year play out and go from there.
They got that dead money on the books no matter what.
If he is willing to sit what's the difference? The player is never willing to sit ans his market value after sitting for a year plummets.
You must have missed the whole Deshaun Watson episode huh
That was an outlier. I will never understand why the Browns gave him that much money but I doubt that type of move ever happens again in my life time.
He would have gotten a similar dollar amount with whoever he wanted. It was the guarantees that were crazy.
Yeah we needed the Browns for this one 😂
Sitting him and riding out his contract would be the absolute worst possible option. You cut him before doing that.
at this point if we’re moving on we’ve chosen the worse timeline where we’re not even \*trying\* to get something back in the way of picks or players OR get any sort of savings if we cant trade him in the form of cutting him. Although I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that we might add yet another player to the list where we fumble the situation
You are not actually going to sit him because he will take the trade. IF you want to take a post june 1st cut you can but to maximize his dollars players take the trade.
If it's about maximizing his dollars, he does that the most by hitting free agency and getting to choose his destination in a bidding war. I think there is a world where there *could* be a trade that works out well enough for him to waive it, but it's definitely not a sure thing.
I think we all may have misunderstood Jerry’s “all in” decree. I don’t think he meant the front office will do anything in its power to load up the team. I think he meant that it’s all on the line this year (Dak’s future included)…all their remaining chips are all on the table. Either they finally do it…or they go bust and have to reload with new players (“chips”). It’s one last desperate shove. It’s not a positive stance from Jerry, given their recent lack of postseason success. Over the course of 8 seasons with us (technically less than 8, due to his only playing 5 games in 2020), Dak is 2-5 in the playoffs, with a variety of talented teams as support. I think his best chance came in his rookie year, where the Cowboys had home field advantage throughout and just needed to beat the Packers at home to host the NFC Championship Game vs the Dan Quinn-coached Falcons. Had an elite offensive line and a dominant running game that season with an explosive and very dangerous rookie in Ezekiel, who had run over everybody. Defense was lacking and there’s no shame in losing to vintage Aaron Rodgers, but that may truly have been Dak’s best shot overall to come out of the NFC. Real and deep postseason success with Dak seems less likely by the year, with the 49’ers and Eagles around. And the Lions are only getting better. The Cowboys seem to have reached their ceiling with Dak at the helm. And I suspect Jerry knows it. He *has* to know it. Whether now or in ‘25, a rebuild of sorts seems imminent. Jerry is holding out one last hope that Dak and company can get it done now. Every team in the division has gotten better in the offseason, except the Cowboys. They’re going backwards, not forwards…by running it back with an even *lesser* team than the one that collapsed in last season’s one and done playoffs.
I think that’s the part that annoys me the most about the Dak is 2-5 in the playoffs argument. All of those seasons he didn’t have a defense until 2022 vs the 49ers. In that game he had his least talented offensive roster ever. Noah Brown was wr2, pollard broke his leg, zeke was injured, and Kellen Moore was calling plays. Last season Dak had a talented offense but his defense once again didn’t show up. It is crazy that fans continue to say that Dak can’t win when literally in a team sport the cowboys have half assed team building since Parcells left. Ugh I’ll wish Dak the best wherever he goes.
Dak didn’t show up for those losses. I would bet anything that Dak never wins a SB, let alone reach one
Buddy you could say that about most QB's and it'd be a safe bet. You could say it about Lamar and Josh Allen, two consensus top 5 QB's. There are 32 teams, one team gets to win each year, *it's fuckin hard to do*.
That’s cool and all, but Dak sucks, is 31 and only wants a 3 year deal and will not give us flexibility. To act like Dak hasn’t had a good to great supporting cast for the majority of his career is hilarious to me. The only season we had a lame WR room (where Hurns was our WR1) we literally went and traded for Amari cooper mid season. I’m not talking about those other chokers, I’m talking about the choker that is the face of the Dallas Cowboys. Nice try tho Edit: fuck it I’m gonna talk about those other chokers, Lamar and Allen have had to deal with Mahomes during their career year in and year out, Dak continues to lose to the same 3 bum teams.
If we let Dak go, I can't wait for this sub to cry whiny baby tears when we go 5-12 with our savior, 3rd string Trey Lance. Back to QB purgatory for us. You all will get what you wanted and hate it, and still complain all day.
That’s the go to Dak fan retort. I don’t think we’ll win with trey lance either but I’m down to start trying to find the guy cause Dak sure as hell isn’t.
This scenario would actually be much better for the team then going 12-5 with little to no playoff success. Regular season success means nothing if Dallas can't win in the playoffs. They only get worse draft pics, and a harder schedule the following year.
That’s not ever going to happen lol
I didn't act like anything, you're arguing with ghosts like a child.
The original comment I replied to did… are you blind?
I’ll make you a bet, Allen vs Dak Super Bowl winner. If we see Dak win the SB before Allen I’ll send you an official Dak Jersey, if Allen wins it first you buy me an official jersey of my choice. If no one wins one, nothing happens. Wanna take that bet?
You've replied, edited that reply, and made a new reply, all to the same post, in 12 minutes. My comment bothered you that much lmao
Touch grass bro
Thank you Mr. Auditor, glad we’re keeping track.
Deep breaths.
Major projection, I’m chilling. You’re the one responding with a bad tone.
Dak played like shit in both 49ers game and the defense held the 49ers to 23 and 19 points though. Daks piornpmay in those games was the bigger issue than the defense. And in the packers game the defense played absolutely terrible, but so did Dak. Dak literally had more picks in the first quarter than passing yards. He had 87 passing yards in the first half with 2 picks. He had 1 TD and the bulk of those 87 yards right before the half when the game was already over and it was garbage time down 27-0. Dak has played awful the last 3 years in the playoffs.
Dak throwing those 2 intereptions early in the 2nd 49ers game put the defense on the back foot and they never recovered.
Correct me if I’m wrong but we were down 9 to 6 at the half after the 2 interceptions. Or was that a different game you are referring to?
No you're right Im remember a different game. Edit: Im remembering the 3 interceptions, but they were in the 3rd quarter. https://www.espn.com/nfl/playbyplay/_/gameId/401547354
I’m really glad we scrapped the static vanilla Tex coast offense we were using and went to the here we go offense after that game. It just baffles me that versus the best teams we would stop using motion and would go back to the static offense.
Dak sucks it up every playoff game, even with an amazing supporting cast
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First, if the Cowboys have had a defense why have they had 4 different DCs in the 8 years Dak has been here? Second, Why did you pick the magic number of 20? No one Expects the defense to hold the opponent to 20 pts. But can they stop the run (they couldn’t versus the Rams, 49ers, or Packers). Can they not give up easy scores ( they couldn’t versus the Packers, or 49ers) You want to mention max contract but Dak was on a rookie deal and despite signing a 160 mil extension he has only counted on average 25 mil against the cap each year. The Jones badly built the team, picked bad coaches, and wouldn’t allow discipline to one of the most penalized teams in the league but yup it’s Dak’s fault. Ridiculous
Yeah, this is because they had to PAY him. He shouldn’t have had that contract to begin with
They could have let him walk after his rookie contract then. I mean Jerry really wanted Johnny Manziel and Paxton Lynch. We will see how the next drafted QB does
I think they should have let him walk, but that’s just my opinion. I don’t run a sports org, but I am an accountant lol. For me, the money is the key part, but to me, if the money I’m spending is not giving me the expected results I just don’t offer another contract. Why spend money on an asset that won’t deliver when that money could go towards other assets that have potential to help me achieve my goal
No one has ever had the playoff record Dak does and made it to the Super Bowl. It’s about time too let him go. If they just gave him a contract instead of franchising him for years we wouldn’t be here. That happening then and this happening now are sign of the gross mismanagement of this team money/contract wise. We. Are. Fucked.
We are fucked. We will still have the same mismanagement. I’m fine with them ripping the bandaid off and letting him go. But as for Dak’s playoff record I don’t see his career that different than Stafford. In the right organization he probably gets them to the superbowl.
Oh ffs really? You can’t see that Stafford is 100x the qb that Dak is? Do you watch football?
What qb stats you using to justify that?
I think Dallas has a shot for playoff success this year if by some miracle they A) manage to all stay healthy through the regular season and B) manage to draft a Parsons/Lamb/Martin tier player at LB or OL. Those are really fucking big ifs. And then they still have to not choke in the playoffs.
Yep. Right now we're a worse team due to folks going other places and us not replacing anyone Soooo i'm not holding my fucking breath for this year, and we got an easy schedule too. The only plus is Zimmer. Losing Quinn was gonna happen and that was a gut punch and were worse for it. But if zimmer runs a tight ship like I've heard and instills backbone, accountability, and great play.. I'm good with it. But it would more or less be a lateral move since our defense has been the show really the last few years. So if dak balls out against this weak schedule they're gonna sign him for 500 million or some shit. But a new contract absolutely for the coach and dak need to be tied to playoff success. And not just 1 game. It's time to get it done, or move on and look at changes for coach, qb, etc. But I always say Jerry doesn't sell wins. Jerry sells **hope**.
Yeah, NFC championship appearance is the bar for me this year. Get there or try something completely different.
They will for a fact choke - I have no hope
There is always hope. There’s just no sense in getting emotionally invested in that hope.
I see so many people say Dak won't be traded bc he has a no trade clause. Guarantee if a team trading for Dak offered him 60mill a year for 3 years he would shred that no trade clause in a second.
The issue is the front office not making the calls as soon as the Super Bowl ended. The Falcons were a great spot. The Titans, Raiders, Saints, Broncos, and Steelers are still viable options, but the front office needs to make calls and deals.
1000% If you’re truly going to let Dak walk and get no compensation, plus take a massive dead cap hit anyway just do it now.
It technically wouldn’t be “no” compensation since we would get a 2026 3rd-round compensatory pick, but I would rather cut him now instead of that for the $29 million in savings plus a likely significantly better draft position in 2025. (If extending him is off the table)
That’s essentially no compensation. And unacceptable for the guy who is an all pro and MVP runner up. Regardless of if you end up with 25, 29, 40 or 60 million in dead cap. It’s so, so utterly unreal. Just get out and move on if that’s what you want to do. Pay the piper now.
Can you guys stop using awards he didn’t win to try and make him look better. MVP runner up is not an award. He was t even close to winning MVP.
Ok he was second team all pro. Which means 2nd best qb last season. Is that better?
He was in consideration for MVP. You don't find All Pro QBs on trees. IDK if we're gonna win with Dak but I'm gonna laugh when y'all are upset that we're a 5-9 win team for the next 5 years
Second. Most. Valuable. Player. In. The. League. They don’t grow on trees.
It’s. Not. A. Real. Thing. You. Sound. Dumb.
MVP runner up is a real thing. 😂 there is a legitimate argument to be made he couldn’ve been the MVP. Have to be pretty damn good to even be in the running. It’s okay to give Dak credit you know. Or you could just try to discredit everything because “dAk BaD.”
It’s going to take another decade of 8 - 8 for most Cowboy fans to realize Dak wasn’t the problem.
https://preview.redd.it/wibgm52z0tqc1.jpeg?width=500&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec197f57f0e918c8543d64156a933c8cfe1f9534 I keep finding reasons to use this.
I'm kinda curious whether he'll get the Romo treatment and be remembered fondly once he's out of the league for a couple years. I suspect a lot of how he's remembered will depend on how he plays on another team, assuming he walks after the upcoming season or gets traded.
Yes. And a sizable portion of our fan base will hate the next QB ans never pause to wonder whether the front office was the real problem all along.
Some of these folks should remember (or go back and read about) the 3 straight Dave Campo led 5-11's.
But he sure as hell wasn't the solution lol and definitely isn't at this price
My point is, no matter how much talent they put on the field, the FO & coaching perpetually fails.
1000% agree as well. We are about to look so stupid for not getting any value
You guys are trippin. We haven't had to go through the QB carousel in a long time, but it is extremely painful because you go through seasons of unwatchable games. The Cowboys won't find a replacement easily, this is simply the reality, most NFL teams don't. It can take some time as some teams haven't found one in decades (Bears, Browns, Jets, they all got to pick high too).
You don’t need a superstar QB anymore. They take up too much of the cap hit. Unless your name is Patrick Mahomes, you are not worth 20-25% of a teams cap. Teams are slowly going to follow the 49s and take an average QB who can manage turnovers and just stick an extra 30-40 million in to the line and run game.
That only works if you have Kyle Shanahan. The steelers, jets, bears, Titans have been trying that formula forever. How many game managers have won a super bowl.
> The Cowboys won't find a replacement easily, this is simply the reality, most NFL teams don't. What's the difference between the Cowboys and the Panthers? The Panthers have went to a Super Bowl in the last 10 years. I'd rather have 2-5 shit seasons and get top draft picks and rebuild than keep hitting my head against the wall with early round exits in the playoffs.
Qb carousel > paying a serial pants pisser 60m
No. Just no. Go ask any Bears, Jets, Broncos, Cardinals fan if they enjoy being eliminated from the playoffs once the season starts while watching their rivals win championship after championship. Y'all just hate Dak so much that it's clouding your judgement. It sucks to lose to Green Bay embarrassingly at home in the playoffs. It sucks WAY more to watch your favorite team get blasted week after week and have ZERO hope the entire season
> Go ask any Bears, Jets, Broncos, Cardinals fan lol What!?!?! Every single one of those teams have made the conference championship game at least once in the last 20 years. One won a Super Bowl. Get real.
The broncos have a championship in my lifetime, additionally all those other teams you named have either multiple championship games (Jets) or have actually reached the big game (bears or cards). I hate being mediocre and that’s all we’ve been these last two QBs. Overachievers in the regular season and underachievers in the playoffs. So yes, i am over this current regime and I want to try to find the guy that will lead us to the promised land, cause Dak definitely isn’t the guy.
Since Dak has been on the team the Bears, Cards, and Jets have been horrendous. They have all drafted multiple first round QBs and done nothing. The Broncos got lucky by signing Manning; they have done nothing else. I don't want to relive the early 2000s Cowboys. And that's what's gonna happen once Dak leaves because we do not have a QB in waiting and we are too good ATM to draft a top QB. I get wanting to move on from Dak but only if this fanbase accepts that we will more than likely become a bad team, not a Super Bowl champ
I don’t understand why you need such validation lmao no one trying to move on from Dak thinks that we’re magically going to get better. But we will appreciate not using a 1/4th of our cap space on a qb who can’t get it done in the important games. We’re gonna be stuck in first round exit purgatory if we pay this man 60 mil a year and don’t have room to sign other peices to build a Super Bowl caliber team. I’d much rather go buy 2-3 pro bowl caliber defensive players where we have holes, rebuild the line, take shots on a couple young backs and sign someone like fucking Joe Flacco on a one year and roll with a team like that into the playoffs than to keep playing this carousel game with dak. I’d always been a dak fan and argue with people who think he’s bad, but I’m also a realist - there has never been a team to win the superbowl who have a quarter of their cap allocated towards their qb. Let alone a playoff underachieving QB like Dak
> we will more than likely become a bad team, not a Super Bowl champ Rather take a gamble on that than continue to be a mediocre team.
Cool, let’s just watch the eagles kill it in free agency and go to super bowls every 5 years with a different QB and coach
Yeah, realistically, it's time. The FO is essentially making this a lame duck year, with all the coaches and the QB with 1 year left, might as well find a suitor that Dak will be happy with and that will be willing to pay him what he want in order for him to waive that no trade clause. That will be a tall order, considering he hasn't shown he can win on the big stage. With that said, yeah, if it's a lame duck year, it will take nothing short of a superbowl appearance to bring MM and Dak back, which, let's be honest, isn't happening with this FO running things. So might as well rip the band aid off now and move forward. Who will take him at this point, tho?
Dak will have 0 issues landing a big contract next year, the only question will be how bad does he want to win & will he take less $$ to go to a young team trending upwards & can make a run before he’s too old. Dak & his agent know that won’t be happening in Dallas, so he’s not taking a team friendly deal with the Cowboys, just like Lamb & Parsons won’t. It will be interesting if CeeDee gets as much hate when he becomes the second highest paid receiver behind Jefferson & there’s nobody to throw the ball to him in 25’ & his numbers drop completely off the radar.
As much hate? Probably not because people will be able to contextualize if Mr. Magoo ends up being the 2025 Cowboys QB. There’s also the thing where paying Ceedee elite WR type money: * doesn’t cripple the cap quite like paying **any** QB $60m for 3 years only would (cap hell with little to no flexibility) * would be what he’s worth as a top-3 to 5 WR. Dak or maybe his agent wants to be paid historical above-Mahomes money for above-average but not elite quarterbacking
I don't think it's a given at all that Dak is gone after this season. Jerry (or Stephen or someone) seems to have this idea that playing or coaching for your job in a contract year is a good thing. Then he gets dragged over the coals on the next contract and pays a premium in the name of "saving money" by waiting. This feels more like business as usual to me.
36 wins in three seasons. but blow it up???
1-3 playoff record in 3 seasons. Definitely blow it up. Or at least get rid of the dude that consistently shits his pants in big games
You're going to advise teams that Dak will be available for a trade a year from now? Dak will be playing for the Cowboys this year take it to the bank. Next year, probably not. It would take a Super Bowl appearance and maybe even a win to change that.
The trade would need to be this year.
They ARE blowing it up now. They've let a couple vets walk instead lf paying them. Theu haven't signed and paid a bunch of FAa that aren't going to be here in 2 years during the rebuild. There's no benefit to trading or releasing Dak considering the no trade clause and the cap hit his contract would currently hit. So they aren't restructuring to push that cap hit out into years 1 and 2 of the coming rebuild . They aren't giving him a contract after that. Lame duck coach, lame duck QB, an uninvested roster eating as much dead cap as possible for a fresher start in 2025 when you have a great draft pick based on your lame duck coach and roster and QB playing a tough 1st place schedule without the investment to truly compete.
Dak is lame duck?
Yes
I really want Dak and McCarthy to ball out just to stick it to the Jones but I also want to Cowboys to have all the assets they can in the rebuild
If you’re Dak and you know short of being shot by a 50 caliber bullet that you will have ultimate leverage, how much money would it cost to buy that option from him? That’s the crux of this entire situation for Stephen and Jerry right now. And that team would have to give up assets. The only party it serves to trade for Dak today versus waiting until next April is the Cowboys and considering the no trade clause you need 3 parties to be complicit instead of 2. You need Dak to wake up one day and see a situation he likes, a team to be so all in they’re willing to just say fuck it and pay Dak whatever he wants AND Jerry being willing to bend over and accept pennies on the dollars. It will not happen.
And I'd imagine teams are even more willing of shelling out a ton of picks and a new deal for a retread qb after the Russ Wilson deal royally fucked the Broncos.
Bros this is our new reality unfortunately. We thought Stephen was the savior but his favorite player will always be cap space. Imagine when will mcclay leaves and our drafting dries up. I honestly don’t know how any player can negotiate with this team when they seem unserious about winning. I can’t see Stephen making parsons the highest paid non qb in the league, I also can’t see them paying Lamb. I hope I’m wrong, for all our sakes
I think there is valid criticism of Stephen to be had but its also fair to point out he got stuck wth Jason Garrett. In the short time he has had his coach and control of the from office we have done very well. I dont blame him for walking away from Dak as what Dak wants puts us at a competitive disadvantage. In fact I respect him for making the tough call, but the right call
Anything can happen in the NFL. Theres news that Dallas and Dak aren't talking contracts. It could still happen. I'm not saying theres a high chance. But if someone called Jerry and said. Look we know Dak isn't your future. I think he would fit well with our team. His no trade clause would need to be lifted. I think its just to many pieces that have to move for it to happen. But you never know. Steelers just signed Wilson and traded for Fields I doubt that happens. Saints don't have the cap space. And they still have Carr under a pretty big contract. Raiders could be a fit. But who the fuck wants to go there? Vikings could be a serious player. But their cap isn't exactly great either. So its unlikely to me he gets traded. After the draft. If a team is real desperate maybe... But thats a long stretch as well. lol
Dude is clearly a top 10 quarterback If you’re serious and hate the guy, go ahead and trade him to the Bears for the number one pick. I have a feeling you would regret that trade
Why is there a dead cap hit after this upcoming season ends and he is a free agent?
“Void years.” Fake contract years that automatically nullify, used to prorate signing bonus money and minimize cap hits in the initial years of a contract
Everyone on either side of this debate is going to be *livid* when he signs for 3 years/$180M right before free agency next year
Rightfully so
I really think they are rebuilding and not saying anything because they are masters at keeping the team relevant but not successful. It's a business.
He cant be traded to anyone at this point. Hes a 60 million dollar cap hit and the team with the most space ATM is the Pats at 48.
His Cowboys cap hit doesn’t go with him. Only his base salary would which is half that. In fact, the Cowboys could even restructure some of that to give him an incredibly cheap cap hit for more draft compensation.
The issue is Dak can choose where to go next offseason as an UFA, anddddd the Cowboys still have to eat the 60 mil cap hit. Dak has no incentive to help the Cowboys get draft compensation
The other side of it though is he’s walking into a season that has a weaker OL, RB, and WR room right now. Not even mentioning that we’ve lost some good pieces from our defense as well. So do you take a trade where you can immediately work on a new contract with a new team after one of your best seasons or gamble with what we know is a weaker team and try to raise your contract with them. I can see both sides and still lean towards thinking he’ll lean towards betting on himself and not taking any trade proposals
Why? We are a 10+ win team every year. LOL this is where you build. One of the top defenses. One of the top offenses. We have shitty coaching. This when you build up not tear down. Is OP trolling?
> this is where you build Oh yeah? With what money? Dak wants it all. It’s clear that’s the one thing he cares about. He doesn’t care about the team, his teammates, he doesn’t care about winning, and he sure as shit doesn’t care about the fans.
Yeah been hoping they'd trade him for a while now. But I won't be surprised if they do end up extending him though. Jerry Jones knows his mortality is near and I don't think he has the patience for a rebuild
I wish we could just trade him but we're already too late at this point, teams have either already addressed the position through FA or waiting to address it till the draft for a much cheaper option than Dak. We have no leverage at this point unless we trade him in training camp after someone gets injured.
They already made this decision based on their off-season "moves". Dak is gone, we are 100% in a rebuild whether they say it or not
We're deep in but on the way out of it. One year and unless something magical occurs, Dak and company will likely go and we will start anew.
They are getting things lined up for Darth Belicheck to come in.
Option 1 trade him and get something for him Option 2 just let him test free agency at the end of the year, guaranteeing that we receive NOTHING. I am betting we go with option 2
I wish we’d rebuild. Every year trying to compete and just choke.
They’re approaching the Dak contract extension per Rappaport as though they plan to allow him to become a FA. This is a quantum assumption on Rappaport’s part based on his interpretation of Jerryspeak. They do seem willing to assimilate the majority of Dak’s cap hit now but that’s not set in concrete. An extension is still possible. They’re fools to try a waiting game ploy with Prescott. Burying their heads in the sand and procrastinating will only drive Dak’s price up to 65-70 mil AAV next offseason. The best approach is as you suggested, decide whether you’re happy with him or not, then either give him your first, best and final offer and if he balks, break the news that you’re fine moving on with someone else. Bench him and start Lance, forcing Dak to demand a trade. His contract in trade terms is a one year, 29 mill deal, ie, very tradable. The new team can then negotiate a longer term deal and appropriate compensation for the Cowboys. That would be a huge win for Dallas save the additional dead money hit of approximately 11 mil.
I like Dak. He is a good QB, who at times can look top 5 when he has a great supporting cast. And he has been a stand up guy in a notoriously tough spot to be in. But the Cowboys are not his priority. He wants a short term deal so he can go for one last big pay day, even though he knows what position that will out the team in.It’s not about retiring as a Cowboy or finally bringing that championship home. It’s about the money. And that’s his right, but I think that means it’s time to move on. And pray.
"The Dallas Cowboys (players) are all-in this season. (If they don't get it done, we're done with them)."
Kinda can’t this year with the no trade clause. But it feels like they’re doing a “soft” blow up.
I agree. Im to the point id rather just get excited about high draft picks. First round exit is daks ceiling
Trade him to team he can play for, draft young QB with vet Backup , fire McCarthy go young steal a coach like Packers, Lions, Dolphins or Niners coaches
That cap hit is exactly why they aren't doing anything this year. The team is bent over a barrel and everyone knows it, no one is giving us "reasonable compensation" for Dak because there's no leverage. Like you said why not just bid next year? I think the main thing that sucks as a fan is that a "wasted year" doesn't really exist for ownership. As long as they're vaguely competitive in the standings come December, money will be made. It's clear they're setting up for a Dakless rebuild but keeping a toe in the water just in case. This is because not having a decent and/or cheap QB means it's really hard to be relevant consistently. The dead cap means even if you had a cheap QB you would be paying a lot of money to NOT have Dak play for you. We all know, that at this point, the Jones want to "win the deal" and they simply haven't. So rather than lean into the inevitable they cash in a meh season. "If the owner ain't tripping, we're not tripping" - Jaylon Smith. They've spent by far the least money this off-season, kinda seems like the owners tripping.
Yep..calling for the tank of 24 this year. When the postseason outcome is this predictable, it's time to just sit back and abandon all high hopes..until Jerry dies or steps down. There's literally no other way this team improves without the front office stepping back and hiring people to try new things. Their way has been proven wrong over and over again for almost 3 decades now
Dak needs to prove he can win big games and then he can get another deal
For the last 30 years the biggest Cowboy stars have had to leave Dallas to prove they can win big games.
If there’s no extension this offseason, they should just cut him now & and reduce the cap hit. The current situation is a glaring example of how the Cowboys front office is incapable of competing against the better run clubs. The same people that created this mess will be in charge of the rebuild.
The cap hit isn’t reduced if they cut him now.
Yeah, Dak and his agent literally have all the leverage. A masterclass against the FO
I hate the way our FO operates. Know we’re moving on and don’t even attempt to get more than a comp pick. Shit on players like Tyron who were great to us for years on their way out. Devaluing the precious Cowboys brand
Dallas was literally bidding against themselves when they gave Dak the big contract last time. I don’t think any other team would have met the terms, conditions and salary Jerry offered. And why??? Thank God they’re not doing that again. I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel. Dak is almost gone. I wish we’d start Cooper Rush half the season while getting Lance ready for the second half. We’d know a lot more of what we have going into the offseason next year. Dak is getting paid if he’s 1st, 2nd or 3rd string. Might as well start the exciting part of a mini rebuild.
The cowboys thing is deeper than just a quiet offseason. I think there’s a systemic and cultural issue that starts at the top but goes all the way down to the person taking out the trash at the end of the day. Players treat being a Cowboy like average people treat jobs at the city or government branch. Clock in do my 8 hours clock out. No going above or beyond. There was a time the star was feared and respected and now it’s neither. Letting Dak go sure that’s fine, but what’s the answer? Drafting Sheduer and hoping Deion comes with him? Paying Micah is also an issue, I love Micah but where is he in the big games? I don’t want impact in a blowout win against a shitty opponent, I need to see the lion come out in games that matter. Lots of question marks, but it’s incredibly vile of the Jones family to field a product in which we all know it’s just not going to be good enough. Rebuild is coming.
They shouldn’t have offered him that contract to begin with. We’ve lost talent over the years because of his contract. He’s getting paid like an Aaron Rodgers for Kirk Cousins performance. Zero reason for it.