What Should The Cowboys Do?

[Shady Slim]

they’re in a massive bind because dak sucks but as was pointed out correctly by matts, zeke is not worth close to what he wants... i am not terribly high on amari either

my play would probably be to trade dak, save zeke and amari for trades next april depending on their picks, and build on their strong oline and defensive cores... but they are not gonna do that lol

[TVScout]

18 hours ago, Shady Slim said:

trade dak

Where do you get a better QB?

[Forge]

4 hours ago, TVScout said:

Where do you get a better QB?

I don't know about trading Dak, but I do think that the Cowboys are certainly in an interesting position with him. I don't think that they just have to cater to his demands. Looking around the league, where does he go? The terms I have heard bandied about are between 30 - 34 million per year. That's insane to me. Now don't get me wrong, I agree with your inferred assessment that you can't just go out and get a better quarterback - whatever you think of Dak, he's not "easily" replaced. But that also depends on what kind of value you assign to having 10-12 million in freed up cash available. If I were the cowboys, I would have a price point that I'm not interesting in crossing, and if that is unacceptable to Dak, you let him hit the market. You don't even have to franchise tag him. Just let him test it out. Sure, you have to be willing to lose him, but lets look at the options: 

AFC East: Pats (Brady), Jets (Darnold), Bills (Allen), Dolphins 

So Brady just keeps churning out seasons and playing at high levels. Maybe he retires, and if he does, maybe that's an option. But if he doesn't, it's not. The Jets and Bills are unlikely to throw huge money and call it quits on Darnold and Allen, even if they struggle in my opinion. sure, they could bring in a quarterback to potentially drive those guys (think something like Andy Dalton), but they aren't going to bring in a huge money guy at 30 million like that because that would be tantamount to calling it quits on the youngsters. Then you have Miami. Yes, if Rosen is as bad as he can be, they can absolutely move on from him. A late second that's already sunk isn't the worst risk ever. But if they bottom out in the manner that a lot of people think, they are going to have their chance at a top quarterback prospect, and that cost control factor is super powerful. 

AFC North: Steelers (Ben), Ravens (Jackson), Bengals (Dalton), Browns (Mayfield)

Big Ben doesn't seem to be going anywhere. The Ravens would be in a similar boat to Jets / Bills in being unlikely to call it quits on a kid just a year + in. He'd have to be absolutely dreadful passing the football without his athleticism keeping him effective. The Browns have Mayfield. The Bengals could certainly move on, but lets be real, does Bengals management / ownership strike anyone as the type that is going to throw 30 mil or more per season with all those guarantees at a free agent quarterback? They sure don't for me. And that team could be *bad* this year, putting them in a position to get Tua or Herbert (both of whom are expected to be upper first round picks currently). I think that its far more likely the Bengals go the route of trying to grow and secure that position organically. And even if they do, that does leave Dalton available. Sure, he won't set the world on fire, but Dalton at 15 million compared to Dak at 30-34 is certainly intriguing. All that savings can certainly be used to help put a better situation around Dalton in Dallas. This wouldn't be ideal, but again, unlikely. 

AFC South: Jags, Colts (Luck), Titans, Texans (Watson)

So this would be the most likely division to take on Dak, but the options aren't great. The Jags are currently projected over the cap, and while that is easily navigable (cutting Dareus saves them 20M I think), the contract they just gave Foles is going to be hard to work around given the base salary is fully guaranteed for next season, I believe. So they can't cut him. They have to trade him. Even if they trade him, they only save 3 million against the cap. Trying to fit Dak into that cap would be a herculean task with Yannick and Ramsey requiring new contracts well. They'd basically have to trade foles, cut Dareus, hope Telvin doesn't come back, and cut several other players. Just highly unlikely. Watson and Luck are locked in. The titans are an interesting team. Obviously MM has one last shot, and Tannehill is the back up. Both could easily be gone after the season as free agents, and the Titans have some good space to work with. But if they take on Dak, that means that both Tannehill and MM are available, and are going to cost significantly less than Dak, becacuse any team signing Dak is going to be doing so as a long term starter while each of those guys is going to be looking at "prove it" type deals. Now, I'm not saying that either of those guys is as good as Dak, but is he so much better than them that you're willing to potentially pay him 10-15 million more per season on a longer term deal? If he's getting 30 million on a 4-5 year deal, would you rather have that than say MM on a 2 year 40 million dollar deal? Because that difference is really important to a team that needs room. So if someone offered you MM + 10 million for Dak, are you passing on that trade? Certainly some will, but I know a lot would take their chance with that deal as well. 

AFC West: Chargers (Rivers), Denver, Chiefs (Mahomes), Raiders (Carr)

Assuming that Rivers isn't retiring, we can cross them off. Chiefs too. The Broncos are an interesting case because Lock only cost a second round pick and they aren't beholden to him as QBotF. This would probably be worst case scenario for Dallas was if he left for Denver because it doesn't really saturate the quarterback market with a comparable / decent starting quarterback going on market. The Raiders could certainly make the swap from Carr to Dak, but again, if they do that, Carr becomes available, and if I'm the cowboys, that's an okay trade off to secure potentially 8 figure savings and having my quarterback switch from Dak to Carr. Even if they had to trade for Carr, his price point is likely going to be reasonable, and he's cost controlled for 3 more years after this one, all under 20 million dollars. Again, that type of savings is really valuable to a team with players to re-sign and limited space to do so. 

NFC east: Eagles (Wentz), Washington (Haskins), Giants (Jones)

Really nothing that's even an option here. 

NFC North: Packers (Arod), Vikings (Cousins), Lions (Stafford), Bears (Trubisky)

The Vikings would have to trade Cousins given that his contract is fully guaranteed, so that seems unlikely to say the least, and I don't know that you would make that type of move to secure Dak. The Packers are self explanatory, and if the Lions were to go that route, well that means that Stafford is available. Nobody really knows what Trubs' deal is quite yet, but lets be real, they aren't making that move. He'd have to seriously bottom out completely, and I just find that unlikely. If there's a day of reckoning for Trubs, it's not happening after this year. 

NFC South: Bucs, Saints (Brees / Teddy B), Panthers (Cam), Falcons (Ryan)

Well, Matt Ryan isn't going anywhere, so the falcons are out. Unless Cam up and pulls the sudden retirement card, they are out. Brees could certainly retire, so that could be an option but I don't see that happening with the way his contract was structured. He'd have to completely fall off this year. If he does, they do have Teddy B who will have worked 2 years in that system, is a former first round pick now years removed from a horrific injury, and will only be 27. I think a lot of things have to go a very specific way to make the Saints likely. Now, the Bucs will certainly be on the table if Jameis continues to struggle. Dak has been better in his career than Jameis. But we have to consider this from a monetary perspective too. Is Dak potentially 10 million or more per year better than Winston? Winston would be available likely on shorter term for less AAV. Is that a move that you want to make if you're Dallas? No. Is it a move that you can make and not completely blow up your franchise? Yes, I think so. 

NFC West: 49ers (Jimmy G), Rams (Goff), Seattle (Wilson), Cards (Murray)

Really nothing to see here. We can move along. Jimmy would be the only one with some question, but I can pretty much guarantee that he's going to get at least 2 full years (19/20) under Shanahan to make it work. I find it highly unlikely that they are cutting bait with him if he has a subpar 2019 (though they could financially, so I'll leave that as a very unlikely, albeit possible option). 

Will there be an unexpected team that bottoms out? Sure. But multiple teams will also fill needs via the draft at the position. There will be some quarterbacks left in the cold who get let go by their current teams (MM and Winston being the most premiere). Taking a sure fire starting quarterback job at a lower  salary than most starting quarterbacks wouldn't be the most shocking thing if they knew that they were going to be the 100% starter, so I think that these guys, despite not putting out play that is as consistently good as Dak has been throughout his career also aren't way below him in quarterback groupings, so that dollar for dollar savings becomes a bigger deal. 

[Bolts223]

On 7/20/2019 at 7:21 AM, TVScout said:

What the Cowboys should do is less of an issue than what they must do. The first mandatory order of business is to sign Dak. If he is allowed to walk Jerry must find a replacement who is at least as effective as Dak at is at avoiding blunders that cause the team to lose more games than they already do. That replacement doesn't exist. If Jerry rolls the dice on some cheaper QB the locker room will inevitably explode like what happened in Houston in 1993. Now Dak is no Tom Brady but he is no Andy Dalton either. Dak is in the upper level of second tier or perhaps at the bottom of the first tier of QBs when at his best. To keep him at that higher level requires surrounding him with Dak friendly players like Amari Cooper. Therefore resigning Cooper and keeping the Great Wall together are equally important and must happen before Jerry even tries to resign any others players. Because the Cowboys are stuck with a  QB who is clearly less than elite they must rely heavily on defense to win the Super Bowl. That requires resigning Jones and Smith. Keeping those players will put the Cowboys right up against the cap. That leaves Zeke as the odd man out. Letting him walk is no great loss. AS has been proved the running game is way over rated. Yes he does run for a lot of yards but he does so behind that line. He is also one blunder away from being suspended for an entire season. Too much risk and too easy to replace in the Draft. There are several other players in the same boat.

Honestly signing Dak for the amount of money he will likely demand isn't worth it.

While you are correct that Dak doesn't make many mistakes or lose you very many games, he also doesn't win you very many games either.

Dak is the type of QB that you would need a completely loaded roster around him to make a SB run. And if you give him 25-30 mil/year it'll be almost impossible to achieve that unless you absolutely nail 3 drafts in a row.

I think they'd be much smarter to roll the dice on a new guy. It's obviously more risky, but if the ultimate goal is to win the SB then it's the better move.

Edited July 22, 2019 by Bolts223

[Matts4313]

48 minutes ago, Bolts223 said:

he also doesn't win you very many games either.

Aside from the fact that he regularly goes god mode at the end of games? That he is one of the most winningest and most clutch QBs since entering the league? 

[Malik]

You obviously sign Dak. In two years his contract won't even be considered bad. Resign Zeke if you think you can get another 4 years out of him. 

[Danger]

On 7/19/2019 at 12:36 PM, eagles suck said:

Trade  Zeke (Ex: Lamaar Miller 2020 1st and 4th 2021 3rd)

If you think you're going to get that kind of compensation for Zeke you'd probably be wrong. RBs aren't worth a whole heck of a lot relative to other positions on the trade market, especially when they're going to immediately demand a huge contract.

[TVScout]

12 hours ago, Bolts223 said:

Honestly signing Dak for the amount of money he will likely demand isn't worth it.

While you are correct that Dak doesn't make many mistakes or lose you very many games, he also doesn't win you very many games either.

Dak is the type of QB that you would need a completely loaded roster around him to make a SB run. And if you give him 25-30 mil/year it'll be almost impossible to achieve that unless you absolutely nail 3 drafts in a row.

I think they'd be much smarter to roll the dice on a new guy. It's obviously more risky, but if the ultimate goal is to win the SB then it's the better move.

I repeat myself. Dak outplayed Brady against the Rams during the post season. 

[Forge]

4 minutes ago, TVScout said:

I repeat myself. Dak outplayed Brady against the Rams during the post season. 

That argument doesn't mean anything though? 

[ReadyToThump]

Keep Dak and that OLine together and you're a much more competitive team than you would be otherwise. I think drafting Tony Pollard and Mike Weber this year is a sign forthe future. 

[Danger]

14 minutes ago, ReadyToThump said:

Keep Dak and that OLine together and you're a much more competitive team than you would be otherwise. I think drafting Tony Pollard and Mike Weber this year is a sign forthe future. 

IDK. Those guys just remind me of other journeyman types e.g. Tashard Choice/Marion Barber 

[ReadyToThump]

13 minutes ago, Danger said:

IDK. Those guys just remind me of other journeyman types e.g. Tashard Choice/Marion Barber 

I don't think either will fill the shoes of Zeke, obviously...(historically good start to his career) but I think with an elite OL and Dak at QB you don't need an elite RB to be successful. Not saying Dak is near the QB that Russell Wilson is, but I would try to emulate what the Seahawks have done in the past, minus their porous OL play of course. 

Just my two cents. 

[Danger]

4 minutes ago, ReadyToThump said:

I don't think either will fill the shoes of Zeke, obviously...(historically good start to his career) but I think with an elite OL and Dak at QB you don't need an elite RB to be successful. Not saying Dak is near the QB that Russell Wilson is, but I would try to emulate what the Seahawks have done in the past, minus their porous OL play of course. 

Just my two cents. 

They'd have a worse QB, no where near the same caliber RB, a somewhat better OL, a QB on a massive deal and no where near the talent in the defensive secondary. I'm not saying they couldn't be a good team, but they'd look nothing like the Seahawks to be frank.

[Steelersfan43]

Jerry Jones is in a tough situation .... If the Cowboys think Prescott is going to take the next step after his new OC, they have no choice but to keep him, but otherwise, Dallas will have to find a new QB that can be very tough to find...I do not know if their new OC will become good, but their former OC were too predictable.

If the Cowboys want to win a super bowl one day, which is the ultimate goal for each team, it's going to go through their QB, whether this is Prescott or another ... As good is Elliott as a player, a RB has its limits for carried a team

So of course if I'm the Cowboys I'd love Elliott to be with the team, but if he's holdout, you have no choice but to respect that and life goes on ..... If Elliott wants to stay home for the rest of his contract, you let him do it unless Dallas have a big offer from another team for a trade ... If so, you have to listen, otherwise you let Elliott in his house and you focus with the players that they are there!

For Cooper, you gave a first round pick for him last year and he did very well with the team, even if he did not know the playbook last year, so you have no choice but to pay him, otherwise the cowboys will have wasted a first round pick.

[Uncle Buck]

How about if the Cowboys keep all of the players and just replace "The Clapper?"  Could a great new head coach make a huge difference with the current roster in Dallas?