Was paying Dak like a top 5 QB a mistake?

[Dallas94Ware]

On 3/16/2023 at 1:00 AM, plan9misfit said:

It’s not remotely close to the same, and you know it. You don’t pay a QB that much money and then draft his replacement. The optics of the move make it impossible to do because you destroy the confidence of the player and divide the locker room.

Green Bay did it, twice. Most teams don't because of what you said, the optics of it from a fan base perspective. But from a business sense, it makes perfect sense. And it affords that young passer the time he needs to grow into a leader, to grow into the player his talent says he could be with training and practice. 

Green Bay may not be a prime example, but their transition from highly paid Favre to potential GOAT Rodgers was smooth, because Rodgers was biding his time and learning to command a huddle, a team, just as much as learning to make NFL throws. How about Philly? Paid Wentz huge money. Drafted Hurts. Developed him. And voila, Wentz is out, Hurts is in, and they're a few plays away from wearing rings (again).

But when your QB is clearly not taking you as far as you wished, and the contract is a burden, there is only one thing you really can do - replace him. Even if it's with a second, third round guy who's gotten to sit and learn for a few years. There's nothing wrong with that. If it doesn't work, you can then dig deep for a vet FA or scramble in the draft again. Which could create a violent cycle of failure (as with Nyj and many others) but at least you made the wiser attempt to get better. Which is better than making no attempt at all.

[Dallas94Ware]

@plan9misfit

For the record I'm not disagreeing here either. Dak has had more than enough time to show what he is. He is a good passer, and you CAN win with a guy like him. But you need too many pieces in place to do so, and once you pay him a huge deal, it's difficult to put those pieces in place and KEEP THEM there. It'd be different if he was still on a rookie deal, or didn't get paid as huge as he did, because then his play - needing all that extra help - isn't hindered by his contract preventing that extra help from being retained with him.

It was indeed a mistake to pay him like that, in hindsight. But at the time, there was so much promise for what he would continue to grow into. And I also get that the alternative - a QB search while we lose over and over - was far less favorable than just giving in to Daks contract demands. But I truly wish we would have followed up with ensuring we had a fall back plan if Dak didn't grow into the guy we paid him to grow into...oh well.

And that is the difference between teams on the cusp, and the teams that jump the divider into greatness. They buy an insurance plan (like Philly did with Wentz-Hurts) or stock up hard on weapons for the lower wage young passer (Cincy, KC before Mahomes got paid, and many others). Then teams like Dallas, or Andrew Lucks Colts, flounder the good young passers window on a low wage deal because they don't take advantage before it's time to pay up.

Edited March 17, 2023 by Dallas94Ware

[WizardHawk]

 

[Nextyearfordaboyz]

1 hour ago, WizardHawk said:

 

This forum would self destruct

[WizardHawk]

8 minutes ago, Nextyearfordaboyz said:

This forum would self destruct

Would be epic.

[textaz03]

I wouldn’t sign Dak to a mega deal until he shows us he can get past the Divisional round. 

[The_Slamman]

For me, I don't know what's harder to imagine... Stephen or Jerry paying Dak on par with the best QBs in the NFL or fans who would actually be happy about signing Dak on par with the best QBs in the NFL.  For Jerry and Stephen, I can kind of get it... not really, but kind of.  I suppose it could be a scary thought going into a season with a rookie or re-tread.  To their line of thinking... it would be "well, at least we won't complete suck."

What's actually harder for me to imagine is any Cowboy fan who would actually be happy about the signing (other than blood relation to Dak himself).  Don't get me wrong... I know there are some really stupid people in the world and some of them may coincidently be Cowboys fans.  And I know other fan bases like the Eagles/49ers/ etc who would be extremely happy if Jerry pays Dak $50m/yr.  But its really hard to imagine any Cowboy fan stupid enough to want this to happen.... "Yay, we can potentially compete for a wild card appearance!!!"

[plan9misfit]

2 hours ago, textaz03 said:

I wouldn’t sign Dak to a mega deal until he shows us he can get past the Divisional round. 

I wouldn’t sign Dak to a mega deal, period. He’s already grossly overpaid relative to his level of production.

[DaBoys]

 

“For me, I don't know what's harder to imagine... Stephen or Jerry paying Dak on par with the best QBs in the NFL or fans who would actually be happy about signing Dak on par with the best QBs in the NFL.  “

 

 

 

 

QFT

[DaBoys]

Can’t wait to lock this in. 
 

 

[D82]

 

[Dallas94Ware]

1 hour ago, D82 said:

 

Ok, while I agree with both sides of the coin to an extent...how can someone say they have seen the same mistake prone play for six years now from a man who, outside of only two seasons (his sophomore year and this past year) has essentially thrown at, above or very close to a 3 to 1 TD:INT ratio. That is not mistake prone play at all. That is someone just being more biased about the most recent event than the clearer, entire picture.

In his career Dak has proven he takes pretty good care of the ball outside of this past season, which I said long before Martz just did - much of that is on the receivers and the coordinator. Dak played a part, of course he did as he is the QB, but to call him mistake prone over one season let alone one season in which the OC and the receivers have had their worst showing as professionals over the last half decade or so, is laughable.

I'm all for Dak, but I'm also all for finding a long term answer with his contract situation and questions looming on if he will ever be what he was paid to be. But God damn it anyone calling him mistake prone clearly has forgotten five years of their life.

[PincheJimmy]

Cue the Dak haters in 3…2…1…..

[Dallas94Ware]

I think the truth is more middle ground than many here seem to think.

Dak is NOT some turnover prone squabble at QB. But he is not the second coming of Aaron Rodgers either, like many of us thought he had the potential of being (including Jerry and Stephen, who paid him as such). 

You can absolutely win games with Dak. You can also absolutely win a ring with Dak. But when you pay him that much and restrict yourself on the help you can afford for him, it becomes a much harder task to attempt to do (win the ring with Dak).

You can also lose games with Dak. He has severe bouts of inaccuracies brought on by pressure up the.middle - but so did Brady even in his ultimate prime form. Dak also has a tendency to break away from what made him good, and try to play pocket passer, which he is not the best at - but so did Ben Roethlisberger, who was also best when the pocket isn't a stationary objective to stay in but an entity to manipulate to their own gain. Point is, all passers have quirks. And if you play to those quirks, you lose. A good coordinator on offense gameplans away from them, a good coordinator on defense gameplans toward them. 

There is so much more to this than many here want to realize or acknowledge. They see it all as black or white, and ignore all the shades of gray that lay between. 

Now, if Dak gets this 300 some odd.million from this team, I am not above a South Park moment in that Dallas front office, of "HES COMING RIGHT FOR US" ****** shotgun*

I'd rather roll the dice and trade for Lance or Purdy, both of whom have as much untapped potential and upside as any first round eligible player in this draft but can likely be had for less than a top 5/top 10 pick, even if it costs you more than one selection overall. I'd rather roll out Cooper Rush and trade up for Bijan and run the ball 45 times a game. Or hell, bring in Taamu from the XFL and let him see what he can do in the real pro game, than pay any passer short of Mahomes or a 28 year old Rodgers that kind of freaking money

Edit: Notice I didn't include Brady in that last part either. Look back on his career. Dude has had some of the all time best complete rosters every single time he had a good year. When Jerry compared Dak to Brady, I agreed - the kind of effective and efficient passer who can win the big one with the right pieces in place to be efficient with. That is Dak to a T. But at 300million you can't afford that complete roster Brady had or Dak will need. 

Cue the Far right/far left no middle ground hatred...

Edited April 7, 2023 by Dallas94Ware

[DaBoys]

Dak has a place in Cowboys franchise history. So does Tony Romo.

Neither are on the same level as Aikman or Staubach. 

The world needs Danny Whites, and Dak is needed.