Kirby Jackson

Yep, that’s the sign of a fan base that isn’t accustomed to winning. Instead of enjoying the ride we are going to be worrying about our ability to retain Tyler Matakevich.

Buckle in it’s only going to get worse...

The Cowboys outscored their opponents by 113 points last year!!

He just wants another crack at FA as soon as he can get it. The NBA guys are doing this every year. They sign a 1+1 deal and then when the cap increases they opt out and sign a new deal. Dak will be 30 (I think) at the end of a 4 year deal. Basically he will become a FA again when he’s Andrew Luck’s age. For some perspective Stafford is 32. Dalton is 33. Dak is playing the long game (as he should).

When he’s eligible for an extension (next year) he will absolutely be looking at a deal in this range if he’s proven to be a franchise guy. If Josh takes another step over the next year (and maybe the year after) we better understand now that Josh Allen will be a $40M(ish) a year QB at that point.

I think that is true in most cases with them being an exception. Who specifically does Dallas have to sacrifice now or in the near future in order to pay Dak? This isn’t a Rams scenario or a Falcons scenario. Dallas has 9 of their 10 best players (and maybe beyond that) under contract for the next 3 seasons at least. Just to be clear DAK is seeking the shorter extension. DALLAS wants the 5 years.

The truth of the matter is if he played for anyone but Dallas or our division opponents we wouldn’t say a word. No one here cared when Goff and Wentz signed their massive extensions. Dak, at this point, is WAY more deserving than both of them. The same goes for Tannehill, Jimmy G and Derek Carr. If we are ranking those guys Dak is 1 at the moment. He was the best bargain in football for 4 years. Now he is going to be paid like all good (and even a lot of average QBs like the others listed here) are. Shortly thereafter Mahomes will get more. Watson will also get more. The next guy gets more than the others in his tier. Don’t be surprised at all if in a year or 2 Allen or Darnold gets a bigger contract than Watson. If Jackson gets a bigger contract than Mahomes it won’t be a surprise either. Dak at $35M in 2020 is a no brainer for both sides. They are good with that. Dak at $35m a year in 2024 is the issue. In 2024 a QB of Dak’s caliber will be in the $45-50M a year range. That’s how it works.

I’m not sure why people are trying to avoid this? Dallas DOESN'T have to sacrifice their elite players for Dak. They already signed them all but he and Vander Esch.

Didn’t realize that. Well I take back all of the good things that I said then. I thought he was a QB with a 40-24 record but I guess I’m wrong. They should just let him walk. You can find a lot of guys to drive a bus.

They already did though (plus Lawrence, Collins, Martin, Smith, Lamb, Diggs, Jaylon Smith, Gallup, McCoy, etc..). Whether they win or not is TBD but their ability to keep their best guys has been impressive.

No I think that you are spot on. A couple of bad drafts and you become too top-heavy. The irony is that the Cowboys have drafted really, really well over the last few years. They’ve actually acquired so much talent that they can probably make a few gaffes in the draft and still be fine. They were lucky this draft but I thought that they did an outstanding job. I expect them to have 6 of their draft picks playing regularly as rookies (Lamb, Diggs, Gallimore, Robinson, Biadasz and Anae). It’s possible that Biadasz, Lamb, and Diggs start while the 2 defensive linemen rotate in and Robinson plays in certain packages. On a team that already has a lot of talent it’s crazy to think that they could have such a good draft. They were definitely lucky in that they drafted 5 of those guys about as late as they could have possibly gone (or in Anae’s case about 3 rounds after).

You said “him” middling along not “them” middling along. Let’s not move the goalposts again...

If “middling along” is 4,902 yards, 30 TDs and 11 INTs sign me up!! If Allen has that year we will throw a parade.

It really doesn’t though as long as they continue to draft well. Their core is in place for multiple years. As an example they have 7 players on the “best 100 players” that Pete Prisco did this week (Zeke 17, Dak 46, Martin 50, Lawrence 58, Collins 77, Smith 80, and Cooper 81). All of those guys are signed through 2022 (assuming that they keep Dak). They have other guys as well like Jaylon Smith, Trevon Diggs and Ceedee Lamb signed through then as well. You can get in cap trouble when you spend on the wrong guys. Outside of maybe Cooper I don’t think that they’ve spent poorly at all. Their best players are the ones committed to and will be filled in around. The middle and back of the roster will be younger guys on rookie deals but so what? If we were to use the Bills as the comparison it would be like saying “we can’t afford the $6M cap hit for AJ Klein so we are going to play Vosean Joseph and his $690k cap hit there.” The drop off is minimal or doesn’t even exist. The decisions that Dallas has to make at this point are decisions like that. They don’t have to decide between Zack Martin and a rookie 4th rounder. Hope that makes sense

100% buy this and can see that. I tend to agree with this as well. Dak to me is a good QB. He probably is a top 10 QB right now. Top 10 QBs though aren’t a part of dynasties. He’d have to take a step from good QB to great QB. It goes to my other point though as to why no one questioned the Eagles being right below? Dak is well ahead of Wentz as of today. Additionally Dallas has better talent all over the offense. I suspect Dallas was targeted because we dislike Dallas and are indifferent on the Eagles. Objectively though, does anyone think that those 2 teams have the same future ahead?

To be fair he was under 100 yards from 5,000 this year. Also to be fair, he has averaged 10 wins a season. That’s not “occasionally.” You may not think that he’s worth the contract that he’s about to get. You are also WAY underrating the player. Dak is a top 10ish QB that is 26 and ascending.

Maybe, but buyer’s remorse on good players is a gamble we’d all take. They’ve certainly spent but they’ve spent on quality players. It’s basically what the Saints have done for 15 years. They keep their core and build around them. They’ve only won 1 but have been good for a long time. Personally I think Garrett was really bad. McCarthy is just okay IMO but still a big step up. In terms of the talent they had a really good offseason (although I didn’t love the Cooper contract). Additionally, they play in that garbage division.

Good call! Revis was always ahead on that.

What I’m saying is that they don’t have “tough decisions ahead.” They managed to make them all already and are in great shape. If the Bills are able to retain their core like Dallas did we should build a statue for Beane. They’ve done EXACTLY what we hope we will be able to do in 2 or 3 years. Vander Esch is the last “must sign” guy out there and he’s still there for 2 more years assuming they exercise his option. I know it’s fun to hate on the Cowboys but we really should be envious of the way that they navigated this. If they continue to draft as they have they will be good for a while. God willing the Bills will be able to retain: Josh, Diggs, Tre, Edmunds, Dawkins, Milano, Singletary, Oliver and whomever else develops into a young core piece. That’s basically what Dallas has been able to do over the last couple of years.

They are actually fine. Dak is pretty much their last core player that hasn’t signed their second contract. They have actually down a fantastic job of cap management.

Yep, he was the first NFL player to really do it. He took the 1-year deals. There was certainly some risk but it worked perfectly. NBA players started doing it about a decade ago and it was brilliant. They would take these shorter deals with a player option as protection. If things got sideways or the guy got hurt he could opt in. The NFL players take on significantly more risk in that the contracts aren’t guaranteed. These QBs are still willing to risk it to take shorter deals to get that extra bite at the apple. I’m betting that Mahomes does the same. In the old days though guys wanted that 6-year Sam Bradford contract. Now they’d rather sign multiple contracts in a 6-year span as the cap continues to increase.

The contract is what it is. They all are. The next QB always gets more than the previous. I have no issue with the number and Dak probably doesn’t either. It’s the years. You are going to see more and more QBs looking for 4 years. Mahomes will be having the same battle if the Chiefs want 5.

He wants a 4-year deal. I don’t blame him. If they can make year 5 a “player option” I bet he’d jump at it. With the way that the cap grows (although COVID may slow it) he will be a bargain in a few years. He wants one more crack at FA. Like in everything the NFL guys are starting to follow the NBA guy’s lead. Get shorter deals and be a FA multiple times.

FWIW, I ordered 3 more on Amazon today and they are supposed to come tomorrow.