The Dak Prescott Thread - Gets A New Deal

[Bronco Billy]

That sure is a lot of money to back up Trey Lance.

[TheTroll]

The Cowboys don't need to sign him today and it looks like Dak will need a great year to get his money from Dallas or another team.

Absolute nonsense.

Kirk Cousins just got 180 million from the Falcons at age 35 coming off a torn achilles. Frankly, about as bad of a year as you could have as a professional quarterback. The Falcons still gave him the contract he desired because they hold a belief that Kirk can still play like he did 2 years ago, and like he did for his healthy games in 2023.

You're acting like the league isn't rabid for competent QB play, and like Dak wouldn't be the best QB to hit FA since... I legitimately can't think of the last one, it's such a rarity that a Top 12-15 guy becomes available with true Free Agency. Perhaps Kirk the first time around when he escaped Washington at age 29, and negotiated a six year fully guaranteed contract?

Dak is going to get his regardless of how it goes this year. You can take that to the bank.

Maybe Drew Brees or Kurt Warner in FA comes to mind

[mild]

Maybe Drew Brees or Kurt Warner in FA comes to mind

Both names here have almost no bearing on the Prescott (or even Cousins) contracts as a parallel.

For both Brees and Warner, they changed teams largely because there was serious consideration as to their ability to continue playing at a high level in the NFL. Warner had busted and was playing in the AFL for the Iowa Barnstormers, Brees had the serious rotator cuff injury and signed for 6 years 60 million with the Saints.

In both cases, not even close to the track record and level of confidence you'd have for both Prescott and Cousins to continue performing at a high NFL level after seeing it for 8+ seasons and entering true FA as a 29/30yo.

[TheTroll]

Maybe Drew Brees or Kurt Warner in FA comes to mind

Both names here have almost no bearing on the Prescott (or even Cousins) contracts as a parallel.

For both Brees and Warner, they changed teams largely because there was serious consideration as to their ability to continue playing at a high level in the NFL. Warner had busted and was playing in the AFL for the Iowa Barnstormers, Brees had the serious rotator cuff injury and signed for 6 years 60 million with the Saints.

In both cases, not even close to the track record and level of confidence you'd have for both Prescott and Cousins to continue performing at a high NFL level after seeing it for 8+ seasons and entering true FA as a 29/30yo.

Warner to AZ… Brees to NO. these were two high profile QB FA signings. Thats all. Just reread this… not even close to the track record of Dak and Cousins? You are right there. HOFers vs continual disappointing QBs when it is playoff time. Definitely not the same hemisphere.

[FantasyFreak]

That sure is a lot of money to back up Trey Lance.

This is my favourite comment of the entire off-season, thus far. The timing and nuance of this comment (pre Dak MVP talk there was actually people thinking it was a consideration)

This is just great dry humor.


Very witty, BB.

[Ice]

The Cowboys don't need to sign him today and it looks like Dak will need a great year to get his money from Dallas or another team.

Absolute nonsense.

Kirk Cousins just got 180 million from the Falcons at age 35 coming off a torn achilles. Frankly, about as bad of a year as you could have as a professional quarterback. The Falcons still gave him the contract he desired because they hold a belief that Kirk can still play like he did 2 years ago, and like he did for his healthy games in 2023.

You're acting like the league isn't rabid for competent QB play, and like Dak wouldn't be the best QB to hit FA since... I legitimately can't think of the last one, it's such a rarity that a Top 12-15 guy becomes available with true Free Agency. Perhaps Kirk the first time around when he escaped Washington at age 29, and negotiated a six year fully guaranteed contract?

Dak is going to get his regardless of how it goes this year. You can take that to the bank.

Pretty sure Cousins was playing at top 3 level prior to injury.

Even so, his contract average is 45 million with 90 million guaranteed which slots him in around 9th in the league.

Dallas would sign Dak instantly at that price but it is not what Dak is looking for in a contract.

You seem to think Dallas won't be able to sign him if they want to after the season. People were thinking the same thing about Lamar.

Who believes Dak is worth a long term contract higher than 52.5 million per year like Herbert or Lamar as an example of the last two top of the market contracts?

The only reality is Dallas seems to be hitting the pause button until after the season before they commit those types of dollars. Maybe another team will but in reality the other teams will want to offer a deal more like Cousins mid tier contract.

The lack of patience you are demonstrating is pretty funny. This situation isn't really different than KC had with Chris Jones. KC paid top of the market to keep him because he proved worth it. Dak may play a different position but FA or not, if Dak plays at the level that warrants top of the market he will get paid like it from Dallas.

Of course they may want to reset the position price like Shoreline Steamers indicated.

Both parties seem fine at this point with this thinking..

[mild]

Pretty sure Cousins was playing at top 3 level prior to injury.

Even so, his contract average is 45 million with 90 million guaranteed which slots him in around 9th in the league.

Dallas would sign Dak instantly at that price but it is not what Dak is looking for in a contract.

You seem to think Dallas won't be able to sign him if they want to after the season. People were thinking the same thing about Lamar.

...

The lack of patience you are demonstrating is pretty funny.

Dak is fine just talking because he knows what we know - that every day that goes without a deal, his leverage gets stronger.

Of course Dallas -could- sign him at any point. They haven't. What does that tell you? There is a disagreement on value.

You can cite Lamar and Chris Jones as your examples, but you know full well why they're not comparable: the team still had control, in both cases, with the leverage of the franchise tag. Dallas doesn't have that. They have a hard deadline approaching where they will have to actually bid against the rest of the league, and collectively decide what Dak is worth.

That's why it's hilarious to me that they haven't shown urgency. They've already been stitched up for making win-now moves in FA this cycle, for what looks very much like a roster that had designs on winning. Now they're playing chicken with a Franchise reset at QB?

As you say, it all points to an eventual divorce of the Cowboys and this Dak/McCarthy era if they don't come to an agreement. By hitting pause now, they are strengthening Dak's bargaining position by the day. All QB's dream of a bidding war in true free agency for their services; not many of them get to actually live that dream.

Sure, they -could- resign him in FA this time next year. But explain to me how the price then will be any better than the price now? It won't; it'll be higher because it will be a true market price. We should never underestimate the buying power of a desperate team (see: Cleveland, Watson) - and if there's one thing decades of NFL fandom has taught me... it's that there is ALWAYS a desperate team.

For fans of other teams like myself, who happen to find Jerry and "America's Team" quite repugnant, it's all great great stuff. #lackofpatience #americasteam

[Ice]

Good teams against the cap are patient and for good reason. Surprised you can't see that.

Dak's bargaining power only increases to top tier level if he plays great. Acting like that isn't true is funny and you should know better. Dak today believes he should be paid at the top of market like last contract. Cousins was your bad example because he wasn't paid like the best of the best.

Dak is very good no doubt but the difference between good and great has never been more evident in the NFL.

Good teams make tough decisions due to cap allocation. Back to KC, the best team, as mentioned they paid C. Jones a well deserved fortune but then had to trade their stud Franchised DB who helped them secure a title in a big way.

Dallas may end up paying top dollar for Dak but as a hater what you are really saying is you want them to pay him today like the Giants did with their bust QB after a decent year.

Teams like the Giants and Broncos made bad decisions rushing to pay a QB. Dallas is simply taking a wait and see approach today for a QB currently under contract with everything to play for if he wants to set the future QB market.

Pretty sure Jerry is fine waiting. He is worth over 12.5 billion so if Dak does bring him a title this year he will gladly pay the toast of the town more than any QB ever.

If Dak falters like your golden boy with the Giants he will be glad he didn't lock in the Cowboys financially until 2030.

BTW Mild. You are wrong about C Jones. He was an UFA the Chiefs paid top dollar to sign. His guaranteed money was also higher than the Cousins contract.

[TheTroll]

I love this debate…keep it going until the new episodes of Yellowstone are released!

Jerry J isn’t stupid. Just eccentric. Something that a bears fan that I am cannot appreciate. He definitely has a plan here but if they don’t resign Dak, what could it be (other than Trey Lance)?

[Ice]

I love this debate…keep it going until the new episodes of Yellowstone are released!

Jerry J isn’t stupid. Just eccentric. Something that a bears fan that I am cannot appreciate. He definitely has a plan here but if they don’t resign Dak, what could it be (other than Trey Lance)?

Could be or they draft a QB like Penix or get lucky and find a Purdy type who costs less than a million per year. Dak was 4th round pick, Romo before was not drafted. Unlike the Bears, Dallas has been pretty fortunate in finding QB talent. Obviously, Dallas is thinking about the future at the position.

[Bronco Billy]

More power to Dak if he can fool some owner/GM into thinking he is worth elite money. He’s definitely not elite talent. He requires elite talent around him to succeed.

Guys like Mahomes and Rodgers make everyone around them better because they are just great and they don’t require elite receiving options to perform at superior levels. That’s a luxury for their teams because they don’t have to burn additional large amounts of cap space for high level receivers to support them and the money can be spent elsewhere.

Whomever ends up paying huge dollars for Dak is going to have to ante up substantial cap space for receivers to support his level of talent and that affects the remainder of the team.

Now you look at Cousins’ history and he has shown he can perform without being surrounded by superior receiving talent. He’s just not quite good enough to be elite like a Mahomes or Rodgers, but he’s closer to that level than Dak is. It will be really interesting to watch him in ATL where all the rest of the pieces on O are in place other than him.

Now not being elite is not a huge knock. There are only a very limited number of those guys around. I thought Herbert might be one but he has not shown that level of play in the past couple of years, which makes you think he also requires a high level of talent surrounding him. Who else? Love maybe? He had a lot of young and learning receivers around him and still got so much better as the season wore on despite that. He could be one to watch. Stroud could be have the potential to be another one but like Love we’ll have to see how his career matures.

I’m guessing some team will ante up huge money for Dak, making the bad judgment that his talent is more highly evolved than it actually is or can be, and will end up in playoff purgatory when they find out that they have to pay up substantially to surround him with the talent he needs to overcome his flaws or if not to live with an unexpected mediocre offense while they keep writing him massive paychecks.

[mild]

Dak's bargaining power only increases to top tier level if he plays great. Acting like that isn't true is funny and you should know better. Dak today believes he should be paid at the top of market like last contract. Cousins was your bad example because he wasn't paid like the best of the best.

BTW Mild. You are wrong about C Jones. He was an UFA the Chiefs paid top dollar to sign. His guaranteed money was also higher than the Cousins contract.

Seems like we're not going to agree in principal on Dak being paid top flight crazy QB money by sheer virtue of him reaching true QB Free Agency next QB cycle. That's ok - we can park that one until it progresses, and then compare notes. I'm extremely confident that if he makes FA, it's going to result in a crazy contract... I'm legitimately wondering what TV show you've been watching if you can't see this one coming.

To your two nitpick arguments though - Chris Jones first. Here's Kansas City picking up his contract option in February, allowing them the right to use the Franchise Tag on him in negotiations if it came to it to keep him around for 2024.

As you well know, once they had the deal in principle, they used the tag on L'Jarius Sneed instead, signalling that they'd made enough progress with Jones that he was the one they were going to keep. Irregardless, the tag hung over their negotiations this offseason in a way that will be irrelevant to Dak and this conversation at any point going forward: he has a No Tag, and a No Trade clause. It's just not going to be the same.

In 2018, at age 29 - Kirk Cousins reached true Free Agency for the first time after playing back-to-back seasons on the Franchise Tag for the then Washington *Redacteds*. He signed a record setting contract with the Vikings for 3 years, 88 million - fully guaranteed. Such was his leverage to dictate the terms. It might not sound like much now, in our post-media deal cap explosion, but it was a big deal at the time:

The guarantees surpass the previous record of $60.5 million in the deal Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford signed last year.

Here's Kirk Cousins making the "Highest Paying Contracts for 2018" list in 2018. He's number 3 on the list, after A-Rod and Matt Ryan.

Again, a team isn't going to overpay 31 year old Dak Prescott because they think he's going to win a Superbowl. They're going to overpay him because the league is starved for effective QB play. Another coach will simply look at Dak and say "I can win with that".

Best of luck for the season ahead.

[Ice]

Mild you just lack the capacity to admit you're wrong so simply spread untruths.

Tell all of us who KC Tagged? Here is a hint, it wasn't Jones.

Now tell us the day Jones signed a new contract. He was free to go or sign a new contract because he didn't have one the moment KC used their Tag on a different player.

Stop the drivel about some 2018 Cousins contract and try to keep up.

[mild]

Mild you just lack the capacity to admit you're wrong so simply spread untruths.

Tell all of us who KC Tagged? Here is a hint, it wasn't Jones.

Now tell us the day Jones signed a new contract. He was free to go or sign a new contract because he didn't have one the moment KC used their Tag on a different player.

Stop the drivel about some 2018 Cousins contract and try to keep up.

Nuance and subtlety, lost on a Cowboys fan? How depressingly predictable.

Tell me more about why Cousins and the first time he tested QB Free Agency at age 29 is dissimilar to Dak having the potential to test FA at age 31 in a year's time. Tell me about that contract that Cousins got from Minnesota in 2018, and it's relation to the rest of the league contract landscape at the time - and about, by being able to truly dictate his terms, he got the first fully guaranteed QB contract in NFL history as well as becoming one of the Top 5 highest earning QB's? Quite literally: a there-to-for unprecedented contract simply because he had leverage.

Tell me more about how the threat of using the Franchise Tag on someone affects the negotiation process, and how it won't affect Dak's negotiation at any point from now until Free Agency next year, because he has a No Tag and No Trade clause? How is this point lost on you?

"You can lead a horse to water... but you cannot make it drink."

[Anteaters]

Tell me about that contract that Cousins got from Minnesota in 2018, and it's relation to the rest of the league contract landscape at the time - and about, by being able to truly dictate his terms, he got the first fully guaranteed QB contract in NFL history as well as becoming one of the Top 5 highest earning QB's? Quite literally: a there-to-for unprecedented contract simply because he had leverage.

Completely untrue!!! It's been said repeatedly that no NFL team would ever give a QB a fully guaranteed contract.

jk, mild. I agree that Dak will likely become the highest paid QB with his next contract. Dak has all the leverage and when a good QB is completely unrestricted, he'll get the Brinks truck.

Cousins is the contract goat.
Dak will be the new contract goat.