I just feel bad for Dak. Dalton isn’t too far removed from being an MVP candidate, and the few times he had a decent offense around him he was amazing. I’m more worried about their complete lack of a secondary than I am about their QB situation. Again, feel absolutely horrible for Dak, but I don’t anticipate it affecting the on-field play much. Dak will likely still get a massive contract, though I doubt it will be near what was being offered. Sadly, that’s the risk you take. By all accounts he is beloved not just by his locker room, but by everyone in the league. I think even if he has to miss next year, he’ll still get a nice contract starting this off-season as a goodwill gesture.
The only thing I disagree with is the contract situation. It was likely that they were going to franchise tag him again next year, and now I'm guessing that'll be all but certain. Give him a one year guarantee to see if he can come back and be as good as he was projecting to be this year (individually he was on track to throw for something like 6500 yards) and then work on getting him the big contract going into 2022.
im thinking the jerry jones loyalty comes into play there though. Unless he isn’t completely ready for next season, in which case both the cowboys and Dak would be better off with the franchise tag to get him a ton of money for that gap year, give Dalton like a 2 year extension with some serious cash so he can be the starter for a year in his hometown and the backup-maybe-starter if Dak comes back healthy.
I think Jerry struggled with investing in a black (or biracial, not sure) face of the franchise, that wasn't a high draft pick. The numbers he put up didn't matter as much as Jerry didn't invest a ton of money or a high draft pick in him, so his value was lower from the start. I am willing to bet they will draft a qb in the spring now, regardless of Dak's recovery.
If he gets tagged again, he's going to make 120% of what he did this season. That is going to be $37,690,800. There's an expectation that the cap is going to go into the shitter due to revenues being down, so much so that the league and the NFLPA negotiated an agreement to a floor of $175 million. It is currently $198 million now. If the cap does hit that floor, the Cowboys are stuck between allocating a fully guaranteed 21% of their cap, or resigning him to a monster extension. I wouldn't be comfortable doing either of those things with a guy who is going to have more metal in his ankle than the Terminator. If they let him go, then they'll accept that they won't be competitive and they get to be in salary cap hell for the next few years. Glad I don't have to make that decision. Sucks for Dak though. Edit: Also, fan of a team that isn't 5-0? COULDN'T BE ME!
I'd be surprised if they tagged him again - the Cowboys have about $21m in cap space next year, and the cap is expected to go down so they'll have even less. I doubt they can afford to eat a $37m one-year contract. The franchise tag is shit and needs to die. Period. Sign your free agents, or let them hit the open market. In a sport where careers can and do end on a single play, it's insane that the NFLPA doesn't have the balls to fight a team's ability to force a player into a single year contract whenever they want. I don't agree that this is, "the risk you take." Dak has a value as a quarterback; the Cowboys basically are saying, "lol no, you'll sign for what we want and you'll like it." Don't get me wrong, I think top athletes are insanely overpaid. But if we as a society have collectively agreed to this, it's fucking stupid that the teams can strong-arm their stars into risking their health on short-term contracts.
I meant that in reference to him negotiating over the 5th year or not. By all accounts they were going to pay him what he wanted, or at least close to it, just they wanted him for 5 years and he wanted 4. He could have taken the long term contract with one extra year he didn't like, but for him it was worth it to bet on himself and play a year under the franchise tag in hopes that his play would give him enough leverage to have a shorter contract after that. The risk he took, is that he gave up long term security for short term gains. I do not believe the franchise tag should be a thing. I also think the cowboys should have just agreed to the 4 year deal Dak wanted. But the reality is what it is, and he took a risk by not agreeing to the bird in hand long term deal. Unfortunately that bet came up snake eyes. I have no doubt that he'll get paid handsomely in the future.
I don't put total stock in leaked media reports about contract negotiations. The only reason contract negotiations leak is because someone wants to cast doubt on the other side. Maybe he was offered the exact same contract in a 5 year length instead of 4. Or maybe that 5 year contract was structured in a team-friendly way. Sure, I guess I just think the context is important. When we're saying, "he took a risk," it really means he refused to be strong-armed into a below-market contract. That bit him in the ass, for sure - I wasn't disagreeing, only clarifying where a lot of the blame should lie. Yes, that's why I commented about the NFLPA. The problem is that the NFL has the weakest union in pro sports, and the players are basically unwilling to endure a lockout.
The Jets have released LeVeon Bell. Because clearly, the under/miss-utilized star running back is the issue.
What in the complete fucking meltdown happened to the Packers on Sunday? Where did the team that played the first 1/4 beautifully go? Does the O-line suck that much without Bakhtiari? I mean, yes I know the TB defense is good but they....just wow. And as for Tom, god damn you. Were you holding this in waiting for that specific game? Not to mention the pick 6, another interception and multiple touches, hits and sacks to Rodgers. That was a true ass whipping.
The Dolphins have declared Tua as the starter for the upcoming game. Against Aaron Fucking Donald. What could go wrong? As a Dolphins fan I hate this move with the fire of a thousand suns. They should let him sit on the bench this year healing up and learning from Fitzpatrick.
That was one of the games of the year last night, or THE game of the regular season. I haven't seen a shootout like that in a long long time. Sharp contrast to Sunday nights game which I had to watch on like Telemundo sports network, or some shit, since my provider is in a money war with NBC sports. If anyone has any tips on how to circumvent please share.
And another great game last night. Who knew it'd come down to 2 young QB's that played for the Oregon Ducks. They even had a bit of a shoot out at the end of regulation. And we get Saturday games. Gotta love it.
The most 2020 thing you can say is the Pats aren't in the playoffs and the Browns are. Also, the refs for the KC/NO game should have been paid overtime. Every other play? Really?
And the Browns made the playoffs. This gif sums it up pretty well if you ask me: https://i.imgur.com/NS60X5E.gifv