The Cowboys just can't help themselves.
They bungle everything.
It’s comical, really.
The Cowboys had the entire offseason to work out a long-term deal with their franchise quarterback. They reportedly didn’t make a single offer from late March until a few hours before Wednesday’s deadline and then they scrambled in the closing minutes to try to work something out before running out of time.
The NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported just after the 4 p.m. EST deadline for tagged players to get long-term deals that the Cowboys’ last-minute offer — after months of inactivity — included $70 million over the first two years of the deal, with $50 million guaranteed. Slater reported that Dak “wanted to get the deal done but it was just too late.”
Oops.
Either you want the guy or you don’t.
NFL
Seems like the Cowboys had no idea what they wanted. Had no idea whether they wanted to commit long-term to Prescott or not.
Now the Cowboys are stuck in a position where Prescott is going to play on a $31 million one-year tag, which isn’t ideal for a couple reasons.
That $31 million counts entirely against this year’s salary cap, because one-year deals don’t pro-rate . When you sign a player to a long-term deal, you spread the signing bonus up to five years, and you control what years have the biggest cap hits.
Also, it means the Cowboys are going to have to revisit this again in a year. Prescott has all the leverage because the tag is expected to go up to about $38 million next year and after that the Cowboys can’t tag him anymore.
On one level, it means the Cowboys are in danger of losing Prescott in a year or being forced to pay him $69 million over the next two years without anything pro-rating and then losing him.
This isn’t the time to be thinking about finding a quarterback, not with the college football season being curtailed and in jeopardy of being cancelled. If Dak leaves in a year, the Cowboys will either have to scrounge up a free agent or draft a quarterback who may not have played a snap in almost two years.
But really the big picture is what really makes the Cowboys look bad here.
The most important thing for any football team is finding a young, elite franchise quarterback, and the next-most important thing is keeping him.
Because they’re really hard to find.
You would think a team that’s used Brandon Weeden, Anthony Wright, Chad Hutchinson, Kellen Moore, Stephen McGee, Vinny Testaverde, Quincy Carter and Ryan freaking Leaf as starting QBs over the last 20 years might realize it’s kind of an pretty important position
Say what you want about Prescott, he’s 40-24 as the Cowboys’ QB with the 7th-highest passer rating in NFL history, and the Cowboys really can’t afford him.
Compare all this to the Eagles, who seamlessly got Carson Wentz signed to a long-term deal a year ago that’s fair to both sides with no hard feelings, no stress, no ill will on either side.
Kind of gives you a good idea why the Cowboys have won three playoff games since 1997.
All of this is good news for the Eagles, since their only real competition in the NFC East now faces a year of distraction and a year of unknown involving its quarterback.
And that’s the last thing any team needs.
The Cowboys mishandled one of the most critical decisions facing any football team.
Bad look for the Cowboys. Bad day for the Cowboys.
Good day for the Eagles.
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