Pretty evident a lot of you have no idea how the NFL salary cap works. Dak and Zeke make up 19% of the cap, not 30%. That's not outrageous.

This contract isn't going to last until year 4. This is a show me deal for both Dak and the Cowboys. It's why it's a 4 year deal with a pretty easy out after 3. That's nothing.

I think its asinine to compare Dak and Zeke's salary relative to the salary cap. That's like saying we pay you so much because we can. Their salaries should be compared to their peers in the same positions or relative to their value above replacement. In that regard Dak, Zeke, and Cooper are grossly overpaid. I get that there are other factors such as age, health, team fit, etc, but..

QB's better than Dak: Watson, Rodgers, Brady, Allen, Jackson, Mahomes, Wilson, Tannehill, Herbert, Murray
RB's better than Zeke: McCaffrey, Cook, Henry, Kamara, Chubb, Barkley, Taylor, and maybe Jacobs, Sanders, Mixon
WR's better than Cooper: Hill, Adams, Metcalf, Ridley, Hopkins, Diggs, AJ Brown, Jefferson, Robinson, Julio, Evans, Thomas, Allen, McLaurin

Dak is definitely not Top 2. Zeke is definitely not Top 3, and Cooper is definitely not Top 4.

I get that it is about WHEN guys come up due for contracts, but that by no means has to mean that the next contract sets the market or exceeds a previous mark. That is the biggest problem with this whole thing. People and players have just been conditioned to think that way. It's stupid.

and yes a healthy Murray is better than the current risk of a not so healthy Dak.

I think the game is taking 2021-22 projected Dak versus 2021-22 all others.

Highly likely that the young QBs that have been improving will continue to improve.

Macarthur said:

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Some people have absolutely lost their freaking mind...

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Agreed. You and I usually see eye to eye so it's not surprising. We are surrounded by morons!

Enviroag02 said:

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I think its asinine to compare Dak and Zeke's salary relative to the salary cap. That's like saying we pay you so much because we can. Their salaries should be compared to their peers in the same positions or relative to their value above replacement. In that regard Dak, Zeke, and Cooper are grossly overpaid. I get that there are other factors such as age, health, team fit, etc, but..

QB's better than Dak: Watson, Rodgers, Brady, Allen, Jackson, Mahomes, Wilson, Tannehill, Herbert, Murray
RB's better than Zeke: McCaffrey, Cook, Henry, Kamara, Chubb, Barkley, Taylor, and maybe Jacobs, Sanders, Mixon
WR's better than Cooper: Hill, Adams, Metcalf, Ridley, Hopkins, Diggs, AJ Brown, Jefferson, Robinson, Julio, Evans, Thomas, Allen, McLaurin

Dak is definitely not Top 2. Zeke is definitely not Top 3, and Cooper is definitely not Top 4.

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It's already been said, but I feel the need to pile on. The RB list I can buy, WR & QB rankings are laughably bad.

Macarthur said:

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Some people have absolutely lost their freaking mind...

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I hate to say it.....but there is a real racial component to this entire contract saga.....and FTR I'm not accusing anyone on this thread of this.

Unfortunately there are a lot of people that don't want a black guy to be the quarterback of America's Team.

The lengths that some Cowboy "fans" have gone to discredit Dak are ridiculous. The guy is not a perfect player, but he is really good, and has proven that repeatedly.
I think when his career is over he will make Cowboys fans forget about Tony Romo.

Yeah, this year Allen passed Dak.

But geez, Tannehill? You crazy?

The total $$$ isn't surprising to me. Of course the Cowboys would pay Dak. The alternative is irrelevance until you find the next QB, which can take a looong time.

The amount guaranteed does surprise me, especially given the injury.

Southlake said:

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Yeah, this year Allen passed Dak.

But geez, Tannehill? You crazy?

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Allen took a good step forward but there was a time when many thought Wentz past Dak. I want to see Allen put another year together before I agree with this.

I'm in the camp of Allen > Dak. I watched nearly every Buffalo game this year, not sure I've seen a QB improve in 1 year more than Allen did from 2019 to 2020. Allen to me is the only QB in the league with the arm talent to go head to head with Mahomes.

How I'd rank current QBs
Mahomes
Rodgers
Allen
Brady
Watson
Dak
Jackson

1 thing I do love about the Cowboys future is the future of the QB position in the NFC. Wilson (32), Rodgers (37), Brady (43). Wilson dropped off heavily in the 2nd half last season and may not even be in the nfc within the next year or so. Rodgers will likely be in the league still by end of Dak's contract and who the hell knows with Brady. TL will be in the AFC. So unless Watson gets traded to an NFC, Dak is likely to be one of, if not the best QB in the NFC for the next decade.

I'm not saying Allen doesn't have a bright future but he's had one bad year. One very mediocre year and one really good year. I just think it's premature to say he's top 5 yet.

Don't disagree with your thoughts. More eye ball test with me. May be a bit biased too since he literally carried my fantasy team to the championship.

If Dak wanted to win Super Bowls instead of just get paid, he would have done what TB12 has been doing for a decade.

Cowboys aren't gonna win sheet with Dak.

It's Jerry's money and he's probably only got 4-6 years left. Let dak sink in.

Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace said:

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If Dak wanted to win Super Bowls instead of just get paid, he would have done what TB12 has been doing for a decade.

Cowboys aren't gonna win sheet with Dak.

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Look at the cap hit for this year, it's not prohibitive.. That's the key.

dave94 said:

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Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace said:

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If Dak wanted to win Super Bowls instead of just get paid, he would have done what TB12 has been doing for a decade.

Cowboys aren't gonna win sheet with Dak.

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Look at the cap hit for this year, it's not prohibitive.. That's the key.

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The CAP number just came out to 182.5. The cowboys will be able to carry over $27 from last year. The cowboys will have PLENTY of cap room to sign several players.

Macarthur said:

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Southlake said:

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Yeah, this year Allen passed Dak.

But geez, Tannehill? You crazy?

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Allen took a good step forward but there was a time when many thought Wentz past Dak. I want to see Allen put another year together before I agree with this.

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Allen was a legitimate MVP candidate this year(he had more votes that Mahomes). He just lead his team to the conference championship, sure he could regress, but I highly doubt it. Dak has more of a chance to regress due to the injury.

redag06 said:

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Macarthur said:

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Southlake said:

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Yeah, this year Allen passed Dak.

But geez, Tannehill? You crazy?

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Allen took a good step forward but there was a time when many thought Wentz past Dak. I want to see Allen put another year together before I agree with this.

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Allen was a legitimate MVP candidate this year(he had more votes that Mahomes). He just lead his team to the conference championship, sure he could regress, but I highly doubt it. Dak has more of a chance to regress due to the injury.

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I don't think he will regress either but no one thought Wentz would either. I'm just saying let's see him do it another year before anointing him.

Macarthur said:

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dave94 said:

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Bobby Petrino`s Neckbrace said:

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If Dak wanted to win Super Bowls instead of just get paid, he would have done what TB12 has been doing for a decade.

Cowboys aren't gonna win sheet with Dak.

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Look at the cap hit for this year, it's not prohibitive.. That's the key.

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The CAP number just came out to 182.5. The cowboys will be able to carry over $27 from last year. The cowboys will have PLENTY of cap room to sign several players.

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And the talking heads are saying that due to the cap not going up as much, there will be a much higher number of top FAs sitting out there this year. There will be more high level cuts than normal. This will be a good year to have cap space and shop in FA

Macarthur said:

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redag06 said:

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Macarthur said:

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Southlake said:

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Yeah, this year Allen passed Dak.

But geez, Tannehill? You crazy?

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Allen took a good step forward but there was a time when many thought Wentz past Dak. I want to see Allen put another year together before I agree with this.

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Allen was a legitimate MVP candidate this year(he had more votes that Mahomes). He just lead his team to the conference championship, sure he could regress, but I highly doubt it. Dak has more of a chance to regress due to the injury.

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I don't think he will regress either but no one thought Wentz would either. I'm just saying let's see him do it another year before anointing him.

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Let's not forget either that there are whispers that Lamar may have been figured out by some DCs. The NFL is a year to year league.

The playoff experience for Allen was invaluable. They say you have to go there to compete there. He's played at the level; Dak hasn't. And, it's not guaranteed he will recover to 100%.

Here's a question/exercise that I've used to help make sense of the deal:

If we think this contact was too rich, how else should we have used the cap space to make our team better?


First of all, so many people say Mahomes is worth that, Wilson is worth that, but Dak isn't. OK fair enough, but Dallas does not have the ability to negotiate with any of those players. Of the players that Dallas has access to, tell me which free agent or current players would you have rather put that money towards?

Would you rather not pay Dak so we have money to bring back Chido. Jordan Lewis or X Woods? How about saving that money so we can extend LVE next year? What about using that money to re-sign Dalton and using the rest on free agent defenders?

Winning the NFC East is always step 1 for every season. What option gives us the best chance at winning the NFC East over the next 3 years?




For me the answer is obviously Dak and it's not even close. We can argue all we want about how we need to do a better job of talent acquisition... but as it stands right now, there isn't a player on this team that is better than Dak. I'm not saving that cap space for any other current player or a free agent that for one reason or another some other team let walk.

Southlake said:

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The playoff experience for Allen was invaluable. They say you have to go there to compete there. He's played at the level; Dak hasn't. And, it's not guaranteed he will recover to 100%.

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Okay, so I don't want this to become us arguing over Allen because I think he's got a bright future, but you're using him to diminish Dak.

Allen has played 4 playoff games and Dak has played 3. Dak's playoff numbers are better than Allen. If you want to bring up the ankle, I guess we'll just have to wait and see, but you can't use playoffs as some barometer to show Allen has somehow passed Dak.



https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/A/AlleJo02.htm#passing_playoffs

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/P/PresDa01.htm#passing_playoffs