Cowboys Break: Any Money Left?

episode number one hundred. Welcome to the latest edition of The Break Clive from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star, represented by Geico, and it is a good day in cowboy Land because the Cowboys get their deal done with Dak Prescott. We're gonna talk a lot about that deal and what stood stands out as far as the deal is concerned, what it means for the future of the Cowboys, and then also hopefully we'll see how it goes. If we have a little time, we'll get

into some free agency talk. Free agency starts next week. Next Wednesday, we'll be the first day of official free agency, and so we'll talk a little bit about some of the guys that are on the Cowboys current roster from last season that are going to be free agents, and whether these guys think the Cowboys should be resigning them or making a push to resign them. How's everybody doing today? Great,

freaking wonderful, Derek. You know, I'm awesome. I watched I watched the show that you guys did, the writers show the night that the deal was done, And honestly, like you would think that that was like days like brother, I don't know somebody that like the way that you were just so happy. It seemed like you were getting some money out of this dude, like you were just so he was excited and then he was like ready to talk and then make sense it to Rob. Rob

Let's turn with you. David's just like no, and day We're just sitting over there. He was like making faces and like, hey, I mean, guys a little bit long on that answer. If I remember too, I was like, come on, Rob, which is not Rob? You? Rob wrote the story. Yeah, and so I feel like I should Yeah. I didn't have a problem with I just I had that thought a few times over the last couple of days where I was like, you're not related to Dak,

He's not your friend. I mean, like we have a decent enough relationship, Like he ain't given me any of this, Like what am I so freaking happy about? I'm glad. It's just I think it's a combination of it's finally over. It was two years in the making, we don't have to debate about it anymore, and I think it, you know, obviously I think the world of dak So yeah, I'm pumped. Yeah, honestly I did. Like that night, it felt like a weight was lifted, Like I felt lighter, I felt less.

I don't know what it was. It was just kind of this cloud that kind of seemed like it was lifted. And that kind of tells you when you work around here, like the mood of whatever's happening in the building tends to affect me. Sometimes it happens with wins and losses, happens with this kind of stuff that's really big. So

it was it was a relief once it was done. Yeah, because it's one of those things that, if you know, maybe it doesn't affect us as far as the final financially or whatever, but like we don't have to talk about it as much. But from a cowboy fans perspective, if he wouldn't have signed. If they let him go, if he goes to someone else, it would have been bad. It would have been bad around here. It would have

been you know. Yeah, there's some people and some fans have been like, ah good, but not really, you know, it would have been a really tough situation. I think Cowboys knew that, and they avoided it, and they made sure that they got it done. Yeah, Nick, tell me real quick, what is tell me the terms of this deal laid out for everybody, Like, what is what is the term of the deal? I mean it averages it will average to be forty a year, you know, over

four year, one sixty. But the part that really is creative about it is that it's really technically a six year deal right now that we'll avoid down to four. But the say right now, because there's sixty six million dollars signing bonus that he'll signed today, I believe it right right that spreads out over six years, you know, and so they're hoping for TV contracts and a salary cap to go back up and all that to kind of help with that. But right now, you know it,

that's the average. I think this year's salary cap hit is twenty two point two million. So if you think about you know, it was thirty when he was thirty one point four last year, and he was going to be about thirty seven to thirty eight. You know that that I think is the most significant part. There's other terms of the deal. I can let Dave talk about that, but you know, just the fact of you know, he's

going to count twenty two point two million. That's rare to have a huge contract like that and a guy and his number actually goes down. But as we found out today, there's a reason probably why it went down. And they're not going to save a lot of money. They're protecting themselves because of the cap has been reduced.

I'm not trying to say that the Cowboys are the smartest front office in the league or that they always do everything right, but it all it clicks into place and you're like, oh man, they they kind of they knew what they were doing. I mean, if you take you can take it all the way back to last summer. They freed up all this cap space, they didn't use any of it, and that pissed people off and they were like, why why are we triggering all these deals?

Why are we do it? Like Tom going up for Earl and we're going for Earl's Like no, they're actually gonna sit on it. And everyone's like, I guess they don't want to get better. It's like, well okay, but they're gonna need it. And that's the situation that we're in right now. Um, and that's you know you are giddy. I love I love this stuff. I like, I mean, like we all do this for the games, but like roster building and making it like I love team building.

It seem you go work with Todd like that, just put you in that department if he would let me, I like Todd would hate that so much. Yea, like Todd looks like Todd's I like opinion of me is like a yappie dog. He's like, okay, please go away, like if I if I throw you a milk bone, where you shut up anyway. But yeah, So they carried over all this space. The cap comes out today it's about one hundred and eighty two million, which is an eighteen million dollars decrease from last year because of the

drop in revenue because of COVID. So they carry all that over. So they've got about two hundred and seven million, Like they can spend up to two hundred and seven million because of that carry over, and DA's reduced cap hit because of the you know, because you can spread it out, puts them like right right there, like they're

right underneath it. It's like, Oh, you guys knew that this was going to happen, and you knew that you could build it to fit into those parameters, which is really on their part two or seven on what they can spend, yes, more like give or take. And I want to stress to a lot of people have been asking about this since the cap came out, is like, this is all kinda yeah, it's all fluid, like you know, like and you can look it up on the internet if you want to, Like I'm looking at spowtrack right now.

Over the cap is really great, but they use different formulas, so the money's off a little bit. So Honestly, if somebody other than like the Cowboys front office people tell you the number, I wouldn't even believe him at this point. So we're gonna have to keep an eye on that. And I think you know, they're I think they're going to trigger a lot of deals here over the next week, like Zach Martin, DeMarcus Lawrence Zeke. I did not. I learned this today actually from the Dallas Morning News. Um,

it's built into those contracts. They don't even have to ask those guys for permission. They just they'll just email his agent and say, we're gonna flip that switch. We're going to convert your salary into assigning bonus and we can then pro rate that and so doing all of that can give you, you you know, they could free up up to like thirty million dollars. Kind in the world says, would you like your twelve million spread out over the

next right weeks? Yeah? We're now, yeah, you're like, oh, I'll think, Oh I was hoping you would hold onto that until October that you don't mind. And then one more thing real quick. I know I'm kind of rambling here, but um, but you know, obviously Dak's numbers start to balloon. You know, he's down at twenty two right now, It's gonna be thirty three next year. It's gonna get all the way up to forty seven in twenty twenty four, which is a huge number no matter how you slice it.

But what does that coincide with not just life hopefully probably getting back to normal, but a new round of TV deals that are going to start to get signed like now. And I mean, I think if you didn't already think that the salary cap was going to explode over the next two or three years, this is your indicator.

Because the Joneses are on the competition committee, like they're privy to these types of things, and they're I think they're probably thinking of themselves, Yeah, we're gonna have to you know, we're gonna DA's gonna cost forty seven million in three years, but the salary cap is gonna be three hundred and twenty million, Like who cares? So right now, forty million a year is second in the NFL, or ahead of Watson. I mean, there's there's any there's so

many different ways to slice it. Like his guarantees are the most in league history, but his average salary comes in I think behind Deshaun right now. So yeah, in two years, when you say all that, where do you think he'll be ninth? Yeah? And I want to say I saw something. I said his cap hit this year, he's like thirteenth or something. Like the way they structured this thing, it's not hitting their cap very much at

all this year, relatively speaking. But again, I think the point that Dave made is the really really key point is this deal was made I think looking at the TV contracts and understanding how that all is going to factor in. You listen to some of the reporting out there around TV contracts, they're saying some of these contracts made double, like that's that's the kind of money. And we're talking about big money. We're not talking about double

from ten to twenty bucks. We're talking about billions of dollars doubling, right, So whether that's true or not, who knows. But even if it's a fraction of that, even if it goes up fifty percent, that is a huge, huge increase. And all that reflects back to the amount that teams will have that they'll be expected to spend on their players. Amber, I want to get to you. Tell me what you think is the most interesting or the part of this

contract that stands out to you the most. Well, before I get to that, my reaction yesterday or a Monday when I found that, and I was happy. I wanted Dak to stay here, but I wasn't necessarily jumping up and down my seat like Dave right away. I could And what's the American saying, um, not to be a Debbi downer, not to be a Debbie downer, but so happy somebody else is doing this instead of me. And this is probably not a conversation for today or right now.

But at the same time, it's like, I can't help but think or hope. I'm like, man, I hope he doesn't suck this year. You know, It's like we see it happen with other contracts. We talked about it. DeMarcus Lawrence, is Zekiel Jellen Smith wasn't necessarily at that level as those other guys, but you know what I mean. So it's just like that, and that's essentially going to happen with everyone. You don't know what's going to happen in the future. But at the same time, it's like, man,

let's hope that he is guy. Let's hope that he is the guy that we did get to see earlier last season trending upwards in his game. So hopefully it's all for the better and at least we don't have to worry about trying to figure out exactly what's going to happen at the quarterback position. But what surprised me the most, and you guys already talked about it, was a structure of the contract and what's going to happen this year. And I said it all the time, like

I'm focused about the now today, not the future. So I'm looking at this year specifically and what's going to happen in free agency and what are some of the other weapons that the Cowboys are gonna be able to

afford during this time. So it was basically that way that they structure it, because it makes me think that they're going to have some more flexibility and room to offer other contracts to these guys that they do need to bring back, whether it's their own free agent guys or someone else from another team to bring here and help the team, because we do need we do know that the Cowboys need a lot of help in other areas.

You know, it's interesting here when you start talking about next in two years, the salary CAP's gonna go up. I wonder with free agency, are a lot of players gonna want a two year deal. We saw that with Lavante David. I think he did a two or three year deal in with Bucks. Yeah, but that's that's hard to do when you're and get paid, because you don't have a lot of room to spread it out. And they did a similar thing to the Cowboys. I think it was a two or three year deal and then

they had two or three avoidable years. At the end, we're gonna see something, yeah, which that doesn't really help the Cowboys because the Cowboys, if they want to be a player and sign anybody in free agency, they're gonna want a bigger deal that kind of spreads things out. And I think, though I'm I'm stealing this right off of my Twitter timeline, but I agree with it. I think this is this could be a really interesting year where there might be more ercenary signings than ever before.

Because the players they're not dumb, they know too. They're like, Okay, there's not a lot of money out there this year, but there will be. And I don't want to lock myself into something, you know. I want to be able to hit the market next year or in two years and so. And on top of that, like the I mean, the blood bath has already started in turn, like the teams just can't hold onto these veterans. They're getting cut left and right. And I think it's only going to

get worse over the next week. Yea, Emmanuel Sanders and John Brown got cut just within the last like hour, and so I think a lot of those guys are going to be willing to sign, which I don't want to give anybody false hope because I got to see the Cowboys do it to believe it. But if there's talented veterans out there willing to sign not short cheap deals just to get on a team and wait till

next year, like that could favor the Cowboys. But that seems like what the Cowboys like to do right this See if that's the what happens with a lot of these players, that seems like it's right up the Cowboys alley, Like they like those short term you know, give me, I'll give me a year type deal where you can prove it and then go back out in the market and try to make money. Well, but that's also because

but no, that's my point. I think that's because, as Dave was saying, most of the best players are want a long term deal. This year may be different where they look at the economics and they say, hey, we know teams don't have a ton of money. I'm willing to do a one year deal. And if you can do a one year deal or two year deal, that can get me in the door and I get good money. Like I don't think anybody's taking a pay cut necessarily,

but they want to get paid. But a one or two year deal that sounds like the kind of stuff to cowboys may be prone to doing if it's not a long term commitment, and especially if they can figure out a way to free up some money. Let's take our first break. When we come back, I do want to talk a little bit about what this means for the future, because you look at this roster, and as you say, at Amber, there are lots of areas where

the Cowboys need to make some moves. I want to know how much this deal that they did with Dak affects what they can do this year. Are there ways that they can maybe free up some money. We'll talk about that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Honey, Big News. Gary? Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm checking Flag. What see? I want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only for new customers. So to get a new customer deal,

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Presscott deal. Remember to day at one thirty, DAK will have his formal press conference where they will formally announce the signing and he and Jerry will take questions I assume from from the media. So next you stay tuned for that. We'll have that streaming on all of our platforms, website, mobile apps, social, I mean connected TV, of our social channels, so anywhere you are, we will be there as well,

and we'll have this available to you. What were you laughing about, because I've seen the setup and it's just gonna be funny. I know it's gonna look weird. It's just presented by Miller Light. Well, but he's not presented by Miller Light, and so I think it's gonna be It's interesting, But I mean, but the cowboys are it's presented by Miller Light, and it's Miller time as well as well. For sure Dac will get that. Maybe he'll have that other company's logo on his shirt or hat

or something. That's that's why I'm afraid of that won't happen. All right, Let's go ahead and jump into let's get back into the conversation of his deal. Obviously, there are there are lots of people out there on social media fans that are like upset with this deal because they feel like he got overpaid. I don't even want to have that discussion because I really think that the way that they're phrasing it is not really what they have

a problem with. I think really the issue here, and this is what I want to get your opinion on, is how much does the deal affect what the Cowboys are able to do with other things? Because I think ultimately, I don't think fans really care how much a player gets paid just in the dollar figure itself. What they care about is how much does it affect the team's ability to be able to do other things. So that's

the question for you, guys. How do you think this affects the Cowboys and their ability this year and in future years to be able to surround Dak with the right kind of talent. Let's suffer us with you, Dave. I just want to point out, and maybe this is my chance to be a downer, and I mean, it's awesome. It's a win for everybody that he is under contract it's certainly a win for the Cowboys, but I view this as an unmitigated win for Dak Prescott, Like he

got every single thing that he wanted. And I think that's I think it's worth noting because imagine if we had just gotten this out of the way two years ago, like we didn't have to do this, and like, yes, the Cowboys found a way to make it work. They were very smart about it, but they didn't like they didn't pull one over on Dak Prescott. He hit the

forty million dollar mark, which seemed unthinkable. He got a no trade clause, he got a no tag clause, and he'll be able to hit the open market again when he's thirty one years old, which if he keeps up this trajectory, he'll be still right in the prime of his career. Did you still did you really think it was still unthinkable once the Shaun Watson deale got done. No, But I'm just I'm thinking back over the whole half

of years ago. I have a vivid memory of us doing a show at camp when that report leaked, and we were like serious, like and here we are, And I just I think that's worth noting that Dak Prescott unquestionably one, and I think the lesson to be learned is probably just don't try to play hardball with a quarterback, honestly, like you're not gonna win unless you're willing to let

him leave, which is a risky proposition. But you know, honestly, I think the way this all played out, I honestly don't think there's a loser here because I think the Cowboys paid him what he wanted, but they paid him what he wanted under the context of what they needed it to be. And we just finished talking about how the TV deals factor into this, like when they have to pay him the money and how it's going to hit the cap. I still think it fits very nicely good.

I'll put it to you like this, two years from now, Dak Prescott will probably, I would guess, Dak Prescott will be somewhere in the range of six seventh eighth as far as quarterbacks and what their average salary is, which and I completely agree, And I don't want to paint it as if the Cowboys are losers. I just what did we really accomplish other than the price going up? Like he could already be there right now, like he could be way down where you know, where all these

other guys are. Now, if we had just gotten this out of the way, you know, you think about it though. You go back to two years ago. The Cowboys offered him several things. But I think what was being reported was there was about a five year deal I think worth thirty three million. I think that's where it was. I think it's somewhere. So let's just say that was the case after through five years. That takes us through the nineteen, the twenty season, twenty two, and twenty three.

At the end of twenty three, that would have paid one hundred and sixty five million dollars today, one sixty five At where we stand right now, at the end of twenty twenty three, he's gonna get one fifty three. And I've said this all along. You can't forget that two million that he left on the table. I mean, he left thirty one million on the table. So I don't think it's necessarily a win for either side. I

think the Cowboys, you know, they saved a little bit there. Now, let's don't forget the deal isn't over at twenty twenty three. He gets another forty million after that, so I think it kind of washes itself out a little bit. I mean, I don't think Dak necessarily just dominated this whole thing, because when they were offering him thirty three, he took two million so he could eventually get to forty. And

it kind of evens itself out almost. Yeah, once you figure out all the money he's gonna make on this contract, black a white way to look at. Yeah, I was gonna say, once you'd got all the money is going to be in this contract. Though, once he gets to the four years, I think he still comes out ahead, right, yes, and sorry if he if let's just say, okay, let's

go back to that five year thirty three. The next year wherever, if with the Cowboys or someone else, do you think he'll make twenty eight million per year more than that? Okay? So then no, the answer is no, that it doesn't, you know what I mean. And it's my math is terrible, but I'm just saying. I'm just saying he was at one sixty five if you would have done it that that way, he's at one fifty three he did it this way, you know, So there's twelve million fifty three for the whole deal. Yeah, one

fifty three. Yeah, I'm talking about it in twenty twenty three. Nine, he's got another forty, he's got another forty. Talk about can you do the whole deal? Though I'm not talking about just ended a twenty three the whole deal? Then give me Okay, that's one ninety three, that's three, and I'm sitting at one sixty five. That's what I'm saying. Give me that next year he's gonna make more than

twenty eight. I know I lost a lot of people myself. Definitely, I think I'm pretty decent in mathmic You did you lost me for suthing. But I think I think I'm getting out, which is saying yeah, I mean again, I agree. I actually agree. Though I agree that you know what was accomplished here, I don't know. I think I think Dad getting hurt gave him a lot more money. I really do. If Dad doesn't get hurt, this team is gonna finish seven and nine, eight and eight, nine and seven.

Maybe they make the playoffs, but they're not gonna see how much they missed him. They saw Holy, yes, whatever you want to say, holy that we need this guy. We can't do without him. We can't score touchdown without him, and even the guy we thought was going to help us come in here and eventually did, but he wasn't ready to play right then, and they weren't gonna let that happen. I think he made more money because he got hurt. That's an interesting thought. I mean, I get it,

and there's there's two ways. You know, there's two sides to the argument. But I saw a line from Bob Sturm, something he wrote recently, and I completely agree with it. It's like, if if you have a quarterback who falls in this age range of being in the prime of his career, and he meets a certain threshold, just cut the check. You gotta do it. Just cut the check because you're not going to beat him, like you're not going to outleverage him if he fits that criteria. And

not everybody's going to agree that he that. Not everybody loves Dak the way that I do. But like the numbers say that they are what they are and you can't beat him, and I don't know what you're supposed to do about it. I do think you also have to factor in though that market factors changed. When you go back and say, well, two years ago, he could have got this for cheaper. Well, yeah, but the problem back then, that was before the Shawn Watson deal, that

was before the Patrick Mahomes deal. You had Russell Wilson was averaging thirty five, where the Cowboys just gonna match him up with Russell Wilson based upon what they had seen at that time. Like there, it was hard to make that argument that you should do that, but they were. They were willing to give him thirty three, which would have been above those two guys that were drafted ahead of him, So I think they felt like that was

a fair deal. Sure, so once market factors changed, and then now you got Mahomes, you got Watson, they're making forty plus now, giving deal for a DAC of forty million average year deal seems like it's plausible. Like he's in there, he's in there. I think he and Watson are similar type quarterbacks, right, so I think it makes sense and you have to factor that in. I don't think it's fair just to say, well, they could have done this for cheaper, because the market market factors changed

quite a bit all those years. And I can't wait to see what this looks like when he comes up again. I mean it's gonna be insane. Oh yeah, once those TV deals kick in, Like those guys right now that are still sitting out there waiting for deals, Lamar Jackson. Uh, you know guys like that that are that next wave, their numbers are just gonna be sick. I think. I mean, like you're gonna it, qu Dak will quickly become you know,

push down that. I think he's gonna be in that sixty eight range as far as quarterbacks are concerned, because these guys are gonna get paid to answer your question a little more directly after that huge tangent that. I mean, that's why it's such a big deal that they got

this done, especially with the rollover. I think I read this morning Dak's cap percentage and that everybody freaks out about the cap percentage, like nobody who's ever won a Super Bowl counting for more than thirteen percent of the cap until Tom Brady did it. And then well he's Tom Brady. He can do whatever you want, like whatever, Okay,

it's never done until it's done. But he's only hitting them for like ten or eleven percent of the cap this year, and it would have been like twenty if not for getting the deal done and having the rollover from last year. So yeah, and again I fully expect him to free up of some money over the next week by restructuring some guys and who knows what they'll do with it, But I mean they should have and we know, you know, the compics are going to be

announced today by the way, so we will know. You know, they're gonna have ten or eleven draft picks, and they're gonna have enough money to add talent and free agency, like they should have plenty of opportunities to make this roster better. And those two offensive tackles should come back. And if they come that's the key. That's the key, that that helps Dak be better. Even when you said, even when you said Dak being hurt probably helped this deal along. To me, I personally think this last year

was so much more about those two tackles. I think Andy Dalton would have been a better quarterback but for the fact that he didn't have two tackles he could rely on. Yeah, and so I think that was huge. So it actually probably helped Dak those two were out too, because it made it look even worse without Dak, Like Dak could actually function without those two tackles. He wasn't maybe at his best, but he could at least function.

Those other guys could not function without. I'm not saying i've seen it but or they've been out there, but I think those all three of those guys you just mentioned have been out there working. Yeah, we're good. From what we hear in the building, things are going good, going well. Sorry and uh, Dave would correct me on that things are going well there, So that that's that's definitely.

Every year things are going well around this time, we go no, no, no, no no, because if if we're being real, okay, and I love these guys obviously, but if we're being real, it's like every year we go into training camp thinking that these guys are gonna be absolutely fair, they're gonna be healthy, they're ready to go, and then something pops up. So it's again, it's not

about being like the downer again or whatever. It's like remembering every time you get excited about these guys, wait a minute, just hold up, wait until we get into training camp and we start the season. Because it happens every year, and if it's not one guy, it's the other. It's always someone in the in the old line. So hopefully they can stay healthy and hopefully we can have it at least towards the last month of the Samberg going into the postseason. So but yeah, you have to

keep that in mind and don't get too excited. Prepare yourself and be ready for what can happen there you're learning. Yeah, and I think it's absolutely fair. Slap in the face too many times. Yeah, him with those tackles, I think it's absolutely fair, especially tiring at the age that he is and the number of years that he's had consecutively where he's had issues with his back, with his neck, Like, I think there are things that right now you like, Yeah,

you want him to be progressing well. But I'm a big believe if the Cowboys don't go into this season with a reliable, I mean a really really reliable swing tackle, they're doing themselves a disservice like that that you cannot rely on the fact that those guys will be available to you for an entire sixteen game season. And we saw last year just how imperative it is that you have yourself a really good swing tackle. When you can't rely that, you're rely on the fact that your starters

are going to be there good day. I agree with everything you just said, but I'm just I just want to call my shot. I've been saying this and thinking this for a long time, but I think I think they're gonna be fine. I would love it, I think, And I mean, you know, make make an adjustment for knocks and bumps that you pick up. But I bet they'll both play thirteen or more games and and and be awesome. I don't I just I don't know. I feel this sense of optimism about it, which is weird

coming for me. I just hope if they're playing, if they both played thirteen games, I hope that they're not playing the same thirteen games and then those other four or ones they're both out, Like that's either one of them from one month of the season, right. I think you want to have them and you want to be by the way you're playing football. It is a contact sport.

Guys are gonna get hurt. I get that. So if you're missing a couple of games a year and you're that caliber player, you just build that into the process and note that's going to happen, and be prepared for it and That's why I say you gotta make sure they got a good swing tackle, just to be prepared for I mean, Tyren Smith did not get hurt anymore. In that Cleveland game that he played, he was hurt, he needed surgery, he was gonna have it. He played anyway.

He played really well. Yeah, and the other side was a mess. But I mean he played well and then he went and had surgery and was out for the year. That's a surgery he's needed for about two years. He's gonna have some issues with his back. That's just that's a thing, and they're going to hope to manage it the best they can, but they're hoping with the neck

that surgery should really help. And you tell me you're going to give me Tyren Smith at the level that I've been accustomed to seeing Tyren Smith, and I get him thirteen games a year, sign me up. I'm taking that. I'm good with that, um. But the fact is, like, you better have a good swing tackle, because we saw this year when you don't have him, you better have a good replacement that can at least steady the ship

and not somebody. Maybe not the first round, but I hope it's a draft pick of somebody that that could be the future there. He also could play guard. You know what, if Tyran and Lyle play great and they're healthy and everything's great, well maybe this guy that you took in the second or third round can actually play guard for you until you need to. That's happened before. Flowzell Adams, who comes to mind, he played guard for a little bit before. He was a really good tackle,

you know. And there's other guys that have done that too. All right, let's go and take our final break. When we come back, we're gonna get into the free agency conversation just a bit. I do want to talk particularly about Andy Dalton, who is a guy that played I think decent for the Cowboys last year. Question is do

the Cowboys need him? Do they need to go that big with regards to their backup quarterback, especially now that they know Dak will be here and he will be under contract in a contract that favors the Cowboy this year. We'll talk about that when come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio since eighteen sixty five. Stetson Hats are American maid with pride right here in Texas and Stetson is proud to be on the field with America's team. Want to show your Texas and team pride too?

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and taste buds. It's new Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda. Let's take a listen, Doctor pepper and Cream Soda. Is he a new combone? Let's music to my ears? Okay, Doctor music to my ears and mouth. New Doctor Pepper and Cream Soda delis back to the break. The Star District is the perfect place for the whole family to enjoy. Help support local Frisco businesses by visiting us to dine, chop,

and explore the Dallas Cowboys themed campus. For information on all the Star has to offer, visit the Star District dot com. Final segment of The Break Life from the s WBC Mortgage Studios at the Star, We're presented by Geico. We're gonna talk a little free agency now let's we've talked about Dax deal and obviously the Cowboys were able to get it to a point where it's not killing

their cap this year. UM So, my question first starting off with you guys, is knowing what you know now about the cap, knowing where the Cowboys are right now, knowing the kinds of deals that are out there, as far as the players that they have on the team and some of the maneuvering that they can do, do you think the Cowboys have enough space right now to be able to be players in a free agency Nicholas, are you No? I don't think they're going to be

players in free agency. I think they just don't have it as much as other teams because you know, it's not just that. I mean when you think about go to every position and go do the Cowboys have a top five, top seven or eight player in the NFL at that position? Receiver yes, running back yes, guard, yes, Tackles. I don't know if it's top five, but I mean I think guard yeah, yeah, I mean guard yeah, guard for sure. Defensive end yes, inside linebacker I think so

with Jalen what I think he's getting paid for it? Yeah? Yeah, Okay, I thought you're meaning like play like they're playing. I'm not talking about the player, Okay, yeah, okay, yeah. I actually I took issue with the tackle thing too, because I was like, if he's healthy, Tian's definitely yea. They have contracts at all of these positions, tight end, it's up there. They're paying a lot of guys. So they're paying a lot of guys, and then you know they're

paying Dak now number three overall at quarterback. So I just don't know if they're going to be able to be players from what I've heard and the players that are like, oh, is he coming back for sure? And they're like, I don't know. And this was like number nine or eleven on the list of free agents. I'm like, well, dang, who is coming back then? So I just don't know.

I bet that conversation might be different now that Dak is under contract like that, I mean, when if they they would be so screwed if they had to carry him on the cap right now, Like that's part of what makes it to go back to that, Like that's part of what makes it exciting is they don't have to really mess with the roster now because they would have had to not like not just restructuring, but maybe even cutting some guys, and now they don't have to,

which is great. So one of the things that's interesting about this, and I'll pose this question to you, Amber, is if you know, when you start maneuvering with these guys contracts and basically giving them money now and spreading out the years, that means you're now spreading out the years, and that means that those guys have to stick around a little longer for it to be palatable for you

to part ways with them. Are there certain contracts right now that you would be like, absolutely, don't touch this contract. Do not maneuver with this contract. And you know, obviously the big ones that you throw out there are your your zekes, your tanks, your your Jalens. Those are the big contracts where you can make make up some difference and create some room, but you also are linkedining out. Is there a contract that you would be like, I'm just I don't feel like that's a good idea to

lengthen that contract. I don't know. I'll let them to answer that question, because you know, I don't know much about these contracts or whatever. When it comes to the future, and long term type of stuff. But what I'm curious about when speaking about free agency and what's going to happen here and these deals, it's I genuinely don't fully

know exactly how this coaching staff thinks. Like I know Jerry and Stephen Jones, I know they will McLay and all that we know kind of their mentality and what they usually tend to do. But it makes me wonder like right now, I really don't know what kind of voice this new coaching staff really has and how do they think and look and evaluate these players as far as like who do they think is good or who

do they think is bad? You know, It's like we, at least me, I don't really have a clear a view or idea of what that really looks like, which makes me really not know what could happen this free agency and if we might start seeing something different from the Cowboys as far as moves or maybe you know, not necessarily what we usually expect. So it's just more about player evaluation from this coaching staff, especially obviously on

the defensive side. With Dan Quinn, I don't know, I don't know this thing he can really develop all these guys or does he think like some of these are terrible and definitely need to get out of here and need to bring someone else in. So it's just it's very hard to really have a clear idea as of right now. But yeah, I'll let them answer. The whole contract aspect of things, Nick, you mentioned Zeke, is that your is that your number one guy? You're like, I

don't mess with this contract. I don't. I don't really want to do that. But more than I'm thinking about it is is that you know, it's it's just like football games where you just take one game out of time, and yes, yes you do look ahead of the future a little bit, but you're taking the season for the salary cap as it is, and so you just kind of push it a little bit. And that's what got the Cowboys in trouble in the nineties. They just kept pushing these deals and then to the point where they

weren't good enough. And you're sitting there like, Wow, this guy's not a very good player and he's counting a lot because you keep pushing the deal with Zeke, though I don't really want to do that. I think you know, he's not cutible right now or the next couple of years, but I don't want to keep pushing him. We're already starting to see a little bit of a a client here. We don't know just yet if it's if it's just because of the injuries in the line and all the

stuff around him, or is it just him. I mean, it's it's starting to get in that close. I wouldn't want to keep pushing it and adding years to this deal. Dave. Yeah, Zeke and Zeke and Jalen are the ones. Just they're they're long deals for guys that you're not convinced have it right now, and so if you mess with that, it messes with your ability to get out out of it quickly. So yeah, those are those are the two. But everybody else restructure away. Like, I'm not worried about

Tank or Tyring. Honestly, Tyrant's deal is so ridiculously team friendly at this point that even if you mess with it, it's not gonna screw you over. So same thing with Lyell M. I do wonder about Amari. I do like as it's structured right now, like they're done with his guarantees next year, and they could release him if they wanted to. But I don't. I don't know. That doesn't bother me a lot, so really, anybody but zeker Jalen is fine with me, and I did. I just wanted

to throw say as well, like I don't. They could have sixty million dollars in cap space and I would like whatever. They're not going to be players, that's not what they do. So I think this year I am trying to identify good players that might be able to be had at a bargain because that's who they that is who they've shown that they are willing to go after, and fortunately for them, I think there's a lot of guys that fit that description. All Right, we're gonna go

ahead and wrap the show. We do have the press conference coming up here at one thirty, so make sure you stay tuned for that. You can check all of our platforms. You'll be able to listen and watch that live. Dak Prescott signing his deal, we'll talk about that next week. We'll also get into more free agency talk that begins next Wednesday. That'll be the actual start a free agency actually next Monday, as win teams can start the unofficial

tampering period. I guess, for lack of a better way to put it where they can start actually talking to agents. But signings will actually start next Wednesday, so we'll be back next Winday. We'll talk a little bit about some of the free agency stuff happening with the Cowboys and happening around the league. Till then for Nick Eatn, Dave Hellman, Amber Garcia. I am Derek Eakleton. This has been The

Break live on Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.