Cowboys Break: What's the Holdup?

the Virgil s WBC Mortgage Studios in our homes. I got my normal crew here, NICKI, minniebl Garcia, Dave Hellman, and we got a special us today one Todd Archer, ESPN staff rider who's covered to Cowboys since two thousand and three, long time friend of the program. And Todd, we appreciate you joining us today. How's everything going. Thanks for finally having me on. I really really feel special. Finally. I've asked Nick time and time again he's always shot

me down to talk about that. I mean, is that like a go to line? That's what Darren Whitson said last week. A Well, everybody's blaming Yeah, everybody's blaming Nick. And of course with those of you that don't know, Todd is also the father of Dave Hellman, so he joined dad. You know Dad, Yeah, there's always disappointment in life.

Very fair, let's joke right in, Todd Um. I just want to start by getting your general thoughts on where the Cowboys stand now after most of the free agency has been done at this point, and after what most people consider to be a pretty good draft. What do you think they stand as a team from from a personnel standpoint? Now you go back to win fran agency started, and it happens every year when the Cowboys don't do anything and it's the sky's falling. They're losing everybody Byron

Jones has gone, Quinn has gone. All these guys are leaving, and bell of a sudden, you look up at the end of them and you're like, huh, this wasn't bad. And they were pretty good financially with these deals GERYLD McCoy, don Terry poh, Clinton Dix, the corners that they brought in, the guys that they kept, Amari Cooper, and obviously dak on the franchise tag. So then you add in the draft. So I look at the Cowboys and I say there's still a team or the team to beat in the

NFC East. I'll let Philly hold the team to beat because they won it last year. But I don't think there's any surprise that people would say it's the Eagles and the Cowboys and the other two teams in the division. And if you're getting the tournament as Parcels like to say, it's anybody's game. And you add a new coach with Mike McCarthy, a guy who had skins in the wall, this has been one of the better Cowboys offseasons in

my view. It's interesting you mentioned Dak Prescott, and one of the reasons we wanted to have you on is because I know you've been locked in on that whole thing going on. Tell us right now, what's the current status as you know it with regards to the contract negotiations between the Cowboys and Decks people. The current status is that Dak is closer to an extension that Hellman is ever going to be to sign an extension with y'all.

It's far greater money, but that's true, but there's really not a hike of a lot going on right now. And the longer that it's and that kind of surprises me. I thought after the draft they would have gotten after this just because look where we are right now. We're all at home, we're not at an Ota, and there's nothing going on on the field. I thought that they might have been a little more proactive and trying to

get this thing done before the July fifteenth deadline. But I think right now, if you had to ask me, this is getting down to what it was with Dez Bryant in twenty fifteen. It's going to come down to that three o'clock to deadline on je fifteenth. Ultimately, I think he signs a contract. But there's really not been a lot of back and forth between these guys honestly since the end of March, and people will shake their head and say, well, why are the Cowboys doing it

this way? Well, there's two sides on this thing too that people don't seem to want to acknowledge as to why a deal hasn't done yet. Sod you wrote that article maybe last week, and what was one of the main reasons why you decided to do that. Did you maybe get new information or did we just tired of hearing some of the noise that was you know, kind

of the false narrative that was going on around this deal. Yeah, mainly the false narrative stuff and just everything that's been created, the drama around it, And I think some of it is a result of not having any sports on TV. There's no baseball, there's no basketball playoffs, there's no hockey playoffs. So you know, back in the Cowboys was always going

to generate headlines. But now it's just kind of become sublime of Dak's awful, DA's great dad, can't throw a pass, he's one of the most accurate guys in the game. The Cowboys waited too long to sign him, the Cowboys want him to take less, all these things. It just kind of got me to say, all right, enough, already, what's out there that we know of that's true, and what we know that's out there that's not true, And that's where the genesis of the idea came from, to

kind of put everything into perspective. I do have a question for you, Todd. It has nothing to do with Dak. I know that you have a good relationship with Jason Wooten. Obviously, after we heard that he wasn't coming back to the Cowboys, we haven't necessarily gotten a chance to talk to him or hear much from him his side of the story

of kind of how things went down. I wanted to know if you have had any conversations with him and kind of get his side of things and how everything went with Mike macarthy coming in, and how those conversations went between both parties. I've talked to him only a little bit. I think with this pandemic, he's really not been in town all of that much, even if he's selling his nice house at the moment, but not moving to Vegas. He's just moving up the street basically from

where he lives. But I think at the end of the year, the way he was talking to us, and you guys remember what he was like in the locker room, it seemed to think he would be on the coaching staff in some role in twenty twenty, and then when Mike McCarthy came in, things kind of changed, and then he thought about playing again, And I don't know if he was in Mike McCarthy's plans to want to continue down this road again and play another season. So that's

and you think of McCarthy. He's had guys like Donald Driver at the end of his time in Green Bay. Brett Favre obviously in Green Bay as well, so he probably just said, you know what, not totally like what it was when Parcels and Emmett had their on a deal back when Bill came in and oh three, but similar to that, and Jason in his mind said, Okay, well, I want to go play somewhere else and let's see what it's like. And the Raiders became a viable option.

And I know he's excited to work with John Bruden and see what that offense is like after being in basically the same system since two thousand and seven. But I'm surprised that he's not coaching on the Cowboys. I thought Jerry might have put his foot or put his hand up and say no, Mike, he's gonna be on your staff. But he didn't. And then, you know, kudos for Jerry for not doing what everybody thinks he does and just Bigfoot and everybody in these situations. All right, Coops,

I got a two power for you. And obviously it's gonna be about Dak because we've talked more about that over the last three years than anything. Number One, I agree with you I think this is going to come down to July fifteenth. I don't see any reason why would get done ahead of time at this point. If that is to happen, if Dad does getna deal before the deadline, which of the two sides is going to have to conceive more to get it done and then

the other one? Why is this in your opinion, at least over your years covering the team, Why is this a consistent theme with the Cowboys? And it is typically a deadline day sort of situation? You know, I don't on the last part. I don't know if that specific to the Cowboys necessarily that deadlines make deals. There's a lot of people, a lot of teams that have that, but we're obviously more in tune with the Cowboys. Now you can say, well, Carson Wentz got his deal done

and Jared Goff then got his deal done. But I just view this as partially betting on himself to the very end and arguably winning. I mean, he was staring last year on the season opener at thirty three million dollars a year and about ninety ninety five million dollars guaranteed to him, and he said, no, I'm going to

play on two million bucks? Raise your hand if any of us would have done that, heck no, but good to him, and he's done it, and now he's gonna you know, look, what is the ultimate price that it's gonna get up to. I mean from what we've been told, it's thirty four and a half million a year, and his and his guarantee is upward on par with what Jared Goff got from the Rams about one hundred and ten million. So did that did that buy him an

extra couple what would that be? None? If fifteen million bucks? You know over a deal? Maybe maybe it has. But I think that the ultimate sticking point is going to be on the years of this thing. Is it five? Is it four? And who's going to cave? I mean history tells you it's the cowboys, because they seemed to cave a little bit on z. It seemed to cave a little bit on DeMarcus Lawrence. But I go back to if both sides want to get this deal done, just sit down and get it done. And I think

Dak's greatest trade is awareness. I've told you guys that many times. And I think even if he were to take thirty five point one million and become the highest paid quarterback. Theory, people would say, man, what a great guy. Each other less to stay with the Cowboys, and that would earn him so much credit because as soon as he signs his contract, he's no longer this fourth round pick that everybody enjoyed. What a great find. It's now

all right, man, you better win some super Bowls. The same thing happened in Romo after you got his big deal in two thousand and seven. You mentioned that the four or five years it could get out one one or the other. Tell the fans out there why that's so important, Why four years would presumably be so important to Dak and why five years would be so important to the Cowboys, Because most fans probably look at it say, okay, whatever, four or five doesn't matter, But why is that so

important to each too? I guess string this thing out to try to get the number of years that they want. Yeah, while on Dak's end of it is four years. The TV deals are all starting to come up, and if we if these things are gonna be as pricey as we think they're gonna be. Although the pandemic might change the narrative a little bit, maybe on what they could be.

You want to get out of free agency as soon as possible, So a four year deal, sure, I mean initially they were looking at three, but they've come to four. The Cowboys have been a six year deal and they've come to five. From the Cowboys perspective, why you won five is helps with the salary cap in terms of lowering the number, especially in the first year, spreading out that bonus through the years, and you don't want to

start going through this again in after two years. Right, if it's four years, we're going to say, when do they start looking at DAC again? When do they start looking at his contract? The more that you can push this thing out and have some certainty at the position that he's going to be there, that's why the Cowboys won five. But Dak wants to four. I don't want to even say that his agent wants the four to have the ability to go out there and cash in again.

I will say, we all remember Romo signed his deal in twenty thirteen. I think he was thirty three or four years old. Well, DA's only gonna be what thirty one at the end of a five year deal, thirty one thirty two? The cowboys are shown if you play well, they're gonna pay you, regardless of how old you are. Let's dive into that article. Nick mentioned that article a little earlier that you wrote, and I thought it was

an interesting article. It was called Dispelling the Theories, and there were a number of theories that you kind of went through there talking about different things that people are saying just out in the basically the Twitter sphere where it can be a gut or at times. But you know what some of the things that people were talking about as too, you know, things around the dak contract.

So I'm gonna throw a few of them out to you, and I want you to explain to me the basis for the theory and then your verdict on how you see it, whether it's important, whether it's true, how much he really factors in. Let's start up the first one. You said Dallas waited too long to try to sign Prescott. I don't think that's true, because as soon as they were able to sign him after his third year, they tried.

They were in that offseason of twenty nineteen, the first time that can come at him, and they tried to get a deal done, and again we got to September where Jerry kind of hinted, we're close on this thing. Then we found out later that, okay, here were the numbers, and this is It seemed close at the time. So you know, as Steven Jones like to say, two sides, you can only make a deal when both sides want

to make a deal. I think the Cowboys thought they were getting to that point in last September, but they didn't. So the fact that the Cowboys waited too long when they made him an offer that was greater than Wentz an average per year, and you can argue that their guarantee is greater than what Wentz and Golf got based on the money those guys are already guaranteed as the top two picks, that they put a fair offer on

the table. I think they've been fair. Maybe they could have started a little higher to get the process rolling a little bit, but I don't. You can't say they waited too long when they made him an offer that would have made him the fourth highest paid quarterback in the game. The second Cowboys want Prescott to settle for less. Kind of again, the numbers we threw around a second ago,

thirty four and a half million Bucks. That's the number two quarterback in the league Russells and makes thirty five hundred and ten million guaranteed, makes him the highest, tied for the highest with GoF So if they want him to settle for less, they're not doing a good job of actually having him settle for less when you've offered the number one in terms of average or number two in average per year, and number one in potential guarantee.

So now we don't know the structures of all these things and the payouts and the fermals and when the money becomes fully guaranteed and all that stuff. So I'm sure there's other things that we don't know, but just on the base of it, when you've offered the guy who's won one playoff game that kind of contract, you're not you're not asking him to take less. She just

not asked him. Don't take everything. In the final Prescott should realize how much he makes off the field, and he does, but that's not his fault, and the Cowboys shouldn't use that in my view, as a way to get him to settle for less. You know, and I'm not one of these guys to say, well, the Cowboys need to make up for because for it because he was a fourth round pick. Well, no, Dak should have played better at Mississippi State and then he wouldn't have

been a fourth round pick. So I mean, I don't want to be come across as like total team guy here and saying this is what Dak should have done. But I don't think the Cowboys can look and say, look, man, you're making all this money from Oi Ghost and Frido Lay and Sleep Number and Adidas and all this stuff. You know you're still said and you're getting this because you come from the Cowboys. You know there's not if you're in Buffalo, you're not going to get these deals.

That's not Dak's fault. It's a little bit like the DeMarcus Lawrence answer about it's not his job to worry about how to make this work in the cap. That's Stephen Jones Dup. Same kind of thing with Dak and this thing. I don't think the Cowboys can really use that necessarily to say this is an instance where you know you should take less because you make more off the field. So here's the final big question for your

top before he lets you go. Does this still get done before July fifteenth, And if not, do you think the sides are okay with the idea of boats. It's okay with the idea of letting Dak play this year on the cat on the tag. So this is where I'm gonna play both sides of it right now and not give you a really good answer right now. At eleven fifteen on the West today, the twenty seventh, I

say he plays on the tag. Now, if we get to July fourteenth, I might be thinking something differently because there's just not been this movement and what's going to change between now in July fourteen fifteenth That is going to swing this thing unless Dak comes in and says I want X and I want why, and then the Cowboys will figure that out. That's what they've done with DeMarcus and Zach Martin and all these guys. But that's not been the case yet with Dak so playing the

year on the tag. If he plays the year on the tag, I wrote this when they played the Vikings. If they go this route, you're basically starting the divorce process with the quarterback. Kirk Cousins is the most recent example of that. He was tagged now Washington never loved him the way the Cowboys love him. But you're starting that process of it's getting unruly the cap number in that third year, which will be fifty four million bucks to be in a situation where you can continue down

this road. So that's the worry. The Cowboys have that, all right, Hey, Dak played for two million bucks las year, Why would' he play for thirty one this year? And now, okay, it'll be thirty eight next year to tag him again, Dak has to play well to earn that. So their arguments on both sides why the tag is good and why the tag is bad? And you know, I haven't tild July fifteen to figure it out, unfortunately. I think to'll wait till the July twelfth starting. That's typically the

way things have done that. Deadlines do make deals around here for some reason. All right, we appreciate you joining us, Todd. We appreciate you taking us some time with us. We're gonna take our first break when we come back. We're gonna die into a little more conversation around Dak Prescott. We'll be right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. Your new apartment's big, such a great deal. It's okay,

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Nick Amber and Dave. He talked a lot about Dak and I, you know, I want to get into this conversation with you guys, we'll get into some of those rumors that are out that are out there and kind of how you guys feel about those. But before we do, the first question I have for you guys is what is the best thing that Dak does. Let's start with you, Dave. The best thing Dac I mean, right off the bat,

and it sounds, I don't know, maybe counterintuitive. I mean, his intangibles, to me are probably the absolute best thing that he does. Whether you talk about him being a rallying point, a natural leader, a charismatic and you know, very influential member of that locker room, how that translates to the field. You know, he's unflappable, He's very poised, calm delivers and clutch moments. Spare me the commentary about

his record against winning teams last year. I know that doesn't change the fact that he is a very poised and clutch quarterback. You can go back to the playoff game against the Seahawks and yeah, and it's not. I mean, the guy's obviously got great on fieldability. But that's probably the starting point with me, is he's just he's got the intangibles of a franchise quarterbacker. I mean, honestly, there's not much more that I can add to that. I

agree with everything that they've said. I mean also the respect that he gets from his teammates. I have not heard anyone in the locker room ever speak bad about him, or say anything negative or blame anything on him, So I think that that goes a long way. One of the things that I have trouble with is, yes, he's one of those guys that reacts well under pressure, but at the same time, a lot of those times each it's too late. It happens too late in the game,

and then you're left going home without a win. So he has a lot of great things. I do think he has a lot of potential and can eventually give you what every you know, everything that the fans are asking for it as far as winning games, but only time will tell as far as that, but as far as in general ability, I do think he has everything to become that kind of quarterback in the future. Nick.

I think the thing that he does the best is just, you know, like they said that, the intangible figuring out things on in the middle of the play, knowing when to run, knowing how to use his strength, you know he does. He's not the most polished quarterback in terms of mechanics, but he figures out a way to get it done when the lights come on. Now, I think you can argue all day about how clutch he is and and you know where the you know, that poise

you know comes comes through in the fourth quarter. I don't think last year was a good example of that, but you know, he's a guy. At the bottom line, do you want him on your team at the end of the game or not? And I think the Cowboys do. I think most Cowboys fans would say that they do. M Last year just wasn't a great year for that, But that doesn't mean he's not good enough to get the job done. What's the area that he needs to improve most. Let's start with you him one of the

things that bothers me and I don't know. I don't know how to argue this very well because it can be applied to a lot of other quarterbacks around the leagues, but there are certain quarterbacks that it would not apply. This wouldn't apply to that, but that to me, he's the kind of quarterback that needs guys around him in order to make things happen. For example, we've seen how Aaron Rodgers. I don't want to compare him to Aaron Rodgers any but Aaron Rodgers can make guys look good.

He can put the ball where he needs to go. Dak needs guy guys that can actually be there to catch the ball, you know. I think there are too many elements that need to be working for Dak in order for the game to go his way. And that's one of the things that I really don't know if he had that kind of offensive line that he does, if he had if he didn't have Zeke and everybody else around there. We saw the trouble that he had when the Cowboys had a committee wide receiver group, you know,

and things weren't necessarily clicking. I think that he wouldn't be as successful as he has been in those games that we've seen him. But in general, that's one of the things that raises questions for me, is how many people does he actually need in order for him to be successful in the game, because the area needs to improve. Actressy, I mean, he's just died down the field of accuracy, and yeah, I don't think you can come back and and and throw out stats about completion percentage. We know

a lot of these are shorter passes. UM. You know that a lot of a lot of quarterbacks have UM. But but I just think it's it's just, you know, there's some throws down the field that you know, he could be better on the intermediate throws and stuff like that. Um, that's something that all quarterbacks can improve on, and and you know, including Daka as well. I mean, you mentioned Aaron Rodgers. Nobody's nobody's like Aaron Rodgers when it comes

to that kind of accuracy. But I think he can get, you know, better than than some of the other quarterbacks that you know that are that are really accurate. He needs to kind of get on their level as well. I will say that on that note, last year it seemed to me, at least uh he and Gallop had connection down field that seemed to be improved over the year before that. So hopefully that signs that he's getting better in that area. I agree with he probably needs

to get even better than that. Dave. Where do you think is the biggest area he needs to improved? I agree with Nick, but differently, honest, I mean, it was it was last week NFL dot Com came out and said, you know, the guy, based on advanced metrics, the guy's the most accurate deep ball passer in the league. And I'm not worried about that. The thing I look at, Dak's gotta make He's got to make the routine look better. I think about, you know, the Saints game. They lose

twelve to ten. He misses Randall Cobb in the end zone in the first quarter on a ball that could have been a touchdown pre routine like fifteen eighteen yard throw. Fourth quarter, missus Cobb again on a crossing route that's behind him. Cobb absolutely should have caught the ball, but it still wasn't in front of him. Um, it wasn't as well played as it could have been. He's much more accurate than he gets credit for. But that can be the difference between winning and losing. Is that placement.

And I do feel like, you know, sometimes those routine passes aren't as easily catchable as they should be. That doesn't mean his receivers should drop him, but he could help his receivers out a little bit more him that. I feel like that's been a thing for him for most of his career. He just needs to be more consistent with just the obvious easy plays. Yeah, it's interesting because it seems to me like in a lot of

those instances, it goes game by game. There's some games I walk away from and I'm like, Mandak really didn't play that well. There's some quarters I walk away from, like, man, dad didn't have a great quarter, And then there are other ones where he's just on fire and hitting all of his targets where he needs to hit him. So I agree with you, consistency is probably more the issues, not that he can't do it, it's that canny do it consistently enough. Right, Yeah, he can definitely do it.

There's loads of evidence that he can. But right it's just you know, you gotta do it on third and five and the fourth the same way that you do it in the first. Yeah. All right, So let's talk a little bit about some of these theories that are out there. And you guys know you're on Twitter, you see all the different stuff that people are talking about

right now with regards to Dak Prescott. I'm gonna throw out a theory and then I want each you guys to tell me whether you agree or disagree with it, and first theory was that Dallas waited too long to sign Dak Prescott. Let's start with Dave Oh. I go back and forth about this a lot, because I agree with what Todd said in the first segment, like it takes two to tango, and if if Dak and his people just aren't willing to play ball, then there's only

so much that the Cowboys can do. And Todd did a great job of not really answering the second part of my question, which is like, at the same time, the Eagles managed to get this done way ahead of any kind of deadline. The Rams did it with goth The Seahawks did it with Russ, you know, well before his deal expired. I know, you know, Russ kind of put a deadline on, you know, OTAs, but he didn't threaten to hold out or anything like that. They still

managed to get a deal done. I feel like the vast majority of quarterback contracts come in pretty far ahead of schedule, and it hasn't been the case with the Cowboys. I'm not saying that they need to just offer him the world and make him the first forty million dollars quarterback, but nobody else seems to have the same kind of problem with this. So you know, I'm not trying to fault the Cowboys too much, but it is curious to me that they're the one team that can't get this

done ahead of time. Don't you have to note, at least from that stampoint that in those instances the Cowboy offered the Cowboys offerer deal is very comparable to what Wentz ended up signing, very comparable to what Golf ended up signing, probably a little better in some respects according

to some of the reports. So I mean, what else can they do other than kind of offer a deal that seems to be on par with his peers, or if it's because cough Wins were first round picks and so they already had some guaranteed money in the bank, which that seems counterintuitive because you would think Dak would jump at a the deal because he doesn't have any

of that type of money. But maybe the fact that he's looking for his first big payday him and his agents want to make sure it's as good as possible. I don't know, but it's it's kind of frustrating that these other teams haven't had this issue. What do you think about that idea that Alice waited too long to sign that. I don't think so. I I you know, I agree with what you said and what Todd had said.

I mean, they did, you know, UM offer a deal, and you know, Dad decided that he wanted to play on the two million, and I'm I'm sitting here looking at the math and I just don't understand that. I don't understand why he would want to do that. Um, I'm looking at a deal if he if he did instead of thirty five a year, if he did forty million dollars a year. Uh, he would have taken that, obviously, because there's been a lot of rumors on that that would have been a five year deal. Forty that's two

hundred millions. You know, at thirty five that's one hundred and seventy five millions. What's what's I still don't understand why you would lose to why you would play for two million dollars, I don't I don't get that, And how you're gonna make up that money. You're never gonna make up that money. Even if you did a forty million dollars deal, you wouldn't make up that money. So I don't understand his line of thinking there. I personally think he's getting bad advice. No, I don't. I don't

think the Cowboys waited too long. I think they're sticking to their guns on what they believe. He's worse amber I think it's a little bit of both. And honestly, maybe my memory is completely serving me wrong here, but I feel like many many times during training camp that we would be talking to Stephen Jones and talk about these dark negotiations. Many times I feel like I would hear, oh, well,

we haven't really talked yet. We haven't really talked yet, And I remember I don't again, please correct me if I'm completely wrong, but I remember when every time I would hear that, I'm like, what are you waiting for? Like,

you know you can easily talk. I don't know exactly how how long it takes for these kind of conversations or the process of getting these conversations started, but I feel like maybe in those instances I would have liked to hear at different ins or maybe it's like, Okay, yes we started talking, but nothing has come from it yet, or something like that that would made me feel like, yes, the Cowboys did start early on and did not drag

this out in way too long. I do get that it takes both sides, but from what I remember, I feel like maybe the Cowboys could have started a little earlier.

The one thing I will say, and this I think is just kind of a typical negotiating tactic, is when you got two parties that have already kind of given their initial ideas on what they think the contracts should be or what they think should the deals should be, it's almost a stalemate from the standpoint that the person that initiates contact first after that is the one that's more motivated to negotiate a little bit more, to give a little bit more, and you put yourself in a

little worse negotiating position, right. That's just that's a typical thing that happens in negotiations. And I think that's one of the reasons why the Cowboys always say, you know, you know, deadlines make deals, is because in a lot of instances, once you get close to a deadline, then that kind of goes out in the window for both parties. They're like, look the deadlines tomorrow, Let's just see if

there's something we can figure out. And you don't really give up any of that negotiating leverage by doing that, And so I think in a lot of instances, the Cowboys are just trying to maintain as much leverage as they can in the negotiation. So is the other side, and so there really isn't any any discussion. They get to this stellmate and then nothing happens. They just sit there and both sides weight until one or the other decides they want to reinitiate contact and start negotiating harder.

So again, I still think at the end of the day, they probably started at the right time. They didn't have the offer that Dac and his people wanted, and that's one of the reasons why they're still guests in this situation. Let's go to the next theory. They said Cowboys want Prescott to settle for less. Let's start with you, Nick, You agree with that or disagree? No, But no, I don't think they want him to settle for less, don't. I don't under understand what that means. Less than what

less than? I mean they don't think he should be the highest paid quarterback in the league. Neither do I, So I don't. I don't think they should settle for less. I think what they're offering him is pretty fair. It sounds like they're offering him top five money, maybe number two overall. Why would that be less if that's what you're asking unless you are you asking about the off the field stuff. Are you saying that they want him to set up for Like, no, don't think the amount

of the contract. And I guess even in this instance, you can factor in the number of years. If they're asking him to go to five years, where he's asking for four years, knowing that the amount of money that quarterbacks may make in that fifth year. If TV contracts end up being what some expect him to be, then he may be giving up a substantial amount of money in that fifth year of his deal. Like I said before, he's fine giving up money. He's already given up a

lot of money last year. You know, he's trying to bet on himself. I don't think, I really don't. I don't think the Cowboys are asking him to settle for left um. It's weird how they take quarterbacks. If you rank all the quarterbacks in the league just just based off ability, even on this show, I don't think is Zak is he in the top ten? I think I think he's that's back. So he's like he's eight nine and ten. I mean, quarterbacks you would want on your

football team. I think he's six seven, eight nine, you know, he's in that range. But they're offering him number two money. So no, I don't think they're asking him for less, Okay, Amber, No, I think yeah. I think they're just asking for a fair prize. You know. I think that the Cowboys they're not trying to be like, oh, we're the upper hand

here and we are the Cowboys. You know. That's initially maybe how I started seeing things a little bit, because when you talk about UM all these um sponsorships that come along just from being part of the Dallas Cowboys, Yeah, that plays into the whole thing. But like Todd was saying earlier, you can't really use that as leverage because you can't guarantee that kind of money either. But I think the Cowboys are just asking for him to settle

for something that's fair, you know. And I'm too, I get on both sides, like from going completely angry to then being calm, because on one hind, I'm like, you know, what, if you think you're this kind of quarterback, then freaking go play somewhere else and show it over there with some other people with that kind of money of somebody that's willing to pay all that money for you. But then I don't know. I just think that I'm on the cowboys side on this one right now. That should

get his money. But he needs to like chill out a little bit and be fair, Just be fair. Let me just be clear. I am not an agree with you that you let him go and play somewhere else. I'm not ready to go back. That's That's what I get angry, you know. And then I go back to calming down. Yeah, they got a quarterback. You not let him walk. You need to figure this out because I'm not wanting to go back to the days of looking

for a quarterback, Dave, what are your thought? Tom? By the very nature of the conversation, they are asking him to take less money. That is what's happening. And I'm not here to convince you that he's worth it. Your opinion doesn't matter to me. We're all going to have different ones and that's fine. But they're asking him to take less money because this is how quarterbacks markets work.

Derek carr Kirk cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo, all got to the top of the market, all had done significantly less than Dak Prescott when they got that money. Jimmy Garoppolo got it off the strength of eight starts. They were asking him to take less money. Quarterbacks set the market when they get paid. That's what's happened for a decade, actually more than a decade. And if they don't want to pay it, that's fine. If they don't want to do that,

that's they're prerogative. I think it'll look like a bargain in eighteen months. I don't understand the quibbling over two million dollars per year. If he wants thirty five, freaking give him thirty five, because it'll be forty two when when Mahomes is his money in six months anyway, So again, not trying to convince anybody he's worth it, but they are asking him to take less. That's exactly what they're doing,

right if you're the Cowboys Boys. Uh sorry, I was just gonna say, if the Cowboys trust him so much and they want him to be the quarterback of the future so badly, then why not just freaking paint him then and just like, okay, question because of what Day said, though, those teams messed up, Like why should you why should you just say, all right, well the Raiders pay Derek Carr. Bad move because he's not he wasn't worth it, Garoppolo, We'll see, we'll see if that if that's worth it

or not. I mean, I think super Bowl And who's the other guy you mentioned, Kirk Cuz, I mean these guys, Why did the Cowboys follow their lead? I mean, I don't. I don't think you have to do that just because the other team. Just that's the quarterback market. I mean, I think they're I don't think they're asking him to take class. I really don't. I think they're asking him to take You know, he's been a pretty good quarterback, but they're going to pay him like he's one of

the elite quarterbacks. He's not elague yet he hasn't proven. I mean the vikings of they made the playoffs and won a game last year, and they were in contention the year before that. They have an absolutely loaded roster regardless of Cousins money. Like Cousins deal didn't top him from signing feeling digs. I know they traded him but they gave him money first. They got Daniel Hunter making money on the other side of the ball. They got

Harrison Smith. They got all these great players, and they're still paying cousins. I know, you know, the Niners kind of caught lightning in a bottle because they got such a good draft class because Garoppolo got hurt, but his money is still not getting in the way of them having an absolutely loaded roster. I don't think they made

mistake at all. I mean, if if Garoppolo hits a deep ball in the fourth quarter of the Super Bowl, after the Golden Boy Pat Mahomes throws a Super Bowl, I mean it throws a Super Bowl throws an interception, then we're talking about how the Niners are this amazing team that won a Super Bowl. Jimmy g I definitely

don't think they messed up by signing him. So so basically what you're saying is you're just saying that Cowboys should pay Dak higher than Russell Wilson right now now, because it's his turn and he should be a number one quarterback in the league, right I mean, that's that's what they should do, because that's what Stafford was number one at one point. If that's what it takes to get it done. Hell yeah, I guess I'll say this.

It ain't oh sorry, go ahead, no goad, go ahead day, it's these are these are not like these are fine numbers. Stack will be sixth in salary by the twenty twenty one season. And I know COVID nineteen kind of throws a wrench into some of these plans. But Todd was absolutely right in the first segment. They're gonna negotiate these TV deals in the next year, and they're gonna start hitting in the next two to three years, and the

money is going to absolutely roll in. So I just don't think this is going to hurt the Cowboys cap the way that some people think it would. I will say this, I do think it's one or the other.

If you're not willing to if you want to go Nick's route and say no, we're not gonna set the market with our quarterback, and your quarterback is hardcore that he wants to get that kind of deal, then eventually you're gonna lose him, because, as Todd said, if you let him play on the cap on the tag this year, you may be starting the Wills and Motion of the divorce from your quarterback, because by next year that tag number is thirty eight, and by the year after that

it's in the fifties, and it's not worth doing anymore. Right, So you're in a situation where if your quarterback keeps playing hardball on that, then you find yourself in a Kirk Cousins situation. And so if you're gonna play hardball back and say we're not going to set the market with you, then what's going to eventually happen is you're going to be back in the market of trying to find a quarterback. So how important is it to you

to not set the market? That's I guess the biggest issue, because if you think this guy's a quarterback of the future for your team, you think he's good enough to get you to the promised Land, are you willing to go back to the well and try to find another guy that you think is equally good or better. Oh

there's out there too. Is there scenario where that plays on the tag and is cheap in twenty twenty one, because we're talking about potentially paying him to set the market after an eight and eight season, So they would have to be like I mean they would. They would have to be substantially terrible for him to have a lower asking price next year. I mean, you know, the

roster looked goody. I'm not saying they might not even make the playoffs, but I would be shocked if they're so bad that his asking price just comes way down. I don't think I buy that at all. Romo got his deal back in twenty thirteen after three straight or I'm sorry, two straight eight and eight seasons, So I just I don't think the price goes down no matter what. So you might as well just eat it now in my opinion. All right, let's get to the third and

final theory here, gets you have something right there? No go ahead? Okay, third final theory. Prescott should realize how much he makes off the field, Nick, let's start with you. I do, and I think he does. I think he does realize that, like we said before the thirty you know, to not to not play last year on you know, to take a deal in the thirty thirty three range and to play on two million A. Yeah, I think he does. Should that fact him into his asking price?

It should not factor into his asking price. But if I'm the Cowboys, I know that, and so like this is the deal, like this, this is I think the Cowboys can can use it as their own negotiation to say we can stand firm on this. Um. You you're making a lot more money here, So if you want to, if you want to go and get forty million a year to play for another team, that's fine. But at the end of the day, you won't make more money. So I think if I'm the Cowboys, I would I

would definitely use it as my negotiation. I definitely would, for sure. Ember I don't think. I don't. I don't know if his agent and him have done this already or not, but if it was me, I would literally sit down with the numbers of Okay, this is what the offer is that they're giving you. Is it fair? Number one, Because at the same time, I don't care how much money you're making from sponsors At the end of the day, you need to feel like you're getting

paid at fair price for what you're doing. But now, on top of that, what's the amount that you're making from sponsorships? What are the estimate when you add these two together. Looking at that you know is it and thinking okay, can you even top the total amount of money if you were playing for another team and consider

and take that into consideration. I'm not saying that the Cowboys should use that as leverage, but more from Dak's party, they should be smart enough to analyze that whole thing, add up the numbers, and figure out like, Okay, maybe we do settle here, maybe we play for this prize be fair. But then at the same time, we're well aware of all the other money that's coming in from other sides. So I think that they that definitely plays a role into the whole thing. Okay, I don't have

a great answer to this. I can see both sides of it. I mean, you know, obviously it's good to be the starting quarterback of the Dallas Cowboys. It pays a lot of money, a lot of visibility, And if I were Dak, I would definitely have that in the back of my mind, like do I really want to go somewhere else and not be the most visible quarterback

in the sport. But at the same time, the guys, you know, every time in the NFL game goes to commercials, you're inundated with State Farm Insurance commercials with Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers. Those guys play in Kansas City and Green Bay, which are probably the two smallest markets in the NFL. Point being, they had to day, but they had to win championships to get no, they had to be good, and Mahomes won the MVP. He started getting all that. He won the MVP and started getting all

that before he won the Super Bowl. You had to be the best quarterback in the league to get them, well, but Dak found Dak turned down a long term deal and bet on himself. Like Dak believes that he can pull that off. A quarterback probably does those hyper competitive I think that's all great, but I think I want to be clear about that though. I think the different series. Dak has all of these different endorsements, and he's won

what one playoff game? Those guys had to be MVP of the league and or win championships to get that level of other Right, you have to be very good to pull it off outside of the Cowboys market. Agreed. I'm just saying you can do it. So I think Dak would be smart to keep that in the back of his mind. But I wouldn't settle for less because I have all of that on the table. Basically, I guess the way I look at it is, I do

think it has to be factored in. I agree with them, but I think it has to be factored in on both sides, because I do think for the quarterback, he's got to look at it and say, Okay, I can take forty million dollars flat rate from another team that may be willing to pay me that if I get to that point in my career where I can make

that decision. But on the flip side of that, if I'm passing up a thirty five million dollars deal, your deal with the Cowboys, and as a part of the Cowboys, I'm going to get an extra ten million dollars a year in endorsements, it's gonna put me at forty five. And being in I'm just gonna throw out Cleveland. Let's say I'm only gonna make that forty I ain't making an extra penny for endorsements. Now I'm looking at it as Dak and I'm saying, you know, maybe this is

a great deal. At thirty five. No one I can get that extra ten and endorsements that I can't get necessarily an these other places. Yeah, but it wasn't Cleveland's with a grand total euro playoff wins all over the commercials for the NFL last year. I think it was

progressive in every single one. A lot of that had to do with the fact he was also a Higsman Trophy win or that a high profile coming into the NFL that matters as well, right, that doesn't have that resident I think, you know, I think it just comes down to kind of what she just said, and what you're saying is that it's it's all about it's about

his team figuring that out. It's just like if any any of us were looking at a job, the offer is, you know, is what it is, then you have to factor in the other things that you know about and and you know and and at the end of the day add it all up, because if you're going to leave all that on the table, and you guys are right, I mean, small market quarterbacks, can you know you can you can still you can beat market boll I mean, I think if his name was John Prescott, I think

I don't think it would be the same as it's Dak. It's just easy to say. It's easy. He's got, you know, a marketable face, he's just you know, he's got he's got y. Yeah. I mean if if if Patrick Mahomes shaved his head when he first got into the league, he may not have as many deals, he wouldn't have as many deals, he wouldn't have that um that head and shoulders with. So I'm just saying it's about market and I think Dad would go to another place and

he could think about it. In all of sports, every sport, you just say, Dak, you know who you're talking about. I mean, that's that says something. It's like shock, It's like Kobe. You know, you gotta be really good if your name is Michael and you and you're the you know the best, and he is. But I'm just saying, you know, I just think they all you guys can you know he can get it done. He can go to another place and make more money. But I think he's got a factor in everything that. I think he

does factor it in. He knows what he's making. Yeah. I'll end the conversation, Nick with something that you told me yesterday we were talking on the phone about this. You mentioned the fact that do you factor in whether it's there's a state income tax wherever you're playing, and certainly you do because that's going to affect the amount of money you bring home. So in the same way you would factor that in, you would factor this in because it's additional revenue that you can generate based upon

your performance and based upon your your job. So yeah, I think it's short suddenly it should be factored in. I don't know that it changes at the end of the day, you know, kind of what the Cowboys offer. I do think it should affect. It should affect what Dak is willing to accept, knowing what his opportunities are to make money outside of justice job as he's making this decision. Does this aging? Does this kind of aging?

I don't know. I know there are different agents that do different things, But does the agent that deals with his contract also deals with contracts coming from sponsors. I assume that's differ from for every player, but a lot of the players are with agencies, So there's an agent that's primarily responsible for this, and there may be another part of that agency that also takes care that takes care of their sponsorship. So yes, the agency typically is

involved in all that. It may not be the same person negotiating all those I mean maybe wonder I'm like, Okay, is this agent kind of more focused on what percentage is getting out of this kind of contract versus sponsorship contracts, you know, because I know there are different agents out there, so I don't know, it's just another thing that you kind of maybe wonder about David. You're gonna say some of that. I mean, he's got for five people. I've

met a couple over the years. I don't think Todd France guy that wouldn't negotiate that, But I'm also not sure. So yeah, yeah, it's a good point. And it definitely is a good point because you're right, individuals kind of kind of work looking for themselves is looking out themselves as well. So maybe a situation where an agent is thinking about their own percentage versus what it means for DAK will growl. And also I'll say this about about

the actual contract. I mean, Dave mentioned some of these other deals in the past, the Stafford, Cousins, Garoppolo, whatever happens here with Dak, Like this, this contract is going to be used by other agents, by other teams, you know, this offseason, next offseason, two or three down the road. So like it's very important in the in the you know, I guess the fraternity of agents they got. They got to make sure that this deal is on part two for the next guy and keep it going and not

let you know, not get a bargain deal. Yeah, all right, let's say our final break when we come back. Well, a couple of questions Amberg got from you fans out there that when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot com radio. I want to use what the pros use? How about the official men's skincare brand of the Dallas Cowboys, Jack Black. Right now, you can get the Jack Black Starter, a curated collection of Cowboys locker

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from the virtual SWBC Worries Studio and Amber. This final segment, We're going to have a couple of questions from you for from our fans through you. So what you got between the two new coordinators joining the staff? Which side of the football see change improvement? Efficaly elevated all performance of this expectation seem twenty twenty anybody, Sorry, I'm not.

I mean, the offense is the most exciting part because you got Lamb and you've got McCarthy, and you know Dak is supposed to take a jump blah blah blah, Like the team's gonna go as far as the offense. But I'm way more intrigued by the defense because of the expertise that Mike Nolan has, because of the intriguing new parts that they have, and the fact that defense was such a weak spot last year. So yeah, defense,

just because it's so much more new. I'm actually going to change up the question a little bit and say special teams. I'm well, I'm way more intrigued about what the new special teams coordinators got to be able to provide because I think it was an area of problems for them last year, and I think they went out and got what a lot of people believe is one of, if not the best special teams coordinator in the league.

So I'm really interested to see how he changes what they're doing on special teams because of the level of experience that he has and love of expertise that he has, That's where I'm most intrigued to see. What I'm most intreat to see to say, offense, because I do think that their offense needs to be better, and you know, against against the really good defenses. I mean, yeah, when when they scored thirty points or more, they won every game,

but they didn't always score thirty points or more. They didn't always get there, and I think that they had some challenges when they faced teams that were more aggressive than they were, bigger and stronger, and so they're going to have to be able to figure those things out too. So I'll say offense is what I'm intrigued about, because, like Dave said, that's where all the weapons are. That's what's really going to have to carry the team. I still think they can be a little bit better and

more consistent through the year. Well, let's talk about the defense a little more. And obviously there are a lot of things that we don't know just yet. But in your opinion, who will be the most impactful player in the whole defense outside of DeMarcus Lawrence as far as talent, really Hope and Smith just because of what an awesome Well, first of all, it would be an incredible story. I mean for a guy to have that much go wrong and disappear from the game for that long and come

back and make an impact. Not only would it be a cool story, you know as a reporter, but it would mean really good things for this defense. Hopefully if you have a guy like that that can get sacks and make life easier on DeMarcus Jaylen Smith, I think he's the most important guy. Um not only does he play right there, you know, at the not in the middle linebacker spot, but he played linebacker where he's you know,

around the ball a lot. And when he's playing well and they can get him to play at a high level, then I think he could be really good for this team. But you know, if if they can't figure out how to make him a really consistent, productive player, well, then he could be a weak spot. So I think that, you know, it's gonna be very, very important to figure out the best way to make Jalen Smith an impact player, a positive impact player. You know. I would go with

Layton Vandersch, his mate there at linebacker. I look at what Layton was doing two years ago before the injury. Last year, he was playing outstanding football and he was he was one of those players that made plays where there wasn't necessarily a play there. He would do things that could kind of change games. He would do things that would get of the Cowboys, you know, kind of that that boost at certain points and games that they

needed that critical play. Right. Um, I think I think he's going to be the guy if he's healthy, and I'm assuming he is. I'm gonna trust everybody's word, his and the organization's word until I see different that he's healthy and ready to go. And if that's the case, I think he's gonna be one of the best players on this defense. I think he'll be one of the biggest playmakers. He'll be one of the guys we're talking about after games that made plays that change the game.

I hope you're right, and it's not usually not, but I hope it is not one of those, uh reoccurring things, because we know he's been dealing with it ever since college. So hopefully it's nothing that that will keep him out of the game for you know, or something that will keep him dealing with Nick problems all throughout the rest of his career. But it problems or neck problems. Say neck problems? Did you say Nick problems? Both? Like, yeah, right,

that's a problem too. But all right, all right, that's a good question. I think we're gonna have time for We went home on that conversation around dak which is really good though. I appreciate you guys taking some time to do that, and we appreciate you guys joining us today. We moved back next week at our normal time eleven am Central till then. For Nick Eatman, Amber Garcia, Dave Helmet, I'm Derrek Eagleton. 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.