Mick Shots: Dak-A-Thon

a little, just gonna have problems. We finally were all going to be back together, Bill Jones, Everson Walls, myself, Mickey Spagnola, and now Bill his having problems with his internet at home. First it was first it was frozen electricity, no water, and now the internet. Come on, Bill, He don't know. Bill. Bill had water, he had water, but it was all it was all frozen. That's what happened. He had the water, but it was all frozen. See, some people could have build water out of their pool,

but his pool was frozen. Do we have him? Do we have you build my My pool was frozen. My pool was frozen. Also. We were we were exchanging stories. We were exchanging stories of frozen pool mishaps. I think Bill's neighbor had some issues with his frozen pool and I had mine. I broke my shovel. I broke my shovel trying to to just dig into the ice so that they wouldn't it wouldn't go into my walk my machine itself. Do we do we have Bill back? Do

we have them? No? No, Mickey, we I think you ought to carry on without me for now because my WiFi signal is not looking good right now. But Chris is working on the problem. Well, we have you. I can hear you, We can see you. Does Chris have you? Oh we can hear yeah, I know we can see him. But okay, okay, here's that's right. You can hear me right now. So how about let's kick things off with Dak Prescott. What a good ice start, right, a deal. It's like we ever said we were gonna you know,

there's things called mick shots. I was gonna say after yesterday and with Dak signing and Bill back, we're gonna call it cannon shots because we got some big shots to fire today about Dak Prescott. Finally, finally, after all these months of haggling over a long term deal. They get a deal done yesterday, and we'll try to break it down. It's somewhat complicated, but it has a whole

lot of money in it. Ever, so, when were you at all surprised that they got this long term deal done before they had to administer the franchise tag, I must admit, Spags, I was extremely surprised, but I was pleasantly surprised. I just assumed that this was gonna drag out again. I thought they were going to have to sign them to another franchise. Tag. I'm so glad they

didn't have to do that. You know, you've got your starting quarterback here, regardless of the injuries that we spoke of, regardless of some of the ups and downs we've had with that Prescott, he's clearly the face of the team, just like Romo was, you know, just like Troy Aikman was when they were there, and you would think that things could be worked out a little bit more amicably. I was very surprised that there was so much pushed back on both sides. I must say, on both sides.

I was very surprised about that. All I wanted to see was a seamless transition between you know, I didn't even want to do the franchise tag last year. I was hoping that he would be able to get it done last year and be just as seamless. As we've known these quarterback contracts to be done in the Dallas area. We've never had a problem with a quarterback trying to sign a contract in Dallas for the Dallas Cowboys. Am I right about that fact? No, they always seem to

get done. As a matter of fact, if you think about it, Troy Aikman's first contract when he was the first pick in the draft, was finished before the draft even started. Uh. And then he signed two more as it went along and there was never really a holdout or a long discussion or anything like that. And then the next one would have been Tony Romos and his first contract not not meaning his undrafted free agent contract,

but when the Cowboys decided him. I believe it was two thousand and five, two thousand and six, when Bill Parcels and Jerry cornered him in the locker room before a game and said, Okay, we want to sign you to an extension and here's the deal. Do you want it? It was like they had their hands around his neck. And for a guy that was making minimal jersey hit man, right, yeah, exactly, it's in the alleyway. Hey, buddy, you're gonna sign this

right now. That he had been working for minimum wads the whole time, which is relative, right, Yeah, he said, okay, fine. And then when they did the next one for I think it was seven years, they did it on Good Friday, and I remember writing the story and it was in so April whatever, and I said, yeah, this was a real good Friday for Tony Romo because that's when they

gave him the big deal. But you're right. The only other one that I remember that they had problems with was Roger Staubach after the first Super Bowl win, when he was looking for an increase and uh tex Shram was kind of holding him at bay. He didn't why, I don't know. I don't know. And Roger would tell the story that he went into Texas office and he was sitting in the outer office and his administrative assistant was telling him, now, Texas, busy, we'll get to you.

We'll get to you, just wait, and Roger got Roger got so impatient. They were at that that office tower like seven or eight ten four, yeah or whatever it was where their office was were, and Stabox said, I'm going in and the lady goes, now, we can't, you know, he's not ready, And so he went out the window. There was a ledge outside the window and he could walk on that ledge, and he jumps out. He goes, I jumped up in front of Texas window and went and he said. Texas was sitting with his feet up

the desk and he almost fell off his chair. But the bottom line was he got in and he got his raise and they knocked out the contract. But other than that, uh yeah, it was always pretty easy, other than Danny White trying to get a raise because not only had he become the starting quarterback, he was still the punter and he thought he should get a little extra and every year Gil Bratton would tell him, yeah, yeah,

we're gonna give it to you. He goes, and you're not gonna punt this year, and he would punt and he didn't get and so I think it was like the third time he went in and uh and Gil told him, well, you know what, I think he needed to talk to Tom about it. So Danny said Okay, I got my nerve up. I walked into Tom's office and I said, you know, Tom, I'm the starting quarterback.

I've been the starting quarterback for two years. This is going to be the third year and I'm still punning and I think maybe I should get a little extra And he said, you know, Danny, you know in my day, boy, guys would do whatever they could and even more for their team to help him out. You know, here we go. I lost the argument right there. I couldn't do anything. So anyway, Uh, you know what, I don't know that

about those two things that you brought up. The thing about those two things you brought up is, uh, in two cases. First of all, when you talk about old school, that's Gil Brandt. That's old regime, right. They're never gonna do negotiations correctly. That's just the way it was. We

didn't have any any recourse as players. Now you got free agency and Jerry Jones with the new regime at that when I say new, the most recent regime, then they realize that with other options out there, that quarterbacks need to be signed quickly. But in both cases, running

backs had to hold out to get their money. Yeah, Zeke Elliott as well as Emmi Smith if you recalls backs, and so you know that goes back to the whole narrative to me of why quarterbacks are held in such high regard as opposed to running backs, who seems to be at back. In the nineties, the running back was the leader of the team in the eighties and the nineties. Now when you're talking about this time in football, this

time in the NFL, quarterbacks are the marquee position. So it's funny how in what twenty years we have gone from Dorset Emmitt Smith. Now everything is my homes Prescott and Tom Braider. So here's the deal. And so we did a thing this morning on Dallas Cowboys dot com. We had to answer the question what was the best thing about Dak's deal or your biggest impression of it? And my first impression was it got done. That was

the best part. The second part that was good and especially for the Cowboys, was the way they were able to structure the deal. So it was a four year deal for one hundred and sixty million, sixty six million dollars in signing bonus. One hundred and twenty six million is guaranteed, and it's guaranteed over the first three years of the contract, but they were able to add two voidable years to it that will allow them to pro rate the signing bonus instead over four years over five years.

So you divide the sixty six million by five, it comes to thirteen million in change. And what it allows them to do is lower the cap hit, especially for this first year. So instead of the cap hit and being thirty seven point seven million on a franchise tag, by structuring the contract the way they did, his cap hit will be twenty two point two million, So that's fifteen million dollar difference than the franchise tag. So that was to me the most significant part of this whole deal.

And even though the base salary is nine million this year, it'll go up the thirteen million next year. But because of the voidable year, they have the opportunity to automatically restructure his deal and put the restructure spread the restructure bonus money over five years, which will put the last part of it into that last voidable year. So it took a lot of work. These things aren't that easy. And by the way, I'm just going to say this right now, there were so many people out there it's like,

why don't they just sign them? Just sign them, you know, and it's like, well, okay, you got to find out what the other side's asking for. Well, now you know what the other side was was settling for. And now that they got him signed, the narrative is, well, that's too much money. If he doesn't win a super Bowl, this is a waste. You can't win, can you all of a sudden now because he's I know, and just because you're making big money doesn't mean well, it's only

my responsibility to win the super Bowl. Well, even now after Mahomes got his money, now he makes it back to the super Bowl, and believe it or not, after that dismal performance, and of course a lot of it is because of injuries and the fact that Tampa they had a great defense, everyone is now saying Patrick Mahomes is over paid. Yeah, you say so. As great as he is, as much as he's done them amazing things.

You know, what have you done for me lately? Is always gonna be the narrative, especially when you're talking about quarterbacks in the NFL. Sometimes it's better just to be a cornerback, I think than a quarterback. No, it's not smacks. Trust me, it is not. I think we have the money. I've got to take the money and be criticized. To take the heat then to sit back, Yeah, take the heat and be under page. I've been there, brother, I've been there. It ain't good. I think we have Bill

back with us. Look at third Hey, how about that? Well you how about the yes? Yes? Finally. You know, sometimes it's amazing these these the WiFi, the computers. They're all so complicated and all it takes and the only way to fix them is to turn it off and turn it back on. Right. You know that's funny. You're living in the hood. You're living in the hood. Bill, You're living the hood. That's your You've been moving my neighborhood. See, I'm I'm over here with all. But there's so many things.

There's so many things. We're just well, just to pull back the curtains here where I'm using an iPhone to communicate with you all, I'm using an iPad owboys dot com. That's the programming signal, okay, and they're all run on Wi Fi of course. Okay, So what the first thing you do is you turn off the iPhone and turn it back on to turn off the iPad, turn it back on. When that doesn't work, you go to the whole Wi Fi system. So I had to get up and go turn off my Wi Fi at the house,

and now we get a strong signal. See, Christopher, I could have solved that for you, because this morning, when my wife turned on the television, there was no volume, and I said, well, what did you do? She goes, I just turned it on, and so I kind of picked it up. I said, did you try turning it off and turning it on again? Well, no, why would I do that. I turned it off, turned it back on,

and everything was just fine. So I have learned with dealing with the im something doesn't work that with technology, you turn it off and then you turn it back on. That's right here, here's another story on that. Okay, I just oh no, it's stilled out work. And I wanted to ask him eleven months it was March eleventh, for the last time, anybody is that computer okay? Right? Unt we get to return to the office and to back place,

and of course nothing works. So I obviously down to it and say my computer is not okay, got it? And all he does he just turns it off and turns it back on again, and there it's working again. So he gets paid big bucks for that. That is ridiculous. So head thousands of dollars for that. So Bill yesterday, yesterday afternoon, I sitting here and going, you know, not knowing, you know, I saw, you know, I think the announcement came out. I loved it the way everybody says, oh,

I broke the story. Well, no, the cowboys broke the story. They sent out an email, right, No one had Scott A. Gouldmick broke the story right. And I just happened to be on the email at that time. It popped in and right. But before that, I was sitting there going, Okay, we got to find something to talk about it. How much more can we talk about the contract? The franchise tag that was supposed to be a have a three

point three pm deadline? So I got all these notes because I watched the Ali Frasier fight on Sunday that they replayed fifty years anniversary. Had all my notes for that. I said, if we run out of stuff, I watched Megan and Harry's interview with Oprah. I said, we could talk about that. We got a lot of stuff to talk about right now, we're not going to talk about any of it right So, Bill, you your thoughts when you first saw that the deal got done, Well, I thought, good,

it's done. Yeah, right now we can talking about Megan and Harry on mix sides. Um no, I think it's great that it's done. And more than anything, Oh no, come on, spend I know. I thought I thought there was one thing. They had to create room. Uh, they create room as far to to do some work, just to to re up their own people as much as anything. It's not like it's just not going to cooperate with his Oh what's gonna be Um, what's gonna be great? And having some issues with my signal again, I gotta

call it again. Apparent is that there are going to be more free agents out there this year at that I might be able to fill in some blanks. Yeah, no, you're you're exactly right. So I had broke down the guts of it that the one of the things that's been pointed out is ninety five million dollars of the one hundred and twenty six guaranteed is guaranteed at signing, So that takes up the sixty six million dollars signing

bonus that he gets immediately. His twenty twenty one salary of nine million, and his twenty twenty two salary it's thirteen point two million, So those those are guaranteed going forward.

And if you break down the contract, it's nine million dollars signing bonus, nine million dollars base salary in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, thirteen point two thirty one million in twenty three and twenty twenty for is twenty nine million with a five million dollar roster bonus if he's on the deal the fifth day of the league year. So from the Cowboys standpoint, the good thing on this contract is they cleared out some salary cap money for this year. You know when the cap begins, and I

think it's still gonna begin at three pm. I haven't seen any I mean at three pm March seventeenth, I haven't seen any delay in that. That's when the top fifty one will count. And when that counts with Dak's contract, they will have a grand total of four They will have a grand total of four point three million dollars of cap space. And that does and that only includes a top fifty one, and that does not include much

ability to sign their own free agents. So what's gonna happen is they're gonna have to restructure a bunch of contracts at the top of their pay scale, guys like DeMarcus Lawrence, Marie Cooper, Zach Martin, Tyrant Smith. They could I don't know if they want to do Zeke. They probably can do Lell Collins. But those guys at the top of the top one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight nine guys take up one hundred and thirty six million of one hundred and eighty million dollars salary cap.

So that just kind of shows you that this was necessary to create fifteen million dollars more space than what he had been on a franchise tag. But they still got a lot of work to do to be able to put this team back together again. Hey, here's what I wanted to ask the Fags. You know, back in the day, I wouldcall when Roethlisberger and Levon Bill were kind of going outed in regards to getting him signed for the Steelers, and he went through a couple of

franchise tags, almost like Kirk Cousins did. If I'm not mistaken because they just didn't want to give him the contract that he wanted, the long term deal, because he had really led that team in rushing and really led the NFL and rushing as far as certain stats were concerned and categories, he was clearly one of the top

notch running backs in the league. In Levon, bell I was a bit critical of Roethlisberger for not being able being more charitable in regards to lending a hand salary wise as far as being a quarterback getting the big contract, and I thought, he should you be more responsible and help sign other players by putting off some of his salary.

Is that a true possibility And is that something that Dak Prescott can help his team with when it comes to creating space and helping redo all those contracts and kind of putting his salary aside until later down the line. Well, that's why they put the more office salary, more office salary. That's why they put those voidable years in there, because they can restructure his contract next year and stuff that

restructure into the sixth voidable year. But those guys when they do that stuff, they basically what happens is they turn base salary into bonus money. So instead of having to wait one seventeenth every week to get paid, they take that money and make it a bonus pay you right now and then spread out that bonus money over

the life of the contract. That's one of the things that they can do with these other guys I just mentioned to create some cap space, because with four million dollars of cap space remaining right now the top fifty one, by time you get to fifty three, it's going to be two million dollars of cap space, and you don't have you know, you would have to settle for Garrett

Gilbert as your backup quarterback. You have no shot at Andy Dalton right, You would have no shot at, you know, resigning some of the other guys that you would think you need for depth, and you would have no money to go out in free agency. And this should be a good year for free agency because of the lower salary cap. As you're seeing teams are having to release

players for cap reasons because they can't afford them. So why don't we take a break here on mix shots and maybe when we get back Bill Jones will be able to join us, as he tried to join us after missing the last couple of weeks and we'll return here on Dallas Cowboys dot Com in a moment, Honey, big news, Gary, Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone,

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Cowboys Way. For more details or to book a tour, visit formation at the Star dot com. And I'm a living witness. I have my office at the Star and it's amazing coming there and getting business done. They have everything you need. I can vouch for the Jones family in that regard. All right, you're signing a personal testimony. I personal testimony. I shall be looking for my check in the mail real soon. So Ever, since last night, I was watching a replay of the Grambling Jackson's eight game.

Did you happen to watch that? I did not get a chance to watch it. I have been coaching kids all weekend with FBU camp. I was in San Antonio and Austin didn't get to watch the game. I finally got back last night. I'm sorry, Sunday night late, really late, and I have been beat o man being a coach man. They need all take a lot out of it. I was there for two days. I could imagine trying to coach somewhere for two years, coaching kids for two days. I want to I want to go and just have

a drink somewhere. So so I didn't see who won the game though, And no, no, I'm lying, I'm lying. I know exactly who won the game. Beyond Sanders and Jackson State comes into Grambling. I don't think they've won a Grambling in so many years. And it was one of the very exciting game. I think it was like thirty two twenty nine if I'm not mistaken, and well,

if I'm not mistaken, it was it very exciting. And man, when you think about this, all of the not the qualified schools, of course, but you're talking about the what I call D one D one schools. They are so excited to be playing football right now. This is springball on steroids. So you've got MacNeice State, You've got the Gramblings, You've got the Swack. All the Swack teams are there playing. All the HBCU teams are finally getting a chance to

share what they can do. And it's a it's a bit of a weird timing issue playing ball in the spring, but they are doing the best they can with it. And the only unfortunate thing, Bill, I don't think the band comes along with them when they play and sometimes that's the best part the ball game is halftime. And I don't I don't think that any of the HBCUs are bringing the bands with them, which you know, that's an annimal part of the entertainment when it comes to HBCUs.

But but I think it's great that they have the spring. They're they're the only ones playing and so and you know, I'm sitting there last night, Uh there were no live sporting events. Mavericks weren't playing, Stars weren't playing or anything. So I'm flipping around and I landed on Grambling in Jackson Satan. I watched them. That Jackson State quarterback look pretty good, I thought. But but but more than anything,

for those kids that are playing in those games. Now they've got a stage in the springtime, spring football, uh, and they're making the most of it. And uh, I can you know, I'm sure they'll go back to a fall schedule, but there's there's some advantages then playing the spring schedule as far as TV goes so forth. That's right. It's almost it's almost like, uh, you know, we had the different leagues from you know, trying to challenge the NFL an alternative to the NFL they had block as

far as TV contracts were concern. So, yes, this is a great opportunity for those kids to do something and show what they can do. So so, Mickey, what do you think is the best part of the DAK contract? You may have touched on it in our first segment. I know you're there. That was what was being talked about this morning. Uh you mentioned, but what is it that that that you think is the best part of the DAK contract. Well, as I said, uh, it's done.

That's probably the best part. At the next best part was the fact that the long term deal, Uhid avoided the thirty seven point seven million dollars cap hit on the franchise tag, which opened up fifteen and a half million dollars more for them to use on the salary cap in free agency. Uh So, And you know, as I pointed out, you know, they only at this point their top fifty one against the cap. If nothing changes between now and March seventeenth, they have four million dollars

in space. That's it. Four million. So the best part was that it got done. Now, there's a lot of folks out there, you know, going on and on, but oh, you know, they could have saved money if they've done this before. You know, the truth of the matter is, you know, in twenty nineteen they had a starting quarterback for two million dollars. In twenty twenty, they had a

starting quarterback for thirty one point four million dollars. So that's two years of starting quarterbacks for thirty three point four You know, that's an average of less than seventeen million a year for your quarterback. So if you look at the totality of the whole thing, you know they've spent one hundred and with the next four years, so that means Dak Prescott over six years one ninety three point four million, and so it's it's less than forty

million a year for their quarterback. And again, the reason why the price went up is because not only do the Cowboys know, but Todd France knows too that the NFL is getting ready to nail down a huge TV contract. They were hoping they could get it done this year before the salary cap came into effect on March seventeenth, But next year that's going to cause the cap to go back up by a whole lot more than ten the usual ten million a year. So basically, this is

gonna get absorbed. So yeah, you know, and I keep hearing this thing about what they should have signed them this year. They could have had them for that. Well, yeah, they wanted to sign them. They didn't want to sign That was the big deal that was to hold up. They were looking for more money, why fast, because of that TV contract exactly. You know, dack and is a They were smart. They were They knew that the numbers were gonna go up, So what they were asking they knew.

When it was all said and done, no one's gonna even think about how much money he has, how much money my homes had signed for, because someone's gonna come along after this TV contract and they're gonna blow all of that money, all of those numbers out of the water. Which is a good thing because if the NFL, these teams are not paying anything that they cannot afford to pay. Trust me, no one is holding them up in the corner telling them that they have to sign particular players.

They signed these players because they can afford to sign these players. So you have to give Dak and his agent credit the fact that they understood this. They stood their ground. They did stand their ground and they were able to make some things happen, and now everyone's putting that behind them. It's all behind us now, all of a sudden, here we're talking about Okay, let's move on to see if we can keep Andy Dalton. There's a number two. Let's move on to really appreciate what we

did without Dak Prescott from the wide receiver position. I thought it was just amazing what Amari Cooper did this year for the Dallas Cowboys. This past season for the Dallas Cowboys. I don't know how many quarterbacks he went with. The guy had his best statistical year ever. I saw him shaker Philadelphia Eagle defensive back down with the best crossover move I've ever seen, if you were going to

look at it from a basketball standpoint. So now everyone's looking at putting this behind us, and let's see what we can do to improve this team's ability to stop the run, hopefully and maybe get one of those linebackers from Penn State up. Maybe take spags advice and go sign some guys that are gonna be some real dogs out there and where we can give our offensive chance, just like the Tampa Bay defense gave Tampa Bay's offense

a chance to win that Super Bowl. Yeah see, and and again, the other thing everybody else understand is Jerry Jones didn't worry about the money. He's worried about the salad cap. Stephen Jones was worried about the salary cap. And that's what they needed to worry about. You know, they can give them whatever they wanted from from their pocketbook, but it was their NFL pocketbook that they had to protect and do it. Now, who's says pocketbook says pocketbook?

It's their pocketbook. Now. The downside is it's only a four year deal. It's only a four year deal, and you're figuring after three years you're going to be back at the negotiating table trying to redo so you don't have to go into the last year of a contract. Since the other two things included in the contract is a no trade clause and a no tag clause. So that means in three years you're going to be back

at this again. So everybody just get ready. If it works out, yeah great, but take a deep breath because it'll come back at you and again. In twenty twenty four, the Cowboys have a potential out. It would be a three year deal for one hundred and twenty six million, and if they didn't want them anymore and this didn't work out, it would be twenty six point four million

in dead money. So, as I try to always point out, when you do these things with a quarterback, deals like this, they're yours, it's real hard to get out from underneath them, because that pro rated signing bonus, the guaranteed money, does not go away. And so after three years, you know, the pro rated signing bonus of thirteen million would add up to twenty six point four million if you decided not we don't want them anymore. Now, the other thing is, and I think this had to figure into it, and

if it didn't, I can't believe it wouldn't have. Did Dak Prescott want to test his football mortality one more year on a one year contract because if he goes thirty seven point seven million, Okay, great, right, wonderful? But what if? What if that injury he suffered last year was career ending and he had no future security. That had to be in the back of his mind that

we can't do this again. We gotta get this thing done somehow, some way, get my money, but also get my security and don't tempt fate again to pass up sixty six million dollars guaranteed signing bonus for thirty seven point seven. So sometimes you gotta be reasonable at some point in these negotiations. He fas you remember, back in the day, with no free agency, really no protection players would we would use any tool that we could in negotiations,

and holding out was really all we could do. Gil Brand's looking like a genius because you know they've got us by the short hairs. I guess it's the best way to say it. And so now at that time we all we had was Lloyd's of London contracts. We recall that, yes, we would get Lloyd's of London contracts for the value of whatever the offer was on the table that we may have turned down. I know that I had to do it back in nineteen eighty three

before I signed. I did in eighty three and eighty four get that Lord's in London contract because that was if we were to have that career ending injury such as we thought Dak was gonna have that Dak could have had last year, then we would be covered as far as our family is concerned, as far as financial security that. I don't know if they have to do

that anymore. I mean, even with the franchise tag of thirty seven seven, what does Dak Prescott or someone like Dak go out and get Lords of London contracts anymore? Do they say? Oh? I think I think they. I think they do. I think they I've still or heard of them pulling out a contract? Uh? An insurance contract is what? Ever? Since talking about uh to protect themselves against an injury like that? So if you sign a one year deal, you go, Okay, I'm getting out this

contract insurance contract in case something happens. But you know, whatever it pays, it's still not going to pay what a long term deal would pay. UH, So you have to factor that in. UH. And I think from what I understand, Dak was here yesterday, UH doing some sort of read uh for a charity or some something, and and he already knew this thing was going down. Uh and he was in a pretty good mood. So uh. And I've saw stuff online uh pick years of sucking

his dad and everything. So yeah, it was it was a big day for It was a big day for the family. UM. And you know, a big day for the Cowboys to you know, it's it's like when you you decide to buy a car, right, you sit there and you deliberate, deliberate, and you kind of drive yourself crazy trying to get the best deal, and then when you do it, it's like, uh, Okay, I can go on to the next thing, right, I don't have to I don't have to have any more anxiety about that.

And I'm sure that's what's uh, that's what's going to take place. I gotta say, spag, I know, we gotta take a break problem soon. But just think about what his family's been through as well. Uh, you know, Dad's there for him, you know, of course losing his mom, Dad Prescott losing mom years ago, but Dad being there for him. His brothers were always so tight. And then the incident with his brother. Yeah, I think that was

this offseason. Uh, you know, just uh, you have to say, no matter whether you like his player or not, or you know, whatever he stands for, you got to feel good about that family that they, you know, able to move on and do things the right way, even in the midst of some of the tragedy that they've experienced. Really throughout his entire life, and really the way I mean he's earned it. He is nothing was given to him.

He comes in as a fourth round draft pick, one hundred and thirty fifth pick in the twenty sixteen draft, and now here we are in going into twenty twenty one, and he is the only quarterback in that draft who is still with the same team. That's something, that's something that says a lot right there, that says a whole lot. And even going back to his time at Mississippi State, I mean, he earned everything he got at Mississippi State

as well, and so you feel great for him. And that is exactly the time person that you want to be the face of your franchise. And that's what that Prescott is now confirmed as with the h with the new contract at least for the next four years. All Right, we continue with more mix shots, and I'm gonna pose the question, So we took care of the starting quarterback, why do we do it backup quarterback? Now? When we come back on mix shots, we're back in a tasty

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should have read it before. I should have read before I started doing it toward winning play break visits us in stores or online at shop dot Dallas Cowboys dot com. Thank you and you're welcome, Spags. The winning play got me. It was too cordy. Yeah, the running play that even when I read it, I thought that was very corny. I should have read it ahead of time before it busted me up, like laughing, all right, hey, Phil, I was gonna bake one more point before you went on.

You know the other thing that I think this does, and Everson can speak to this, I think when the teammates see what he got, I think it energizes them too, to all right, we got our guy back. This is behind us and they know what's going on. Because I remember two years ago it was the offseason and we were in the locker room and somebody had asked Dak

about his contracts. It would have been twenty nineteen, and somebody said, yeah, but if you take all that money, you know, other guys they're not going to have money to resign, other guys like Leal Collins. And Dak perked up and he goes, Leal, does he need a new contract? And and somebody said, yeah, I think so, and he yells across the room in the locker room Hey, Lel, you need a new contract soon. And Lel comes walking over real slow, and you know he's kind of very deliberate.

He goes, yeah, if you don't take all the money just like that, right, So guys know what's going on, right, Uh, And I think this just helps out the energy because guys are rehabbing and and and and starting workouts. And I'll guarantee you if you looked at what the reaction was online. Uh, these guys were pretty happy that Dak got his money. All right, So we took care of

the starting court of what do we do it backup quarterback? Now? Well, in my opinion, you'll hold your breath right because they're gonna be at the mercy of market value for Andy Dalton. Certainly they want him back. But again, what if what if some team says, you know, we got a starting job available. We'll pay you this, this and with incentives for this if you win the job. Or they may look at him as we drafted a guy in the first or second round to be our quarterback of the future.

Not sure he's ready. You want to come here and be the bridge guy and we're able to pay you this that maybe the Cowboys can't afford to pay for a quality backup quarterback. So to me, they're at the mercy of market value and Andy Dalton and you know, and Dalton's got to look at it as you know, I'm getting close to the end here. I gotta make, you know, as much money as I can, or at least make enough money to convince me to move on to another city, to another team. That's right, I think

that's the key. Right, there's facts. I think he's comfortable here at this point. It's going to take a lot for him to move out of his comfort zone, which is being home with his family. You know, when he left Cincinnati, no one was really looking at him. You know, he was ready to just make that move, I believe, and just ride off into the sunset. Well, then he

had this opportunity. He got his toes wet from being able to being forced in for this past season, and he did show how well he can play in a backup situation. But to me, I think his best chance is being here, and I think that Bridge also should be here. We don't know what Dack's gonna look like when he comes back. I mean, we're happy for him and he's signed the contract. I'm sure his rehab's going well. But just like the injury happened all of a sudden

when it did, it can happen again. You never know what can happen. And Dalton is one of the better capable backup quarterbacks to me that you can have in the NFL. You know, Bill otherwise, Uh, you know it's Garrett Gilbert for eight hundred and eighty thousand dollars and then of course you still have the seventh round pick

last year in Denucci, correct, you know. I think the fact that the fact also that it is a four year contract going forward beyond twenty twenty one, This keeps and the Cowboys should always, I think be in the quarterback business. Is when it comes to the draft, if there's a guy that they like on the third day, but I think it just keeps them in the mix. As far as those type developmental type quarterbacks that you can get it in the fifth, sixth, or seventh round.

Who can can be that guy that you can have some you believe in, you got some trust in who depended on what happens with Dak even four years from now or whatever, can be he can be the backup guy. Um, and where you're not spending so much extra money on a veteran backup like what you had to do with Andy Dalton last year. That's the ideal situation, I think, is that you've got someone that you're you're grooming, that you've been able to draft in the late rounds that

you really like. And it's hard to find guys like that who who are can make a difference, but that it's been proven before and this Scott was a fourth round draphic. He was a third day guy, and that's and that's what they were, That's what they were drafted him for. Right. Their idea was, let's get a young guy we can groom to continue being Tony Romo's backup

for the next couple of years and things change. So I think this will be a very important offseason and training camp for Ben de Nucci because if they kind of have that in mind, you know, Garrett Gilbert's not young, uh and you know if he's not, you never know if somebody decides, hey, we kind of want this guy, right, They've got him for another year. Uh, so you know

they could go that way. But I think what you're saying is very important that they got to see the Bend Nucci thing through and not judge him on one NFL start when he was basically thrown to the Wolves without any uh, you know, previous practice with the team. He got three days of practice and it's like, okay, big boy, you're starting. Uh. Didn't have an offseason, didn't have a preseason. It was kind of an unfair test. So I think this will be an important offseason for him,

you know. I look at that situation and uh and regardless of when he was thrown in and how things developed, I didn't not I still don't see him as an NFL caliber quarterback. That's just my opinion at this point. Usually, when when teams signed quarterbacks these days, they're almost looking for them to do something right away. I mean, within the next couple of years. You need to be ready and developed to go. They don't really like hanging around

too long as in a backup situation. It's nice to have that luxury, but it's very rare that you have someone that's gonna stick around for about four years, that was drafted so late and then being able to come in and be successful. It's not just his u how he looked during the moments that he was in the game. To me, I just think physically he's a little bit overwhelmed as well. Regardless of how well he would have played,

he looked physically overwhelmed as a as a quarterback. So I think when it's all said and done, as they move on, I don't think the news is gonna be around long enough to see what he can do. I really don't see that. Well, there's not anyone outside of ben Da Nucci or not even Ben Da Nucci would obviously want anything to happen to Dak Prescott, and so hopefully we'll never see what Nucci can do. Well, that's why that's why I don't want to go down that road.

To you, I think that's why the preseason games are so important. You know, you can you get a better look at a guy that's actually practiced with the team, uh, instead of being uh, you know, on the scout team the whole time. And remember he was a seventh round draft choice, so he barely got drafted. Uh So yeah, but I think you got to take a look and see um and then go forward from there. So that's

obviously one of the priorities. Now everybody says, well, what's their priority, and in free agency it's it's going to be to take care of the backup quarterback spot. And then after that, you know, I keep hearing all this talk about, wow, they need an offensive tackle. You know that we saw what happened when the other guys got hurt.

So my opinion on the offensive tackle thing, and I would have no problem with them drafting one in the third or fourth round to kind of groom for the future if he's good enough to step in and be

my backup swing tackle. But if that happens again and one tackle goes down, Zack Martin's my backup swing tackle, and he immediately goes to the starting spot at tackle, and they can use Connor McGovern, who I think showed pretty well when he finally got his feet on the ground laid in the sea, and that he can handle that guard spot. But they can't mess around with that backup you know, just kind of nibbling to find a

backup swing tackle who's a veteran who's washed up. They need better than that, and I think Zack Martin's got to be that guy. Or when we started talking go ahead, Bill, go ahead, Bill, Well, I was gonna just say, or you find somebody in the draft who can be a starting tackle in this league, but he can start off as a starting guard in this league, or at least compete to be a starting guard in this league with

Connor Williams and left guard. Uh, and swear you're not just you're you're just not scraping the bottom of the barrel, you know, and having undrafted guys that you have to start for fifteen games like you did this year. Oh no, And I agree, But I don't think I need a first round pick to do that when I've got other needs on defense to take care of. And and that

was my question. Are we saying, Okay, if we're going to prioritize backup quarterback first, then we're talking swing tackle second, and then we're talking maybe linebacker and and defensive backs third. Is that is that how we're putting it? Because to me, I'm looking at a linebacker as top priority over a

backup quarterback. Uh. And maybe even a defensive lineman who can come in and show that up and keep those offensive lineman off of my linebackers who seem to have a problem anticipating, uh, what they're gonna how they're gonna stop the run. I think that should be a probably or over backup quarterback. Is that what you're you're saying,

you want to go backup quarterback first? Yeah? No, no, no, no no, no, yeah, but yes, Bill said no. Well, I mean, if if you if you think Garrett Gilbert is good enough to be your backup quarterback, and then okay, fine, because you've got them signed. But if you if you have a priority and you want Dandy Andy Dalton back, then you got to see what kind of financial funds against the cap you have to bring him back. Uh. And I don't know that another guy going to come

in here. I think what we need to get at is what is our definition of top priority? Well, they just took care of it, my top pit exactly. That's why I laughed at that. No, that the top priority is not the backup quarterback. I mean because when I look at the definition of top priority is Okay, this is a position that I would take with the tenth pick in the draft. H And that ain't That's not gonna be at quarterback. No. I was talking about top priority in free agency because you're not going to get

a backup quarterback in the draft. We're talking, we're talking free agency here and and and I'm just talking overall top priority, Yeah, but I'm not. I just I just think with all the resources I've devoted to the offensive line, I can't sit here. And if I'm convinced that Lele Collins and Tyron Smith are good to come back after their surgeries and they're ready to go, then I gotta go with that. I can't take another first round pick

on an offensive tackle at this point. And there's gonna be a couple that are available, but they didn't play last year. And that's another concern that we can get to as we get closer to the draft, is how you evaluate guys who opted out last year and didn't play. So we can all agree that top priority free agency or draft, we're gonna we're just gonna say top priority period overall. Then we're looking at defense, correct, We're looking at trying to show up that the either the secondary.

To me, if we can find the hell of a linebacker, you know, depends state. Guys around are really like I said, you don't need to go to a top notch qualified school to find a balls out defender, especially at the linebacker position. The coach showed you that with their Rookie of the Year being from an HBCU, the defensive Rookie of the Year being from an HBCU. So we know that you can find linebackers out there, but they don't

have to necessarily go to a five school. But that is still to me our top priority, either a linebacker or looking at a heck of a defensive bat and and see that they the problem. Oh I'm sorry, go ahead, I just saw the time. We're up against it here. Yeah, yeah, okay. My last question for you, Mickey is what are you anticipating as far as a Dak Prescott press conference tomorrow? Are we looking virtual or in person? What do you think? You know? I sort of started thinking maybe a real

spaced out press conference. We're the seats are spread That's what I meant, and and and and we're spread out sort of the way they did, uh for you know, those NFL press conferences during the Super Bowl. Um, maybe the way they've you know, done with some other sports where you know, you see it a seat here, a seat way over here, a seat way back there, and

everybody spread out. I think that's maybe Jerry, Maybe Jerry, you'll invite the governor to the press conference to tomorrow is the first to day that he's dropped the mask mandate, and maybe the governor can show up. Stop bill, stop bill, stop bill. Don't try. I can't do that, so you can't either. I can't do that, so you cannot do that. Otherwise we're gonna go way off the rails here. I'm not going to let you do that. Don't draw me offsides.

That's not fair, all right, But and we have not seen any details yet as of this hour at twelve thirty on Tuesday afternoon. I'm just checking my email to see if there's been an announcement of a press conference time tomorrow, and I have not seen one yet. But keep it tuned in here to our so so media

channels and you'll be able to watch it live. And I'm with you, Mickey, I'm thinking it's an in person somehow, some way mask on in person press conference tomorrow and spaced out and maybe they'll have somebody here offering vaccines as we go. There you go, that's all right, that's a joke, doesn't That? Does it? For mix shots for a Tuesday and dak Prescott Tuesday and wow, next Tuesday

is gonna really be something. Because free agent negotiations actually begin on Monday, there's gonna be so much to talk about next Tuesday here on the mix Shots, the day before the new league year, for Mickey and Everson. I'm Bill and we'll see you again next time on Mick Shots. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys. For full CLO, how you Go