Talkin' Cowboys: March Is Here

Mortgage Studios. And boy, is this an important month for the Dallas Cowboys as March is here. It is March first, and we have March madness to talk about. And I'm not talking about college hoops. I'm talking about contracts because Dak Prescott and the deadline, the countdown, all of it is coming down to single digits, just a couple of days away, March ninth, the tag deadline to find out whether or not Dak Prescott will be the Cowboys quarterback

in twenty twenty one. And we're gonna talk about it here. I'm Talking Cowboys. Kyle Yeoman's, Isaiah stand Back, Rob Phillips and heck, Harrison has always the usual crue, Chris being doing a great job from the stars always. But Rob, it's kind of crazy. This has come down the pipe for like the last two years, last two offseasons, and now we're getting into the point where, well, it's do or die for the Cowboys and for Dak Prescott over the next couple of days. Would we have it any

other way? Could we have it any other way with Dak Prescott? Really? You know a lot of the Cowboys deals come down to this. You know, Dez Bryant got his deal done in twenty fifteen. It was mere hours on July fifteenth before they got it done to avoid the tag. So you know, like you said, it's going to come down to a matter of days. You know, March ninth is the deadline for teams to last day

before they'd have to tag a franchise tag player. I kind of look at it maybe more an extension of March fifteenth, something like that, because you know, sure they'd have to tag in by March ninth. If no deal, it's a placeholder, they could keep talking. The biggest thing would be to get it in place by the start of free agency or by the start of the legal window where you can start negotiating. They've got to create some room. I think they understand that. The question is

can they get the deal done? But I was talking to Dave Helmet about this, Isaiah, Heck, you know, we can talk about the Cowboys free agents and things they need to do and things they'd like to do, but everything is tied to this deal because it all depends on what the cap hit will be on Dak's deal, whether it's the franchise tager. You know, hopefully you lower it and give yourself some type of wiggle room. Isaiah, how nerve wracking is this from a players standpoint? Whenever?

It does have a lot to do with the agents, with the front office, with the team situation. I mean, there's so many different factors that go into it. We've hit it all before on this show in previous episodes. But is there any kind of nerves whenever it comes to a players standpoint, because you don't really know what your future is going to look like. Man from dak standpoint, I would say no. I mean, I really feel like

Dak is in control of this situation. I think he has the upper hand and this negotiating, these negotiations, and I don't think that the Cowboys necessarily like that. I think that they're going to try to lean on the fact that all you're hurt, we don't know if you're gonna come back. I think he feels pretty confident that he's gonna come back healthy and if they want, they know, I think that they know if they franchise tag him again, he's not coming back. And that's a leverage that I

think that he has. He's one of the best quarterbacks in the league. They sucked without him. He's getting healthy, there's reports that he's getting Healthy's a he's a you know, the hands down leader of this organization. He is the face of this organization. Without him, they have no direction, really, So I think that he's in total under control of this. So I don't think that he has any stress at all.

He's like, either I'm gonna get paid a lot of money this year and then I'm a I'm a double down next year, or they gotta take care of me right now. So I think he's perfectly fine. He's focused. He's probably over there just focused on his rehab hack. What do you think about that? Well, I mean, I think Dak is in the driver's seat. I agree with Isaiah and what he's saying about it, but really the franchise tag kind of doubles as an interim tag for

like interim coach, interim quarterback. All of those things are not cultural building, right, And Isaiah, you've talked a lot about the culture of the Cowboys and how do you build that. It's really hard to build a around the guy or guys to get behind him not knowing what his future is gonna be. And if you think about, you know, the rumblings of other on other teams and

guys looking at Dak's situation. You know, a guy that's a Day three pick that has worked his wi, pulled himself up, and done it all the right way and still not be rewarded. I think that's got to give some guys, even within the organization pause. Why hasn't Dak gotten played yet? What are the deals or parameters within this contract negotiation that the team does not agree with

and the reason why we can't get it done. I mean, I've finally gotten to the point where you know, I've always been like, I think we're gonna get this done. We're gonna get this done. But lately I'm just feeling like, even from both sides, no one has said anything. And with all of the Russell Wilson talk and all the trades and all those other things in other areas, it just gives you pause because you don't know if this is actually the priority or if the front office and

is looking already in a different direction. I think I've gotten to the point where I'm pessimistic for the first time about getting a deal done. I thought whenever the season was over and we were talking about negotiating contracts, I thought there was a chance you got it done before March ninth. Now, like Rob said to start the show, March ninth is a placeholder. It's not the be all, end all in terms of Dak's contract. But right now

it just doesn't look like it's gonna get done. And if it does, it will get done right up on the deadline, prior to the tag deadline, which is March ninth. But I still think the Cowboys will end up tagging Dak Prescott. And that's just based on my own thought, my own feeling going into But I'm like fifty fifty Kyle, I'm well, I mean, well, I mean, I think the number of days is not very large, so and we're going off with two years, so I don't know how

you can really feel confident about it. To your point, that being said, I think it does sound like the Cowboys want to get it done. I I do believe that. I assume Dax wants to get it done, get that type of security, and so I think especially from the Cowboys perspective, I just mentioned, Look, thirty seven point seven million dollars to carry on your cap going into free agency. They would love to avoid that. Now, can they figure it out in eight days or do they need a

little bit more time. I'm kind of with you, Kyle, like I just I gotta see it at this point. But I rob if they don't haven't figured out by now, then there's art. There's that argument too. I mean, it has been two years. Yeah, they can't. They can't franchise take him. I hear you, I hear you, both of you guys, But they cannot. They can't avoid that. This deal has to get done or you don't have to

worry about talking about Deck next year. Not here you're saying, even if he gets tagged, just okay, we just need a little bit more time. We're not quite done yet. No, if he gets tagged period, If I'm Dak, noah, No, I'm not. I'm not doing that because at what point are you gonna allow them to continue to take advantage of you? So if I'm yeah, So, if I'm Dak, you've had two years to figure this out. Player, you know what I'm saying, like, like, that's what I'm gona

talking to. Hey, mister Jones, look here, if you ever figured it out by now, then I'm gone. You know, like, I've done everything that I can do. I have given everything that I have. I have led this organization, every test that I've been given, I've I've knocked it out the part. What else do you want from me? Right? And if you don't think that that that is enough by this point, don't tell me that you only have

eight days. You've had these last two years as hecks right, So don't don't don't try to make it seem like it's, oh my gosh, I need more time. No, you know if you don't, because if you don't value me to this date, then you don't have trust me. You don't have to worry about me. You won't have to worry about me, And that's that would be my stance if I was back. Well, if I gotta say this, guys, you know it's it's an old saying. If you if you don't know your history, you're doomed to repeat it.

And the Dallas Cowboys organization, if you just look at the history of the organisation and some of the bad quarterback decisions that's been made, it is just pretty much handcuffed us over the years. I mean, you could go all the way back to the eighties of Gary Hogeboom, Steve Peloor. You can go to when you know Vinny Testaverde was washed up. You could go to the Clint Stoner's, the Anthony Wrights, you could go to the what's this guy? Matt Castle, uh, Drew Bledsol, Drew Henson and all of

those names don't do nothing but make your stuff. Give you the bubble guts. When I say that, it's because because all of those players did not allow this franchise to go forward based off of that quarterback play and all of man man, I get asked all the time. I mean, I've been in my community almost twenty years, and I got all my neighbors asking when you're gonna sign that, when you're gonna sign back, And that's the answer.

So you got the question. But people are on both sides saying, oh, well, we don't need them and we can we can save this money to get who what, what? Where are we gonna go? As far as if you look around, if you're if you're saying, okay, we're gonna go into the draft, we're gonna get a rookie quarterback, well, okay, good luck with that. Right, What's what are you trying to build off of that? And what can you get at ten after Trevor Lawrence is gone? Then that's a

whole nother conversation. But we have to start asking, like, what are we saving this money up for? Because we've had two years to get it done. The deal is black and white. I believe it's around the forty million dollars. Mark Right's forty million dollars. Give a take, right, what are we trying to save? What are we saying is he Russell Wilson is thirty six million dollars? Are we're saving four million dollars? But what are we doing? Right?

And that's the that is my point with this whole argument about that being good not great, Like guys in ESPN are saying, you know, he's good, he's not great. Does he deserve Aaron Rodgers. He's not Aaron Rodgers. It's just too much going between. Let's get the deal done so we can start building for the future around our Frank Sis quarterback. Now, you make a fantastic point because everything falls in line with the Dak Prescott deal because we can talk about Dak Prescott all the way up

until that deal was signed. When it comes to other topics, and sure there are other topics that defense, the special teams, the coaching staff, I mean, there's so many different other topics, but until you figure out what's going on with Dak Prescott, you can't move on to those topics because it starts the domino effect. It starts the talking point for the rest of this Cowboys organization. Because we talked about crossroads two or three weeks ago on the show, and we

haven't figured out which way we're going. We're still standing right the cross roads to figure it out. And Isaiah, Isaiah, you kind of started shifting my thought process in terms of the leverage in this situation with the Cowboys and with Dak Prescott, because specifically with Dak, if they tag him at the March ninth deadline, what incentive does he have to sign a longer term deal with Dallas after the March ninth deadline prior of the draft. There's really

no incentive. You're gonna make thirty eight point one million dollars and you're gonna make a ton of money, which is probably more than you would even make on your first year as a salary player with the Cowboys. Anyways, I'm just saying, so you're gonna make a lot of money. Look at it like this kind it's kind of like kind of like you know some of the situations that I would imagine, like that that Rob has been in, or you know, maybe even hack him up back before

he got locked down by Miss Nikki. You know what it's like. You know, you could you could date somebody for a long time, right, they had At a certain point, the lady's gonna ask for what she said, you need to make a commitment to me. Yep, you need to make a commitment. And if you if you're unwilling to make a commitment to me, he right, this That's how I did with my wife, right, I can tell y

all this story. Okay, so my wife, I was dating her, might have been dating a couple of people at the same time, and a certain at a certain point, she was like, you know what, if you don't commit to me right now, and if I walk out that door, you won't have to worry about me. I'm not gonna be around. I'm still gonna love you, but I'm gonna be going on to the next one. Right. That was

your March Nights, that's marsh Knight. Marsh knightth is d Day. Hey, listen, you don't commit to me, all right, if you don't put a ring on that thing aka forty million, all right, I'm gone and you won't have to worry about me. So that's the same thing as you guys start looking through, as we all start looking through all these different organizations, it's an identity thing. It's not only just a quarterback thing.

It's literally in an identity thing. So if you go through the top the top organizations in this league, right, the New England Patriots were they were, their identity was who Tom Brady right in Belichick? Right, you think about the New Leans Saints after well, we don't know for sure. Drew Brees walking away, right, but he's walking away. Drew Brees walks away. What's their identity? What's their identity? Yeah?

You know, so you start you start looking at somebody you know, uh, you know, Aaron Rodgers and he walks away from Green Bay. What happens? Who are yeah? Right, So you start looking at all these different organizations if you don't have that guy. Not only is are you trying to feel, not only avoid at that position, you're now trying to figure out the identity of your team. Yeah,

and we we found out. You know, look, Andy Dalton played okay, played pretty good, but look we saw what Dak meant to the team on the field and in the locker room, and how they struggled and struggled with their confidence believing they could win games. I feel like without him when he win, he went down with the ankle injury. Now I will say this, and I'm getting

Index's head here. If it were me, you know, coming off of that really serious injury, I would love to have a one hundred plus million bucks done, signed, delivered this spring instead of saying, ah, you know, I can, I can? You know you do this spring? This out for another year and yeah, I'm getting thirty seven million guaranteed and then do this next year. I'd rather get it now. That's just me. I don't know if Dak

feels that way. I just feel like there's incentive on both sides to get this thing done in eight days. I don't I don't know exactly where they are with these negoti jas, but I think at some point if there's a little bit momentum, I agree with you guys. I don't think it should take that long to figure it out. As much as they've been talking, despite the fact there's questions about the cap this year and all that. What is what is the next domino to fall Rob

after Dak Prescott? Because I mean, we can sit here, like I said, we can sit and talk. I haven't thought that's Far's that's my point because like I, like Isaiah said, there's no identity. Then where do you go next? Where do you go? And so that's what's Yeah, you

can find out, Yeah, Exam Becker. He So that's what's frustrating to me, looking as an outsider, is if you're that focused and you're that intent on trying to get your franchise quarterback taken care of over not only just this off season, but the last two off seasons, and you know that this is going to be a repercus should have not being able to take that next step because I don't know if the Cowboys know what the next domino would be once they get this deal done,

because you can't really figure that out. And and heck but like you said earlier, if you don't figure it out, there's no identity, there's no next step, and there's really nowhere else you can go. Yeah, Kyle, you have to figure that out. That's what you're getting paid the big bucks for. You gotta know where you're gonna go. I mean, nine days to get this deal done. I expected to get it get done. I hope that you get it done.

And Isaiah, that was boy, you got some cohonas on you when you, you know, do the comparison on how you got married and all of that and the whole competition by committee deal. You know, I would just think that you know, you were sitting there and you were evaluating as Lisa I'll tell you. But either way, you know what's best for you. And I feel like everyone knows, or at least I feel like those that understand for

ball realized that DAK is in our problem. We have gaping holes on defense that we have to fix, and we are shining the spotlight on DAC. But guys, we are forgetting about the elephant in the room, and that's our defense. If you want to go over the first five games of the season and look at the points that were scored, historically bad defense played those first five games. All right, we scored thirty points, but the other teams

were averaging forty points. You can't win many football games that way, and you can't even align the rest of your roster or anything else unless you get this piece done. The salary cap did not do us any favors. And I don't know what the whole mind state is behind being under the salary cap, but still it's getting us a losing season if we don't have our all stud quarterback. Hey, hey, you know what to that point, you're absolutely right. We all know that the gaping hole in it on this

tired organization right now, it's a defense. However, we're gonna have to build our defense through what maybe a couple of draft picks, but mostly through what free agency? Free agency? Yeah, I don't free agent. Am I for free? If I'm a free agent, am I going any anywhere where there's not a good quarterback? That's boy, that's a good question, that's a good point. I am I going? Is JA answered me? This is jj wat gonna pick a team that doesn't have a super Bowl caliber quarterback? No, no,

just he just picked a team. By the way, he just Arizona reasoning Arizona retracked my statement. Then I retract this in Kyler Murray. Goodness gracious, No, he's joining it up with That's what he's doing. He's joining he's running it back in Arizona with de Hop. But hey, but I that yeah, that's that's why they got to get this thing done and the next because it affects everything. Now, the cat might go up above one eighty, right, but it's not gonna go They reports are not above like

one eighty five this year. If he's at thirty seven point seven, that's twenty one percent of your cap. That's almost as much as as Pat Maholmes was on on Kansas City's cap. There's nobody else even close. And so how do you WHOA I'm not, I'm not. I'm not blaming Dak. I'm just saying that's that's the reality of trying to rebuild your defense. If that's the cap truck, Yeah, I mean it's um. Now, it could be a weird offseason where guys are taking one year deals and taking lass,

you know. But but that's not a lot to bank on, you know. Damn. Everybody just needs to take a big sigh of relief. Who's big deep breath in, deep breath out, because there's still a long way to go. I mean, we've still got nine days of this to talk about it. We're gonna we're gonna have another show next week, by the way, Monday at eleven thirty Central Time. Where will you say, oh, well, you know now there's forty eight hours until this Dak deadline. No, he's signed, He's signed

by next show. He signed. That would be nice. I'd be really I'd be okay with that. Hey, J J. Watt picked the team Dak Prescott consigned for right when we come back after our first break here I'm talking Cowboys. We mentioned Russell Wilson last week and I kind of halfway took it seriously. I didn't really take it seriously, but then it blew up and now it's a national thing, and there's other people that are talking about Russell Wilson going to the Cowboys. I want to talk about how

unrealistic that is or how realistic it is. When we return on the other side of the break, you're listening to Talking Cowboys presented by Geico Honey, Big News. Gary. Are you okay? Oh? I'm not Gary anymore. I'm Jackie Flash. What see? I want the latest smartphone, but the best deals are only for new customers. So to get a new customer deal, I changed my name to Jackie Flash. Okay, But the best smartphone deals at AT AT and T are for everyone, new and existing customers. That's huge. Then guess

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to do it. I can't wait either. Yeah, I can't wait either, because Heckman broke the rules and went before he cut no uh yeah right mentioned this going into the latter or during the last segment rather, but JJ Watt just signing with the Arizona Cardinals a couple moments ago to two years thirty one million dollars, twenty three of that guaranteed to go join a defense that toward the Cowboys quite a bit on Monday Night Football in Week six this past season, Rob, what are your initial

thoughts on JJ's deal, one of the more polarizing defensive figures the NFL seen the past decade. I like his tweet. He broke the story with like a superimposed shirt on his sorts. Me. I love that. Um. I mean, he's gonna make their defense instantly better. They've got some some pieces on offense for sure. I wonder if I wonder if that's the best offer he got. I mean, that's that's pretty good. Twenty three guaranteed over two years and fifteen a year. Pretty good. Um. I kind of thought

he was gonna stay. I thought he was either gonna sign with one of the Bays, either Tampa or Green Bay or or you know, maybe maybe um maybe one of those AFC teams that's got money, you know, like a like an Indianapolis or something. But interesting signing NFC west Man. It's a pretty solid division. Yeah, nothing but respect for JJ watt Man. It's mister Houston Texas and you know, done a phenomenal job. I thought last year Man the production was down. I don't know if it

was just because no OTAs in time to prepare. But still with the injuries and all the things that he's had, he's a guy that I put up there amongst the guys that need to get a ring to submit their greatness. Right. It is to a certain degree guys get to a point in their career where the last thing is getting a ring. And so Pete that's what I thought. I thought he was going to Tampa Bay. That three four

system that they have, it fits him ideally. But when you have a secondary like you know, the Arizona Cardinals have Man, you know, Buddha Baker, JJ watt Maybe they keep you know Simmons, the linebacker from Clemson, and who knows if they keep Pat p But they're solidified on their defensive end and offensively Karla Murray. They're just not

gonna do anything but get better. So Coodoles and JJ Watt Man with the NFC West being as good as they already were last year, and then you have to deal with La made with Detroit to bring Matthew Stafford, I mean they're getting good again. I mean you look at Arizona, they're a young team that's continuing to build. Now they're adding this veteran presence in JJ Watt. I mean,

that's a cutthroat division. But then you look up north to the team that's really run that division over the last couple of years, to Seattle, and the Seahawks have a lot of question marks around Pete Carroll, around Russell Wilson and his future with the Seahawks, and of course the Cowboys kind of got roped into that last week.

And one of the big things that I saw last week, or at least storylines, was potential trade rumors from of course Russell Wilson going from Seattle to Dallas, and then also guys like Dan Orlovsky on ESPN, who I have here I have respect for as a journalist, but not really at the same time, because he does throw a lot of potatoes at the wall and tries to get

it to stick as much as possible. Stephen A. Smith a lot of the same thing there, and I think ultimately they don't understand how tough it would be on the Cowboys on the Seahawks to get a deal done. Then you have other people on Fox Sports one saying that, hey, guess what you can throw in Ezekiel Elliot to try and make this thing work. Well, it doesn't work for either side. It doesn't work for anybody at all, players, teams, it doesn't matter. So my thought process here, and we

talked about it last week on Russell Wilson. But Isaiah, how tough would it be to get Russell Wilson to Dallas? And is that even remotely realistic or is it even worth even talking No, it's not worth talking about it. I know we're talking about it briefly, but it won't happen. It will happen. I mean, I get when when's the last time you know, I guess I'm Maria Cooper's the last time we gave up any sizable draft draft positioning to go get somebody. It's not something that US does,

And that's something that you would have to do. Um in Seattle, especially with my guy Schneider up there. He's he's he's a he's a he's a draft pick, Howard right, He just he loves draft picks. Um. He knows how to utilize him. He's a genius when it comes to it. So that's what it would take he's not really interested in high dollar acquisitions. Rob. Yeah, the simple look, the Cowboys want to sign their guy. I'm confident in that.

Number one, number two. This, This ends the conversation right here. Seahawks didn't even want to trade Earl Thomas back in the day, right, They didn't want to do that. To trade Russell Wilson. It would cost them almost forty million dollars just to get him off of their team, like they're best player Hall of Famer. That makes no financial sense, That makes no sense in terms of trying to win football games. I don't know if they're going to work

it out up there. He's obviously not happy about something, uh, particularly I guess the way he's been protected up there. But I just don't this. It's fun to talk about nationally, but it's I just don't think it's a story, especially not for the Cowboys. I think Sierra is tired of the rain. I like it. I like it. You know, come on, let's let's play with this idea for a second, all right, and I mean for a very short second. Guys, you're right, Pete to forty million dollars just to get

out of town. Who does that besides the Boo Eagles, right, And so you wouldn't think that Seattle would pull something like this often. Where are all these rumblings coming from that Russ wants to leave Seattle? And you know, I think there are a lot that it's a lot of intrigue and people are talking about you know, I've seen those means of him in the Cowboys uniform. I love Russell Wilson. I think he's one of the good guys in the league. And you know, he stands for family.

You can see everything about him is good Christian values. I love that. But I love that for him in Seattle. Right, And you talk about the rain, the only rain I want to talk about his ringa colda press Scott Right, that's it. And and look, if we're just talking about production from both of these players, just could do a comparison between Dak and his first five years and Russell to his The numbers are damned there identical. Where Dak

and his fourth year almost through for five thousand yards. Again, that's an eight and eight season. But people love to talk about the numbers and all those things. Let's let's stay consistent. When you want to talk about the numbers, about Russ and you want to talk about Dak. They're identical. So you're giving up a younger version of Russell Wilson for older Russell Wilson. Got whatever. You look at the

conversation as a whole, it doesn't make any sense. And like Rob said, pure forty million dollars to get Russell Wilson out of town. That's enough already to say this isn't worth doing, this isn't worth talking about. Yet a lot of people are looking at a lot of people were excited about, Hey, he could potentially go to the Cowboys. Russell Wilson's not going to go anywhere unless he says

he's sitting out. And if he's gonna go somewhere, it's going to go to a place that can take a little bit of that cap hit, which the Cowboys can't afford to do right now because they're not that close at the moment. Now. I'm never one to go after media personalities and even like call people out on that regard, but ultimately, well I already did with dan Or Lobsky and Stephen A. Smith. They're spread so thin. Can we

get them some help producer wise? Up there? Can we get somebody that knows the landscape of how the NFL works to be by their side and feed their own opinions into their ears. Because first it was the Dak hype video or the hype video that the Cowboys put out or that our department put out, and then ultimately it was apparently a slap in the face to Dak Prescott, which is not the case, was never the case. And then on the other side, it's now this talking about

Russell Wilson's going to be a cowboy. It's stupid, it's a re it's it's annoying. I'm fed up with that conversation. Really really, do you know, Hey, Kyle, they love keeping that start in their mouth, man, and that's what we do. We're gonna, We're gonna. It's so many we have so many haters, and that's what they want to do. I mean, they want to sabotage our cap They want to do

so many things. I mean, and talk about Pete like when you said this, this is it ends the conversation when you talk about a team taking on a forty million dollar cap pit. Oh my gosh. But you know, I think originally the report by Belief came from his agents saying, this is the list of teams he would go to. What team gets more talk and buzz than the Cowboys. Maybe there was some some you know, maybe

that was orchestrated a little bit. You know, so sex Cells and the Cowboys are sexy baby, no matter, he always have man. And that's why, I mean, that's once again why this whole situation is so explosive and it's so volatile because at the moment, I mean, you don't know what direction this Cowboys team is going to go. And I asked this question a while back on the show, but I'm going to ask it again those to you guys, because last week we did talk about Russell Wilson and

how good of a quarterback Russell Wilson is. But is Dak Prescott worth the money? Simple as that, because I want to go around the horn here and answer this question, and I want you to answer it truthfully because if not, I'm going to call you out because both of you guys are actually almost all three of you guys last week said that Russell Wilson is a better quarterback than Dak Prescott, But does that mean that he's still worth the money as a franchise quarterback moving into of course,

what will be his second contract. Do you think that's a realistic thing for the Cowboys route. Yes, I've been pretty consistent all throughout months and months. I think they should resign Dak. I still think ultimately they will. It may not get done in the next say days. The reasons why, I've got three reasons for you. One, the cap will continue to go up and quarterback salaries will

continue to go up. So yes, it's a lot of money to sign Dak, but it's going to be even more money to sign Dak in future years, so you know, the salaries will only continue to rise at this position. Go ahead and get it done, you know, go draft another one is a popular thing, right Well, look inside the NFC East and see the teams that have been drafted in the top ten, top fifteen. They're not around anymore. Or their question marks about Daniel Jones in New York,

whether he can pan out, it's not that easy. And then also I think there's also a misconception about teams can't win with a quarterback absorbing a huge percentage of the salary cap. I don't agree with that. I think there's been some chances there that haven't worked out for teams, and ultimately you got to have a really good one and you pay Dak for what he can be, not just what he is right now. No, I think I've been consistent also about Dak Prescott and getting the deal done.

I mean when you talked about Russell, we were just saying, if, if all else, if this was a guy that you would go to, would you decline Russell Wilson And the obvious answer would be hell, no, You're signed Russ and a heartbeat, right, but no factors being thrown in there, no added money or picks or whatever it would take to get him. You're talking straight, Yeah, exactly, That's That's what I'm saying. You'd be stupid to not, you know, consider that if, if, if, there's no way that this

deal can get done. But I just I just feel like from an organizational standpoint, looking around the league, there aren't thirty one, There aren't thirty one other teams that wouldn't sign there all everything quarterback, and we have let this thing just accumulating, just just be groundhall day when we have to put this behind us. I mean I said it before, I say it again. We can't it really is put us in a situation where we cannot

get anything else done until we get this done. And if we're not gonna get that, if we're not gonna get Dak's deal done, then that changes the draft show. You now instead of talking about getting a quarterback and all of that other stuff, now you're talking about, you know, maybe putting some deals together to get a high quarterback pick, right, getting up really high to pick a guy. So, you know, I think it changes so much. We're at we're at

the crossroads. We gotta make a decision, and Dak is right here, and I don't believe that we should be saying, oh, is the ankle gonna heal any of that. That's the same mistake that San Diego made with Drew Brees with his shoulder. Did it heal? I think it healed. Comparing Dak Prescott to Drew Brees. We have new heights now set on this negotiation on talking. Well, think, what do you think Dak is man? I mean, like, what what when you can do a comparison with Dak, where do

you put Dak? I mean, if I can't say Dak and Drew Brees in the same sentence, then who is Drew Breese in the same category? Asks who can Dak be in the same category? But we're talking about Carson Wentz and all these other guys now no longer in the NFC now what we're talking about. Man, we can't just keep moving this thing back and forth when I say Dak and Drew Brees, like, oh, but this is Dak Prescott. Come on, it's not Kyle's. Kyle's jab in

the pen. That's what he's doing. He's needing us. But but, but, but Drew Brees is not the comparison. It's it's like Heck said, it's it's Carson Wentz, It's it's golf, it's Derek Carr. This is the going rate for an a you know, an above average quarterback in this league. That's what you have to do to keep a guy in this position. So, you know, and he's got more ability or as he's shown as much ability as any of the quarterbacks that God deals already, I'm trying to think

Tannehill other ones basically we did last year before the end. Again, it's to me, you're paying also for what you think he can develop into. You look at what Russell Wilson heck made the comparison what Russell Wilson developed into. I think that's what you're projecting with Dak over the course of a four or five year deal. Um, it's not about right now. As he Drew Brees doesn't matter, it's what you project him to be. Isamh Well, I have

not been consistent in terms of Dike Prescott. I was unaware that the Cowboys were unable to formulate victories without without Dike Prescott. I figured that somebody else could step in with the same resources, which then weren't the same resources, because the whole office of line was in there with with Jim and Britt. But but I was under the impression that somebody else can step in with those same

resources and do his job. I was wrong. I was wrong. Somebody, you know, Andy Dawton came in and he did what he once he got his feet underneath him, once he had a decent office line in front of him, he started He started doing the dude. But then you got, you know, to the last little moment there, and he did he kind of fell off the wagon a little bit. So Dak Prescott to the Dallas Cowboys, Yes he's worth it. Dak Prescott to other organizations, I don't know. I don't

I don't I don't see. I don't see other organizations. There will be other organizations that will pay the money, but I don't think he's nearly as valuable to those organizations as he is to the Dallas Cowboys. So to answer your question, yes, here, No, not so much other places. So where would that leverage lean? Then would that lean to?

You have no leverage lean towards Dak Prescott if you're saying, oh, yeah, where would that lean Because I don't really know what to make of Is he valuable to us or is he valuable outside? Yeah? No, I mean you're asking shit, he is he worth the money here in Dallas? Absolutely, pay the man. Pay the man out there on the market.

He'll probably get the same money, But it won't be an order to this type of organization, if that, If that makes sense right, you know it will be a lesser tier organization that will pay because they're trying to leap frog themselves into into a conversation of respect. But you know, as a Dallas Cowboys, you already have somebody here who has a respect of the city. He has a respect of his team, Um, and they and he has a leadership aspect that comes along with it. And yeah,

you need to pay him come home to day. That's what I'm saying. You you you, we're talking about the money. So it doesn't matter if it's Buffalo, San Francisco, no matter what, they're gonna pay him the money that he's worth. Absolutely Buffalo. Yeah, Buffalo has a good quarterback. I understand. I understand. We're just putting that names for sure, for sure. No, I'm with you, I'm with you. Heck. So Yeah, that was a long way of saying, yes, he's worth the money. Um,

but it's all contexts. It really is all contexts, Yes, it really is. I mean, is he worth the money to Bill Belichick? I don't. I don't think so. Bill Belichick wouldn't pay for that. But Bill Belichick has gotten away with it with the quarterback that's been willing to take less. Absolutely, So that's what I'm saying. It's all it's all about the scenario right in Dallas. Yeah, he's worth that. You have to pay him that here in Dallas.

If if you try to say, hey, if Dak trying to take his agent went to go ahead of that same conversation into England. Yah, it's not happening. It's not happening. Now that does that take his value down more? No, he's still the same valuable quarterback. However, they're unwilling to pay it. So guess what, to them, he's not worth it. I just I don't know if I agree on that.

I think he would be just as valuable in Dallas as he would be elsewhere, because I mean, that's what we're talking about here, is leverage and negotiation, and hey, he's gonna leave if we tag him after twenty twenty one anyways, right, I mean, he's gonna get that same kind of money. It's gonna go right with what the

market has to say from a quarterback standpoint. And if you're saying that he's not valuable to other franchises as much as he is the Cowboys, isn't that the problem that the Cowboys have right now is trying to figure out whether or not he's valuable peer. I don't know. I'm just I'm trying to kind of piece together what you're saying here with I guess take it like a would another team have paid Jaylen Smith? Would they paid him at the time, maybe because they were trying to

get ahead of the curve. Now, no nobody would, Boys would. But but you gotta understand, Jaylen Smith didn't sign a deal that made him the highest paid linebacker in the league either. So you talk about a team friendly deal, Jaylen smith deal was a team friendly deal which you're asking that to sign. Yeah, yeah, we just we just we just gonna agree to disagree on this one. I just, I just I just I just don't think. I think

when you talk about is somebody worth it? Right, when you just take that broad spectrum question right there, that that value has to be equal amongst every organization, right would would be what would every organization pay this for that quarterback? And I don't think you I don't think we can undoutly say yes. I don't I don't I don't think we can say yes. I think I think New England would be giddy to have a chance at Dak press guy and forty million dollars. Even with the money,

I still think they would be Guinny. They did it was right. I know Cam Newton's money was nowhere twenty dollars. I know it wasn't close to forty million. Dollars. But I'm saying it worked out that way whenever they went and got a big man Homer MVP, and they went and grabbed Cam Newton paid him eight dollars and then he ended up being on the hey on the bench. Question is what every organization paid forty million dollars and I don't think we could say yes, I think they would.

I do. I think he's worth that money, and I've I've been consistent much like how you guys talked about it, Isaiah, I do respect like I mean talking about specifically early in the season. I mean, you weren't you weren't there you were saying, y Dalton's gonna step in and be just fine. I think we're all on the same page now that Dak is the guy that is the sure

as I'll say here here in Dallas answers. Yes, I think you guys are both right because I think Kyle I agree with you that I think you know he's healthy and he's back to where he was, and there's confidence obviously that he will be then that he can bring that type to every team that needs a quarterback. At the same time, I think Isaiah, he he's become

the face of this franchise. I mean, he's become not just the guy on the field, but they're emotional leader, a guy that can connect with everybody in the locker room. I mean, and he's he's a guy they're drafted. So I think it means more to resign a guy that you've built and invested so much in. So I think

you'll kind of both right from that perspective now. And I think it's a weird, weird argument though, too, because when you look at a guy like Jimmy Garoppolo when he signed in San Francisco, he wasn't approven commodity, but he signs for one of the highest contracts for quarterbacks at the time at twenty six twenty seven million dollars. He goes to a Super Bowl. All for all intensive purposes,

they should have won the Super Bowl. They will one Jimmy g miss pat asks away from actually winning in milking the clock to be able to win a Super Bowl.

So to say that that all of those things, and I understand where you're coming from, Isaia, when you talk about what the market will demand for dak if he does lead Dallas, I just still don't think that that has the same kind of weight because you know damn well that teams are going to play him what he's worth currently, what the market value says that you pay

a quarterback of his caliber. I do get what you're saying, I said, because there's there's a difference, But I just that's That's what I'm about to say, is I think there's a difference between value and a franchise face, you know, like and morality almost because at the end of the day, and you know there's more than any any of the four of us do. But football is a business, and

right now, that's what is being that's what's happening. If this was based on Dak Prescott being a leader or being a franchise face and being the mister cowboy too with with the four jerseys on the walls, that he would have been signed in twenty seventeen, it would have been done already. And it just isn't the case because negotiations and contracts and all sorts of stuff get in the way because the business gets in the way more

than it does the personality side. Yeah, it's just yeah, it's it's just it's just so much deeper as if people talk about the money in a contract. It's so much deeper than just the numbers. It's just it's so much deeper than that. I mean, it's just and it's hard. It's hard for people to grasp it as hard for

people to understand. I guess really what I'm saying, because if you if you called, if you called Tampa Bay right now, it was like, hey, get rid of Tom Brady, take on a forty million dollars deck, They'd be like hell, no, no, well there and it's bow. But again, but again, though, I'm saying, it's all dependent on the organization in a position at their end. It's not so clear cut. Is

is he worth it? Yeah? Ok, yeah, some teams, a lot of teams will pay him forty But then there's some teams just like I'd rather take the twenty six million dollars man, that's gonna get me to the dog chavanship, you know what I mean. Like, it's just it depends, It really depends. Are people. Would people get behind Dak like they get behind Tom Brady? No, right, why because

he hasn't been there and right he's not approven. So like if they're not paying no right near or forty million dollars a year for Tom right now right, So again, I'm not disrespecting them. I'm just saying the facts. It's not the same the way that Dallas needs Dak. Every organization doesn't need Dak wouldn't be willing to pay him that. No, I'm so you're so old now, I'm sorry. I mean Isaiah sold me on that. Okay. Hey, he's a very good debater and somebody who can shift the mindsets of

the masses. Isaiah, stand back, our residents champion. Uh. When we come back, we're gonna get away from Dak Prescott. Thank goodness for everybody. If you if you tuned out, tune back in, please thank you. Uh. We're we're gonna talk about free agents. Is this free agent market enough to get the Cowboys excited? And how can they build around what is the current roster before maybe Dak Prescott and or the draft comes up out of nowhere here

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a whole new level. With Bose Quiet Comfort earbuds Bows Quiet Comfort Earbuds, the official earbuds of the Dallas Cowboys. Heck, my Harrison, how do those earbuds feel? It's like a symphony in my head. Kyle, that's by far my favorite, my favorite drop of the I got it right, this love it. The fluctuations of the voice weren't there though, Hey yeah it was nah no, that was his ESPN voice, that was his basketball voice. That was like a that was like a sixty eight percent. I guess you didn't

pass Monday. Monday dog always on Monday. Well, that's the thing is is we moved say it with your chest to Fridays during the regular season, and now, of course we're only on Mondays. So say it with your chest Monday is one thing. And we've been saying it with your chest here over the last hour or forty five minutes or so. But we've got about ten minutes left.

Isaiah staying back, Rob Phillips, Heck Maharris, and I'm Kyle Yeomans, and Rob tell me about some free agents, because whenever I look around the NFL, and I'm looking at some of the potential pickups for the Cowboys, because last year we saw them build via veterans moving into the draft, and I felt more excited about the free agent crop last year than I did or than I do right now, because I'm looking at this free agent selection and it doesn't excite me to any extent, especially and maybe this

is just based off of how poorly free agency went for the Cowboys last year with Dontari Poe, Gerald mccaha, Clinton Dix, Everson Griffin. I mean, we had a lot of fun doing free agency shows last year until you know, the free agency stuff didn't really work out. So what does it look like this year? What is the general overarching look of the free agent market and how could

potential players shape the Cowboys. I hate to not be able to answer your question, but I mean, we just spent forty five minutes on Dak Prescott for good reason, because again, if they can't get that cap number down, it's to me, it's just gonna they're gonna be hard

pressed to make impact signings. However, Number one, they could get the cap number down with the deal done too, they're you know, every team's faced with this problem, and you're already seeing some cap casualties around the league, some guys getting cut to safe cap space, and you know it's very possible that guys will take one year deals in certain spots and bank on the cap going way up next year with hopefully a return to mostly normal life.

So you're seeing it. You know, I've been saying defensive tackle might be the biggest need on this roster, not counting and getting Dack signed. You know, Kawan Short is a guy that got cut by Carolina, Darrell Casey and Denver. I don't know if those are guys that would fit for the Cowboys necessarily. I'm just saying, you know, they are proven veteran guys, and Kyle and know what you're saying. They signed some veteran guys that not work out last year.

But there may be opportunity to sign guys at at cap friendly deals because every team is dealing with this problem. A few teams have cash, A lot of teams don't. Kawan Short. We could go get another Carolina defensive tackle, Retrail. I'm just saying, so just throwing out names, I'm just throwing out No I like it, No, I like it. I just when you said Carolina, it just it brought back bad memories. Yeah, flashbacks, And let's say, insanity by definition is same thing. Come on, man, you know we

just look we gotta, we gotta. We talked about dan Quinn. Dan Quinn has one hell of a job on his hands and he's gonna have to feel in some blanks here, uh, some spots pretty quickly and Pe, you're right without the salary cap answers, we don't know if we can go after a Leonard Williams, right, We don't know if we could get a stud like that. Um. I'm looking at Ken O'Neill, the free safety from Atlanta, and the only reason why he's attracted to me is that he's played

in dan Quinn system. A guy's like kJ Wright who has played in dan Quinn system. I think those are guys that well, especially at kJ Wright, can come in and be a tone set or a culture changer. That's what you need. You need a culture changer. We just didn't look that good last year. When you talk about a culture we had a quarterback. We had a quarterback that got knocked unconscious versus the Washington football team and nobody and nobody came to his defense. We've got to

change that. That's a culture thing. You know, guys have got to be willing to put it on the line for each other. And so if we can bring in those kind of guys, then I think it changes our team immediately. You saw exactly what Tampa Bay did bringing in Tom ab Grant guys like that. But you already had to have the nucleus of players already there. Do we have that nucleus of players here? Is really the biggest question. That's a good point. I don't know. I'm

looking at this. I'm looking at this list too. I'm not really intrigued by much on here, not the positions that we need at you know, I think the d tackle, I think it's number one, So you know, we've talked about it extensively. We need to find a dog man. We need to find an absolute, complete, unadulter dog who's going to come in. Obviously the linebacker, it'd be nice to have kjkjs my dog. It'd be nice to have kJ.

But because kJ, I could think, could really coach up those other two guys to get those guys on on the on the right page. M But we we have to figure out the defensive line. And I know everybody's talking about the secondary. Your secondary doesn't have to be as good when your defensive line is amazing. So Tampa Bay you can get up, Yeah, you can exactly, Tampa Bay if they don't have time to you don't have time to throw. My guys don't have to cover that long.

So makes guys better instantly. So it's more that more so it could be coached up. Not to say that we don't need to address it. We definitely still need to address it. However, I think all of our attention needs to be placed immediately on securing some dogs up frontum, checking our health of our guys that got hurt um, and then also filling those gaps and making sure that our front seven is too deep, right, too deep front seven right this year has taught us that make sure

that you're that your front seven. It would just the best seven guys, No we need, We need like thirteen guys that can go get it and then go figure out your secondary. So I kind of want to play Devil's Advocate just to tad bit a little bit more than I already have this entire episode. But both Hecma and Isaiah, you both mentioned kJ Wright and you're bringing him in as a veteran to and your words were to coach up the other two guys talking about Layton

Vanderesh and Jalen Smith. Haven't they already had that in Sean Lee? Haven't they already had? I mean, who better to coach up a player than a guy who should be the defensive coordinator at some pointments football. When I say coach up, I mean actually be able to show them too. Not just not just from the intellectual side of things, it's also how you're so Sean. I mean, that's no disrespect to Sean. I mean I was an injury guy. I face a lot of injuries. You can't

control it. It is what it is. You can just control how you get back from it. Um. But there's something to be said about the guys who who go about doing business the right way, who go about being professionals the right way, you won't find You won't find kJ being flashy. Kj's the most chill cat. You know. I think he's in He got his little side business as he does. And you know he's a great teammate who watches film and you know, just doesn't he supposed

to do. He's where he's supposed to be at. You know, you have to worry about him wearing glasses and postgame interviews and stuff. So I mean, I think there's there's there's just a way of how he approaches the game, how he could be super valuable. It's gonna take a lot for kJ to leave Seattle. It would take a whole heck of a lot, just because he loves he

loves that city. He loves that city and Bobby. And if JJ Watts sighting to Arizona doesn't show everybody how powerful of these brotherly bonds are in the inside the locker room, then you need to reconsider. So you know, when you talk about kJ leaving, I don't see kJ leaving Bobby. They're they're just they're connected at the hill. Love a good point. I love that. I love that, and I don't And I'm not saying what I'm saying Kyle,

that that any of these guys need a mentor. I mean, he just guys a guy that has mastered the system that can show you how to play it. I mean, I just feel like Jayalen from one standpoint, he's just got to get out of his head and get back to being the athlete that he know that he is. If he's going to go back to the mic. His responsibilities are going to be sideline the sideline. If Lve is going to go to the will, he's going to have to be able to close out and he's also

going to have to be able to cover. Those are things that we know in this defense with dan Quinn is going to be asked of our linebackers. They need an example of that. Ye yeah, no, I agree, and I would be down for a kJ Wright signing, But I just wanted to throw that in there about Sean Lee already being there and kind of put what was different, and I agree with you the fact that he can actually show on the field and he can actually play and has the ability and has that talent level at

least at this point in his career. Of course, we know Sean had it previously to the injuries, but kJ Wright could certainly do that, and hey, maybe he has a guy that I could potentially find his way on the dan Quinn's defense again and have some success. But

that's gonna do it here for us. On talking Cowboys, well, I'm not gonna promise that we're not gonna talk Dak Prescott next week, because we're probably gonna talk Dak Prescott next week either as a signing or as a tag or we're right back in the same spot and we're still sitting looking at the crossroads as we have been for the past two crossroads as always, but for Chris Beam and Aaron Gonzalez back at the star for Isaiah stand back, Rob Phillips, hand heck My Harrison up, Kyle

Yeoman's see your next Monday, eleven thirty Central Time on Talking Cowboys. This has been a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.