DALTON ADDS INTRIGUE TO DALLAS QB SITUATION
Former Bengals starter still has game and Prescott hasn’t signed franchise tag offer
Who else didn’t see this Dalton-to-Dallas thing coming?
For one? Probably Dak Prescott, the Dallas Cowboys’ starting quarterback since 2016.
On Saturday night, news broke that Andy Dalton, 32, has agreed to terms with the Cowboys for one year for a US$3-million base salary that, with incentives, could reach $7 million.
Dalton had been the Cincinnati Bengals’ starting quarterback since 2011. But the team drafted Joe Burrow No. 1 overall April 23 and cut Dalton last Thursday.
There really was no point in Dalton waiting for a starting vacancy to open up elsewhere in the NFL. That’s because, since the draft, there aren’t any. Even the New England Patriots seem to have settled on Four-pass Frankie — that is, raw Jarrett Stidham, who as a rookie backup to Tom Brady last season threw all of four passes, one of which was returned for a touchdown.
Thus, it must have quickly become crystal clear to Dalton and his representative by Saturday morning that his best bet for 2020 was to become the No. 1 backup on the best team willing to anoint him that, if only on a bridge contract.
For Dalton, financially, it’s a meagre deal. Presumably money was not a factor. Why should it be? He already has pocketed $120.7 million after nine years in Cincinnati, per Spotrac.com.
For Dalton, personally, understand that he’s a Texan, through and through. He was born and raised in Katy in suburban Houston and attended college near Dallas at Texas Christian University.
For Dalton, competitively, he surely will replace Cooper Rush, last year’s No. 1 backup to Prescott.
And know that Dalton is not done. If you watched any of Cincinnati’s games last season, particularly early on, you’d have learned it was Dalton who almost single-handedly kept the Bengals in many games. With stud wideout A.J. Green injured all year and with the Bengals never having properly replaced departed playmakers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu a few years ago, Dalton was hamstrung with a lousy receiving corps.
Anyway, he’s not as bad as you probably think.
Might he challenge Prescott? Probably not.
But that’s a thought more than a handful of devout Cowboys fans would gladly entertain.
Prescott is one of those NFL quarterbacks who’s admired far more outside the city he plays in than inside. Detroit’s Matthew Stafford is another. In Stafford’s case, the local heat he takes mostly is unjustified; the 12th-year Texan still possesses the passing talent commensurate with being a former No. 1 overall draft pick.
In Prescott’s case, the local criticisms are ample, growing and, in some ways, justified. Mostly, they seem tied to his inconsistency and failure to win more than one playoff game in four years. It’s a worthy topic for an entire column another day.
Bottom line, Prescott’s stats in 2019 mostly sparkled: 4,902 yards (No. 2 NFL ranking), 30 touchdowns passing (No. 4), 8.2 yards per attempt (No. 5) and a 101.7 passer rating on third downs (No. 9).
Prescott and his agent have been negotiating off and on (mostly off ) for nearly a year now on a whopper second contract. Reports along the way have suggested Prescott is seeking upwards of $40 million per year in his re-up, with the Cowboys countering unsuccessfully with a reported $33 million per annum and $105 million guaranteed.
In March, the Cowboys slapped an exclusive rights franchise tag on Prescott — to prevent him from becoming a free agent upon conclusion of his four-year rookie contract, as a Round 4 draft pick — that would see him earn $31-$33 million fully guaranteed in 2020, once he signs the tag.
Only he hasn’t signed the tag. And he reportedly intends to skip all voluntary virtual sessions this spring with new head coach Mike McCarthy and his offensive staff, which includes holdover coordinator Kellen Moore. This, to apply greater pressure on owner/ GM Jerry Jones to up his offer.
As a tagged player, Prescott has until July 15 to agree on a new long-term deal with the Cowboys. Otherwise, the franchise tag contract terms are the only ones under which he may play in the NFL in 2020, even if traded.
Furthermore, as ProFootballTalk.com pointed out, until Prescott signs the tag, the Cowboys have the right to pull it — to rescind the offer. Prescott would then immediately become a free agent and, given the current QB market, well, you name the team that would bench or cut its starter to pay Prescott more than $33 million a year.
Exactly.
All of which makes the Cowboys’ decision to insert nativeson Dalton into this situation more than a little intriguing, don’tcha think?
Come training camp, Jones might wind up holding even longer, can’t-not-look, daily press briefings than Donald Trump.