FRISCO, Texas -- When quarterback Andy Dalton signed with the Dallas Cowboys last year, it was with the idea of resetting his career and finding a starting spot in 2021.
Last season, Dalton went 4-5 in nine starts as Dak Prescott's replacement and will sign a one-year deal worth up to $13 million with the Chicago Bears with at least the chance to be their No. 1 quarterback.
So what will the Cowboys do for their No. 2 quarterback now?
Dallas has Garrett Gilbert, Cooper Rush and Ben DiNucci under contract behind Prescott, who signed a four-year, $160 million deal last week. Gilbert played well in his one start -- the first of his career -- last season against the Pittsburgh Steelers, completing 21 of 38 passes for 243 yards with a touchdown and an interception. DiNucci, a seventh-round pick a year ago, did not play well in his one start in 2020 against the Philadelphia Eagles, completing 21 of 40 passes for 180 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions.
2022 base salary: $20 million
2023 base salary: $31 million
2024 base salary: $29 million ($5 million roster bonus due the fifth day of the league year)
2025 base salary: $40 million (voidable year)
2026 base salary: $40 million (voidable year)
2021 cap figure: $22.2 million
2022 cap figure: $33.2 million
2023 cap figure: $44.2 million
2024 cap figure: $47.2 million
2025 cap figure: $53.2 million (voidable year)
2026 cap figure: $40 million (voidable year)
The final two years of the contract void after the deadline to use the franchise tag in 2025, but the Cowboys would have difficulty in using the tag in 2025 even without that deadline. Since they are putting the tag on Prescott Tuesday for mostly procedural reasons, if they wanted to tag him in 2025, it would come at a 144% increase over his 2024 cap number and effectively cost $68 million.
FRISCO, Texas -- Dallas Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones has said it many times over the years: Deadlines make deals.
If that's the case between the Cowboys and quarterback Dak Prescott, welcome to at least the fourth deadline in their long-running negotiations that have yet to lead to the multiyear agreement both parties say they want.
Without a long-term deal done by 4 p.m. ET Tuesday, the Cowboys will use the franchise tag on Prescott for the second straight year at a cost of $37.7 million.
When the Cowboys and Prescott's agent, Todd France, started these negotiations in 2019, the team's hope was to get Prescott signed during the offseason program, then in training camp and ultimately by the start of the 2019 regular season.
FRISCO, Texas -- Drew Pearson thought he was at The Star recently for a potential real estate meeting with Jerry Jones and Roger Staubach. Since the Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager and Hall of Fame quarterback are business partners, it made all the sense in the world to the former Cowboys wide receiver.
Then came the knock on the door.
Jones asked Pearson if he wouldn't mind answering. On the other side was Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker to inform Pearson of his enshrinement into football's hallowed ground in Canton, Ohio.
Pearson is the 20th former Cowboys player, coach or executive to earn Hall of Fame honors. Pearson, who wore No. 88 with Dallas from 1973 to 1983, was the only first-team selection to the All-Decade team of the 1970s who had not been enshrined in the Hall of Fame -- until now.
FRISCO, Texas -- As the 2020 NFL season went along, the Dallas Cowboys' training room had a Pro Bowl feel to it.
Quarterback Dak Prescott was in the room recovering from surgery for a compound fracture and dislocation of his right ankle. Left tackle Tyron Smith was in there rehabbing from a neck injury that limited him to two games. Offensive lineman Zack Martin was in there late in the season recovering from a calf strain. So was linebacker Leighton Vander Esch, who had a broken collarbone in Week 1 and a high ankle sprain in the Cowboys' final two games.
Those four players combined for 16 Pro Bowl appearances since 2013.
He does not have Kam Chancellor, Earl Thomas, Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright, Richard Sherman, Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril or the other members of a Seattle Seahawks defense that finished No. 1 in yards and points per game when Quinn was the Seahawks' defensive coordinator in 2013 and '14.
The Dallas defensive line is anchored by DeMarcus Lawrence, who had a fine season but 6.5 sacks. Who would be considered the Cowboys' second-best defensive lineman? Neville Gallimore? Antwaun Woods? Randy Gregory? If you consider him a down lineman, how about Aldon Smith?
How about linebacker?
Jaylon Smith had a career-high 161 tackles. Do you remember any of them in a positive way after the 2020 season? Leighton Vander Esch missed six games with a broken collarbone and high ankle sprain, but has he hit the same level of play he did as a rookie in 2018? Sean Lee and Joe Thomas are scheduled to be free agents. The rest of the lot are special-teamers or young players who might or might not make the roster in 2021.
FRISCO, Texas -- One year and two days ago, Mike McCarthy was introduced as the eighth coach of the Dallas Cowboys, sitting next to Jerry and Stephen Jones inside Ford Center on a beautiful January day without a cloud in the sky.
At the news conference, Jerry Jones spun a folksy tale regarding how he came to believe McCarthy was the right hire.
"My sister explained to my dad one time why she wanted to divorce," Jones said. "Dad loved her husband and he said, 'What's gotten into you?' And she said, 'I don't hear bells.' He said, 'Bells? Bells? I haven't heard bells for the last 30 years.' The bottom line is that is a dad trying to advise his daughter on the right move.
Quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 377 yards and had touchdown passes of 21 and 7 yards to Michael Gallup and 52 yards to CeeDee Lamb as the Cowboys took advantage of a poor Eagles secondary and a pass rush that was missing defensive tackle Fletcher Cox for most of the game.
As for winning the division, the Cowboys (6-9) still need help and it needs to come from the team they just beat. In Week 17, Philadelphia needs to beat the Washington Football Team and the Cowboys need to beat the New York Giants.
Since the Cowboys were swept by Washington, they lose a tiebreaker, requiring the Eagles to do them another favor.
FRISCO, Texas -- Since the 2016 NFL draft, quarterbacks Carson Wentz and Dak Prescott have been connected in many ways.
Wentz, the No. 2 overall pick for the Philadelphia Eagles, has played with outsized expectations; Prescott, the No. 135 overall pick for the Dallas Cowboys, has outperformed expectations and become a preeminent pitchman. From 2017 to 2019, either the Eagles or Cowboys won the NFC East with Wentz and Prescott as each teams' predominant starter.
Even as both watch Sunday's game at AT&T Stadium (4:25 p.m. ET, Fox) -- Wentz from the sideline as a backup to rookie Jalen Hurts and Prescott likely from his home -- they are viewed as a pair when it comes to what their uncertain futures hold. For the Cowboys, Wentz can serve as a potential cautionary tale of what can go wrong when the quarterback does not play to the level of such a gigantic contract -- especially as Dallas prepares for a third round of negotiations with Prescott's agent, Todd France, when the season ends.
governor of virginia, he's going to be out because of term limits at the end of the year. "the new york times" did reporting on this, they dug up other names nobody thought would be connected to the 2020 race. mitch landrieu, mayor of new orleans. "the new york times" says he might be interested. seth molten, second-term congressman from massachusetts, iraq war vet, she's gottgotten visibility as a trump critic. martin o'malley ran in 2016. didn't get much support. he may be interested in 2020. what does this point to, though, in a vacuum like one i was describing when people think it is wide open? you see this. you see names all over the place say, hey, maybe i'll check this out. why not me? maybe there's an opening. take a look at this historically. what could we be looking at in 2020? this is the size of the democratic presidential field. by the time the first contest came around. you can see, single digits. you got to a high there of eight in 2004. 1298 1984.
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