Hallelujah for some sports news during this crazy time of Coronavirus, even if it is the departure of a fan favorite and one of the better quarterbacks in the league. ScoreBoardTX has learned this morning that Jerry Jones is rolling the dice and has traded Dak Prescott to the Miami Dolphins for their first round pick (the fifth overall selection), their third round pick, and veteran center Daniel Kilgore, who served as a captain of the 2019 Dolphins.
Against his will, Jerry was forced to make this move since Dak and his camp would not budge on contract demands, even though the Cowboys had an offer on the table to make Prescott the highest-paid signal caller in the league.
Placed with the franchise tag on his status, Prescott’s only leverage was to hold out until he got the contract he wanted, which is what was communicated to the Cowboys’ front office. Dak wanted a four-year deal so he could be in the marketplace for a new deal again in 2024, something surely to bring him an even higher deal. Jerry wanted a five-year contract and wasn’t about to go through this again in a shorter time span.
Presented with an offer from Miami, which needs a quarterback in the worst way, Jerry also saw an opportunity to draft Tua Tagovailoa out of Alabama with the fifth overall pick. Joe Burrow will surely go to the Bengals with the first pick, practically dropping Tua to the Cowboys and a fresh start at QB.
“You only get so many chances to draft a kid like Tua,” said a Cowboys scout who requested anonymity. “This trade makes sense because it provides salary cap relief and gives the team more youth to build around.”
As for the remainder of the deal, the third round pick is also nice but don’t sleep on Kilgore, one of the smartest offensive linemen in the league. With the retirement of Travis Frederick, the Cowboys were in the market. Kilgore will fit right in.
Perhaps now the Cowboys can concentrate on definitely drafting a defensive back with the 17th overall pick. Prior to this trade, an O-lineman certainly could not be ruled out as a possible pick. This frees up options.
Reeling in all of this is Ezekiel Elliott, who was spotted this morning yelling in his backyard as he continues his own shelter-in-place, furious about the trade. Either that or he’s going stir-crazy like the rest of us.
“I’m honestly very surprised at the move,” said Fox analyst and former Cowboys QB Troy Aikman. “I pictured Dak staying with the Cowboys for a long time, at least for the next year or two if they kept the franchise tag on him.”
Lost in the deal is the fact that had the Cowboys made this deal a few weeks ago, they could have had a shot at Tom Brady. There’s no question that Brady would have given the Cowboys a look, but hindsight is twenty-twenty.
For every deal that is made, there are ripple effects. Surely the Cowboys will receive overtures from other teams for the pick (teams like San Diego and even New England). Jerry will surely keep it; the chance to draft Tua is simply too strong.
Over the long haul, this may turn out to be a very good move for Dallas. This guarantees that their quarterback won’t eat up a big chunk of salary cap, giving the team flexibility to re-sign its own free agents.
On the flip side, Dallas loses one of the smarter players in the league, one with high in tangibles and a knack for winning. He wasn’t perfect, but he won more games than some other quarterbacks now making upwards of $30 million per season.
Lateral moves aren’t the answer. Dallas could have easily moved Prescott for another veteran quarterback, but what would be the point? In Tua, they get a young, dynamic player who could be a superstar.
Someday the Cowboys may look back at this day and realize it was the turning point towards winning another Super Bowl. Could they have won one with Dak? Hard to say but he hadn’t gotten them that far just yet.
Demonstrating shrewd patience isn’t always Jerry’s M.O., but in this case he pulled it off. Sources say that Miami insisted upon the Cowboys’ own first round pick coming back their way as part of the deal. But Jerry wouldn’t budge.
As always, there’s a surprise factor when it comes to big trades like this. Lately there have been strong rumors that Dak was going to walk away from football altogether and go back to med school. He’s been motivated by the current climate of the coronavirus, and wants to be part of the solution.
You know the drill though. Dak isn’t going to med school. In fact he’s not going anywhere. Put together the first letter of each paragraph and you’ll understand why.
