The Cowboys went through three offseasons of Dak Prescott negotiations, finally bringing an end to the saga with a monster four-year, $160MM extension for the Pro Bowl quarterback. This drawn-out process ended benefiting Prescott considerably, given his value when the first round of negotiations began in 2019. Dak is now one of the league’s two $40MM-per-year players, joining Patrick Mahomes, and the sixth-year Dallas quarterback cannot be franchise-tagged after this extension expires. When addressing his top regret during his time as the team’s executive vice president, Stephen Jones said he “probably would have signed Dak the first time around; it would have been better for everybody,” via Pat Doney of NBC 5. The negotiations, which began in April 2019, led to a 2020 franchise tag and the QB’s price rising to the point he inked one of the most player-friendly deals in NFL history this past March. The Cowboys still have their fourth-round find locked up long-term, however. They just took a more difficult route to get here.
Here is the latest from the NFC East:
- Randy Gregory has moved into position to be a full-time starter for the first time, being set to play opposite DeMarcus Lawrence on a regular basis this season. The Cowboys’ oft-suspended pass rusher alluded to then-defensive coordinator Mike Nolan preferring Aldon Smith due to “favoritism.” “I felt there was a little bit of favoritism going on … refusing to let me outshine their favorite,” Gregory said in a lengthy story by The Athletic’s Dan Pompei (subscription required). “They knew I could do it, so they did what they could to keep me at bay. I had my times when I was angry. … I truly felt I got robbed of a year last year.” The NFL reinstated Gregory in late October last year. Smith, who started 16 games after making his own comeback from suspension, is now a Seahawk. New DC Dan Quinn said, via Pompei, he was surprised Gregory (27.1 defensive snaps per game in 2020) did not play more in 2020 and added that the embattled defensive end will indeed see more time this season.
- The Washington Football Team will unveil its next nickname in 2022. That new identity will not be the Warriors, according to team president Jason Wright, who notes discussions the team held revealed “deep-seated discomfort” with that potential moniker. Regardless of what the new name ends up being, the franchise will still use its burgundy-and-gold color scheme.
- Lane Johnson and Derek Barnett‘s restructures created a sizable chunk of cap space for the Eagles. They now have an additional $14MM in cap space, according to Yates (via Twitter). They are up past $16MM, per OverTheCap. Following the Saints’ lead, the Eagles spread out Barnett’s 2021 fifth-year option salary onto future caps by using void years. Barnett’s base salary is now $990K, with the void years stretching through 2025. The Eagles also used void years in Johnson’s restructure, spreading out the right tackle’s cap hit through 2028. He is on Philly’s books for just a $1.1MM base salary this season.
Gregory will show the world what he’s capable of this year. Can’t wait. Great comeback story.
Or he’ll get suspended again
Great comeback story is when someone comes back from an injury or out of retirement. It is not when they come back from their 4th suspension. Drug addiction is real but this man has help at his disposal that most addicts would kill for.
So is there any truth to the story that the Eagles are chasing Watson? I mean opening this cap space makes you wonder
I truly hope not.
Gregory is going to be an absolute beast this year. Don’t know what Mike Nolan was doing last year in limiting his minutes. Every time he was on the field he was making impact plays.
Mike Nolan is a bad coach, so what he was doing made sense if you consider that.
Nolan was the wrong fit for that defense, and Gregory was picked to play in the old scheme as an end and not a linebacker. Smith actually had a good season, so I can’t say that they were idiots to play him.
This is one of those few times where I would say that the player needs to keep his mouth shut. Gregory is lucky to be on that team, as most others would have given up on him long ago. Complaining about playing time is one thing, using the word “favoritism” is another (especially when the guy ahead of you had a decent season). Gregory might get away with that if he himself weren’t working his way back into favor. Smith had also played that position before, in Nolan’s style defense no less, unlike Gregory.
There were legitimate reasons to start Smith over Gregory, and I don’t think they had to do with Nolan being a bad coach. Out of all the players on Dallas’ defense, Smith was the only signed to fit Nolan’s 3-4. The rest were holdovers from Dallas’s old 4-3. McCarthy really is the idiot for trying to switch to an opposite man-to-man style from the previous zone, which was actually pretty good. Nolan, no matter what decisions he could have done better, was handed a crappy job to try and do from the start. I’m not saying Gregory isn’t good-I think he is or will be-but he’s already on shaky ground as is. He needs to focus on proving himself before badmouthing others.
“Probably would have signed Dak the first time around; it would have been better for everybody” “Probably?” Really Stephen? It wouldn’t have been better for Prescott genius, he didn’t win much of anything, slow played you and soaked you for an extra 100M? (more/less). You didn’t lock up Prescott 2 years ago for 25-30M and now you’re paying him Mahomes $$. Only problem is Mahomes has an MVP and a SB Ring, and Dak? Great job buddy. Lil Stephen is proving to be a chip off the ol’ block.
What does this even mean? They tried to sign Dak, he wanted a shorter contract. This word maze of name calling seems to be just you hating Stephen Jones and not offering any specific reason why they should or shouldn’t have signed their quarterback, which you seem to go back and forth on.
Again the rumors of the Eagles trading for Watson, that would be the last nail in Howie’s coffin.
I guess we’ll see if Gregory can walk the talk once he gets on the field. He looked promising, but that was quite the shot he took at the former defensive coordinator and Smith.
“…it would have better for everybody.” I can’t imagine Dak is especially frustrated with the outcome
Already a report out that Gregory failed another drug test.
False
“The Washington Football Team will unveil its next nickname in 2022. That new identity will not be the Warriors, according to team president Jason Wright, who notes discussions the team held revealed “deep-seated discomfort” with that potential moniker.”
A team that was called the Redskins and caught sexually harassing half of the DC/MD/VA metro area had a “deep-seated discomfort” with the Warriors? Was it because they’d have to pay Golden State to use it?
Whatever they choose is going to sound even worse than “football team”.
Red Wolves (or RedWolves, yuck) appears to be the favorite among their fans.
But what if PETA objects? They should just stick with WTF!
I honestly think they should just roll with WFT. Plenty of soccer/football teams don’t have names and are just Location FC or some variant. I also don’t trust them to make a good decision.
Then again, Cleveland set the bar super, super low picking the awful Guardians name, so maybe they’ll be fine.
Agreed with rct. Warriors is pretty generic though, like Guardians, so I hope they don’t pick it. Red Wolves is a little meh, but at least it’s unique.
They say that they won’t do anything that relates to the old imagery, but I think something should be done that’s respectful to the people that it represented-that is, offering tickets to tribal members, donating to tribal organizations, promoting educational programs on different tribal cultures and practices. I probably am in the minority, but a clean break without some sort of effort at making it right seems off to me. Something more respectful than “Redskin” but also acknowledging the role American Indians played in American history and their importance as people..minus the people dressing up in headdresses, painting their faces, wearing fake Indian costumes they bought on Amazon. It just seems better than ignoring everything, but I don’t know.
The name could and probably should be unrelated, but the team should use its platform to actually honor those people in acknowledgement of the publicity it used them for. That would also make those American Indians who did identify with the team at least feel some sense of fulfillment that the team still acknowledges them too. Basically I’m proposing that the team promotes them and lends them its platform in an honorable and not gimmicky way to acknowledge its role in having to make it right.
WFT should embrace the villain role and name their team something everyone hates.
The Washington Politicians
While we’re dusting off unfunny old chestnuts, how about The Washington Taxes? Or The Washington Nagging Wives? The Washington Mother-In-Laws!!!!!!
Not as hated as politicians.
Keep trying
Washington Tax Collectors has a dire echo. Put a $ sign on the helmet.
Washington Insurance Adjustors. They’ll cover 10% of your concessions after you meet your deductible.
The list of names the WFT seems to be considering doesn’t have a single good idea on it. And of course the wokies don’t even like George Washington any more, thus perhaps they should jettison that part of the name as well.
“Washington” by itself doesn’t specify whether one is referring to the city or state. Perhaps Potomac would be a better choice.
Washington Gladiators would work well with the existing burgundy and gold and at least has as slightly fearsome ring. Red Wolves are kind of mangy, coyote-like wolves, near extinction. Wolves all alone would be better and has nice alliteration (Washington Wolves).
Yeah, but they’re safe. That’s why they’re on there-names aren’t really there to excite an audience, they’re there to be branded. Something generic appeals to everyone-like the Guardians. Something Washington related can’t be as easily marketed to someone in North Carolina or New Hampshire or even West Virginia. It has to be inoffensive (I don’t mean politically, just in terms of how someone will react to it), which usually means not creative.
I do like Wolves better than Red Wolves, because the mascot is easy and it’s one word, but Red Wolves isn’t terrible compared to some others. Gladiators would look good with the colors, but for some reason I can’t imagine how that name would look if the team were bad. It’s too tough a name for a team that could go 4-13 or 1-16 at any point in its future (I don’t mean now necessarily), but that’s just me. I wouldn’t hate it, it just seems like there could be something better.
It won’t let me edit my response, but for some reason I like Highwaymen. The red and gold seem fitting to me for that, and the mascot would be easy. Plus it’s unique enough to stand out amongst teams without being too specific to market, and it has an element of independence and toughness that could be alluring to fans. Maybe not, I just think it could work.
I think one of the reasons Red Wolves is picking up steam is that it can be easily replace “Redskins” in the team’s old fight song: “Hail to the Red Wolves! Hail to the Red Wolves!”
Good thinking, Gregory. Teams always play guys with lesser talent because “they like them better”. Get a clue dude. Unless you were a first rate A-hole, there is no chance that a coach is going to risk his job by playing a lesser talent for that reason. Clearly you aren’t capable of thinking clearly or accepting what is really going on. God knows why the Cowboys keep giving this headache chance after chance. How ’bout them Cowboys!