#Chiefs LT Orlando Brown Jr. is focused on winning the AFC title game and a Super Bowl despite future contract negotiations hanging over him. | from @TheJohnDillon
There’s been plenty of speculation about Brown Jr. signing an extension with the team this upcoming offseason, but he’s putting all of the outside forces aside ahead of the Chiefs’ AFC Championship Game matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend.
He was asked whether his contract situation was weighing on him in Kansas City’s Friday press conference, and left no doubt about where his mind is at.
“Yeah, just understanding that for me, right now, the current goal is winning a Super Bowl,” Brown Jr. explained. “And that’s really just been my focus, and as far as all those other things, that will be taken care of by my agent and however things are worked out on the business side. So, I just try to focus on that goal and to me, that’s what’s most important right now.”
Kansas City’s fate in Sunday’s game will be decided by their offensive line’s ability to keep Patrick Mahomes upright and unscathed for the duration of the matchup. Brown’s comments are admirable for a player who is operating in a less-than-ideal situation relative to his contract. If he can manage to hold up his end of the bargain against the Bengals this weekend, he could force the Chiefs’ hand in negotiations in the coming months.
His QB and head coach acknowledge the business side of Schultz’s situation, but it may make more financial sense for Dallas to sit tight. | From @ToddBrock24f7
With three weeks to go before his franchise tag becomes official for the duration of the upcoming season, Dalton Schultz does not seem to be any closer to getting a long-term contract extension from the Cowboys.
And the stalemate could last a very long time.
The tight end from Stanford, entering his fifth pro season, skipped the final week of the team’s voluntary OTA sessions over frustrations with the process.
He returned for mandatory minicamp, as skipping would have incurred a fine, but now, with the team on break until late July and the start of training camp in Oxnard, it’s going to take one or both sides picking up the phone and hammering out a deal.
According to Michael Gehlken of the Dallas Morning News, however, the conversation has hit a lull. “The two sides currently stand far apart in negotiations,” he writes. He goes on to suggest that “talks would need to take on new life to culminate in a contract, and market conditions could compel the Cowboys to wait.”
Schultz signed his tender back in March, locking in a 2022 salary of $10.93 million if a new deal isn’t reached by July 15. Late last month, he told reporters he hadn’t been too concerned with contract talks, saying, “I let my agent kind of handle all that business.” Schultz was focused instead on bulking up in the gym so that he could, as he put it, “hold my own a little more” against the league’s larger edge rushers.
Head coach Mike McCarthy has mostly sidestepped questions about his starter, a former fourth-round draft pick who has turned into one of the more reliable tight ends around the league.
“Great question,” McCarthy replied when asked if Schultz would report to training camp as scheduled. “Business question. I think we’re all hopeful, and it’d be great for everybody.”
Schultz’s teammates similarly expressed confidence that the dollars-and-cents side of the game would work itself out.
“The offense is better with him in it,” guard Zack Martin offered. “I understand completely what he’s going through. It’s tough, but it’s good to have him out there.”
Quarterback Dak Prescott knows better than most, having done the franchise tag dance with the Cowboys front office for all of 2020. He was tagged again in March of 2021, only to sign a $160 million contract the next day.
“It’s huge,” he said of Schultz’s return to the team during OTAs. “Obviously just what he means to this team, his leadership, the role he stepped into: to be the guy at tight end and to be a leader of this offense and to make plays. He’s a guy that I can count on, that I can trust, and that’s continued to grow. And it’s grown through these last few weeks.”
The Cowboys have a handful of tight ends behind Schultz on the depth chart, but none of them have anything resembling his experience. Sean McKeon enters his third season but has just four total catches. Veteran journeyman Jeremy Sprinkle is mainly a blocker and special teamer. Ian Bunting has seen action in one game and only signed a futures contract in January. Jake Ferguson was drafted in the fourth round out of Wisconsin; Peyton Hendershot was signed as an UDFA out of Indiana.
The NFL’s tight end market saw a boom during this offseason, with Cleveland’s David Njoku inking a four-year, $54.75 million deal in May. That contract ($13.69 million annually) is now seen as the floor that Schultz’s representatives would likely use in their negotiations with Dallas.
San Francsico’s George Kittle earns a league-best $15 million a year at the position.
Given that, Gelhken points out that “it would be a reasonable business approach for the Cowboys to recognize the $10.93 million and $13.12 million costs to tag Schultz in 2022 and 2023, respectively.”
Which means that Schultz’s phone may not ring at all over the next three weeks.
Seahawks WR DK Metcalf was a no-show for minicamp but coach Pete Carroll said he’s hoping a deal gets done by the start of training camp.
Seattle Seahawks star wide receiver DK Metcalf was a no-show for the start of the team’s mandatory minicamp on Tuesday. The absence came as a bit of a surprise as Metcalf was present when voluntary OTAs kicked off last month.
Coach Pete Carroll was asked about the situation following Thursday’s practice.
“It was a decision that he had to make,” Carroll told reporters. “We missed him. He had done a nice job contributing and being a part of everything we had done and then he’s not here. I can’t say much for what he hasn’t done here but we’d love to have him with us.”
Metcalf is entering the last year of his rookie contract and is likely more than aware of the price other receivers around the league have been commanding. Carroll understands the position of the young receiver.
“There’s been conversations,” Carroll said. “Pretty standard, kinda semi-quiet right now. Camp’s coming up. These are crucial weeks to get something done, we’ll see what happens and hopefully, we can work something out.”
Carroll would not comment on what actions, if any, the team would take regarding the unexcused absence.
In the midst of a contract negotiation with the Arizona Cardinals, Kyler Murray to sit out OTAs.
The ongoing contract saga between Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals has begun to bleed into onfield work as the former Sooners quarterback has opted to sit out of organized team activities according to ESPN.
Murray, who’s set to make $11.3 million in the fourth year of his rookie deal is under contract through the 2023 season with the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals picked up his fifth-year rookie option for 2023 that will guarantee Murray $29.7 million.
The average annual value of his contract ranks behind Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota, Trevor Lawrence, and Jimmy Garappolo. In recent seasons, he’s been a far more productive quarterback than those three.
In recent seasons, we’ve seen first-round picks seek contract extensions heading into the fourth year of their rookie contracts. Running back Ezekiel Elliott of the Dallas Cowboys is one example. He held out of training camp looking for a long-term deal, which he got a week before the regular season was set to start in 2019.
Regardless of where Kyler Murray lands in various quarterback rankings, he’s going to get paid like a top five to 10 quarterback in the NFL. That’s how the market works. The next guy up that’s considered a franchise quarterback gets paid like one. Look for the former Sooner to land somewhere around $40 to $45 million a year whenever his long-term deal with the Arizona Cardinals comes to pass.
Until then, Murray will wait on the Cardinals away from the team facilities.
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Like Randy Moss and T.J. Watt, Bobby Wagner could have been a Cowboy; he and the club couldn’t agree to terms to bring him to Dallas. | From @ToddBrock24f7
There are certain players who live rent-free in the minds of Cowboys fans as the ones that got away, stars who could’ve/should’ve/would’ve worn the star except for some simple twist of fate. The ones that hurt the most are the ones who were right there for the taking… until someone in the front office just couldn’t bring themselves to pull the trigger.
Hall of Famer Randy Moss comes to mind, famously passed over by Dallas in the 1998 draft after a very public courtship. T.J. Watt, last season’s Defensive Player of the Year, is a more recent example; the Cowboys left him on the board in 2017 so they could instead select Taco Charlton.
Now Cowboys Nation can add eight-time Pro Bowl linebacker Bobby Wagner to that list.
The ten-year veteran signed a $65 million contract to join the Los Angeles Rams in free agency last week, but the former Seahawk has revealed that he nearly came to Dallas after weeks of widespread speculation.
“That was a real thing,” Wagner told CNBC’s Jabari Young of his open flirtation with the Cowboys. “We had conversations. I love [defensive coordinator] Dan Quinn and have a lot of respect for him. But between their needs and what they were willing to spend, we couldn’t agree. But there was mutual interest.”
What the Cowboys were willing to spend will be the subject of criticism from the fanbase every time Wagner’s name is mentioned for the rest of time.
Just two weeks before the Rams inked Wagner to his five-year deal, the Cowboys thought they had defensive end Randy Gregory locked up. Jerry and Stephen Jones were apparently willing to sign Gregory to a new $70 million pact, before a disagreement over contract language brought their seven-year relationship to a sudden and ugly end.
To recap, the Cowboys were ready to spend $70 million on the 29-year-old Gregory who missed essentially three whole seasons, but were unwilling to give $65 million to a 31-year-old six-time All-Pro and Super Bowl champ.
That Wagner’s deal with the Rams is actually for $50 million and only hits the higher figure if he achieves certain incentives is even more infuriating for Cowboys fans. They continue to watch the planet’s richest sports franchise- who hasn’t been to a Super Bowl in a quarter-century yet just raised ticket prices- talk about all the things they can’t afford.
Or, to put it more accurately, stubbornly won’t fork out for.
One has to believe the Joneses, who love to espouse all the intangible benefits that come with playing for America’s Team, could have found numerous ways to sweeten the deal for Wagner, who represented himself in negotiations instead of working with an agent.
“I felt like I was in a good situation where I knew how to handle my emotions and what stage of my career I’m in,” Wagner explained. “I just wanted to get the right deal for me.”
Wagner says that signing with the Rams allows him to return to his native city of Los Angeles, it keeps him in the familiar NFC West on Sundays, and it allows him to travel easily back to Seattle, where he will maintain a residence.
“Between the Rams and Cowboys – those are teams that have been around for a long time and have a lot of history,” he added. “Being able to be a part of any of those franchises boosts your notoriety. And I landed on one.”
Just not the right one, as far as Cowboys fans are concerned.
Lawrence asked to be cut after a proposed pay cut, but Jerry Jones saved the day; Lawrence hopes the money can bring Von Miller to Dallas. | From @ToddBrock24f7
The Randy Gregory negotiations blew up in the Cowboys’ faces on Tuesday. Apparently contract talks with the team’s other starting defensive end nearly ended just as disastrously.
Eight-year veteran DeMarcus Lawrence offered an enlightening peek behind the curtains of the back and forth with Jerry and Stephen Jones that eventually kept him in Dallas on a new three-year deal worth $30 million, fully guaranteed. He reveals that he actually had one foot out the door based on the team’s original offer, one that he calls “disrespectful.” And with the cap savings his new pact brings to the team, the two-time Pro Bowler had some definite ideas on how the front office could spend some of it.
The pass rusher spoke with Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden on the All Things Covered podcast on Tuesday, telling the hosts that he was ready to pack his bags and leave the Cowboys based on the team’s initial request that he take a pay cut to help the bottom line.
“One year, ten million dollars,” Lawrence said of the Cowboys’ first offer.
The former second-round draft choice was previously due a 2022 base salary of $19 million, with a 2023 base of $21 million, none of it guaranteed. So yes, the new offer represented a significant drop.
“It’s disrespectful,” argues Lawrence. “It’s disrespectful to me, and also disrespectful for what I did for the Dallas Cowboys.”
Even though he says he was not interested in moving his family, Lawrence explained that he told the team it was time to part ways.
“I wish you all would cut me,” Lawrence said he told Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones. “And Stephen’s like, ‘All right, I’m going to have to bring your offer to Jerry to see what he says. But I’m pretty sure he’s going to be pretty pissed about it, because he just gave you $65 million.'”
The Cowboys placed Lawrence on the franchise tag back in 2018, and then did it again 364 days later. That designation bought the two sides more time to work out a deal, and in April of 2019, Lawrence signed a five-year contract worth $105 million, with a $65 million guarantee.
But with ten games missed in 2021 due to a broken foot and the organization in a dire salary cap situation heading into free agency, the Cowboys apparently looked at Lawrence’s remaining years as fat that could be trimmed. Their initial offer, however, cut too close to the bone for Lawrence’s liking.
"It's disrespectful"
That's how DeMarcus Lawrence described his initial offer from the Cowboys this offseason.
And up until the other day, he thought his time in Dallas was done. Hear what led to his return on @ATCoveredPod
“My response was, ‘He didn’t give me [expletive]; I earned it,” Lawrence continued. “If Jerry wants to keep me here, he has to understand that. This is what I’m worth. And plus, I’m actually showing love and helping y’all out by offering y’all the relief and cap space by doing this deal with me. Let’s go out here and have a fruitful free agency, pick up the guys that we need in order to win a Super Bowl, because if I don’t get this number, I won’t be here to help.”
When presented with that argument, Lawrence reported that the billionaire owner saw the 29-year-old’s point of view, and saw a new contract to keep Lawrence in the silver and blue as a worthwhile investment.
“Jerry was like, ‘Man, shoot. D-Law’s been faithful to us for the last seven, eight years. Give him his damn money.'”
Lawrence got paid, but the structuring of the contract means others will, too. The Cowboys saved $13 million off the cap hit with the stroke of Lawrence’s pen. One of the players identified as a next step was Lawrence’s linemate. That negotiation ended with Gregory doing an eleventh-hour about-face and committing to Denver mere minutes after Dallas had announced he would be staying put. The fly in that ointment was supposedly unusual contract language that Gregory’s reps say was sneaked in by the club (or at least not specifically called out) after a verbal agreement had already been reached.
The front office’s slick contract dealings once again ended with a high-profile player feeling burned and walking away from the table. This time, though, Jerry wasn’t around to smooth things over. And the $70 million originally promised to Gregory now- ostensibly- goes back in the kitty for use elsewhere.
Like for Von Miller, perhaps.
The eight-time Pro Bowl outside linebacker is hitting free agency and has been linked to Dallas, in his home state and where he still has a residence.
And while Lawrence was surprised by the Gregory news and saddened by the departure of his friend, he’s admittedly excited about the prospect of helping to add a two-time Super Bowl champ to the Cowboys defense.
“He’s a great defensive end,” Lawrence said. ‘Shoot, man, we’d be lucky to get Von, happy to play with Von. We’ll see what’s up.”
On a unit that already boasts last season’s Defensive Rookie of the Year in Micah Parsons and the league’s interception leader in Trevon Diggs, Lawrence believes introducing another star like Miller would only allow everyone to shine a little brighter.
And maybe for him to notch a few more sacks.
“That’s the best way to do it,” Lawrence grinned. “If you don’t have any competition, you’re not going to work hard enough in order to get there. And plus, the first man is always the man that misses.”
In this case, it looks like Gregory may be the first man that missed on rejoining the Cowboys still-ascending defense. And Von Miller may be the man that swoops in and benefits.
All because Lawrence did the up-front work of having a hard conversation with the Joneses.
Dak Prescott wants a new deal that’s less than Patrick Mahomes’s $45 million per year and above Deshaun Watson’s $39 million annually.
The biggest elephant in the room when it comes to the Dallas Cowboys is the long-term security of quarterback Dak Prescott. Shock waves were sent throughout the NFL landscape last week when Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson listed the Cowboys as a potential landing spot if he were to be traded.
NFL Network’s Jane Slater reported a day later, after confirming with a team source, that it was “laughable” to think such a scenario would happen. Slater also made an appearance on the Dan Patrick Show on Monday to discuss Prescott’s potential deal. Slater relayed a Cowboys’ team source has told her Prescott is looking to put his John Hancock on a contract that comes in “right behind” Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs.
Jane Slater (@SlaterNFL) joined us this morning to separate fact from fiction when it comes to Dak, Russell Wilson, and the #Cowboys
Slater goes on to say that while there haven’t been meaningful conversations, the two sides are talking and her team source indicates it feels that recent interactions “feels a little bit more productive.”
Mahomes’s deal in the ceiling for all at the quarterback position at $45 million annually. The floor is Deshaun Watson’s contract which pays him $39 million per year. Many feel Prescott hasn’t earned the right to approach Mahomes’ value, so something slightly above Watson is more realistic.
Prescott and Watson are often compared, but most seem to think Watson is the better player and Prescott should be paid as much or more than him. When the numbers are investigated, they’re much closer than many assume.
They both have a 69.3 QBR for their careers. Their completion percentages are close with Watson at 67.8 and 66.0 for Prescott. Watson uses his legs better and has a higher touchdown percentage (5.9%) than Prescott (4.6%), however, Prescott’s 1.7% interception percentage is lower than Watson’s 2.1%.
The two young studs have almost identical playoff numbers as well. Both have a 1-2 record in the postseason. Prescott has completed 64.1% of his passes with a rating of 95.7 while Watson has connected on 63.5% of his throws with a rating of 91.
The contract saga between Prescott and the Cowboys seemed to be headed towards a long-term deal in 2019. After Prescott threw for 405 yards (franchise-record for a season opener) and four touchdowns against the New York Giants, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said that a new deal was “imminent”.
That never materialized and Prescott finished with a near franchise-record 4,902 yards and 30 touchdowns, having many to believe the two sides wouldn’t let the 2020 season kick-off without a new long-term marriage. The Cowboys put a five-year, $175 million dollar deal on the table, but Prescott wanted a four-year commitment with the ability to hit the market again early in the new television deals and the associated windfall of revenue and salary cap space.
Prescott was placed on the franchise tag for $31.4 million for the 2020 season after another round of failed negotiations but only played in five games before a season-ending ankle injury.
The Cowboys and Prescott remain adamant a long-term deal is what both sides are striving for. The deadline to place a second consecutive franchise tag is March 9 and would slot Prescott for a $37.7 million salary. If Prescott is tagged again, the two sides will have until July 15 to work out a multi-year extension.
The QB, recovering from injury, responded to a social media post pointing out how long it’s been since the team played for an NFC title.
ESPN’s social media team had a little fun at the Cowboys’ expense on Monday, sharing a post meant to highlight Dallas’s postseason futility over the past quarter-century.
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott clapped back with a response of his own that’s sure to resonate with the team’s fans, promising to reverse that trend just as soon as he’s healthy again. And a recent report indicates that Prescott is making “great progress” toward that end.
The Worldwide Leader added to their postgame coverage of the weekend’s NFC Divisional round with an Instagram post originally put out by the NFL_Memes Twitter account. The post points out the disparity between the number of NFC Championship Games the Cowboys have been to since 1997 and the number that Tom Brady has been to.
The punch line, obviously, is that Dallas hasn’t played for the conference title in twenty-four years, while Brady did it in his first season since coming over from the AFC.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CKMMwMVhhXJ/
Okay, sure, kick the Cowboys while they’re down. But Prescott saw the post, too. And he took the opportunity to make sure Dallas fans know that he’s working hard to be ready to contend for the very next conference crown come 2021.
Jumping into the comments, Prescott tagged Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott and replied, “Hold my crutches,” as first noticed by Mauricio Rodriguez.
The five-year veteran was off to a blistering start in 2020, on pace to shatter passing yardage records before a gruesome compound fracture and ankle dislocation brought his season to an end in Week 5.
Since then, he’s been rehabbing the ankle and is reportedly on track to re-join the team when official activities begin in the spring. All this comes while he is also preparing to enter into negotiations with Cowboys ownership over his next contract. Prescott played in 2020 under the franchise tag after talks between the two sides over the summer could not bring about new terms.
A healthy Prescott could mean big things for a talented Cowboys club that woefully underachieved this past season, and the two-time Pro Bowler is apparently making serious strides in proving to owner Jerry Jones that he will be fully ready to roll in 2021.
NFL insider Ian Rapoport gave an update on Saturday’s edition of NFL GameDay Morning, one that should be music to the ears of Cowboys Nation.
“He’s coming along great,” Rapoport said, citing unnamed but multiple sources. “He’s walking right now, which is a big step, working the anti-gravity treadmill and the HydroWorx pool, which takes pressure off his ankle but allows him to get in shape. He is making great progress, and based on the work he’s put in, what they think, he’s going to come back better than ever.”
Dak Prescott would've been the best QB in this game tonight.
Also in the news, Jerry Jones boasts about his attendance record, and why Will McClay hasn’t taken a GM job with another NFL team.
The big wheel of the Dallas Cowboys keeps turning. There’s no playoff game to prepare for, so thoughts have already shifted to the 2021 season. And that opens up all kinds of possibilities. Which draft picks to zero in on, what veterans on other rosters to go after in a trade, who among the team’s own free agents to retain… it’s all on the table once again.
There’s still plenty of rehashing of 2020 to do, including lots of suggestions on how to fix the many things that went wrong this year. But there’s good news, too: a rookie is singled out ahead of his peers, a monster performance ranks among the season’s best, and more than one Cowboy showed out with a surprising season. All that, plus back in the weeds with the Dak Prescott contract saga, Jerry Jones finds something to brag about, and a look at why one of the most well-respected front office guys in the league hasn’t jumped ship to be a GM somewhere else. That’s coming right up in News and Notes.
The former QB sat down with Cowboys Wire to cover a wide variety of topics as a new NFL season and ad campaign for the beer pitchman begin.
Tony Romo started nine Week 1 games as a Dallas Cowboy. One of his most exciting season openers came in 2015 with a touchdown pass in the final seconds to beat the Giants. He broke his collarbone the next week and Dallas would ultimately finish that season last in the NFC East with a 4-12 record. The year before? An 0-1 start after an embarrassing first loss to the 49ers. But that team went on to win the division with a 12-4 mark and the top seed in the NFC postseason bracket.
The point is this: Week 1 isn’t a reliable predictor of anything.
That may be a good mantra for those among Cowboys Nation who were ready to write off 2020 as another wasted season after a disappointing opening night loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
During a private videochat this week with Cowboys Wire and two other outlets, Romo held court in his trademark backward ballcap and covered a wide range of topics: Dak Prescott’s contract drama, the hidden ways COVID-19 will affect players across the league, his own (surprising) fantasy football skills, even his return to the Corona Hotline in a new series of televised beer commercials.
Romo on Week 1 overreactions:
Befitting the cool and unflappable attitude he exudes while manning the beachside phone line in those popular ads, Romo warns against reading too much into whether the team wins or loses their first game of the season.
“I’d be very careful for people to base everything on Week 1,” Romo said. “Just every year in the NFL, everybody, before the season starts, is going to be amazing. Everyone’s figured it all out: they all have a plan, everyone has everything great. Every new team has the new coach or the new players, they’ve got the new scheme or done whatever, and everything is going to be great. And then everyone watches Week 1, and from a fan perspective, we all go, ‘They’re not going to be any good. Did you see that? Terrible.'”
The lead analyst for CBS points out that the global pandemic that’s impacted everything else will mean a longer learning curve for teams that are still just now coming together.
“This is a very unique year. These guys have not been been together all offseason. Right now, you’re trying to figure out your own system.”
He was referring to Tom Brady in his first year with the Buccaneers, but it’s easy to swap in Mike McCarthy and the Cowboys and see some parallels that should talk a few Dallas fans off the proverbial ledge after Team Fortyburger failed to show at SoFi Stadium.
“We pretend like they should have this down because they’ve been together for a month. That’s not realistic,” Romo cautioned. “When the bullets start flying and you’re going through real games, that’s when you start to learn what’s really going to hold up and what’s really not. During the preseason, during practices and training camp, you get all this. But during the offseason, you start to learn about your players. When you’re the quarterback, you start to see, ‘This kid can run this route; this kid can’t.’ In training camp, you really have already assessed all of that, so now you’re like, ‘Okay, let’s put it in these situations to see if it works in these situations. In training camp. In preseason. Or scrimmages against other teams.’ There’s been none of that.”
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott readies to take a snap during the first half of an NFL football game Los Angeles Rams Sunday, Sept. 13, 2020, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)
Romo believes that it typically takes four games for everyone to get on the same page. But he also thinks McCarthy’s willingness to not only retain Kellen Moore as the team’s offensive coordinator but leave his playcalling responsibilities intact should accelerate the usual getting-to-know-you process between new coach and roster.
“With the Cowboys, the verbiage is the same. So the Cowboys are, kind of, the same offense. They’re not going to be behind when it comes to the verbiage,” the 4-time Pro Bowler said. “As long as the verbiage is the same, you know the offense, you know the rules, you know what people are supposed to do. So that part of it isn’t really different. The difference with Mike McCarthy coming in was that he kept that. So he allowed Kellen Moore to kind of do the same thing, because they were successful last year, offensively. The production was where they wanted it. So I think that’s a good thing.
“Now, as a head coach and you’re an offensive guy, if the production isn’t equaling what you think, then you might start to influence it a little bit more. But right now, Mike’s just trying to see how this goes, watching what’s happening with Kellen and the team. I think is trying to put in a couple things that he knows he likes, so Kellen will put that in. But the majority of it’s going to come from Kellen and the offense. And they’re going to be more similar to last year than they would be [with] a new guy and changing everything. If the verbiage was different- because Mike comes from a West Coast background, and that verbiage is very different. But he decided to come in and keep it the same way. And that allows the players to not have to think as much. That, alone, I think will help them early on. If they ever struggle, I think he’ll put his influence on it very quickly as the head coach.”
Romo on adjustments for players during COVID-19:
Of course, COVID-19 didn’t just scrap preseason exhibition games and abbreviate training camp. The worldwide health crisis hasn’t gone anywhere, so the league is having to adjust on the fly, trying to conduct business as usual in times that are anything but. And while Week 1 may have felt like the finish line and a welcome return to normalcy from the vantage point of fans’ rec room sofas, Romo says the players themselves are still in the very early stages of figuring out just how different the 2020 season will be.
“I don’t think they know yet,” Romo explained. “Really, it’s just beginning. When you’re in the NFL, you’re creatures of habit. Everything is set up for you, timewise. A year in advance, you know what you’re doing next August 21st, next September 11th, 12th, 13th. You can map out your entire schedule. The difference now is the timing of everything is just a hair different. What you do with your normal routine is just a hair different. If you’re used to waking up and getting into the facility at a certain time, now that changes. You’ve got to get up a little bit sooner to do the test, do a lot of other things. You decide not to go out to eat with your family on Friday night. Your family comes in town for a home game, you’re used to going out with [your] parents, [your] wife’s parents, your aunts and uncles, everybody, Are you willing to risk that and go to dinner?”
Romo downplays the notion that it will be difficult for players to pump themselves up for games played in vacant or nearly-empty stadiums. The Cowboys and Rams conducted their Week 1 contest without fans in attendance in Los Angeles; Dallas returns home to host Atlanta at AT&T Stadium, where estimates suggest a crowd of around 20,000 on Sunday.
Sep 13, 2020; Inglewood, California, USA; General overall view of SoFi Stadium before the NFL game between the Dallas Cowboys and the Los Angeles Rams. at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The ex-quarterback doesn’t think it will make much of a difference to the players on the field.
Or, at least, it shouldn’t.
“As far as gameday, people were talking about fans in the stands. Some coaches talk about the energy, stuff like that. I don’t know. If you’re a player, and you’re in the NFL, and you can get hit, or you have to go hit somebody, it’s a fight-or-flight feeling.
“So with or without fans,” he continued, “you’re exposed to that feeling. There’s nerves, and a lot of it is because you can get hurt. Like, right away. You’re going to get hurt, and you’re going to be in a position to be exposed in multiple ways. As far as how we evaluate you on Monday, your coaches are still evaluating everything you do. The fans may add energy and stuff. I know it’s a little bit different when you’re watching it, but as a player, I really believe these guys can’t go into a game and go, ‘Oh, there’s no fans; I just didn’t have it today.’ You’re going to get dominated.
“These guys, their lives are on the line, and someone’s going to come and attack you. And if you’re not bringing it every day?… It’s not like a different sport where it’s just, ‘Well, I didn’t feel the energy.’ If you didn’t feel the energy, there’s a good chance you could get hurt. I think the players are going to go just as hard. They’re going to give just the same effort.”
Romo on Dak’s deal in an evolving NFL:
In 2007, Romo was rewarded with a lucrative six-year contract extension with the Cowboys after just 17 starts. Another big-money six-year pact was reached before the 2013 season. Conversely, Dak Prescott started 54 games under his rookie contract and got a one-year prove-it deal on the franchise tag for the effort.
The will-they-or-won’t-they drama surrounding Prescott and the Cowboys front office’s long-term commitment to him was the rollercoaster ride of the summer. But Romo, who has made a name for himself with his predictive abilities in the broadcast booth, forecasts a happy ending for Prescott and America’s Team.
“I think with Dak, it’s going to be very easy for the Cowboys to get that done. It’s just one of those things.”
One could argue that if locking up Prescott’s services were truly very easy, the Joneses would have checked that box on the to-do list long before it became the lead story on sports reports everywhere. Instead, the Chiefs inked Patrick Mahomes to a groundbreaking contract in July, and the Texans secured Deshaun Watson earlier this month. That likely ensures that Prescott’s paycheck will get even bigger than it would have been had the deal gotten done in the spring.
Aug 19, 2016; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott (4) and quarterback Tony Romo (9) talk during the pregame warmups against the Miami Dolphins at AT&T Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports
“I think Dak Prescott bet on himself,” Romo posited. “But I don’t think it’s just him. I think a lot of quarterbacks are doing that right now. The seven-year, eight-year contracts are probably going away. And what’s happening is, teams are having to adjust. That always helps the salary cap when you can have a guy who you know is going to be there a long time because you can always roll the money back to next year, you can always push it back, and that position, you always knew he’d be there…
“So Dak bet on himself. And I think in a lot of ways, that’s what a lot of people are doing, just betting on themselves and saying they know they’re unique and they have the ability to help a football team win.”
“I understand both sides,” Romo offered. “I understand Dak’s side, because he’s right. And the Cowboys are right. There is no perfect answer here. It’s hard because the salary cap changes each year… It’s just a different time right now where quarterbacks are understanding their leverage, and teams are having to adjust what they’re doing. I think it will still get done. It’s obviously not ideal for anyone, but I think it will get done.”
The Cowboys’ career leader in passing yards and passing touchdowns believes that the league is currently in the middle of a rare quarterback renaissance. And that is contributing to the delay in a deal for the man trying to get there.
“It’s a different time. Quarterbacks have always been something that has driven the league. You want great quarterbacks, and the more great quarterbacks you have, the league is better off. It’s just rare when you get the older quarterbacks who are finishing up their careers who are really good, and you get a bunch of young quarterbacks, and they’re all kind of mixed in; these guys aren’t way better. For a long time, it was like, Tom Brady and Peyton Manning; they’re just so much better. Then you throw in Aaron Rodgers and Drew Brees: there’s the four, and then there’s everybody else who’s trying to knock on the door. There might be a guy or two, but there’s never been this much depth.”
Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott and Seattle Seahawks’ Russell Wilson greet each other at midfield after their NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 24, 2017, in Arlington, Texas. (AP Photo/Ron Jenkins)
Despite proclamations from the top that Prescott is the future of the franchise, passer depth across the league and in the college ranks may be a small part of what’s kept the Cowboys ownership from wedding themselves to their 2016 fourth-round find.
But Romo also thinks the current QB boom helps the truly special signal-callers prove their worth when it comes time to re-negotiate.
“There are so many guys that have the ability to lead their team to a championship, if their team is in a position to really win,” he said. “Saying all of that, yes, I know about the contract stuff. I’ve been through it before with the Cowboys. Quarterbacks now: it’s nothing more than they’re understanding their position in the sport. And they’re starting to get to a point where they understand the influence they have on the organization and, really, their contribution to the football team and what that means.”
The analyst with the reputation for breaking down hot reads and blitz packages so that the casual fan can grasp complex football strategies managed to do the same for the financial side of the game, using the NBA to draw an easy-to-comprehend analogy.
“In basketball, it’s been happening for a while now,” said Romo. “LeBron James, years back, decided to, instead of taking this seven-year or long-term guarantee, he decided to say, ‘I’m going to go two years.’ Because who’s not going to want LeBron James in two years? So it’s a position where you have the ability to kind of control your environment, I guess you could say. But, more than that, you can control your situation.
“And quarterbacks are starting to do the same thing basketball players have been doing, a little bit. Instead of taking the long-term guarantee, they’re starting to do less years. Quarterbacks forever took the guarantee just in case they were injured. What you’re finding is they’re not doing that near as much anymore, because they’re rare. Really good quarterbacks are rare. And if you’re rare, you can trust that someone’s going to like you enough to make you their quarterback, and multiple people will want you, because it’s hard to have a really good quarterback in the National Football League.”
Romo on 2020’s expanded postseason format:
It may be hard to have a really good passer in the NFL, but starting this season, it just got a little bit easier to make it to the big dance. Seven teams from each conference will now receive a playoff berth, up from six.
Detractors say it runs the risk of watering down the level of postseason play. Romo does not agree. Rather than assume a No. 7 seed must be a mediocre squad who backed into their undeserved wild card slot, the gritty underdog hero of so many improbable Cowboys comebacks instead sees the opportunity for a late-blooming team to make an exciting run.
Feb 3, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; The Vince Lombardi Trophy is handed off after the New England Patriots won the Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
“Think about that team that makes it, that extra team who gets in,” Romo imagined. “What happens if your starting quarterback is Tom Brady or Patrick Mahomes? And now all of a sudden, that team sneaks into the playoffs and he gets healthy in Week 16 or 17. And that team snuck in. Do you want to play that team? They just became a very formidable opponent.
“If you say it dilutes it, I would say it depends on who you’re talking about… I don’t think it dilutes it at all. The more playoff football games you have, it’s better. And more people are going to watch. And it just makes more money for the players, the owners, everybody else, your coaches. That just helps the NFL.”
Romo on his own fantasy football prowess:
Of course, Romo’s role within the NFL is now one of a lead analyst for his network’s marquee game of the week. That’s his official role, anyway. Unofficially, he’s the all-knowing (and wise-cracking) brains behind the Corona Hotline, the beermaker’s imaginary help desk where Romo assists everyday fans with their fantasy football dilemmas.
The 2020 ad campaign gives real-life viewers the chance to call in and instantly win a Corona-branded championship trophy for their league. And one lucky grand prize winner will get a four-day, three-night beach vacation for up to 11 guests for the purposes of holding their 2021 fantasy draft in style.
But fans looking to put Romo’s keen football insight to use on their fantasy squad may want to reconsider. As brilliant a mind as Romo is with the actual Xs and Os, he admits that his fantasy expertise is only a fictional construct for the Corona beach ads.
With permission from Corona
“I’m actually in a fantasy football league with [CBS broadcast partner] Jim Nantz,” Romo explained. “He’s the head; he spearheads our team. They had the draft last week. So we talked before the draft, and he asks some questions. And I’m like, ‘Why don’t we just take this guy? I think this is going to be great.’ And he goes, ‘Uh, they’re saved on [someone else’s] team.’ And I’m like, ‘What does that mean? Saved?’ He’s like, ‘Well, each person gets to save two people from the year before.’ And I’m like, ‘How many years do they get to save them?’ He says, ‘Two years.’ I’m like, ‘Why two years? Is it six years? One year? How do you even come up with these rules? It’s endless, the rules they have. So I’m like, “Well, who’s the top ten picks?’ And the top ten picks are not even a part of the top 20, 30 guys because 15 teams have the top 30 guys saved. And there’s one guy who slipped through the cracks, maybe. And if you don’t have the number one pick, then you don’t get that guy. And I’m like, ‘This is much harder than I thought.'”
Besides apparently being new to the concept of a keeper league, Romo went on to confess that he struggled with the notion of point-per-reception play.
“I didn’t realize… PPR league: do you guys know what that means? I’m always like, ‘He’s going to run the football great.’ [Jim] is like, ‘Oh, that’s great. But he doesn’t catch the ball.’ And I’m like, ‘Okay, well…’
“‘That matters more than running.’
“‘Then why aren’t we drafting only the best pass-catchers in the league?’
“‘Oh, well, rushing matters. Just not as much. Touchdowns matter [in] rushing.’
“And I’m like, ‘I don’t know the rules to this whole thing. I can’t even help you.’ It’s actually really hard for me to help. I’m not that smart in fantasy football. Unless you want to call the Corona Hotline.”
