Speaker 1: The following. He's a production of Dallas Cowboys dot Com
Speaker 1: and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club. Let's go. Are you
Speaker 1: ready for a break? Yes? Are you ready for a break? Absolutely?
Speaker 1: Ready for a break? Yeah, and so much for that.
Speaker 1: It's time for the Break on Dallas Cowboys dot Com.
Speaker 1: Were with Nick Eatman, David Hellman, and bar Garcia and
Speaker 1: Derek Eagleton. It is Thursday, August thirteenth, twenty twenty. It
Speaker 1: is season sixteen, in episode number fourteen. Welcome to another
Speaker 1: edition of The Break. We are very happy to be
Speaker 1: back with you guys, starting up the sixtieth anniversary of
Speaker 1: the Dallas Cowboys. I'm here live at the Start. Nick,
Speaker 1: you're here live at the Star, but we're separated in
Speaker 1: different offices. Amber at our home studio, Dave at his
Speaker 1: home studio, and of course our producer Chris Beam helping
Speaker 1: us get everything going here. We appreciate you guys joining us.
Speaker 1: We got a lot to talk about today. First of all,
Speaker 1: welcome back to my crew. It's good to see you guys.
Speaker 1: How's everybody doing today. I'm wonderful, I'm happy, happy to
Speaker 1: see you guys. Let's go. So last night, it gets
Speaker 1: really interesting. I made all the show notes for today
Speaker 1: and we were talking about it. I think we were
Speaker 1: all on the same page. We had a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about. And then news breaks at the Cowboys go
Speaker 1: out and agree to terms with a pass rusher that's
Speaker 1: a pretty good pass rusher, Everson Griffin agrees to terms
Speaker 1: with the Cowboys, reportedly a one year, six million dollar contract.
Speaker 1: Think about this. This guy is a has been in
Speaker 1: the Pro bowls for has been to the Pro Bowl
Speaker 1: for the last five seasons. He's accumulated forty four point
Speaker 1: five sacks over those last five seasons, averaging about nine
Speaker 1: point five sacks a year. Only year he had under
Speaker 1: six sacks was twenty and eighteen, when he only had
Speaker 1: he only played eleven games. So my question for you
Speaker 1: guys is, first, what was your reaction when you first
Speaker 1: started the Cowboys made this deal. Let's start with you, Nick.
Speaker 1: You know, it's like what else from one day? You know,
Speaker 1: I mean we've had a lot of a lot of
Speaker 1: news that day, and you know it was a good
Speaker 1: camp or two to the entire day. I think it'll
Speaker 1: be it'll be a good addition, but you know, I
Speaker 1: don't look at it as it's gonna put them over
Speaker 1: to the top unless the defensive tackles are better, Because
Speaker 1: if the defensive tackles aren't better than I don't think
Speaker 1: he's gonna be much different than Robert Quinn who got
Speaker 1: him too eight and eight. So it could be a
Speaker 1: good move, but I want to see if it's if
Speaker 1: he's gonna be a huge upgrade from what they had
Speaker 1: last year. Amber I think, I mean, definitely surprising. When
Speaker 1: I saw that on my phone, I was like, what
Speaker 1: what is going on here? And definitely something that I
Speaker 1: was not expecting to me. I see this as a
Speaker 1: great addition. I wonder if maybe they feel like the
Speaker 1: whole Randy Gregory theme might not happen after all, because initially,
Speaker 1: I remember after last season we were concerned about the
Speaker 1: pass rush and then trying to get to the quarterback
Speaker 1: last year, and then you lose Robert Quinn, which was
Speaker 1: your most productive guy last year, and this year we
Speaker 1: were talking about Alden Smith and Randy Gregory coming back
Speaker 1: and all that. You do get Alden Smith Smith back,
Speaker 1: but you still don't know what you got going on
Speaker 1: there with him yet. So it makes me think or
Speaker 1: wonder if maybe they're just kind of not seeing the
Speaker 1: whole Randy Gregory theme happening for this season, and I
Speaker 1: know a lot a lot of fans are always asking
Speaker 1: about Randy Gregory. I don't know why so many fans
Speaker 1: like Randy Gregory so much, but they do so. I
Speaker 1: just think it's it's a great addition to just help
Speaker 1: the whole line helm a g. I'm so glad you
Speaker 1: said that because it was such a perfect segue, because
Speaker 1: my primary reaction is that we're still learning so much
Speaker 1: about what this team's going to do under Mike McCarthy.
Speaker 1: I know it's technically a front office signing, I don't care.
Speaker 1: This is a head coach thing in my opinion, because
Speaker 1: under the old regime, we would have heard we like
Speaker 1: the guys we have. Randy Gregory's still out there. We
Speaker 1: feel good that maybe he can come back. We're gonna
Speaker 1: work with what we got. Mike McCarthy's like, what if
Speaker 1: we don't do that, what if we go get a talented,
Speaker 1: affordable veteran who can help the pass rush. It reminds
Speaker 1: me a lot of the Center situation, because if you
Speaker 1: go back to the draft, you think about McCarthy saying, yeah,
Speaker 1: I know we had Connor McGovern and we got Joe Looney,
Speaker 1: but what if we drafted Tyler Biadas just to really
Speaker 1: make sure we address the situation. So this strikes me
Speaker 1: as Mike McCarthy saying, why don't we go ahead and
Speaker 1: turn over every stone that we can instead of just
Speaker 1: hoping that what we have is good enough. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love the approach. I love the fact that he's talented. Dude,
Speaker 1: Yeah he's got seventy career sex or seventy five. Excuse me.
Speaker 1: Love it all the way around, not just because he's
Speaker 1: a good player, but the approach to just never stopping
Speaker 1: adding talented players. That's what good front officers should do.
Speaker 1: Love it. Can't say enough about it. So let's talk
Speaker 1: about where he fits. You look at a guy like him,
Speaker 1: and obviously with his resume, he's a starting caliber player.
Speaker 1: Does he immediately step right in and become the starter
Speaker 1: opposite DeMarcus Lawrence? In your opinion? Is that for me?
Speaker 1: It's for any one of you guys want to jump in.
Speaker 1: I mean, he hasn't had an off season, but the
Speaker 1: good thing is that nobody's really had an off season,
Speaker 1: so you know enough, he's a ten year veteran. I
Speaker 1: assume he's been taking care of himself. I assume, you know,
Speaker 1: he'll pass his physicals and all that, so I doubt
Speaker 1: he'll be that far behind. And yeah, I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: Tyrone Crawford's going to be part of that and Alden
Speaker 1: Smith as well. But yeah, I mean my expectation is
Speaker 1: that he can handle a starting caliber role for sure. Nick.
Speaker 1: Let's talk a little bit about what you mentioned a
Speaker 1: few minutes ago, and you're when you first talked about it,
Speaker 1: and you mentioned the fact that you don't think this
Speaker 1: is necessarily a game changing type move for the Cowboys
Speaker 1: unless the defensive tackles are better. Talk a little bit
Speaker 1: more about that and talk about it in the context
Speaker 1: of the defensive tackles that they've picked up this offseason
Speaker 1: and what you think you can expect from them, and
Speaker 1: then what it means for this defensive end signing. I mean,
Speaker 1: don't get me wrong, I think it's gonna be. It's
Speaker 1: it's a big upgrade for what they had, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty four hours ago. But my point is is we've
Speaker 1: seen this defense, and not with the same coaches, but
Speaker 1: we've seen this defense with personnel that Robert Quinn came
Speaker 1: in here and he got eleven and a half sacks. Now,
Speaker 1: I was surprised by that. I know Dave was Derek
Speaker 1: you argued with this, you thought he was gonna be
Speaker 1: in the top match. I don't think he thought he
Speaker 1: was gonna go eleven or eleven sacks. But either way,
Speaker 1: he was really really good. And I think Griffin is
Speaker 1: probably I don't think the expectations would be that high.
Speaker 1: So all I'm saying is unless the defensive tackles are
Speaker 1: way better, that changes the whole dynamic. Now now you're
Speaker 1: you're working with something here. But you know, to me,
Speaker 1: he's gonna be kind of what Quinn was and what
Speaker 1: d Law was. I don't know if that changes a
Speaker 1: whole lot, but I think McCoy and Poe will change that. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I actually think it's really interesting there because I think
Speaker 1: if you look at the production of what Gerald McCoy
Speaker 1: particularly has been throughout his career as a pass rushing
Speaker 1: defensive tackle, I think he's a guy that's gotten a
Speaker 1: good amount of production. You know, when you're talking about
Speaker 1: five or six sacks for a defensive tackle, that's significant.
Speaker 1: And I think that that that I think he will
Speaker 1: be more more disruptive. I think they will require teams
Speaker 1: to pay a little bit more attention in the middle,
Speaker 1: and I think it does help them from that standpoint.
Speaker 1: I think both these defensive ends, but the two starting
Speaker 1: defensive defensive ends, at least the way I'm projecting it,
Speaker 1: I think will be even better. We'll be able to
Speaker 1: produce even more than last season. I think Tank's going
Speaker 1: to be better than he was last season. So I
Speaker 1: think it's ultimately going to be a good move for
Speaker 1: the Cowboys. You know, did you have some point? But
Speaker 1: I was just saying real quick, in twenty eighteen, which
Speaker 1: is not that long ago, you know, there was a
Speaker 1: Pro Bowl being played that that had McCoy, that had
Speaker 1: d Law, that had a Griffin, all on the same
Speaker 1: you know line, they're probably playing at the same time.
Speaker 1: So you know, just to be two years ago and
Speaker 1: to have those guys now on one team, that's pretty good.
Speaker 1: Talk to me about what this means for the other
Speaker 1: defensive ends, particularly Crawford Alden Smith. How do you think
Speaker 1: this affects them, if at all. We'll start with you Amber. Honestly,
Speaker 1: I think this whole thing just goes back to experience,
Speaker 1: just because of the whole like not having an offseason
Speaker 1: right now, I think your users going to have to
Speaker 1: rely on the guy that has the most experiencing who
Speaker 1: can perform better during practice. I mean those guys are great.
Speaker 1: Tyland Crawford, I think he's a great piece to have
Speaker 1: just because of his flexibility and in case you never
Speaker 1: know why player, what happens or what's going to happen
Speaker 1: this offseason with the whole COVID or whatever other injury
Speaker 1: a guy may suffer throughout the process. I think having
Speaker 1: Tyrone Crawford not just set in a single spot, it's
Speaker 1: just going to help them out and just keeping him
Speaker 1: being like keeping that flexibility with him to move around.
Speaker 1: And as far as Alden Smith, I don't know. I
Speaker 1: don't know. We just have to if we haven't seen
Speaker 1: of him for such a long time. So I think
Speaker 1: that he's just has to whole experience disadvantage on his side.
Speaker 1: But you just never know how players are going to
Speaker 1: perform at the moment of everyone getting back on the field. Dave,
Speaker 1: what are your expectations of Alden Smith? I mean, he
Speaker 1: is a guy that and I put I put him
Speaker 1: in a category of a guy that required very little
Speaker 1: from the standpoint of risk for the Cowboys, but at
Speaker 1: the same time, the potential upside for the Cowboys I
Speaker 1: think is huge, especially if he can get back to
Speaker 1: and this is the part that's a little bit risky,
Speaker 1: he could get back to what he was before his
Speaker 1: career was cut short. I think back in twenty fifteen
Speaker 1: was the last time he played. Maybe, So what are
Speaker 1: your thoughts on Alden Smith and what you think your
Speaker 1: expectations are for him? I guess at least from a
Speaker 1: standpoint of not only played, but but where they can
Speaker 1: use him and how quickly they can use him. That's
Speaker 1: honestly for me, that's part of the beauty of this
Speaker 1: Griffin signing. I mean, yeah, and it's it's totally fair
Speaker 1: to be excited about Alden Smith's upside, and the same
Speaker 1: thing kind of goes for Tyrone Crawford not you know,
Speaker 1: he was never an Alden Smith type of talent, but
Speaker 1: both of those guys you feel good about what they
Speaker 1: can do. The question was always can you lean on him?
Speaker 1: Can you expect Tyrone to stay healthy after two hip surgeries?
Speaker 1: Can you expect Alden Smith to get back to that level?
Speaker 1: With Everson Griffin in the mix? You don't have to
Speaker 1: count on that as much, so they can be you know,
Speaker 1: whatever they can provide you is great. And this honestly
Speaker 1: makes Alden Smith that much more exciting because if it's me,
Speaker 1: I'm putting him on the field in obvious pass rush situations,
Speaker 1: I would have a Nickel pass rush package where he's
Speaker 1: on the field at the same time as Griffin and
Speaker 1: DeMarcus Lawrence. You know, Mike Nolan hasn't asked me for
Speaker 1: my opinion, but that's something that I would consider. Put
Speaker 1: that guy in on second and third and long and
Speaker 1: let him go to work, and you don't have to
Speaker 1: worry about him holding up against sixty to seventy percent
Speaker 1: of the snaps. So this should help him do what
Speaker 1: he does best, which is get after the quarterback and
Speaker 1: passing situations. So in a way, I think adding Griffin,
Speaker 1: you know, makes me even more excited about Aldan Smith
Speaker 1: because I'm not asking him to do as much. Yeah, Nick,
Speaker 1: I'll take that a little different direction. Some of the
Speaker 1: I know you and I've had some conversations about some
Speaker 1: of the younger defensive ends on this team's particularly guys
Speaker 1: like Jolkes Jackson. I think Jelks was one of your
Speaker 1: guys that was a pet cat for you last year
Speaker 1: during training camp and you kind of liked Obviously, Armstrong
Speaker 1: played quite a bit last year, and then the Cowboys
Speaker 1: draft Bradley and I so you look at those kinds
Speaker 1: of guys. How much does a signing like this affect
Speaker 1: those guys, Because again, we're talking about a roster where
Speaker 1: you make at the most five pass rushers and that
Speaker 1: fifth one probably is going to be a guy that
Speaker 1: does both and someone like Crawford, Right, so maybe two
Speaker 1: of these guys at the most can actually make this team.
Speaker 1: How does it affect those guys and what do you
Speaker 1: think that all shakes out? Well? I think it's it
Speaker 1: affects them a lot. I mean, yeah, those guys were
Speaker 1: pet cats because they had to be better than Taco,
Speaker 1: They had to be better than Dora's Armstrong. You know,
Speaker 1: you thought that they had a chance to play a
Speaker 1: little bit more. And now if you're trying to figure
Speaker 1: out how Tyron Crawford and Halden Smith get on the field, yeah,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough for a guy like Jelks who
Speaker 1: has never played a snap, Joe Jackson, who's played about
Speaker 1: fifty snaps. So yeah, to me, I think it comes
Speaker 1: down to who was the most discipline this year in
Speaker 1: the offseason and who has helped themselves the most in
Speaker 1: the weight room. You know, who comes back in the
Speaker 1: best shape, whether b Jackson or Jilkes or Armstrong, you
Speaker 1: know somebody. There's really only one spot there. Who takes it? Now,
Speaker 1: this question is going to be for everybody. I want
Speaker 1: everybody to chime in on this. I think the common
Speaker 1: thought right now by most people that observe the Cowboys
Speaker 1: is that this offense is on a different level than
Speaker 1: the defense, that the Cowboys success this year will be
Speaker 1: driven by how successful the offense can be. How much
Speaker 1: do you think this signing in I don't know, in
Speaker 1: whatever terms you want to put it in, whether you're
Speaker 1: being optimistic or pessimistic, how much do you think this
Speaker 1: signing um makes the defense a little closer to being
Speaker 1: able to pull its own weight and really compliment what
Speaker 1: this offense may be able to do, especially if it's
Speaker 1: the high powered offense that we expect it to be.
Speaker 1: Let's start with you, Amber. I think it's a it's
Speaker 1: a I mean, we've said it's a great addition, and
Speaker 1: obviously that that's just a plus. That's something else to
Speaker 1: have in there and someone with experience. But the thing is,
Speaker 1: to me, we talked so much about the offense, because
Speaker 1: we've seen the offense, I think we have a clear, clear,
Speaker 1: better picture of what this offense is going to look like.
Speaker 1: I mean, they have the addition of City Lamb and
Speaker 1: other guys in there, but we have overall just a
Speaker 1: better vision of what that whole offense is going to
Speaker 1: look like. As opposed to the defense, there are so
Speaker 1: many little different parts that we just don't feel one
Speaker 1: hundred percent sure about. For example, the whole secondary. We're
Speaker 1: still trying to figure out what's going to happen at
Speaker 1: the cornerback position, what's going to happen at safety. I mean,
Speaker 1: the linebacker group is still essentially the same one as
Speaker 1: last year, but there's still question marks around it. And
Speaker 1: we just talked about the whole defensive line. There are
Speaker 1: new elements in there that, yeah, they're exciting and it's
Speaker 1: going to be exciting to watch, but we just haven't
Speaker 1: seen it yet. So I think that it's a great addition.
Speaker 1: For sure, it's going to elevate the defense one way
Speaker 1: or another, But at the end, of the day. We
Speaker 1: just can't have a full clear picture of what that's
Speaker 1: really gonna look like just yet. Dave. Yeah, I'll you know, sorry, Nick,
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna steal your talking point a little bit.
Speaker 1: But I mean they had Robert Quinn last year and
Speaker 1: they were bad. Um, So you know, adding Everson Griffin
Speaker 1: is not a cure all by any means. I think
Speaker 1: if they're gonna be better, if they're gonna be good,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be because of the coaching. You know, Mike Nolan,
Speaker 1: Jim tom Seula, having another pro bowler to work with
Speaker 1: is exciting. Um. But you know, they had they had
Speaker 1: just as much, if not more talent last year and
Speaker 1: they were mediocre or worse. So it's not so much
Speaker 1: about the players, in my opinion. I think it's it's
Speaker 1: on the defensive coaches to take this talent and do
Speaker 1: something with it, because the talent was there last year. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And I mean, you're right, the talent was there a
Speaker 1: defensive end. I think I think what my point is
Speaker 1: that you know, I never really agree. Of course, I
Speaker 1: don't like to, you know, discredit Marinelli, because I mean
Speaker 1: he was a great football coach, but I just to me.
Speaker 1: When everybody's going up to the quarterback, every single guy,
Speaker 1: then that's going to expose you to to draws. It's
Speaker 1: going to expose you too, guys because he wants these rushmen. Well,
Speaker 1: these guys aren't very vague, and so they get locked
Speaker 1: on by a gardener center and then no one's at
Speaker 1: the quarterback. So I think that the way that they
Speaker 1: changed it, they got these big guys up front, they
Speaker 1: got talented guys in the middle, and you know, I
Speaker 1: just think it'll help everybody on the outside. So but Derek,
Speaker 1: to answer your question, I think the offense is still
Speaker 1: I mean, a great offense will give you a great defense.
Speaker 1: Nineteen ninety two Colbys had the best defense in the
Speaker 1: NFL and it was because of Emmon Smith, Troy Aikman,
Speaker 1: Michael Irvan and having fourth quarter leads now Charles Haley helped.
Speaker 1: But if you have a great offense, I can score
Speaker 1: points and give you leads, it'll make your defense better. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I think that's the point, Nick, and it was the
Speaker 1: point that I would have made that when you look
Speaker 1: at this team, I think the great part about it
Speaker 1: is and Dave, you've used this term that team forty Burger.
Speaker 1: I think you guys started using that back during the trap.
Speaker 1: But the fact of the matter is that if this
Speaker 1: offense really can live up to that kind of potential
Speaker 1: where they're putting up tons of points every week and
Speaker 1: they're consistent, and we saw it last year in spurts,
Speaker 1: we just didn't see it consistently enough. But if they
Speaker 1: consistently are putting up big points, now, I think what
Speaker 1: they've done with this signing is they've actually created a
Speaker 1: defense that's very complimentary to a high powered offense. You
Speaker 1: give them a lead and then you say, go get
Speaker 1: the quarterback, and now they got horses that can go
Speaker 1: get the quarterback. Right, So I think that this this
Speaker 1: move really gives them the ability to play complimentary football
Speaker 1: to an offense that they expect to be high powered.
Speaker 1: It's still going to revolve around can they be high powered? Um,
Speaker 1: and I think there are a lot of other issues
Speaker 1: that will come into into play. If the Cowboys can't
Speaker 1: really score a lot of points, or they find themselves
Speaker 1: in games where where it's more of a defensive struggle,
Speaker 1: then we'll rely more on can the linebackers play up
Speaker 1: up to par and can the safeties make tackles and
Speaker 1: cover the deep part of the field. Those are all
Speaker 1: the issues that come up um that they may not
Speaker 1: have to deal with as much if they could play
Speaker 1: with a lead. So I think it'll be it'll be
Speaker 1: interesting to see how much the offense can be consistent
Speaker 1: and how much that then affects this defense's ability to
Speaker 1: play complimentary football. We're gonna take our first break. When
Speaker 1: we come back from the break, we're gonna get into
Speaker 1: a lot of conversations from yesterday Jerry Jones, Mike McCarthy,
Speaker 1: and Stephen Jones at their opening press conference. We're gonna
Speaker 1: talk a little bit about some of the things that
Speaker 1: they discussed when we come right back. This is Dallas
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to the Break. We are here live. I'm
Speaker 1: live at the Start. Nickslive here at the Star, not
Speaker 1: in the SWBC boarding studios, although I do think we'll
Speaker 1: probably get back in there, hopefully at some point in
Speaker 1: the future. We'll see when that actually happens. Maybe I'll
Speaker 1: go down there next show, but we are very happy
Speaker 1: to be back with you guys. Let's talk a little
Speaker 1: bit about what happened yesterday. The Cowboys have their opening
Speaker 1: training camp, opening press conference where Jerry Jones and Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy and Stephen Jones addressed the media. And where I
Speaker 1: want to start is where I think everybody was expecting
Speaker 1: this whole thing to start. There's been a lot that's
Speaker 1: been going on in our country over the last several months,
Speaker 1: obviously everything with regards to COVID, but also a lot
Speaker 1: of things around social justice, and there was kind of
Speaker 1: this this waiting, I guess, from the standpoint of the
Speaker 1: media and fans to hear from from Jerry Jones with
Speaker 1: regards to the topic, and specifically with regards to players
Speaker 1: kneeling during the national anthem. And yesterday, the first question
Speaker 1: in the press conference dealt with that, and so we
Speaker 1: had an opportunity for the first time to hear from
Speaker 1: Jerry on the subject. So my question for you guys
Speaker 1: is what were your thoughts after hearing his statement. What
Speaker 1: did you take from the statement that he made about
Speaker 1: players potentially kneeling this year as a season as the
Speaker 1: games begin. We'll start with you, Nigga. Well, you know,
Speaker 1: I thought that it was clear that that you know,
Speaker 1: he had you know, the word in mind that with grace,
Speaker 1: I mean, that was what That's what he said. He
Speaker 1: said it a dozen times, I think it in his
Speaker 1: in those answers, And so what does that really mean?
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm not sure, but but it sounds like
Speaker 1: he's going to be more you know, lenient towards things
Speaker 1: that you know, that that might have happened a couple
Speaker 1: of years ago, three years ago. You know, he said
Speaker 1: that was then and this is now, and I thought
Speaker 1: that was the probably the most important part of all that.
Speaker 1: So whatever you know, he had said and his stance was,
Speaker 1: you know, I think now that he's going to be
Speaker 1: more understanding of that. But without talking to the team
Speaker 1: and players and having those conversations yet, he left it
Speaker 1: kind of vague still, but it does sound like, you know,
Speaker 1: he said he's gonna be graceful in things that pop
Speaker 1: up and trying to understand what players feel like and
Speaker 1: you know, get their perspective back and forth, and hoping
Speaker 1: that the fans can understand that as well. So, Dave,
Speaker 1: I want to start off by addressing the person that's
Speaker 1: listening or watching this, who's I guarantee you you're sitting
Speaker 1: there saying nobody cares about this talk about football, nobody cares.
Speaker 1: It's not true, because my email inbox is absolutely full
Speaker 1: of people that have something to say about this. People
Speaker 1: care a lot, even still, even after the summer that
Speaker 1: we've had, even though this is three years old. At
Speaker 1: this point, people feel some type of way on both
Speaker 1: sides of this issue. And my main reaction is, I
Speaker 1: hope the Cowboys don't make the mistake of thinking that
Speaker 1: nobody really cares, because and you know, I thought what
Speaker 1: Jerry said was very smart. He walked the line very well.
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott did the same thing. Mike McCarthy did it
Speaker 1: a week ago. Where the thing that concerns me is
Speaker 1: it's nice to say that you're gonna have these conversations,
Speaker 1: you're gonna have grace, you're gonna think of the right
Speaker 1: way to do it. And they've got the benefit of time.
Speaker 1: They've got a month until the season starts. But when
Speaker 1: the season starts and the national anthem plays, people are watching,
Speaker 1: paying attention. They care. There are people that don't want
Speaker 1: you to kneel. There are people that want you to kneel.
Speaker 1: People want you to come up with some sort of
Speaker 1: different way to say something whatever, But people are going
Speaker 1: to be paying attention, So I hope they're smart enough
Speaker 1: to actually follow through with this, because if they don't,
Speaker 1: if this is all just lip service, they're going to
Speaker 1: be in for a rough time when the season starts
Speaker 1: and things actually start happening, whether that's fans, the President
Speaker 1: of the United States is going to have something to
Speaker 1: say about this at some point. So I really really
Speaker 1: hope that they follow through on this and have some
Speaker 1: honest to god conversations or they're gonna be in for
Speaker 1: a rough time when the season starts. Amber. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: agree with everything that they've said, and I am one
Speaker 1: of those people that when we didn't hear anything out
Speaker 1: in public, you know, to the media, of Jerry Jones
Speaker 1: kind of speaking about the issue, I was one of
Speaker 1: those people that it bothered me, and I'll be honest,
Speaker 1: it did bother me because you you you want or
Speaker 1: you expect that the people that you're surrounded with are
Speaker 1: people that kind of believe or have your same beliefs,
Speaker 1: and I was just waiting for it. So when I
Speaker 1: heard his answer, it was if I liked his answer,
Speaker 1: I liked the way I mean, he wasn't super clear
Speaker 1: about it. But if one thing that Jerry Jones has
Speaker 1: is that he's a very smart guy. He knows how
Speaker 1: to handle different situations. He knows how to find that
Speaker 1: medium line of what can I do to please both sides,
Speaker 1: you know, And we saw that a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: what they did and how they handled the situation back then,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was a very clever way. I
Speaker 1: know that there are very very mixed opinions on this issue,
Speaker 1: but I do believe that the Cowboys, and from what
Speaker 1: I know of Jerry Jones, he will do his best
Speaker 1: to have those conversations, even though he said he hasn't
Speaker 1: had them yet with these players, but I do believe
Speaker 1: that they're gonna be having those conversations and that eventually
Speaker 1: they'll figure out a way to be able to stand
Speaker 1: for what they believe and to support, you know, the
Speaker 1: players at the end of the day. And what he
Speaker 1: said was basically he wants to support his players and
Speaker 1: what they feel. You know, you this is the time
Speaker 1: to listen, sit back and listen, let other voices be heard.
Speaker 1: So if anything, Jerry Jones is a it's an expert
Speaker 1: at finding that right balance in between to kind of
Speaker 1: try to please everyone. Yeah, this is a this is
Speaker 1: a really interesting topic, and I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: that that yesterday really cleared up anything from the standpoint
Speaker 1: of giving any definitives, because Jerry wasn't definitive on exactly
Speaker 1: how he's going to handle this. Uh, he did say
Speaker 1: obviously he's going to have the conversations, and I think
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, we will see his days. Say,
Speaker 1: we will see on that first weekend of games when
Speaker 1: the national anthem is played and you see players across
Speaker 1: the league, you know, kneeling. We will see how teams
Speaker 1: respond to that. We'll see how the NFL responds to that,
Speaker 1: We'll see how Jerry responds to that, and then based
Speaker 1: upon that, then I think we will all be able
Speaker 1: to have a much clearer idea of where we think
Speaker 1: things stand and be able to give a clearer idea
Speaker 1: on what we think that means. Let's go ahead, move on, Mike.
Speaker 1: But Nick, Well, I was just saying, you know what,
Speaker 1: how don't we already seeing this a little bit with
Speaker 1: the other leagues. I mean, like when you said we'll
Speaker 1: see how people will respond, I mean, is it are
Speaker 1: people gonna respond like, you know, publicly, like you know,
Speaker 1: I hate that the NBA teams are doing that. I mean,
Speaker 1: I haven't seen a lot of public backlash at that. Well, no,
Speaker 1: you know how it goes. We know exactly who would
Speaker 1: out there, who would and there there's certainly some criticism
Speaker 1: that's happening. But but to be honest with you, I
Speaker 1: do think and this is my personal belief and sometimes
Speaker 1: you kind of have to be careful because you know,
Speaker 1: my sphere of people may be very different than your
Speaker 1: sphere of people or anyone else's sphere of people, right,
Speaker 1: And but in my sphere, like I haven't heard any
Speaker 1: negativity other than some national negativity. That's more you know,
Speaker 1: political based, right, um And certainly from the standpoint of
Speaker 1: of of looking at ratings, doesn't seem like the NBA
Speaker 1: is hurting from from all the different um acts that
Speaker 1: they've had over the last month that have have brought
Speaker 1: attention to you know, social injustice. So I don't I
Speaker 1: don't know that there is there's a ton of it
Speaker 1: out there, but there certainly is, and I think that's
Speaker 1: the nature of our country and by the way, that's
Speaker 1: the way our country is supposed to work. We're not
Speaker 1: supposed to all think the same things, and we should
Speaker 1: have a right to be able to get out there
Speaker 1: and speak our minds and be able to talk about
Speaker 1: the things that are important to us and why it
Speaker 1: matters to us. So I don't care with the idea
Speaker 1: that there are multiple views on this, and I expect
Speaker 1: that if that happens with the NFL, there will be
Speaker 1: multiple multiple views on that as well. Let's quit and
Speaker 1: move forward to Mike McCarthy and his comment that he made.
Speaker 1: He said, basically, they're trying to create this Oxnard like
Speaker 1: environment here at the Star, and I do think the
Speaker 1: Star is really uniquely situated for a situation like this. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you've got the Omni Hotel right here on site. You've
Speaker 1: got indoor facility, you got outdoor facility, you've got really
Speaker 1: great accommodations that have a lot of space for the
Speaker 1: team to kind of space out and do the things
Speaker 1: that they need to do. That all being said, with
Speaker 1: what they've kind of established here in the way of
Speaker 1: a bubble, and Nick, you've been really close to this
Speaker 1: because you have a little more access than some of
Speaker 1: them the rest of our team, because you've kind of
Speaker 1: been a part of the kind of the teering system.
Speaker 1: But that all being said, um, what do you think
Speaker 1: of kind of what they've been able to create here
Speaker 1: specifically now with the virtual bubble. I guess that the
Speaker 1: players are creating with the Omni and not necessarily going
Speaker 1: home every night, but staying at the Omni. You know,
Speaker 1: how close is that to what they would have been
Speaker 1: able to do in a situation like an ox Star.
Speaker 1: I think you know, they're they're doing the best that
Speaker 1: they can obviously, and uh yeah, I mean other than
Speaker 1: when practice starts, you know, Friday or tomorrow and you
Speaker 1: go out there and you'll feel that it's not ox Star.
Speaker 1: I mean we know that. But everything else, Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think I think they are doing that. You know, there's
Speaker 1: there's a hotel, it's right there, you can walk over
Speaker 1: and do it. I mean, aside from you know, getting
Speaker 1: a giant Q tip up your nose every day and
Speaker 1: that there's not going to be a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: changes masks and distancing and all that. But but yeah,
Speaker 1: you're right, they have tried to establish this the best
Speaker 1: that they can. Now, again, it's optional for players to
Speaker 1: say at the Omnium, and it's not like an oka
Speaker 1: where it's like we need you at practice, it's optional.
Speaker 1: This is this is different. Everybody's got unique situations at
Speaker 1: home and all that. So, but it does sound like
Speaker 1: there's there's quite a few players that being one of them,
Speaker 1: that are that are going to be up here at
Speaker 1: the Omni. Yeah, Dak said yesterday that he would guess
Speaker 1: anywhere around ninety percent of the players are going to
Speaker 1: be staying here at the Omni, which is a great
Speaker 1: thing for them. And I'll take it to that. Next
Speaker 1: to the next question, Dak actually said that he thinks
Speaker 1: the healthiest team wins this season. With that being said, Dave,
Speaker 1: I would like to hear from you, like, do you
Speaker 1: think that there is a h what is the likelihood
Speaker 1: that you think the Cowboys continue with the bubble going
Speaker 1: into the season knowing that there is a belief at
Speaker 1: the healthiest team ultimately has the best shot to win
Speaker 1: this year, win it all this year. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: I know, you know, you can't make guys do it,
Speaker 1: but that's a hell of a compelling case to keep
Speaker 1: it going, because I mean, when when Dak said that,
Speaker 1: and and I really thought about it, it's about as
Speaker 1: excited as I've been this entire offseason that football might
Speaker 1: actually happen, at at least for the Cowboys, because if
Speaker 1: ninety percent of the players are bubbled and they're all
Speaker 1: doing what they're supposed to do, I mean, we've seen
Speaker 1: it's working beautifully for the NBA MLS man Like they
Speaker 1: finished their season already, you know, no positive tests going
Speaker 1: all the way back to July. It works. If you
Speaker 1: can control the environment that well, it works. And so
Speaker 1: if the Cowboys entire roster is accounted for and they're
Speaker 1: all at the hotel, you know, we've all been there.
Speaker 1: You can walk literally from the lobby of the hotel
Speaker 1: to the Ford Center without ever going outside. So it
Speaker 1: makes me really excited that the Cowboys can keep this
Speaker 1: thing under control and get through training camp. And like
Speaker 1: I said, I mean, it's a big ask to expect
Speaker 1: somebody to live in a hotel from September until New
Speaker 1: Year's but if it allows you to keep your team healthy,
Speaker 1: it sounds awfully compelling to me. Like I mean, you know,
Speaker 1: like I said, I don't know how you make people
Speaker 1: do that, but if it gives you a chance of
Speaker 1: staying healthy and finishing the season, it's definitely something I
Speaker 1: think they should look into. Yeah, it's it's really interesting
Speaker 1: because I've always wondered as the NFL is putting out
Speaker 1: its protocols, I always wondered why they didn't essentially create
Speaker 1: team bubbles. I know they couldn't. There are too many
Speaker 1: players in the NFL to take all the NFL teams
Speaker 1: and put them in one bubble like the NBA did
Speaker 1: in Orlando, Right, there's way too many people that are involved.
Speaker 1: It just I don't think that would be practical. But
Speaker 1: I did think, you know, why wouldn't every team create
Speaker 1: their own individual team bubble at their facility or wherever
Speaker 1: they choose to do it. Practice there, meet there, do
Speaker 1: all the stuff that they do there, and then pick
Speaker 1: up your bubble and take it to whatever city you
Speaker 1: have to play. And if you have sterile planes and
Speaker 1: sterile buses and you take them to a hotel that
Speaker 1: hasn't been that's been thoroughly cleaned, and you keep it
Speaker 1: kind of locked down to just the players while they're there,
Speaker 1: there's a way to do this to where you essentially
Speaker 1: have one pristine bubble meeting up with another pristine bubble,
Speaker 1: and the chance of someone being infected becomes much smaller. Now,
Speaker 1: of course, that always means that you got fifty three,
Speaker 1: at least fifty three guys not including the staff and
Speaker 1: the coaches and all that that have to be away
Speaker 1: from their families for whatever portion of the season you're
Speaker 1: talking about. But if you want to do it in
Speaker 1: a way that gives you the best chance, I think
Speaker 1: that really gives you the best chance. So I love
Speaker 1: the fact that they're talking about this their own player
Speaker 1: created bubble, and I think if the Cowboys can do
Speaker 1: that and do that well, I think it does help them.
Speaker 1: I'll ask you this question, Naimber. I was wondering about
Speaker 1: this from the standpoint of the quarterbacks because of the
Speaker 1: fact that you know, you look at Dak's statement that
Speaker 1: the healthiest team wins. I'll take it one step further.
Speaker 1: The healthiest quarterback team wins. And that's no different than
Speaker 1: most years. You lose your quarterback during the season, the
Speaker 1: likelihood that you're going to be successful diminishes significantly. It
Speaker 1: makes me wonder, in a year like this, where the
Speaker 1: Cowboys have actually invested in a legitimate backup quarterback in
Speaker 1: Andy Dalton, should the Cowboys consider employing a method where
Speaker 1: maybe they treat them like the president and the vice president.
Speaker 1: Where you keep them apart at all times, right, You
Speaker 1: don't let them actually come in contact with one another,
Speaker 1: so that if one gets gets the virus the other one,
Speaker 1: the likelihood the other one getting it from him is very,
Speaker 1: very small. And you always protect yourself with a quarterback,
Speaker 1: a capable quarterback. And then they give a moment, what
Speaker 1: do you think about that? Right? Well, real quick, going
Speaker 1: back to Dank's statement where he said that yesterday, it
Speaker 1: just automatically made me think of like a survival show.
Speaker 1: I'm like, Okay, I started seeing players drop out because
Speaker 1: of COVID from different teams, and I'm like, Okay, the
Speaker 1: Cowboys are still in. They got players healthy, They're still going.
Speaker 1: Another thing that led me to think, I'm like, you
Speaker 1: know what, Frisco. There's not much to do in Frisco
Speaker 1: as far as like a nightlife there. There are no
Speaker 1: strip clubs around in Frisco, so players can go out
Speaker 1: and go do that. So how do you know, I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know, but Frisco is just a
Speaker 1: nice little you know a lot of nice restaurants, very chill,
Speaker 1: nice nice places. Nothing. Yeah, nothing to crays GK. Actually
Speaker 1: even mentioned yesterday about not being you know, in a
Speaker 1: city like Dallas where players would have the possibility of
Speaker 1: going out to different places, and another thing I wanted
Speaker 1: to add to the whole scenario. I did get a
Speaker 1: chance to talk to one of the rookies and he
Speaker 1: was just talking to me about the advantage of being
Speaker 1: in the OMNI that after they get done through the day,
Speaker 1: they can go back to the hotel and still be
Speaker 1: able to keep learning with each other's like like get
Speaker 1: together in small groups even of two or whatever, and
Speaker 1: just keep learning the playbook, keep learning and going over things,
Speaker 1: studying and everything. So I think it's a great perfect
Speaker 1: environment that the Cowboys have with their whole facility. But
Speaker 1: going back to the whole quarterback thing, you know, and
Speaker 1: I had not thought about it that way at all
Speaker 1: until you mentioned that. I'm like, huh, that that would
Speaker 1: be pretty smart. I mean, it's not a bad idea
Speaker 1: at all. But then you go into the whole thing
Speaker 1: of that can happen with anybody else too. What happens
Speaker 1: if again, and that was talked about during the press conference.
Speaker 1: What if Mike McCarthy gets it, What if a coach
Speaker 1: that's necessary gets it, or you just cannot fully control
Speaker 1: who's gonna get it. But if they do have the chance,
Speaker 1: and if some if one of them is somehow listening
Speaker 1: to this show and heard your what you just set
Speaker 1: up out the quarterbacks, I mean, I think it. I
Speaker 1: don't think it's a horrible idea to kind of keep
Speaker 1: those two separated from each other and just to be
Speaker 1: extra extra careful with everything because we know, we've seen it.
Speaker 1: We've seen the Cowboys have issues, plenty of issues when
Speaker 1: a quarterback goes down. So why not try it out
Speaker 1: and see prepare yourself. So now that I have your
Speaker 1: voter confidence, I'm gonna text Jerry as soon as the
Speaker 1: show's over. I'm gonna tell them you might want to
Speaker 1: keep it quarterback separate and let's see if we can
Speaker 1: make that work. All Right, we gonna take out five break,
Speaker 1: we'll come back. We gotta talk a little bit about Dak.
Speaker 1: He had a press conference yesterday as well. There was
Speaker 1: some interesting things that he talked about, particularly around his
Speaker 1: contract and how he looks at coming into this season
Speaker 1: and playing without having a long term You'll do that
Speaker 1: when we come right back. This is Dallas Cowboys dot
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Speaker 1: September twenty nineteen. Back to the Break, Welcome back to
Speaker 1: the Break. We are. I am live at the SWBC
Speaker 1: Mortgage studios at the Star, not in the studio, but
Speaker 1: I went down there this morning. Nick is here at
Speaker 1: the Star as well, Amber and Dave at their own homes.
Speaker 1: We're going to continue remotely with the shows for the
Speaker 1: foreseeable future. We just know that starting next week our
Speaker 1: schedule changes up just a bit. We'll get back to
Speaker 1: our weekly shows on the break will be every Wednesday
Speaker 1: at eleven am, and we're going to continue that presumably
Speaker 1: for the next week two weeks, but no doubt by
Speaker 1: the time we get to the regular season, we will
Speaker 1: be in our regular, full season schedule where we'll be
Speaker 1: on every single day. We'll let you know the time
Speaker 1: when we get a little closer and we figure out
Speaker 1: what coaches schedule is going to look like with the
Speaker 1: team to make sure we're available to go to practice
Speaker 1: and press conferences in the whole nine But next week
Speaker 1: we're full into it. We have all of our shows
Speaker 1: starting back up, we'll have our press conferences each day,
Speaker 1: we'll have practice going on, and I just got confirmation
Speaker 1: we are going to be able to resume Training Camp
Speaker 1: live for those of you out there who have consumed
Speaker 1: that content in the past, about three times a week.
Speaker 1: We will be able to bring to you, guys, some
Speaker 1: sights and sounds from practice, and we'll have our writers
Speaker 1: talking you through some of the different drills and some
Speaker 1: of the players and how they're performing on the field
Speaker 1: during practice. So that will be really really exciting as well.
Speaker 1: Let's get into Dak Prescott, and I want to talk
Speaker 1: a little bit about some of the things he talked
Speaker 1: about yesterday, but I want to start the conversation first
Speaker 1: just getting your overall opinions of Dak, because I walked
Speaker 1: away from that press conference. It's not that I'm not
Speaker 1: impressed with him normally, but you watch him in a
Speaker 1: press conference like that, and the way he commanded the
Speaker 1: room and the way he made, the types of answers
Speaker 1: he gave where it seemed like he was being transparent
Speaker 1: but at the same time controlled in what he said,
Speaker 1: and just I just walked away from it so impressed
Speaker 1: with Dak Prescott. What were your initial thoughts just kind
Speaker 1: of watching him up there and some of the things
Speaker 1: he said, maybe even something that really stood out to
Speaker 1: you about what he said. Let's start with you, Nick, Well,
Speaker 1: I think when it's probably third and twelve and four
Speaker 1: receivers at a tight end come to the huddle and
Speaker 1: start talking all at once, and he does a pretty
Speaker 1: good job of being like one at a time, because
Speaker 1: that's what happened the entire press conference was everybody going
Speaker 1: at once there, So he did a good job of
Speaker 1: feeling Now he's probably had a lot of practice, especially
Speaker 1: when Dez was here to do that. I thought, yeah,
Speaker 1: I thought he did a nice job. He really did.
Speaker 1: I thought he did a good job of of you know,
Speaker 1: handling everything. I will say this, you get somebody, you know,
Speaker 1: four months off to not talk about anything, they're they're
Speaker 1: probably he going to be pretty you know, ready for it.
Speaker 1: But he does a good job. But he's always been
Speaker 1: great in those press conferences, and yesterday was no exception.
Speaker 1: Camper I thought that in all his answers, I felt
Speaker 1: him so genuine, you know, sometimes when we listened to
Speaker 1: him throughout the season in the locker room, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's always been a great speaker and can speak in
Speaker 1: front of everyone. But yesterday I got a sense of
Speaker 1: more like Dak, of genuine and Dak in there and
Speaker 1: getting a good feel of what were some of his
Speaker 1: thoughts and emotions. And one of the things that I'm
Speaker 1: I mean, we'll have to figure out what happens in
Speaker 1: the future next year with the whole contract issue and
Speaker 1: what happens with the economics of the NFL, But just overall,
Speaker 1: listening to both sides, Stephen Jerry, Mike McCarthy and then
Speaker 1: Dak it seems like they seem good to go like,
Speaker 1: it doesn't seem like there's any hard feelings or anything,
Speaker 1: or at least they're not showing that. So you always
Speaker 1: want to keep a good relationship at your workplace and
Speaker 1: be able to have everyone get along. So I think
Speaker 1: that that made me feel better and happier to listen
Speaker 1: from both sides, just to make sure that they're both
Speaker 1: kind of somewhat on the same page. They might not
Speaker 1: be on the same page just yet, but on the
Speaker 1: same book at least day. I think everybody knows at
Speaker 1: this point that I'm a dack Homer, but I don't care. Man.
Speaker 1: I felt like to that whole time, but that's my quarterback.
Speaker 1: That's how I felt. It was. Yeah, it was freaking awesome.
Speaker 1: I mean, the guy stepped from eloquently talking about police
Speaker 1: reform and you know, trying to get people pardoned on
Speaker 1: death row, to talking about taking accountability and staying safe
Speaker 1: during COVID, talking about his contract, talking about the coaching staff,
Speaker 1: the way the communication has improved with Mike McCarthy and
Speaker 1: Kellen Moore. I mean, he's always been an impressive speaker,
Speaker 1: but it was it was extra impressive given the circumstances,
Speaker 1: and I mean, yeah, Nick's totally right. He did it
Speaker 1: on a cluster f of a conference call too. It
Speaker 1: wasn't like a normal thing at his locker where he
Speaker 1: can look people in the eye. He's doing all of
Speaker 1: this remotely without even being able to tell who's talking
Speaker 1: to him. I just I think Dak's the man everybody knows.
Speaker 1: That's what I think, And yesterday just gave I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't know how you could be a Cowboy fan
Speaker 1: and you don't have to love his play if you
Speaker 1: don't want to. But I don't know how you could
Speaker 1: be a Cowboy fan and not be happy that he
Speaker 1: represents your franchise. He's just He's awesome, Yeah, Jerry. One
Speaker 1: of the things that was interesting to me was both
Speaker 1: and this is not surprising Jerry being optimistic, but it was.
Speaker 1: It was interesting to me to hear both Jerry and
Speaker 1: Dak the optimistic that a deal would get done next year.
Speaker 1: One of the things that stood out to me was
Speaker 1: Dak saying that he believes that the nature of some
Speaker 1: of the conversations at the last minute before the deadline
Speaker 1: hit between Stephen Jones and his agent Todd France makes
Speaker 1: him believe that maybe they even have a better understanding
Speaker 1: of each other that will work in their favor of
Speaker 1: being able to get a long term deal done. All
Speaker 1: that being said, it sounds right like, right now everybody
Speaker 1: feels optimistic that something will get done by the way
Speaker 1: we've been hearing that for the last couple of years,
Speaker 1: we'll see it. This is what I don't This is
Speaker 1: what I don't understand because when I heard that, I mean,
Speaker 1: if you had those conversations the day off and you're like, okay,
Speaker 1: now I get you, you get me, then why didn't
Speaker 1: he get done that day? I don't get it. It
Speaker 1: does sound to me like and this is this is
Speaker 1: one of those challenges of you know, everybody always talks
Speaker 1: about the Cowboys having the philosophy that deals, that that
Speaker 1: deadlines make deals. But one of the issues with deadlines
Speaker 1: making deals is sometimes everybody's waiting too close to the
Speaker 1: deadline so that when you actually start to talk, you
Speaker 1: actually literally run out of time in trying to finalize
Speaker 1: a deal. Right You've sorry, yeah, but this is the
Speaker 1: Packers game where you just sit there at the whole
Speaker 1: game and don't do anything until the fourth quarter, and
Speaker 1: then you start throwing the ball around, and everybody's like, well, man,
Speaker 1: why didn't they do this earlier? They're like, well, maybe
Speaker 1: if they did, they would have won the game. I mean,
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of the same thing. I think. Dave's
Speaker 1: clapping and she's right, and I mean, if you've made
Speaker 1: progress in the last hour, why didn't you start maybe
Speaker 1: two weeks earlier, maybe a month or there, maybe two
Speaker 1: years or you know, I mean, I'm sure there's more
Speaker 1: two it than that. And Jared makes a good point
Speaker 1: about you know, COVID had affected a lot of these
Speaker 1: because there's a lot of those guys that did not
Speaker 1: get deals. Other than the chiefs, I think with franchise players,
Speaker 1: think Henry maybe maybe two oh yeah, Henry got right.
Speaker 1: But you know, I just think that you know, it
Speaker 1: just it just does. It's unsettling to hear, man, we
Speaker 1: made good progress at the end when you've had two years, right,
Speaker 1: If I mean, if the Cowboys are confident that a
Speaker 1: deal is going to get done, then what on earth
Speaker 1: are they doing? Like that's really that's what it comes
Speaker 1: down to, because the only read, the only way it
Speaker 1: makes sense to not have a deal done is if
Speaker 1: you're comfortable moving on because guess what I mean. You
Speaker 1: don't want to give up the negotiation and pay him
Speaker 1: too much. You've already done that. It has already happened.
Speaker 1: The tag is going to go up to thirty eight
Speaker 1: regardless of what happens with the salary cap. You are
Speaker 1: already committing to paying him thirty eight million a year
Speaker 1: because you have to tag him if you don't get
Speaker 1: a deal done. So the price tag is now thirty
Speaker 1: eight million dollars. It's gone up already without him playing
Speaker 1: another down. It's gone up. So if they're confident that
Speaker 1: they're going to resign him, then I don't understand the strategy.
Speaker 1: They should have just I mean, sorry, you have to
Speaker 1: lose the negotiation, but they should have just done it.
Speaker 1: It doesn't make sense otherwise, Well, Jerry did mention that,
Speaker 1: you know, the complications of doing a deal like this
Speaker 1: in the midst of a pandemic makes it a little
Speaker 1: bit tougher and give you some different dynamics that you
Speaker 1: really don't know. Right. For example, let's assume for a second,
Speaker 1: and these are all assumptions, but let's assume for a
Speaker 1: second that something happens where the NFL can't play the
Speaker 1: whole season this year. Well, that means it affects revenues,
Speaker 1: which means that going into next year, revenues are down,
Speaker 1: and then you work with maybe a much smaller salary cap,
Speaker 1: and that can be affected by the amount of money
Speaker 1: that then you would have to pay. Maybe there are
Speaker 1: other things that are unforeseen right now that will be
Speaker 1: that will be things that are that that affect how
Speaker 1: you do the business of football based upon the fact
Speaker 1: that we're in the in these tough situations financially as
Speaker 1: a country because of COVID. So maybe that's a part
Speaker 1: of it. Who knows, I'm just saying I think there
Speaker 1: may be more. It may be a little more complex
Speaker 1: than just simply the number of years and the total
Speaker 1: amount of money. I don't know. Does that lower sorry,
Speaker 1: does that lower what Doc is wanting to get as
Speaker 1: a total amount of money or do you just go like, okay,
Speaker 1: well whatever, I'll just see what other teams can actually
Speaker 1: pay me this much. I mean, I get it that
Speaker 1: it affects revenues and all of that, but at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, how does that affect from a
Speaker 1: player's perspective and what they're trying to get from you? Know,
Speaker 1: whatever team and salary, Well, the salary cap still is
Speaker 1: a function of how much you're going to get paid,
Speaker 1: and I would suspect that, let's us again, these are assumptions,
Speaker 1: but but if revenue is down significantly, then that's going
Speaker 1: to affect the overall salary cap, and the players and
Speaker 1: owners may have to go back and rethink how they're
Speaker 1: they're doing contracts and that sort of thing in order
Speaker 1: to I mean, you saw it this offseason. You saw
Speaker 1: how it played out where before the players showed up,
Speaker 1: there was a whole deal that had to be worked
Speaker 1: out between the players union and the and the and
Speaker 1: the NFL owners to be able to figure out how
Speaker 1: they operate under these circumstances. So all I'm saying is
Speaker 1: there's a lot that's unknown because of COVID. We've seen
Speaker 1: a lot of businesses in this country be very adversely
Speaker 1: affected by COVID. So, um, I don't I don't know
Speaker 1: that the NFL will be affected or will be more affected.
Speaker 1: What I do know is that it's an unknown right now,
Speaker 1: and that could post some challenges when you're talking about
Speaker 1: a deal as large as something like this, and certainly
Speaker 1: for the extended period of time like this, I would
Speaker 1: have an easier time believing that if you know, Miles
Speaker 1: Garrett hadn't signed a gigantic extension over the summer and
Speaker 1: Chris Jones, I don't even want to bring up Pat
Speaker 1: Mahomes because it's such a different contract. But you know,
Speaker 1: but I mean, yeah, well for sure, but you know,
Speaker 1: ten years, but the Titans signed Derrick Henry to a
Speaker 1: huge four year deal. Garrett gets a five year deal
Speaker 1: like and I know Dax deal would be worth it
Speaker 1: just you just said though, but Davey just said though
Speaker 1: we talked about it at the open up this segment.
Speaker 1: There's only a couple of those guys that were that
Speaker 1: were that were franchise guys that got long term deal.
Speaker 1: So I don't think this is just the cowboys who
Speaker 1: were worried about how does this how does this look
Speaker 1: in a new COVID world? Absolutely not. But the Cleveland
Speaker 1: Browns were comfortable giving Miles Garrett like one hundred and
Speaker 1: forty million dollars and it's it's not what DAK would get,
Speaker 1: but it's not chump change either, right on top. And
Speaker 1: but those are exceptions. I know, I know there's a
Speaker 1: lot of unknowns, but in the long run, in the
Speaker 1: four or five six year long run, the NFL is
Speaker 1: gonna be just fine. Like when they can get around
Speaker 1: to playing games, the ratings are gonna be nuts, Like
Speaker 1: there might not even be college football this year. The
Speaker 1: NFL is gonna do numbers, and they're gonna be fine
Speaker 1: in the long run. So I don't know all the
Speaker 1: ins and outs, but I just I think they could
Speaker 1: have made it work if they really wanted to. And
Speaker 1: maybe they could have. I mean, everything we're hearing suggests
Speaker 1: that if they would have started talking maybe day before that,
Speaker 1: and maybe they would have had a deal. Right, So
Speaker 1: you're you're probably right, And to be quite honest with you,
Speaker 1: I think that it gives me more optimism to believe
Speaker 1: that the Cowboys get a long term deal done because
Speaker 1: of the fact that it sounds like they were. They
Speaker 1: were actual making headway in the last couple hours, minutes
Speaker 1: whatever before the deadline expired, and they'll pick that up
Speaker 1: hopefully this offseason, and hopefully nothing happens this season that
Speaker 1: totally changes the dynamics. And what I mean by that
Speaker 1: is Dak plays extremely well or Dak plays extremely poorly,
Speaker 1: then you got a whole different set of circumstances and
Speaker 1: now we're back at ground zero versus him just being
Speaker 1: on the steady incline, which he's been on most of
Speaker 1: his career. All right, real quick, before we end the show,
Speaker 1: I did want to real quickly with practices starting tomorrow.
Speaker 1: I wanted to go through the whole roster with you
Speaker 1: guys and just see, you know, what is if you
Speaker 1: had one thing that you're most excited about watching heading
Speaker 1: into camp, what is that one thing. It could be
Speaker 1: a player, it could be a position group, it can
Speaker 1: be a camp battle. Give me one thing that you're
Speaker 1: most excited about watching heading into practices tomorrow. Let's start
Speaker 1: with you Amber. I mean it has to be Dak
Speaker 1: and the receivers. I want to see Cezee Lamb in
Speaker 1: action and the connection between him and Dad. They've been
Speaker 1: practicing together during the off season here and there, and
Speaker 1: we've seen a few little clips of that, but I
Speaker 1: want to see it in real life and see how
Speaker 1: that all looks like. That's always very exciting and I
Speaker 1: think those are probably one of the easiest things to
Speaker 1: watch during a training camp practice, aside from the defensive
Speaker 1: line and the old line and you know, linemen going
Speaker 1: at it against each other one on one of those
Speaker 1: are always pretty fun as well, but mainly the wide
Speaker 1: receiver and see how Dak connects with them. Dave, I
Speaker 1: think anybody that's listening to this show can probably tell
Speaker 1: you what to expect about most of the roster, except
Speaker 1: the cornerbacks. It's you know, it's not the juiciest thing,
Speaker 1: but it's it's the position we know the least about.
Speaker 1: Who's gonna who's gonna be the top trio? Treyvon Diggs
Speaker 1: is he good enough to get in there? Jordan Lewis
Speaker 1: is the new coaching staff gonna give him a shot?
Speaker 1: Nobody really knows what to expect, and I can't wait
Speaker 1: to see how it shakes out. Nick, both both of
Speaker 1: those answers. Because really every practice that you ever attend,
Speaker 1: and we've attended just about every one of them, um
Speaker 1: you know, you know in the last in what ten, fifteen,
Speaker 1: Tony or whatever, which we always say, cornerbacks and receivers.
Speaker 1: That's the only thing you could really judge in a
Speaker 1: practice other than did the quarterback get the ball there?
Speaker 1: Did he get open? And did the guy you know
Speaker 1: catch it? And what he covered? So to have cdee
Speaker 1: Lamb and Trayvon Diggs, those two that were just mentioned.
Speaker 1: I think those are the ones that you know, not
Speaker 1: only is it easy for us to to, you know,
Speaker 1: evaluate that, it'll be easy for us to see from
Speaker 1: wherever we are going into watch practice from. Let me
Speaker 1: give you guys one more quick note, one more quick
Speaker 1: question before we end the show. Think about Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: and he's had an opportunity now to address the media
Speaker 1: a couple times, a few times. We've had an opportunity
Speaker 1: to see some of the things he's trying to do
Speaker 1: with this team. We've seen his staff that he's assembled. Um,
Speaker 1: what do you think right now? Um? And I'm going
Speaker 1: to kind of put you in a position where i
Speaker 1: want you to make a comparison. What do you think
Speaker 1: is the greatest thing that he brings this team that
Speaker 1: may not have been here with Jason Garrett, big shiny
Speaker 1: europhy about a shiny trophy in a big rain that
Speaker 1: he that he's won at the stadium, about to say,
Speaker 1: remember that time that I won the championship. I mean,
Speaker 1: Garrett can say it too, but he was the backup quarterback,
Speaker 1: you know, or the third stream quarterback. But I'm just
Speaker 1: saying the experience of winning and uh and you know,
Speaker 1: having developed a quarterback that arguably is one of the
Speaker 1: best of all time. Um. You know, I just think
Speaker 1: that that he's he's got that experience so um and
Speaker 1: he brings that to the table of a team. You
Speaker 1: know that that was close to winning last year a
Speaker 1: lot of games. He just needed to learn how to win.
Speaker 1: And now they're bringing a coach that has won. Allright, Amber,
Speaker 1: just something fresh, something completely new. I mean, I don't
Speaker 1: hate Jason or anything, but we knew what Jason was
Speaker 1: gonna be wearing. We knew what his first word would be,
Speaker 1: We knew what he was gonna do, so we knew
Speaker 1: every single move. It was. I don't know McCarthy. I
Speaker 1: don't know McCarthy what he's gonna do, so I cannot
Speaker 1: be predicting his first moves. In comparison to Garrett, I
Speaker 1: could predict basically everything he was gonna do. Day. This
Speaker 1: is gonna sound like a shot, and I swear I
Speaker 1: don't mean it too, but I would say expertise probably.
Speaker 1: I mean, when Jason Garrett got this job, he had
Speaker 1: never been a head coach. Mike McCarthy has been a
Speaker 1: head coach in this league for a long time. He's
Speaker 1: been to four NFC title games in the Super Bowl somewhere.
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett never made it as a coach. Jason Garrett,
Speaker 1: he elevated a lot of young coaches. Sometimes it worked out,
Speaker 1: Mark Colombo, Kelly Moore, sometimes it didn't. And that's not
Speaker 1: the case with this coaching staff. Damn near every coach
Speaker 1: on this staff has years and years and years of experience,
Speaker 1: whether you want to talk about Jim tom Sula, Joe Philbin,
Speaker 1: Mike Nolan, like, most of these guys have been there
Speaker 1: and done that at every level of the NFL. So
Speaker 1: there's just a lot of expertise that I don't know
Speaker 1: necessarily was there, especially in the last few years of
Speaker 1: the Jason Garrett era. You know, I think that I
Speaker 1: think that coaching staff was in over excuse me, in
Speaker 1: over its head a lot of times. And I don't
Speaker 1: think that'll be the case with these guys. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: thought it was very interesting that Dak yesterday, when ask
Speaker 1: a similar the question, talked about the authenticity of Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy and how he presents himself to the team, And
Speaker 1: I thought that was really interesting because I mean, and
Speaker 1: that's probably been one of the biggest knocks publicly on
Speaker 1: Jason Garrett when he was here was that, you know,
Speaker 1: fans certainly saw him as a robot and didn't see
Speaker 1: him as as real, didn't see him as authentic and uh.
Speaker 1: And so it was interesting to hear Dax say that's
Speaker 1: one of the things that stood up to him about
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy. And so we'll see how it all turns out.
Speaker 1: We've seen those of us that have been around here
Speaker 1: for a long time, We've seen a lot of different
Speaker 1: coaches come through the door, and you know, you just
Speaker 1: never know. You never know how they're gonna resonate with
Speaker 1: the team, and you never know a long term the
Speaker 1: amount of success that they'll be able to generate. But
Speaker 1: let's let's be clear too, when you listen to McCarthy,
Speaker 1: you know, it's not like billing partls press conferences. You know,
Speaker 1: fifteen years ago, there's coach speak involved. There's a reason
Speaker 1: why they're guarded. Jason Garret would talk for ten minutes
Speaker 1: and not getting you an answer. Guess what. McCarthy does
Speaker 1: the same thing. You know, when they was asked about
Speaker 1: Cheeto moving to safety, I mean that answer was just
Speaker 1: like he was side stepping and dancing around it. That's
Speaker 1: what coaches do, you know, and they don't want to
Speaker 1: give up more than they should right now. And so
Speaker 1: you know, he's he's more interesting and Dave than I
Speaker 1: have been able to be in a couple of spots
Speaker 1: already with McCarthy, and he's really cool. Um, But when
Speaker 1: he's when he's on the mic there, I don't know
Speaker 1: if there's a huge difference there, which is fine. I
Speaker 1: mean at the end, like football coaches are gonna be
Speaker 1: football coaches, just like you said, but Mike McCarthy at
Speaker 1: least kind of acts like a person. Um. It's just
Speaker 1: it's not so ridiculously robotic as it used to be,
Speaker 1: which yeah, I mean, the answers are basically the same,
Speaker 1: but it's it's a little more refreshing to feel like
Speaker 1: you're talking to a human being. He doesn't do this now, Dave.
Speaker 1: Are you saying that if you run into McCarthy at
Speaker 1: the airport going to the Senior Bowl it won't be
Speaker 1: really really awkward. Well, that depends on if I mean,
Speaker 1: did he just get fired, because it would probably be
Speaker 1: awkward in that situation. That's gonna be awkward. I guarantee
Speaker 1: you that might have been one of that most awkward situations.
Speaker 1: Dave Tar Dave walking over to talk to Jason Garrett
Speaker 1: and his blue I was shirt but it didn't have
Speaker 1: a star at this time, and it was weird. I
Speaker 1: guarantee you, if we run into Mike McCarthy in the
Speaker 1: airport bar, he probably won't say, how are we doing? Guys?
Speaker 1: I feel confident. I feel confident about that. All Right, guys,
Speaker 1: that's it. We appreciate you guys joining us. We're back
Speaker 1: next Wednesday eleven am for another episode of The Break
Speaker 1: till then for Nick Eatman, Dave Hillman, Abergarcia. I am
Speaker 1: Derek Eagles and this has been The Break Lit on
Speaker 1: Dallas Cowboys dot Com Radio. This has been a production
Speaker 1: of Dallas Cowboys dot Com and the Dallas Cowboys Football Club.