Why Andy Dalton? Why Now?

Former Cowboys wide receiver, Dez Bryant, said in a tweet on Saturday that it was “completely out of line” for Dallas to have signed Andy Dalton to a one-year deal before handing Dak the big-boy contract he deserves. At first, I saw the Dalton signing as strictly a veteran back up signing, because on the face that’s what it is.

But, if Dallas is thinking that Dalton should take the place of Dak Prescott than you’ll have a very, very interesting post to follow. If Mike McCarthy was smart he would not shake-up the pot that much in season number one. With the addition of CeeDee Lamb to an already potent offense and Dak currently on the exclusive franchise tag, the onus is on Prescott to succeed.

Yes, McCarthy is the head coach, but Dak would be playing for his big contract extension and to prove he’s the quarterback of the future. Why he still needs to do this in the eyes of the Cowboys makes absolutely no sense to me and you’d have to ask Cowboys management for their reasoning. The facts are as follows. Dak has done nothing but start every single game, make two playoff appearances, win two conference championships, make two pro bowls, and have statistically his best season in basically a contract year last season. But, don’t get me started on that soapbox. I’ll pull it out soon enough.

Back to the Dalton signing and looking at it strictly as a back-up signing.

Pros: Andy Dalton is a three-time Pro Bowler, went to the playoffs his first five years of his career (no wins) and steadily increased his out put in each of those seasons.

Cons: Dalton plateaued after year six - has one full season in the last three, has a losing record in all three seasons including losing 11 games last year, touchdowns down, interceptions up and simply is not the same QB. Why does Dallas sign him?

Well, he’s exactly what you want in back up. Why you might ask? James - you literally just ripped him in the earlier paragraph. No, I just gave the cold hard facts of his somewhat fall from Pro Bowler status to his current situation. That doesn’t mean he can’t be a successful and useful back up. Here’s why.

Dalton is an interesting case because when he’s healthy his team has made the playoffs every year except one. He is not an inaccurate QB and outside of his rookie year, when healthy he’s completed more than 62% of his passes which is right at his career average. So, what more can you ask for in a back up QB?

At the end of the day, early reports are saying that this signing was not made as a threat to Dak Prescott. Those though are just that, reports. The optics of the situation do not look good, and could impact the negotiations between Dallas and Prescott’s camp. To give you just a bit of speculation on the back end of the post this is potentially, hold out insurance.

If Dak was thinking about holding out to begin the season, the Cowboys have a proven veteran that they believe can still win games in this league. If Prescott was to sit out portions of the season, and Dalton was to win games that would heavily hurt Dak’s bargaining ability. Now, in this scenario, if Dak came back he would no doubt get his starting spot back because the franchise tag would garner him more than 27 million dollars and fiscally it doesn’t make sense to have a 27 million dollar back up.

This is what it ultimately boils down too. If Dak is going to look after himself in relation to his contract (which he should, he has that right as an accomplished employee whose gone above and beyond his value in the draft), then the Cowboys need to have security based on what is going to happen in the negotiations. Dak can miss training camp and mandatory mini-camps and not be fined because how the franchise tag is set up. Therefore, he can take this all the way up to the season if he sees fit. So, that’s why the Cowboys signed Andy Dalton, and that’s why they did it now before anyone else could scoop him up.