Dallas Cowboys sitting out NFL game of quarterback roulette

With just one game left in the 2020 NFL season, all signs point to the Dallas Cowboys repeating their plan of attack regarding their most important free-agent decision of the new year. Once again, it looks like the franchise tag will be placed on Dak Prescott. Meanwhile, multiple other passers have entered a bizarre game of quarterback roulette.

One prolific quarterback is just 25 years old. He is widely considered one of the top six at his position.

Another quarterback is only one year older and has already led his team to a Super Bowl. He has presided over four straight winning seasons.

Yet another will be 30 at the beginning of the 2021 season. A three-time Pro Bowler, this leader has a better than two to one touchdown to interception ratio.

The last quarterback is 33, effectively still in his prime. He is currently sixth in all-time passing yards and touchdowns amongst active players.

What do the above four quarterbacks all have in common? All of them are amongst the ten highest-paid players at their position. They are all also either rumored to be switching teams or have already been traded heading into the new season.

Deshaun Watson, Jared Goff, Derek Carr, and Matthew Stafford will likely all be wearing a different uniform in 2021. All four are pieces of what may be the wildest offseason puzzle for the game’s most important position.

All of this started ten days ago when the Lions all-time passing leader, Matthew Stafford, announced he wanted to move on from Detroit. Four days later, Watson followed suit, formally announcing he wants out of Houston.

Just three days later, after the Rams were incredibly lukewarm at best about Goff’s future, he was dealt to Detroit, in exchange for Stafford. In order to get out from under the remaining $51M left on Goff’s 2019 extension, Los Angeles included a third-round draft pick in this year’s upcoming draft and consecutive first-round selections in 2022 and 2023.

As if all this was not crazy enough, Vincent Bonsignore of the Las Vegas Review-Journal is reporting that the Raiders are seriously considering moving on from Carr, possibly to acquire Watson.

Last week, I wrote about how wasteful and unnecessary it is for the Dallas Cowboys to use their 10th overall pick in 2021 to draft a quarterback. This week, the league indirectly proved just how valuable stability at the position can be with so much turmoil surrounding so many franchises.

The Dallas Cowboys have 20 days to get a long-term deal done with Prescott. If that doesn’t happen, they can place their second straight franchise tag on Prescott between February 23 and March 9.

Either way, the Cowboys will gladly sit out this round of quarterback roulette and any other subsequent versions. They know exactly what they have, both as a player and as a person. Prescott should be the franchise quarterback for this organization until the day he decides to retire.

Enjoy the drama going on in the league. Enjoy even more that, for once, drama and the Dallas Cowboys have no plans on merging their powers like the Wonder Twins. We all know who will be under center in 2021. That’s one very nice problem not to have.