Earlier this week, the Dallas Cowboys surprised a lot of people with a free agency signing. The team agreed to a one-year deal with veteran quarterback Andy Dalton.
A lot of fans were thrown off by this signing for a few reasons. First of all, Dak Prescott is the starter, and the Cowboys are still trying to sign him to a new deal.
Meanwhile, on Dalton's side, he's not in a situation where he could start. Many fans and analysts believed he would sign with a team that needs help at quarterback. The New England Patriots were brought up quite often.
However, this move actually makes sense for Dallas. In fact, it makes a lot of sense. Here's why.
Yes, I will concede that this isn't the most sensible move for Dalton. He was born in Texas and played football at TCU. So maybe that has something to do with it. Other than that though, it's a little odd.
Why wouldn't he go to a place where he could start?
For the Cowboys though, this makes a ton of sense for two different reasons. First of all, Dalton is a very good quarterback. He very easily could at least fight for a starting spot on quite a few teams.
Having a good backup never hurts. Especially in an NFC East division that features some scary pass rushers. That includes the Philadelphia Eagles trio of Brandon Graham, Fletcher Cox and Derek Barnett and a New York Giants defense that includes Leonard Williams and Dexter Lawrence.
Of course, the Washington Redskins might boast the scariest of all with the addition of Chase Young to go alongside Montez Sweat, Jonathan Allen, Matthew Ioannidis, Da'Ron Payne and Ryan Kerrigan.
Facing those groups a total of six times a year might make teams wonder about backup quarterbacks.
Prescott has played in all 16 games each of his four seasons so far. An injury can happen at any time though, and with those incredible pass rush units, Prescott will likely be getting hit a lot.
Dallas believes they can truly compete this year, barely missing the playoffs in 2019. Nothing would derail them faster than if their star quarterback got hurt. Now if that happens, at least they have a great backup plan.
The other reason also has to do with a “backup plan”. This time though, it's not in case of an injury though.
Prescott and the Cowboys are in a pretty public contract dispute. It hasn't gotten messy or anything yet. However, it's well-known that Prescott wants to be paid a massive amount of money.
While Dallas definitely wants him, they will want it to be at the right price so that they can continue to build around him as well. Dalton gives them some leverage.
This is not saying that Dalton is on the same level as Prescott. He's a very good quarterback though. A quarterback that has proven in the past he can take a team to the playoffs.
The Cowboys can use that in negotiations.
Let's be honest. Dallas wants Prescott back and will likely do anything to make sure it happens. Dalton is there to keep prices from getting too high though.
Now if Prescott walks, they have a backup plan that is actually believable. One that can be used to tell the quarterback that they won't pay an absolutely ridiculous price to get him.
Remember, Dalton is a quarterback that has thrown for over 31,000 yards and 200 touchdowns in his career so far. He also boasts a 70-61-2 record in his career and has helped lead the Cincinnati Bengals to the playoffs five different times.
This is a quarterback that Dallas could absolutely trust to lead their team to an NFC East title if need be. I'm not saying they would be the favorites, but it wouldn't be a death sentence for them if Dalton was in charge.
So there it is. Dalton gives the Cowboys a legitimate back up at the quarterback position. He also gives them a leverage chip when it comes to negotiating with Prescott.
When you look at the signing that way, it was kind of a no-brainer. Dallas simultaneously made themselves a better, deeper team – and got an upper hand in the contract negotiations with Prescott. Sounds like a win-win to me.
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