Outside of the NFL Draft, the time right after the Super Bowl and before free agency kicks off is typically a quiet time of year for the league.
But in the modern NFL, there is never a quiet time for the league.
Player empowerment has evolved across all sports, with the modern star athlete taking his fate into his own hands. If Deshaun Watson doesn’t want to be in Houston anymore, even after signing a long term contract, then guess what? He’s going to force his way out of Houston.
If James Harden doesn’t want to be in Houston anymore…yeah, you get it. Players are speaking up and out, looking to create better situations for themselves and get out from under team control.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is now the latest player to come out and (sort of) demand a trade. The official report was that Wilson isn’t demanding a trade from Seattle, but if he were to be traded, he’d prefer a very specific list of four teams.
I’ll pin this great tweet from Ryen Russillo to explain my feelings on that report here.
The report brought immediate drama across football Twitter, with the biggest question being, should the Cowboys consider making this move? Is trading for Russell Wilson, who may be a better quarterback than Dak Prescott, a smart play for the Cowboys? How much better (if at all) is Wilson than Prescott? Enough to warrant trading away draft picks in the deal?
Well, regardless of what you think the answers are here, the latest reports make it clear this isn’t happening. As Mike Fisher pointed out on Twitter, the Cowboys are solely focused on ending their own starting quarterback drama, and not getting involved in anyone else’s.
Prescott, of course, is entering unrestricted free agency once again this offseason, with no long term contract seeming to be in sight. There does feel to be more general optimism than last year that a deal will get done, but another franchise tag could be in Prescott’s future.
Exploring a trade for Wilson simply doesn’t make sense for the Cowboys. Not when they have a franchise quarterback in house already who they can simply extend without losing much needed draft capital.
The number one argument I’ve seen made against extending Prescott has been that his cap hit will take away from an already depleted defense.
But if that’s the case, then what will Russell Wilson’s cap hit plus losing draft picks in the trade do for this team’s defense?
Please, just sign Dak Prescott.
