Why the Trey Lance trade definitely affects Dak Prescott | You Pod To Win The Game
Yahoo Sports NFL writers Charles Robinson, Charles McDonald and Jori Epstein discuss the surprising move by Dallas to deal for the former 3rd overall pick and what it means for the team’s current star quarterback. Hear the full conversation on “You Pod To Win The Game” and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
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CHARLES ROBINSON: So of course it's about Dak. It affects Dak. Maybe not, oh, this guy's going to come in and take Dak's job. That's not going to happen. Look, he couldn't beat out Sam Darnold. He sure as hell isn't going to beat out Dak Prescott on his best day in 2023. Maybe he factors in if there's a multitude of injuries, you know, between Dak and Cooper Rush. Probably going to spend the season as the number three quarterback.
But you cannot tell me, as the [? owner-GM, ?] when you make an acquisition like this, you can't just completely wall off your starting quarterback. Who, by the way, all gets focused through what? A contract extension. Dak's got a massive contract extension talk coming. And now, you go out and you pick up a player who, maybe you get some value out of that player, no doubt.
But he needs reps. Those reps come at the expense of someone in that quarterback room. So even if they're offseason reps, you're still trying to push reps to this guy you want to develop in the next two years.
This idea, it's so disingenuous and intellectually dishonest for an owner-GM like Jerry to be like, it's not about Dak. It is about Dak. It's instantly about Dak because you added an asset to your team.
JORI EPSTEIN: Jerry felt like he was definitely sending a message when he goes, oh yeah, and by the way, I didn't tell McCarthy or Dak that this was coming. It's like--
CHARLES ROBINSON: Mhm.
JORI EPSTEIN: --Jerry does this thing where, every once in a while, he likes to remind you that he's the ultimate decision maker. And even if other people have power and are heavily involved in whether the Cowboys succeed, ultimately Jerry's going to do what Jerry wants to do.
CHARLES MCDONALD: Another reason why it's-- it's, like, kind of incendiary as far as the reactions to it is because noone-- noone thinks that Will Grier is going to develop into a person that could take over Dak Prescott or even Cooper Rush. But like, with Trey Lance, you know, you can look at it and say, damn, he was the third pick in the draft. He runs a [? 4.5. ?] He can throw the ball 80 yards.
You know, that's the kind of stuff where, if Dak does have a stretch of games and Dak's prone to it-- I think Dak's a great quarterback. But you know, we've seen him play bad games and see how people react to it. You know, it--
Having Trey Lance on the roster, it doesn't help those things. And obviously, trading a fourth round pick for him, that's not-- it's not nothing, you know? Top of the-- top of the day three of the draft.
CHARLES ROBINSON: It's not just weird to us. It's weird to everybody in the NFL. If you were able to get Trey to Dak production, you would be like, oh, my god, we just-- like, this is the steal of the century. Like, this is the greatest thing we ever did.
And yet, no one really truly thinks-- like, he's not on that track. Like, it does not look like that's something that is just a little bit further down the road. And you have Dak now. So no matter what, even if you got him to Dak level production in the next two years, you now got to pay him, which puts you in the same position you're in with Dak.
