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Cowboys are making a desperate move by signing Andy Dalton

Kuda Z — Sun, 03 May 2020 02:20:39 +0000

MIAMI, FLORIDA – DECEMBER 22: Andy Dalton #14 of the Cincinnati Bengals scrambles with the ball against the Miami Dolphins during the second quarter at Hard Rock Stadium on December 22, 2019 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)

The Dallas Cowboys have signed quarterback Andy Dalton, proving how desperate they are to make things happen in the NFC.

You expect big signings to happen after the annual NFL Draft. You expect weird signings to happen during the offseason. Then there’s the Dallas Cowboys…who apparently struck comedy gold on Saturday evening. And now they have a backup quarterback named Andy Dalton. Yes, THAT Andy Dalton. This is “America’s Team.”

ProFootballTalk made the announcement on Saturday, with Adam Schefter also stating that it’s essentially a one-year rental for the Cowboys. On one hand, the signing is one of convenience. Dalton owns a house in Dallas, so playing for Jerry Jones means he’s literally going to be playing at home every week.

Dalton can be a solid quarterback MOST of the time. Well, unless you’re playing under the lights. Then he’s virtually useless, as he’s proved in the past he has struggled in prime time. The plus is that he’ll now be behind Dak Prescott, who has done pretty well since taking over the QB role in Dallas. Prescott is usually pretty durable, so it’s highly unlikely that Dalton will be an early starter whenever we finally get back to having actual live football on Sundays. So he’ll have some to learn things as a backup.

But why? What would possess them to go get the services of Dalton? Ultimately, my prediction is that he won’t be a huge difference-maker. But for just a one-year deal, it means that Dallas is desperate to make things happen in their division.

They haven’t had a playoff win since 2010. They haven’t seen the playoffs since 2015. Dalton has five playoff appearances, which has historically not gone well. And they’re typically a continuous punchline on social media. Following the NFL Draft, Dallas is doing everything possible to make a run at the NFC East. They made some intriguing picks last weekend, which will give Prescott and now Dalton some additional weapons to work with.

What will it take to knock the Eagles and Giants out of contention in the East? They apparently think that the near decade-long veteran will make enough of an impact to push the Cowboys over the edge. At the least, he’s going to make things interesting. But they know they have to go all out to make Mike McCarthy’s first year as head coach worth the investment.

Next: 2020 NFL Draft: Grading the seven Dallas picks

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3 draft-day trades the Cowboys should consider making to get them over the top

Kuda Z — Wed, 01 Apr 2020 18:41:51 +0000

The Cowboys have talent but have not gone deep in the playoffs in years, so what moves can they make around the 2020 NFL Draft to improve their roster?

The Dallas Cowboys have plenty of talent. Ezekiel Elliot and Amari Cooper are locked up; Michael Gallup has several more years of control; Dak Prescott will play under the tag for now, but he and the Cowboys are in extension talks.

That talent, though, has not brought the results that Jerry Jones expects. The Cowboys have been .500 or better in four-consecutive seasons, but they have not made it past the divisional round since they won Super Bowl XXX. The Cowboys have talent, and are paying their stars the big bucks. But it’s time to stop messing around and go full speed ahead.

Here are three draft-day trades the Cowboys should consider making.

1. Trade for David Njoku

Blake Jarwin is a nice tight end who has shown big-play ability. Although they just extended him to a new four-year deal, he has only been targeted 77 times in his 33 games played. It’s going to be tough to rely on him to be the go-to tight end, considering a 37-year old Jason Witten, who came out of retirement, had more than twice the amount of targets than he did last season.

Njoku could be an easy grab – at least he wouldn’t cost the 17th pick – after Cleveland signed Austin Hooper to a four-year deal. A second- and fourth-rounder could get the job done. He is a much better playmaker than Jarwin, and has two more seasons on his rookie deal.

The Cowboys could benefit from a slot receiver as well, but a two tight-end set might be a solid secondary option for their offense.

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Giants at Eagles proves the NFC East doesn’t deserve a playoff team

Kuda Z — Tue, 10 Dec 2019 05:10:27 +0000

It doesn’t matter that the Philadelphia Eagles beat the New York Giants on Monday Night Football. The NFC East is awful and doesn’t deserve a playoff team.

It’s happened every so often since 2002’s NFL realignment to include the Houston Texans as an expansion team. 2019 looks to be one of those years where we regret having eight, four-team divisions, where a division winner is not only guaranteed a playoff spot but a home game in the Wild Card round. This year’s most hapless division in football has to be the putrid NFC East.

Monday Night Football between the utterly toothless New York Giants and the definition of football mediocrity in the Philadelphia Eagles gave us all the information we needed about the state of the NFC East. Who cares if the Eagles beat the Giants by a touchdown in overtime at home? This division is terrible and everybody and their brother knows it.

The Eagles are complete playoff frauds and will get waxed by the second-place team in the NFC West in early January if they were to even make the playoffs. Philadelphia was riding a three-game losing streak, including an embarrassing road loss to the Miami Dolphins last week. The Eagles were losers of five of their last seven games. If that’s not lackluster football, then tell me what is?

But with this win over the Giants, who have somehow lost nine games in a row, Philadelphia is still in the mix for an NFC East crown. The Eagles just need to beat their three pathetic division rivals in the final three weeks of the season to raise an empty-calorie banner in their stadium. And that’s assuming America’s most disappointing team in the Dallas Cowboys wins their next two games.

Together, Dallas, Philadelphia, New York and the Washington Redskins complete the Mt. Rushmore of football division sadness. None of them are good and they all stink. The only way these teams will beat anybody the rest of the way is if they are forced to play one another. The 2019 NFC East is on par with the 2010 NFC West and the 2014 NFC South, an unholy triumvirate.

Philadelphia almost lost a game at home to a team that hasn’t won a game since the end of September. Eli Manning actually had to start this game and the ghost of the two-time Super Bowl Champion unleashed two touchdown bombs to wide receiver Darius Slayton. This Eagles secondary is so terrible it gave us the best two quarters we’ve seen out of Manning since 2012.

Next: Best NFL player from each state

Let’s be real for a second. In theory, If you win your division, you should be able to go to the playoffs, even in an embarrassing year like this for the NFC East. That being said, there is no reason two complete playoff frauds like the Cowboys or Eagles should have the right to host a home playoff game against either the San Francisco 49ers or the Seattle Seahawks this season.

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