You can host the best backyard barbeque when you find a professional on Angie to make your backyard the best around. Connect with skilled professionals to get all your home projects done well, inside to outside, repairs to renovations. Get started on the Angie app or visit angie.com today.
You can do this when you Angie that. Jon, how are you man? I'm doing well, thanks for having me on.
And thank you for taking the time. I know you were at the camp earlier today. We saw the video of Dak walking around. Prior to you joining us, we heard what he had to say.
What are your thoughts on what you saw today and what he said? It's funny because this is the time of year when you cover a team, you're trying to get in your vacation time. You don't take any vacation time during the season and then the NFL is structured their off season where you really don't have a lot of time. So I'm technically on vacation right now, but if it's one of those things where it's like the contract, the pictures that surfaced around the 4th of July of him in the boot, I'm just like, I have to go to this camp.
This is part of the job, you just got to do it. I do think there was a lot made of it because, well, he's the quarterback of the Cowboys. He's going into a contract year. He's obviously one of the better players in the NFL. He finished second in the MVP voting last year. So he's one of the most popular people in the NFL.
He's one of the most popular people in sports. And so because of that, I think it's one of those things where people are going to see him in a boot and they're going to be like, wow, this isn't good right before the season is about to start. And it's the same ankle that he hurt in the 2020 season. So I don't think it's anything that's going to keep him from doing everything that he's asked of him in training camp.
I don't think it's anything major to be concerned about, but I do also understand why things like this, especially with social media, they gain steam pretty quickly. And Jean Michauda is joining us from the athletic. Having said that, you know, this is a reminder that, you know, this man's ankle snapped in horrific fashion a few years ago. He had an issue with the leg the following year after that. And yeah, we're a few years removed. But is this not a reminder that this is probably going to be something that will, you know, linger? He'll be sore here and there, feel it every now and then throughout the rest of his career.
Yeah, there's no question about that. It's just one of those type injuries that, you know, when the bone breaks in that type of a way and there's a dislocation, the bone goes through the skin. I mean, yeah, medical technology is incredible. And the fact that he's even able to get back out there the following season in play is amazing.
But with that being said, I mean, it's still the human body. So I would think that, yeah, there's probably going to be some residual effects, probably for the rest of his life. When I first saw the walking boot, though, I would say the thing that I thought about was he just he's one of those guys that I'm sure a lot of your listeners and you have probably heard has, you know, a full football field in his backyard. It's like a 50 yard field. And it's where a lot of the receivers, tight ends, running backs, they'll go work out with Jack in this time of year and this offseason. So when I first saw the boot, the thing I thought of was like, I wonder if he pushed it too hard, because this is not a guy that, you know, you know, there's players in all kinds of sports. We like, you know, hey, what's the player going to look like when they come in, you know, from the offseason?
Like what kind of shape they're going to be in? You never worry about that with Dak Prescott. So I thought maybe he pushed a little too far. But he says that's not the case, that it was just a precautionary type thing.
And so I'll take him at his word. Jon covers the Cowboys for the athletic. Moving forward, what does this mean for his contract? Do you think we'll see a deal done between now and September? Are they going to wait this out until the end of the year?
What do you think is going on? Yes, I mean, to me, it ultimately comes down to Jerry Jones from the Cowboys side. I mean, this isn't going to be something that gets done unless Jerry wants to do it. And so going off of how little they've done in the offseason, and then just the fact that there's so many people on the team, and then also on the coaching staff that are in the final year or in one year deals, there's a part of me that thinks that they're going to let Dak play this out and reassess everything after the season's over to see if they can finally make a deep playoff run. I think it's a risky move, but it seems like that's what they're thinking. Because if they weren't, they would have gotten a contract extension done with him before free agency started. They would have given him the, whatever, $55 million, whatever would have been the resetting at that time.
And they didn't. And so to sit here today, it makes me think that they're going to let him play out this season. And that has, just to be clear, nothing to do with anything with his ankle or anything like that. I mean, you don't need any better example than that 20-20 ankle injury. He had that season-ender, signed that contract, the current one he's under, that offseason. I remember him going to the podium and talking about it, and you could still see that huge scar on his ankle. He still wasn't 100% yet, and he still got this massive deal.
And got everything you could want. The no trade clause, the no franchise tag clause. So that ankle has nothing to do with it. I could see Jerry, and I say Jerry specifically because I could see others in the organization being like, let's just get this done. But I think Jerry wants him to play it out. Jon Machoda is joining us from The Athletic. You talk about everybody kind of having a sweat out this year. It was reported months ago that even Mike McCarthy, who had this kind of twist in the wind for a little while before he was officially brought back, that he's not happy with the situation. Who would be happy with the situation?
What is the plan? Is Jerry going to just let everybody sweat through this year and then maybe blow this up? He might be playing with fire, no?
Absolutely, but I do think that's what he's doing. The Cowboys have never, I shouldn't say never, but over the last decade plus, they haven't been a team that does very much in free agency and in terms of trades around that time of year when most teams are making at least minimal moves. The Cowboys usually don't do much, and they did even less. This is the least amount any team has done in the offseason by far to add to their roster. And so that to me was a clear sign that, oh, and then Jerry saying over and over again, he's saying the all-in thing, and he's saying it like I have a different definition.
Well, he does. Most of us all-in means, oh, you're going to be really aggressive in the offseason and add pieces that fill holes. To Jerry, it's I'm all-in on this season, and that's what I think he means is that I'm going to have everybody that is under contract. They're going to kind of sweat this thing out because we're all in on the season because it is going to be all-in because if this has the same ending that the last few have had, then we'll probably go in another direction.
And so the key thing in all of this is that we're removed from January. Several months have gone by, but if you just factor in what the Dallas Cowboys did the last time as a football team, they were on the field, it's hard to sit there and say that Jerry's crazy for thinking that way. Because I'll make the argument that's the worst loss in Cowboys franchise history that they're coming off of. When you factor in how talented that team was, relatively healthy at that time, getting lucky with getting the two-seed and getting home field advantage for a team that had been by far the NFL's best team at home for the last two years, and to lay the egg they did down 32 midway through the fourth quarter, it's easy to blame Jerry for everything, and he deserves a lot of blame for 28 years without a Super Bowl.
But to just sit there and say he's crazy for wanting them to just play this out and possibly go in another direction, well, maybe you didn't watch that Green Bay wildcard game. John Machoda joining us from the Athletic. When you think about, and not just Dak, Michael Parsons is looking for his money, it's C.D. Lamb is looking for his money, who's most likely to get their cash at some point? Is it Micah? He's probably the best choice to not go anywhere.
Is it C.D. Lamb or both of them and not the quarterback? I think right now, and it really has been all offseason, it remains it's C.D. Lamb because Dak will be at training camp, Micah will be at training camp, C.D. will not be at training camp without a new deal, and we just go back one year and Zach Martin went into training camp. He wasn't at the start of training camp because he wanted his deal readjusted and additional years added on, and so because of that, and to get a pay raise obviously, the Cowboys eventually gave him what he wanted.
And so if you're C.D. Lamb, why would you think any differently? He's so important to the team, much like Zach Martin is. He has done everything you could ask of him over the last four seasons.
You don't even have to watch his games, just look at his stats over the last four, every single stat category just seems to improve every single year he's been a Cowboy. And so he won't be an Oxnard unless he has a new deal, and so because of that, he has the most leverage right now, and so because of that, that's usually what leads to deals. And I do think that either they'll get something done with C.D. right before training camp starts, or maybe a few weeks into training camp and he doesn't show up, but ultimately when it's said and done, I do think they get something done before the season starts. And I don't see C.D.
Lamb missing regular season games. Hey John, I assume that C.D. is looking at a deal in that 35 mil range? Is he looking to jump ahead of Mr. Jefferson? That's a good question. He hasn't really wanted to talk about any of that. He has said to us, I would say it was probably the last month or so, maybe December or January was one of the last times that he really kind of talked about this. And he did say that he doesn't absolutely need to be paid at, you know, be the highest paid, but he needs to be up there. And then he said something similar in, it was after the season was over, so it was late January on Micah Parsons' podcast where it was like, he doesn't have to be the highest paid, but he'd like to be one of, and I don't think that that's changed. And so I would say that Justin Jefferson deal, like you mentioned, at 35, I think that's right around the ballpark. 33 to 35 is probably what he's looking for.
John, last question for you. When you think about the quarterback of the team who might be entering into his last year, do you think it'll be his last year, or is this just a tough time to think about in the summer? That is a great question, because making it this far without him getting a contract extension pushes it closer to 50-50 than most people would think that it would ever get to, just because, forget the Cowboys or Dak, just to have a franchise quarterback who's one of the top ten quarterbacks in the league generally at 30, 31 years old, those guys usually don't hit the free agent market. And so because of that, I ultimately think something gets done. I do think Dak will still be on the Cowboys well into the future.
You factor in how good he's been for the organization, you factor in what the organization was like during those years between Troy Aikman and then finding Tony Romo, and then you factor in Jerry Jones' age, I just find it hard to believe that he's going to play hardball and be willing to go into next season with major question marks at the most important position. So it could get interesting, there could be some good drama, but I think ultimately it gets done. Okay, well I mean you talk about those in-between years, I heard that Vinny Testaverdi and Drew Bloodsore, I think their arms still work just a little bit, we can see what they're doing. They don't want to do that again.
I'm sure they don't. Hey John, thank you for the time, where can people follow you in your work? Yeah, definitely follow me on Twitter, it's at John Machota, so John with O-H-M-A-C-H-O-T-A, and then at The Athletic, if you're not subscribed to The Athletic, please do subscribe, not just for my work, but I have a lot of great colleagues there as well, so definitely subscribe if you're not. Hey, between now and training camp, I hope you get a little bit of Don Ton, John, I hope, I hope.
I appreciate that, I hope so too. Look around, what do you see? Cars, lots of them, and guess what? They're probably on AutoTrader. Whether you're into timeless classics or the latest trends, did somebody say solar-powered, eco-friendly, vegan leather-wrapped, aromatherapy-scented, disco-ball-equipped self-driving car? If you see it on the road, you can likely find it on AutoTrader. Big cars, small cars, blue cars, new cars and used cars, electric cars, and one day, maybe even flying cars. With millions of options to choose from, buying a car becomes a whole lot easier.
See it, find it, AutoTrader. Listen as Selenia tells us why she chose to vaccinate her daughter. I definitely felt like the pros far outweighed the cons, the diseases that I am protecting my child against. They're still here, and at the end of the day, it's my job as a mother to keep my child safe.
Talk to your child's doctor and learn more at WhyVaccines.com. Brought to you by Merck. What's that sound? That's the sound of Downy Unstoppable's scent beads going into your washing machine and giving your clothes freshness that lasts all day long.
There it is again. It's like music to your ears, or more like music to your nose. That freshness is irresistible. Let's get a Downy Unstoppable's bottle shake. And now a sniff solo. Nice. Get six times longer lasting freshness plus odor protection with Downy Unstoppables and wash scent beads.
