‘Dump Dak, Trade Zeke For Russ'? 10 Steps Through Zany Cowboys Media Idea
FRISCO - This is yet another exercise in "Show Your Work.''
FS1's Jason McIntyre, along with ProFootballTalk.com's Mike Florio, have suggested the Dallas Cowboys trade Ezekiel Elliott to Seattle as part of a blockbuster trade package for disgruntled Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson.
Oh, and along the way ... dump Dak Prescott.
McIntyre's idea: "I say, ‘Jerry Jones, pick up the phone.’ I say, ‘Hey, Seattle, you want our No. 1 pick this year? You want our No. 2? You want our No. 1 in 2022?’ I say, Zeke Elliott, two No. 1's, and a No. 2. I bring in Russ.”
Florio's idea: "The The first step would be ... allowing (Dak Prescott) to leave as a free agent ... Then the Cowboys would have to conjure up a reverse-Herschel Walker package ... Would they want offensive linemen? Ezekiel Elliott?''
Is the idea unrealistic? Obviously.
Is the idea stupid? Let's play "Show Your Work'' and find out, in 10 exploratory steps ...
1) If Seattle trades Russell Wilson for Ezekiel Elliott, who plays QB for them while they remain in a window of contention?
2) Seattle will have to stay very, very mad at Wilson - as Seahawks management presently is - to eat $39 million in dead money, an inescapable cap fact in the event of any trade-away of him.
READ MORE: Seahawks QB Wilson Puts Dallas On Wish List
3) Why would Seattle want a $15 million running back?
4) If Dallas trades Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas has to eat dead money of its own - to the tune of $15 million.
5) "Oh, but what if it's a post-June 1 trade?'' you say? For the sake of this zany proposal, that doesn't work, because those proposed picks in the "Herschel-like package'' need to help Dallas now.
6) People with little understanding of the true mechanics of the 1989 Walker trade throw it around as an example of what could be done again when they talk of "blockbusters.'' Know this: In terms of the true structure of that trade, there will never, ever again be another ""Herschel-like trade.'' Never.
7) The idea that Wilson is worth five premium pieces - two first-rounders, a second-rounder, Zeke and the "dumping of Dak'' - does not jibe with Dallas' position on the value of Prescott.
8) It's odd that some of these same trade-inventors who suddenly see Dak as only worth "dumping'' have in previous remarks suggested its the Cowboys who could get a massive trade package in exchange for Prescott.
How did he suddenly become worthless?
READ MORE: Dak Wants Cowboys To Pay Him 'Right Behind Mahomes' - And To Pay Him 'Respect'
9) McIntyre doesn't seem to have a particular vision for Prescott's future. Florio, however, does. He says the Cowboys should simply "let Dak go,'' with the reward being a compensatory pick.
He may or may not understand that such a pick would come in 2022. And that it would be no higher than a third-rounder.
Why would Dallas trade its (arguably) best player and its most valuable commodity for a future third-round pick?
10) As we've suggested before, the real answers here come in Occam's Razor form: They'll likely be simpler answers than all of these convoluted conjecture.
READ MORE: Dak EXCLUSIVE: Cowboys QB Could Be '100% By April'
Those simple answers in Dallas are all about the Cowboys and Dak beating the March 9 deadline so they don't have to use the franchise tag, but if we get to that date with no resolution, the tag will be used. Those simple answers in Seattle are about un-ruffling the feathers of the GM, the coach and the QB.
Or ... "With the Cowboys,'' Florio writes, "a three-team deal could be needed to get the Seahawks their quarterback, with ... the Cowboys sending part of the overall trade package to a team that would then ship a quarterback to the Seahawks. ...''
