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There wasn’t a single phase of the Dallas Cowboys that didn’t blow Rich Eisen away.
“It was an A-plus performance,” he said of Dallas’ Week 1 blowout victory on the Rich Eisen Show on Monday. “Coaching. General managing. Owning. Playing. A-plus — across the board.”
Eisen, a nationally-syndicated sports personality, normally isn’t prone to hyperbole. But he couldn’t help but gush about the Cowboys’ 35-17 trouncing of the New York Giants in Sunday’s regular season lid-lifter, a resounding win highlighted by quarterback Dak Prescott’s four touchdowns and an opening-game-franchise-record 405 passing yards.
“He takes the field and he dominates. Dominates. Crushes it,” Eisen emphatically stressed. “He can do it with his legs. He can do it with his arms. He can do it with his head. He has absolutely taken his game to the next level.”
While a win is a win is a win, it’s still just one game. Sixty minutes. And the rebuilding Giants aren’t exactly world-class competition, nor were they a worthwhile litmus test for a Cowboys team with a championship-or-bust mentality.
Don’t tell that to Eisen.
“Dallas is a bonafide Super Bowl contender,” he declared.
“Dallas is a legit Super Bowl contender!” –@richeisen jumped right into #OverreactionMonday feat. #dallascowboys #RavensFlock and #TakeFlight
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Eisen Stumps for Dak’s Payday
Count him among outside supporters firmly planted in Prescott’s corner amid the two-time Pro Bowl passer’s fight for a contract extension. Eisen praised Dak for going about his business despite not receiving a lucrative deal prior to Week 1, as was the plan.
“If I’m a Cowboys fan, I am saying, ‘Jones family, just do it,'” he said. “What are you going to do, let him go to another team and try and start from scratch? Don’t franchise tag him. Just get it done so it doesn’t cost you more money.”
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that, although Prescott would prefer a new contract, he “doesn’t feel the need” to press the matter. And neither do the Cowboys, who, assuming no movement and no Collective Bargaining Agreement extension, would have the option next offseason to slap the franchise and/or transition tags on free agents, including Prescott and cornerback Byron Jones.
Stephen Jones Backtracks on ‘Imminent’ Talk
It appears Cowboys owner Jerry Jones got a little ahead of himself Sunday night, when he announced an extension for Prescott was “imminent.” His son, team vice president Stephen Jones, walked back that remark during a radio interview Monday.
“(Jerry) has different meanings for different words. … (Hopefully) we’ll put this in the rearview mirror sooner than later,” Jones clarified, less than 24 hours after his father used that particular word to describe ongoing negotiations.
The reality is, Stephen explained, a few hurdles remain before the sides reach an agreement. These megadeals are mind-numbingly complex and, as Ezekiel Elliott proved, often held up by structure language rather than actual dollars and cents.
“It’s just a matter of finding things as you get closer that are really important to Dak. And obviously we’ll continue to verbalize what’s really important to keep as many of these players as we can on this young football team and he understands and appreciates that,” Jones said on 105.3 The Fan. “At the same time, he’s got really good representation and they’re also wanting to make sure someone’s really looking out for Dak and they’re doing a great job of that. We’ll just continue to progress.”
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