Getty Carson Wentz, Andy Dalton
The NFL is a copycat league, as the common refrain goes. And the Dallas Cowboys, although two years late, have stolen a page from their bitter rival’s playbook.
Speaking Wednesday, Cowboys executive vice president Stephen Jones compared the new Dak Prescott-Andy Dalton quarterback setup to the Philadelphia Eagles‘ former championship duo of Carson Wentz and Nick Foles.
“To have a guy like Andy Dalton come in here – not unlike what Philly had with Nick Foles when Carson Wentz went down – to be able to take control and win games, win huge games for you if that’s what you need is really important,” Jones said on 1310 The Ticket, per ESPN’s Todd Archer. “Certainly you can lay your head on the pillow better at night knowing you have someone like Andy Dalton.”
These are the first comments by a Cowboys official since Dalton signed a one-year contract worth up to $7 million — a contract that instantly made him Prescott’s backup and forced 2017 undrafted free agent Cooper Rush off the roster (and to New York).
Honestly, it’s not such a farfetched analogy. Foles was the best No. 2 in the NFL and Philadelphia never hesitated to station a starting-caliber signal-caller behind its face of the franchise. The foresight directly led to the club’s first-ever Vince Lombardi Trophy.
The Cowboys are a championship-ready team, given this offseason’s upgrades to both the coaching staff and personnel. Dalton was the latest, a three-time Pro Bowler who can step in at a moment’s notice and navigate an offense buoyed by the likes of Amari Cooper, Ezekiel Elliott, Michael Gallup, and CeeDee Lamb.
Which, contrasted with the Eagles’ top skill-position weapons amid their Super Bowl run — Alshon Jeffery, Torrey Smith, LeGarrette Blount, and Zach Ertz — is a one-up for the boys in blue.
Prescott has yet to miss a start across his first four years with the Cowboys. But you never say never in this business. Dallas knew one bad snap would have forced Rush under center, effectively ending any 2020 title hopes.
Those same hopes remain afloat with Dalton as insurance.
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Dalton Breaks Silence on Joining Cowboys
He earned a whopping $83,526,241 over his nine-year Cincinnati Bengals incumbency, so signing with Dallas wasn’t a financially-driven endeavor.
Dalton, he explained, didn’t have an agenda in choosing the Cowboys over other NFL suitors during his brief stint on the open market. He’s not expecting to leapfrog Prescott for the starting job — quite the opposite — nor is he (outwardly) focused on unlocking an additional $4 million in playing-time incentives built into his one-year Dallas deal.
The TCU alumnus, a resident of the Lone Star State, simply and innocuously pivoted to “this next half of my career.” The back-nine, in other words.
“After weighing everything, I felt like going to Dallas was going to be the right fit for me this year,” Dalton told ESPN’s Adam Schefter on Monday, via The Athletic. “I’m excited about it. I think it’s going to be a great opportunity. … I wanted to join a high-class organization and a team that’s ready to win, and be with Mike McCarthy, with his history with quarterbacks, it gives me a chance to come to a new place, a chance to learn, help Dak out any way I can, and just be an asset for this team. Obviously, I bring a lot of experience and can bring a lot to the table, so I’m here to help this team win and help in any way I can. … This team is ready to win. I felt like it was the best opportunity for this year and hopefully it will set me up for my future. This was a big picture plan. … I feel like I have a lot of years left (in the NFL). I feel like there is a lot of good football left for me.”
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Follow Zack Kelberman on Twitter: @KelbermanNFL