There is an ultimate rule of brainstorming and problem-solving, and it goes, "There are no bad ideas.''
The Dallas Cowboys are brainstorming and problem-solving ... and we think we just uncovered a violation of that rule.
Cutting Cooper Rush is a bad idea.
Questions certainly remain about whether No. 1 Dak QB Prescott can lift Dallas into true Super Bowl contention, and whether he should get a $60 million APY extension as he approaches the final year of his contract.
Questions also remain about whether No. 2 QB Trey Lance can be developed here from a prospect into a player, and how that might impact his role with one more year left on his contract.
Rush is also entering the final year of his deal, and the guys at Bleacher Report see Rush as expendable, in part, B/R, says, because of the Dak/Lance status.
And they are getting it all wrong.
There is no need to "dump Rush,'' as they put it. Damage would be done to the roster. And there is very little benefit to such a move.
B/R writes: “Dumping Rush would only save $2.3 million in cap space, but it’s an easy cut to justify, and the Cowboys need all the cap space they can muster. Dak Prescott and CeeDee Lamb are both entering the final year of their current deals and are very likely to receive extensions in 2024.”
With all due respect, point-by-point, here's just how wrong B/R is ...
1 - Waiving a capable backup QB - rare as they are in this NFL - is never an "easy cut to justify.''
2 - "Dumping Rush'' would not "save $2.3 million''; it would save just $1.625 million. (B/R forgot to count the dead-money penalty.)
3 - The idea of "saving'' $1 million (or even $2 million) by cutting a player ignores the fact that the player needs to be replaced. So, if you cut Rush to "save'' $1.625 million and replaced him with, say, Will Grier (cost of 1.08 million)?
You just swapped out a superior player for an inferior player and "saved'' $545,000.
4 - We're not sure why B/R mentions the extensions for Lamb and Prescott. When the Cowboys do those deals, the Lamb and Prescott cap numbers won't go up; they'll go down - thus providing more cap room, not less.
Lance, by the way, has a contract that in 2024 is fully guaranteed at $5.31 million. So you're not likely cutting him, either.
And the flip side of Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft acquired in trade from the Niners last fall? If he excels to the point at which he beats out Rush, again, a team still needs a third QB. ... and the keyword for Rush there wold be "dependable,'' not "expendable.''
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