data-mm-id=”_0yznas7tv”>UPDATE: Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless talked about this signing yesterday and I basically called it. Smith hated the signing and said if Dak Prescott was Tony Romo, the Cowboys would have already signed him to an extension. Skip loved the signing and said it was a savvy move by Jerry Jones. Videos below, but start with the prediction from Sunday. It's preposterous, outlandish and downright disrespectful for me to assume I know what Stephen A. Smith and Skip Bayless will say on ESPN and FOX, respectively, tomorrow when they inevitably discuss the Cowboys signing Andy Dalton to be Dak Prescott's backup quarterback. And yet, the two popular analysts have talked Cowboys so much during their time in the spotlight it's impossible for me to not feel confident in my prognosticating abilities on this subject. First, a little background. Bayless, the former newspaper columnist who spent a long portion of his career in Dallas, has an affinity for "my Cowboys," as he puts it, that runs deep. He defends Jerry Jones like they're related and acts like the Cowboys are still the best franchise in the NFL despite not winning a title since 1996. He's a big Dak Prescott guy (no joke, he said he thinks Dak had a better season than Patrick Mahomes last year) and has been critical of the Cowboys placing the franchise tag on Prescott this offseason and what that means for his future in Dallas. Smith, the former long-time Philadelphia Inquirer reporter and columnist, is in the opposite corner when it comes to the Cowboys. He's critical of the Cowboys and Jones, seems to always pick against them and loves trolling them on social media when they lose big games. He has likewise said it was a mistake for the Cowboys to place the franchise tag on Prescott, but has been more critical of the young QB when he struggles than Bayless. So what will their talking points be? Skip, surely, is going to mention how great of a move this is for the Cowboys. He'll say Dalton is the best backup QB in the NFL. He'll mention how financially savvy of a deal this is for the Cowboys at only $3 million for one season. He'll also probably say something along the lines of how this gives the Cowboys more negotiating leverage over Prescott because Dalton is good enough to be the Cowboys starter. He'll also mention how he said the Cowboys should make this move and brag about how smart he is. HERE'S SKIP'S VIDEO:"This was 'Advantage Jerry Jones.' This was a shocking steal of a deal for a 'backup QB.' Andy Dalton is a 3x Pro Bowler who carried the Bengals to the playoffs 4 times. Now Jerry says: 'I've got the best backup in the league and an ace in the hole." — @RealSkipBayless pic.twitter.com/BIfHQLGsmE— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) May 4, 2020Smith will come at it from a different approach. He'll focus on the disrespect the Cowboys are showing toward Prescott. He'll say the Cowboys should have spent the money on Prescott's extension and not on a guy who never won a playoff game. He'll probably bring that fact up many times, pointing to Dalton's 0-4 record as a playoff QB and saying something about how he'll fit in with Dallas because it can't win the playoffs either. Then he'll circle back and say Prescott should be motivated to prove the Cowboys made a mistake and force them to spend even more money on him in his contract extension. HERE'S SMITH'S VIDEO:I'm appalled by what the @Cowboys are doing… pic.twitter.com/BahYaZTf9e— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) May 4, 2020They'll both make these points in a more eloquent, energetic way, but that's the basic gist. Now, this is all conjecture and hyperbole. We'll have to wait until Smith and Bayless grace us with their actual opinions on their respective shows tomorrow. Rest assured, I'll be watching. But, based on having listened to these two debate separately and together for the better part of a decade, I feel pretty confident in this prediction and with no live sports to predict, felt obligated to share my "educated" opinion on the subject.
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